that where there is smoke there is usually a dragon.”
“If there were actually dragons.”
“They’d call it a guivre in this area—serpent body, dragon’s head. Venomous breath. Afraid of naked humans. The females have green scales.”
Kris opened her mouth, shut it again, then: “Are you for real?”
Confusion fluttered over his well-lined face. “Why on earth would I not be real?”
Kris rubbed her forehead.
“Where there are rumors of a monster,” he continued, “a monster often appears—be it human or no. As you research the loch and its most famous inhabitant, I’m certain you will discover information that can be of use to me.”
“And then?”
“You will tell me.”
“How?”
“I will come to you.”
Kris got a little tingle across her spine at that statement. “It would be easier if you gave me your contact information.”
“No doubt,” he agreed, but he didn’t offer any. “I must be on my way. I’m needed…” He paused, then gave a tiny twitch of one shoulder in lieu of a shrug. “Elsewhere.”
“And the other Yag—” She bit her lip and tried again. “Suke—”
He sighed as if dealing with a slightly amusing but extremely annoying two-year-old. “Jäger-Suchers.”
“Yeah, them. No takers on the age-old Loch Ness problem?”
“I’m a bit…” He glanced toward the road, then back. “Shorthanded of late. And the monsters are multiplying.”
“I don’t believe in monsters.”
A sudden commotion from the road—voices, a siren—drew her attention. Headlights permeated the hovering haze.
“You will,” Edward Mandenauer said.
When she looked back, the old man was gone.
CHAPTER 6
Chief Constable Alan Mac was the first to arrive, but he wasn’t alone. Her mystery man, whose name she still did not know, appeared to have roused half the village, then sent them ahead without him.
Some came in cars, some on foot, but come they did, and a crowd began to gather.
“Keep them back!” Alan Mac shouted to the other officers as they arrived. “This is a crime scene!”
He shot Kris a quick, unreadable glance before he knelt beside the dead girl and checked for a pulse. Then he sighed, and his big head dipped.
“Were you on duty when the other one was found?” Kris asked.
Alan Mac’s head came up so fast he must have gotten a crick in his neck, since his hand went there and rubbed. He climbed to his feet. “Where did ye hear about the other?”
“I … well … uh…” How was Kris supposed to explain that she’d learned the news from an ancient German who’d disappeared into the mist faster than the characters in a Stephen King novel?
Alan lowered his voice: “That information has not been released.”
Uh-oh.
She was saved from answering when a boatload of police and techs arrived and began to set up a perimeter, pushing her out of it. Alan’s attention was captured, but he pointed a large finger at her and said, “Dinnae go anywhere, ye ken?”
“I ken,” Kris muttered.
Her gaze wandered over the crowd, searching for the man she’d met at Urquhart Castle, but he wasn’t there. She almost asked Alan Mac where he’d gone, but she knew where that would end. With the beginnings of a headache when he insisted that there was no such man. Although if that were the case, the constable wouldn’t be here.
Kris’s mind whirled. This place was starting to get to her.
And now she had an envelope of cash from a man who’d “gone poof” after tasking her with gathering information on a monster. Or perhaps a serial killer.
“One is both the same,” she murmured, a saying of her brother’s that had always confused her. Until just now.
People came and went. In the states she would have identified a coroner or medical examiner, crime scene techs, forensic experts—hey, she watched SVU —but here she had no clue on procedure or the proper titles for the players involved.
Eventually, Alan Mac separated from the others, took her arm, and
“If there were actually dragons.”
“They’d call it a guivre in this area—serpent body, dragon’s head. Venomous breath. Afraid of naked humans. The females have green scales.”
Kris opened her mouth, shut it again, then: “Are you for real?”
Confusion fluttered over his well-lined face. “Why on earth would I not be real?”
Kris rubbed her forehead.
“Where there are rumors of a monster,” he continued, “a monster often appears—be it human or no. As you research the loch and its most famous inhabitant, I’m certain you will discover information that can be of use to me.”
“And then?”
“You will tell me.”
“How?”
“I will come to you.”
Kris got a little tingle across her spine at that statement. “It would be easier if you gave me your contact information.”
“No doubt,” he agreed, but he didn’t offer any. “I must be on my way. I’m needed…” He paused, then gave a tiny twitch of one shoulder in lieu of a shrug. “Elsewhere.”
“And the other Yag—” She bit her lip and tried again. “Suke—”
He sighed as if dealing with a slightly amusing but extremely annoying two-year-old. “Jäger-Suchers.”
“Yeah, them. No takers on the age-old Loch Ness problem?”
“I’m a bit…” He glanced toward the road, then back. “Shorthanded of late. And the monsters are multiplying.”
“I don’t believe in monsters.”
A sudden commotion from the road—voices, a siren—drew her attention. Headlights permeated the hovering haze.
“You will,” Edward Mandenauer said.
When she looked back, the old man was gone.
CHAPTER 6
Chief Constable Alan Mac was the first to arrive, but he wasn’t alone. Her mystery man, whose name she still did not know, appeared to have roused half the village, then sent them ahead without him.
Some came in cars, some on foot, but come they did, and a crowd began to gather.
“Keep them back!” Alan Mac shouted to the other officers as they arrived. “This is a crime scene!”
He shot Kris a quick, unreadable glance before he knelt beside the dead girl and checked for a pulse. Then he sighed, and his big head dipped.
“Were you on duty when the other one was found?” Kris asked.
Alan Mac’s head came up so fast he must have gotten a crick in his neck, since his hand went there and rubbed. He climbed to his feet. “Where did ye hear about the other?”
“I … well … uh…” How was Kris supposed to explain that she’d learned the news from an ancient German who’d disappeared into the mist faster than the characters in a Stephen King novel?
Alan lowered his voice: “That information has not been released.”
Uh-oh.
She was saved from answering when a boatload of police and techs arrived and began to set up a perimeter, pushing her out of it. Alan’s attention was captured, but he pointed a large finger at her and said, “Dinnae go anywhere, ye ken?”
“I ken,” Kris muttered.
Her gaze wandered over the crowd, searching for the man she’d met at Urquhart Castle, but he wasn’t there. She almost asked Alan Mac where he’d gone, but she knew where that would end. With the beginnings of a headache when he insisted that there was no such man. Although if that were the case, the constable wouldn’t be here.
Kris’s mind whirled. This place was starting to get to her.
And now she had an envelope of cash from a man who’d “gone poof” after tasking her with gathering information on a monster. Or perhaps a serial killer.
“One is both the same,” she murmured, a saying of her brother’s that had always confused her. Until just now.
People came and went. In the states she would have identified a coroner or medical examiner, crime scene techs, forensic experts—hey, she watched SVU —but here she had no clue on procedure or the proper titles for the players involved.
Eventually, Alan Mac separated from the others, took her arm, and
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