Noise in the lobby drew her from the room again and she saw Deputy Kenton walking in with Tallis and another man. He was average height, putting him a bit shorter than Connor, and he sported a thick brown mustache that covered his upper lip in dark bristles. He wore a maroon vest with a shiny tin badge pinned to it over a white collared shirt with leather pads sewn into the shoulders and elbows while atop his head sat a large grey felt hat with a wide brim and a brass buckle at the center above the forehead.
“Kenton, over here.” She called, waving the group over. The men approached her, leaving Tallis standing alone by the counter.
The man looked to the Deputy, “Connor, who the hell’s this?”
“Oh, this is Miss Annie, Sheriff. She’s the stranger I sent out the request for a couple days ago.”
The mustache quivered a bit as he shot out a puff of breath, “A Stranger! When exactly were you gonna tell me you hired a damn Stranger? How in the hell are we supposed to cover her fee?”
“Oh the Union’ll take care of that, I already got the ok from the higher ups.”
The Sheriff’s frown deepened, “You should’ve asked me first, Connor!”
“But that’s what you gave me the stamp for sir! I didn’t want to bother you when you were busy investigating.” Deputy Kenton was apologetic but firm.
The Sheriff huffed again, “That damn stamp,” he muttered, “Should’ve known it’d bite me in the ass eventually.”
He looked up at Annie and she stuck out her hand and said, “Andromeda Flynn. You’re Sheriff Jed, I presume?”
“That’s be me.” He said, taking her hand in his, “This here’s my town, and I am the law here. We understand each other?” He squeezed her hand as he shook it, trying as men like him did to make an impression. She squeezed his hand back. He winced.
“Yes sir.” She said. No point in butting heads with the local authority, he could make her job even harder than it was shaping up to be. She didn’t need to be on his good side, but she ought to avoid pissing him off.
“Right,” he pulled his hand away, “I’ll leave this to you two. I have important business elsewhere that needs my attention. Best earn your pay, Stranger.” He turned and strode towards the door in a hurry. That was fine with Annie, he’d only get in the way.
She turned to Connor, “Body’s in the office. I think it’s Tulvir. I assume Tallis told you?”
“She did,” he was trying to keep his expression masked, but it was like one of those cheap masks you’d find at Party City, the society of never ending excess and extravaganza, “Gods, poor Tulvir. He was always nice, good to his customers and helped folk around town that needed it. I’m… We’re really gonna miss him.” He let out a slow and shaky breath, as if trying to release a hurricane through the end of a balloon.
Annie wasn’t sure what to say to that. She tried to come up with something only to realize she was taking too long and Connor was looking at her expectantly. She ended up going for an awkward pat on the shoulder and then fled into the room. He followed her.
“Found him like this.” She said, trying to change the subject, “He was familiar with his attacker. The room’s undisturbed, no signs of a struggle, but he’s facing the door. Whoever did it was strong, and they left traces of magic at the desk and on the doorframe.”
“How can you tell?” Connor hunched over the body, inspecting it closely.
“Wound on the neck is deeper than any ordinary person could manage in one cut plus bruising on the collarbone. Seeing the magic is a mage thing.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” He said, rising, “So… he was familiar with his killer, or thought he was anyway.” He crossed his arms and rested his hand on his chin thoughtfully. “But whoever did it had magic. Do you think it could be like a shapeshifter or something? Or somebody who could put him under some sort of spell?”
“I doubt it, the Veil’s stable here. No signs of any magic being drawn. A shapeshifter would’ve affected the veil and a mind spell’s too complicated for a portable battery to power.” She could see this frustrated Connor.
“And there’s not a trail you can follow?” He asked, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice.
“Not really how it works.”
“Damn it!” Connor abruptly turned away from the body, not looking Annie in the eye, “We’ll have to leave him here for now. I’ll have Tallis shut down the Motel for a couple days so nobody disturbs the place. She could do with the break anyway.”
“There’s another body besides this one, right?” Annie asked.
“Yeah, we’ve got her in the morgue right now.” He sniffed, “I can take you to the crime scene too, but I doubt there’s much left of it. We haven’t got anybody to watch it, and it’s deep enough in the ravine I’d guess animals have gotten to it by now.”
“Great.” She said dryly, “Let’s hit the morgue first. I can compare what I found between this one and that one.” At least she could confirm it was the same killer. With the body being moved and a few days old she doubted she could glean much else.
Connor turned to her wincing, apologetic, “The uh… The Sheriff still has the morgue key, Miss Annie. I can take you to the crime scene and then go find him?”
“Fucking hell,” she sighed, she was doing that a lot lately, “What the hell kind of town only has two lawmen in it?”
“Apparently the town of Millpoint, Miss Annie.”
“Y’all need to fix that. It’s giving me a damn migraine!” Annie rubbed at her temple with a thumb, “Fine. Let’s take a look at the first site, then you go get the Sheriff off his ass long enough to let me do my job. Okay?”
“Sure thing Miss Annie,” Connor glanced around conspiratorially then leaned close to her, “Just don’t let the Sheriff catch you talking about him like that, you hear?”
“Sure.” She said like she gave half a damn, “Can we go?”
Connor made a “after you” gesture and together they strode out the motel door and into town. They had a long day ahead.
