CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jason didn’t know why Tandy believed his story about dragons, and he didn’t need to know. Maybe he had previous knowledge of dragons. Maybe he’d seen something like this before. Or maybe Jason’s fantastical declaration fit the evidence, but he was a quiet and attentive audience as Jason explained what he knew.
“So, you don’t know which dragon this scale might belong to?”
“No. Not just by looking at it.
“But there is a way to find out?”
“DNA testing, I’m assuming?”
“To your knowledge, did Neil have any relationships, business or personal, with any dragons?”
Jason took a deep breath. In for a penny, in for a pound, he supposed. “One. Vincent Ryder. He lives in Manhattan. He’s an artist.”
“I’m familiar with his work. Didn’t know he was a dragon, though.”
“Well,” Jason said around a mouthful of peanuts, “it’s a secret.”
“As is your status, I suppose.”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“It’s not hard to deduce and I’m a pretty good detective. Well, we have evidence and a possible suspect, now we need a motive. Was there any bad blood between the two of them?”
“No, not at all. Vincent thought highly of him. They were friends.”
“So, they were close?”
“I don’t know. Friendly, definitely. But I don’t know how deep that friendship went.”
Tandy leaned back, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth for a moment before saying, “Ms. Simmons really doesn’t like dragons, does she?”
“I have a feeling she was tired of hearing about dragons from her father.”
“Neil liked dragons? Did he think they were real, too?”
“Think?” Jason sighed. “You don’t really believe me, do you?”
“It is, uh...farfetched, but I’m willing to keep an open mind.”
“I don’t know if he knew. I asked Vincent after I saw the mechanical dragons he’d designed for Neil. They were very, very...realistic. Vincent was quick to assure me that Neil was completely in the dark; he just thought Vincent was a creative genius.” Jason lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. “I think he wanted very much for them to be real. Whether or not he had personal knowledge of them before he died, I can’t say.”
“You think he died with personal knowledge?”
“A dragon is very large, but one could definitely fit in the foyer of the mansion where Neil was found. He couldn’t maneuver much, but he wouldn’t have to. And I think that was probably the last thing Neil saw.”
“Let me see that scale.”
Jason produced it without protest.
“You know it’s illegal to take evidence from the scene of the crime.”
“I understand.”
“And, on a personal note, I find it obnoxious as hell.”
“I understand that as well.”
“But I’m not going to arrest you for it. You’re going to show me exactly where you found it and how you found it and we’ll get pictures and proceed from there. You help me find the guy who did this, and nobody needs to be the wiser about your little adventure tonight.”
“I’ll help you,” Jason said quickly. “I want to find him, too.”
“And maybe prove a little something to Ms. Simmons?”
“Well, I’d like her to have a better view of her father, at least.” He unwrapped the scale and held it up to the light. “Given the size, I’d say we’re definitely dealing with an adult, but I can’t tell you much else.”
“Do dragons eat humans?”
“Not in the past several centuries. It’s hard to keep a low profile and leave a trail of bodies.”
“The staff I told you about before were found mostly dismembered. Several of the body parts were missing. That accounts for all the blood. But why would he eat them and not Neil?”
“Any idea who died first?” Jason asked.
“Not yet. Our best indication is the blood splatter found on, around, and under Mr. Simmons. Once we have the results of that analysis, we’ll have a clearer picture of what happened.”
Tandy refreshed each of their glasses with beer from the pitcher. Jason drank his mechanically, his mind drifting back to the drinks he’d shared with Mary just a few hours earlier. Why hadn’t he stayed with her? Why would he have gotten himself embroiled like this?
“Based on what you saw of the body, how do you think he died?” Tandy asked.
Jason shifted his attention from the beer to the scale and the way it reflected the bar’s dull light. “Burned. Cooked to a crisp all the way through.”
“But not eaten or otherwise harmed.”
“Did you ask Mary if anything was missing from the house?” Jason asked.
“We haven’t had the chance to take her back to the house yet.”
“Somebody tossed his bedroom.”
“And I suppose you got your DNA and fingerprints all over the room trying to figure out what they were looking for?” Tandy asked, though he only sounded mildly annoyed.
“I didn’t touch anything,” Jason said quickly. “I just looked at it from the doorway, but somebody was clearly up there. His master suite was part of the big house tour and he kept the place impeccable.”
“I suppose money could have been the motive. Rich old guy in a big old house like that? He’d definitely have some valuable items.”
Jason shook his head. He wasn’t so sure about that. “I have a feeling that Neil tended to cherish things for their sentimental value, not their monetary worth. Plus, he really wasn’t rich.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“That’s the point. He fooled everybody, but I guess he spent all of his money a long time ago.”
“So, nobody stood to inherit from his death?”
“No. Mary is the trustee for her mother’s estate and I guess her father’s estate was all dried up.”
“How do you know that?”
“I was looking to get into business with Neil. That’s how we met. I discovered recently he didn’t have any money to invest.”
Tandy looked at him thoughtfully. “Perhaps you weren’t the only one to make that discovery recently. Maybe this wasn’t about an inheritance, just good old fashioned rage.”
Jason almost caught himself shaking his head, but stopped himself from giving voice to his immediate thought of No, Vincent doesn’t need the money. Did he really think Vincent was capable of murder, let alone guilty of the crime? Vincent was intense and arrogant, but he wasn’t a psychopath. And besides being a psychopath, what motive would he have to kill not only Neil, but innocent bystanders as well?
“I think I should talk to this Vincent.”
“Let me talk to him,” Jason quickly countered, speaking before he realized he even had the idea.
“What?”
“I can wear a wire or something and I’ll talk to him.”
Tandy stared at him for a beat before asking, “What do you think this is? A TV show? CSI or some shit? I’m not going to send you in with a wire, I just want to talk to the man.”
“If you speak with him, he’ll run.”
Tandy’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Cross, do you know something you’re not telling me? I thought we were friends.”
“I told you everything I know. I’ll also tell you that the man can disappear at will. He’s a dragon. He can fly away. He has amassed endless wealth, he has connections all over the globe, and if he is guilty, you’ll never find him. But if I talk to him, I’m just his buddy bitching about losing an investor.”
“Well, you won’t need to wear a wire. We have telephones now. How soon will you be able to see him?”
“There’s nothing keeping me here. I’ll go home tonight and see him tomorrow.”
“Are you going to be flying home?”
“I try not to do that in public. Too risky.”
“Why did you risk it tonight?”
Jason swallowed the last of his beer. “You are a good detective.”
“I’m no Sherlock Holmes, I just noticed that your car was abandoned right outside the city. Seems like you traveled over a hundred miles in less than twenty minutes somehow.”
“Is that why you believe me?”
“I don’t actually believe you, Jason, but you’re the only lead I’ve got. I just pray that I’m not wasting my time.” He produced his wallet from his jacket, tossed a couple of bills between them, and handed Jason his business card. “Go home. Get some sleep. Call me tomorrow and we’ll work out the plan. I will have very specific guidelines that I will expect you to follow. Also, if you chicken out, I’m going to be really disappointed.”
“I won’t chicken out,” Jason promised, though he was already feeling a peculiar dread, a sense of guilt he always associated with disappointing his father. Speaking to the police was one nearly unforgivable thing, but what would the senior Cross say when he learned his son assisted in gathering evidence against another dragon?