Read Online [M__M 03] Misery Loves Company by Tracey Martin - Free Book Online

warrant?”
    “We can’t even prove a crime has been committed yet. A pred letting an addict turn into a ghoul isn’t illegal in most situations, and with Marshall in the state he’s in, legally speaking he’s as good as dead. Once his brother gets the court to acknowledge that Marshall’s a ghoul, he takes over the estate, and that’s just a legal formality at this point. We learned this morning that his brother has already initiated proceedings. So if he wants to, he could cause a stink if we go barging into Marshall’s house without his permission. Remember, we’re dealing with a high-profile case. It would be best if we could get his cooperation.”
    I tapped my pen against Bridget’s handouts. “You said yourself—there’s not a lot of time. Sitting around playing nice with his family is putting Eric at risk.”
    “You have a better idea?” Brian asked.
    I quit fidgeting with the pen. “Maybe. From what I’ve heard of them, Eric’s family is likely to be a pain in the ass. But I know someone who is family and who wants to help, and she has a key.”
    Bridget tidied up her papers, frowning. “That’s not technically legal at this point. Marshall’s estate is in limbo.”
    “So’s Eric’s soul.”
    Brian held up a hand. “Bridget is right. We need to tread very carefully right now. So here’s what I propose. On our end, Bridget will start putting together all the evidence that Marshall was cursed so we can get legal authority to search the house, family cooperation or no. But Jessica also has a point. Time is short. If Jessica is friends with a family member who has a key, and she happens to see the contract while she’s there and her friend is checking on Marshall, and she happens to get us the name of the goblin…” He cleared his throat. “That would not be unfortunate.”
    I smiled. I hadn’t thought much of Brian one way or another on the last case, but he was growing on me.

Chapter Six
    The first thing I did after the meeting broke up was call Steph and see if she was up for driving back to New Hampshire this evening.
    “It wouldn’t be a bad thing to check on Eric,” she said. “Why?”
    I faked a cough. “Unofficial official Gryphon business.”
    “Sounds underhanded and sneaky.”
    “Extremely.” I yawned. “So are you in?”
    “If it will help Eric, sure. Besides, we can try that brewery up his way for dinner. He was telling me how good the beer was last time we…” Her voice trailed off, and I could imagine her feelings even though I couldn’t sense them.
    “Sounds good. I’ll be ready to go when you get off work.”
    After hanging up, I flipped through the notes Bridget had passed out at the meeting, but they didn’t tell me anything new. Bottom line was that this was a simple case, like Bridget had laid it out. Get the goblin’s name, track him or her down, retrieve Eric’s soul.
    How one returned a soul, well, I was going to have to assume that Bridget had researched that too. No point worrying about it until we knew we’d gotten it.
    My day passed quickly. IT came around and re-granted me access to my computer, then Bridget and I went to lunch, during which she caught me up on what was happening with supposed mutual friends—the people we’d attended the Gryphon Academy with years ago. People I barely knew anymore. Soon enough, it was three o’clock, and I needed to get to an appointment I’d rather skip.
    Shadowtown was waking up as I got off the T and made my way toward Gunthra’s for tea. Though the July sun was high, it was hard to tell. All the buildings in the neighborhood gave off a kind of aura, as though they absorbed negativity right along with their owners. By some trick of the eye, they appeared to stretch skyward, blocking out the light. Their colors were muted, the shadows between them darker. Heavy stone and brick gave even the most mundane of businesses, like Lucen’s bar, a slightly menacing air.
    Gunthra’s house epitomized the