The Experimental Murders (Elysium #2)

Chapter Nineteen

 Trinket prepared a cup of tea for Booker, and together they retired to the parlour. They sat on the settee and discussed what to do with this new information.

"Did you get a good look at him when you saw him in the shop?" Booker asked.

She closed her eyes, trying to recall the young man's face. "I mean, I saw him, but there was nothing outstanding about his person, other than his very white teeth and the dirt under his nails. If I met him again, though, I'm certain I would recognize him."

Tapping a finger against his cup, Booker stared at the fireplace in deep thought. "If only we knew where he might be lurking, maybe you could identify him."

"Well, we know that he deals in dangerous drugs. And he likely suspects people are after him since he attacked Emma thinking she had sold him out to someone."

"So he's probably one to frequent the seedy underbelly of the city."

"Does this mean we'll be attending a game night?"

He quirked an eyebrow as he considered this. "Perhaps. It might be a little difficult to find him in such a crowd of people, but if I got Gin to help, we may be able to pick him out."

Sipping at her tea, Trinket thought back to the last game she had attended. The smoke, the debauchery, the lack of restraint. And then there had been Scales. If Booker got into another one-on-one card game with him like he had before, she worried he would not be able to keep himself from angering the thug further.

Booker placed his cup and saucer on the table and rose to his feet. "That's the plan, then. I'll inquire about the date and location of the next game, and we'll go from there."

He was already donning his coat when Trinket stood up to voice her concerns. But then he turned to her with an excited smile, and she found she couldn't object to this new strategy. This was the first real lead they had discovered in the case.

She couldn't bear to disappoint him.

"I should be back in a few hours," he said.

She nodded, and he slipped out the door. Sighing, she went to fetch her cleaning supplies as she thought about all the ways this could go terribly wrong.

~

The next game wasn't for four more days. In the meantime, another body surfaced. When Trinket and Booker saw the crowd surrounding it down by the Clocktower, they managed to push their way to the front to get a glimpse before the police arrived. This one had thin layers of skin between her fingers and toes, much like a frog. Her extra parts looked just like the ones on the other bodies, the skin attached by sutures and looking very out of place. But what was more was that the body had clearly been examined already. The woman's clothes were torn open, and the skin, which had started to decompose due to the weather warming up, had flaked off around her arms and mouth. As if someone had been moving her about to find something.

It had to be the Mice.

"Why would they want to examine a dead body?" Booker wondered as they left the scene before the police arrived. "They're not doctors. Were they looking for valuables?"

Swallowing hard, Trinket recalled Scales' words when he had confronted her in the alley. "Perhaps they were looking for clues about the creator." She glanced up at Booker. "Much like you are."

He furrowed his brow. "Why do they want to find Benedict?"

"I have no idea. But you know as well as I do that Scales is very crafty. If he wants to find him, he must have a good reason. And I'm willing to bet that reason will begin a new reign of terror here."