A Wolf's Heart (Harlequin Nocturne) Page 2

  He pulled open the gray door and went through. And immediately realized he wasn’t in the right building. Not if they were filming in a warehouse overstuffed with all kinds of things. Sofas and lamps, and what looked like painted scenery. The cool thing was he did recognize some of the stuff from films he’d seen.

  He made an about-face and went out the door and back to his car. He swiveled around looking for building eight. He would’ve thought because of his lycan genes he’d never get lost.

  “What’s the word, Gabe?” Sophie St. Clair, one of his investigators, fell in beside him.

  “One of the actors has received a blood-splattered fan letter.”

  “Who’s the actor?”

  “Elise Leroy.”

  Sophie’s eyes lit up. “Really? I love her work. Did you see her last movie? It was so good.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Everything all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s just do our jobs.” He looked around at the buildings.

  She pointed to the big white building on his right. “It’s this way.”

  Without a word, he walked to the building, pretending he’d been waiting for her to show up all along. He grabbed the handle on the door and pulled it open. He went through the opening, Sophie following him in.

  It was fairly quiet inside the film stage. Gabriel expected pandemonium considering who the victim was, but what he saw was fairly muted. A few stagehands mingled in the far corner. They appeared to be discussing something about the lighting. Other people, probably assistants and gofers, crossed in front of them, determination making their strides long and quick.

  Gabriel moved farther into the building, eyeing everything and everyone as he crossed the floor toward the epicenter of the action—the actual movie set.

  When he and Sophie stepped into the light near the soundstage, a big burly lycan with white-blond hair greeted them. “Can I help you?”

  Gabriel flashed his badge. “Inspector Gabriel Bellmonte, NMPD.”

  After his declaration, another man rushed toward him, his hand thrust out. “I’m Reginald Alcott, the director.”

  Gabriel shook the vampire’s hand firmly. “This is Sophie St. Clair.” He gestured toward Sophie. The director nodded toward her. “Where is this letter?” Gabriel said.

  “In Elise’s trailer.” He started to walk, assuming that Gabriel and Sophie would follow, which they did. “As you can imagine this has been very upsetting for Elise. So, please, if you can keep your questions to a minimum. I don’t want her any more agitated than she already is.”

  “The show must go on,” Sophie commented, unkindly.

  The director nodded. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

  “The only thing I can promise you is that we will do our jobs fully,” Gabriel said.

  Reginald looked at him for a moment, likely trying to decide if there was a hidden message in there somewhere. “Good.” He gestured toward the long mobile trailer. “Here we are.” He knocked on the door.

  The door opened and a petite young woman filled the door frame. “No visitors,” she growled.

  Reginald ducked his head sheepishly. “These people are with the police.”

  “Oh,” she said, and then eyed Gabriel and Sophie, taking their measure. Gabriel felt the telltale spark of magic skimming his body. The little witch was gauging them with her magic. They must’ve passed, because she said, “Okay. They can come in.”

  She stepped aside and Gabriel and Sophie entered the trailer. The second he mounted the stairs, Gabriel caught her scent. It was remarkable, just as she was, and he’d never forgotten it after all these years. The scent had been imprinted on him long ago.

  He moved past the entranceway and spied her in the corner, lounging on a sofa, her long blond hair cascading around her in golden waves. Her gaze fixed on him and he felt the immediate punch in his gut.

  She smiled, her little kitten fangs evident between full pink lips. But the smile was sad and it didn’t quite reach her emerald eyes. “Hello, Gabriel.”

  “Hello, Elise.”

  Sophie gaped at him. “Oh, my God, you know each other? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I imagine it’s because Gabriel has put me so far out of his mind he forgets he knows me.” Elise took a sip from the liquid in the wineglass she was holding.

  Gabriel wasn’t going to rise to the bait, although what she’d said wasn’t that far from the truth. “Dramatic as always, I see.”

  “Of course. It’s what I get paid for.”

  He set his kit down on one of the tables and opened it, trying to avoid a verbal sparring match with her. “Can we see the letter, please?” He snapped on latex gloves.

  “Lily, could you, please?” Elise nodded toward the petite dynamo who had opened the door. She must be Elise’s personal assistant and guard dog.

  Lily handed Gabriel an unfolded white piece of paper. He took it and laid it flat on one of the tables on thick plastic sheeting that Sophie had prepared.

  Even at first glance, the letter wasn’t a typical fan letter. The letters forming the words had been cut from various magazines and periodicals and glued together so that there was no handwriting to analyze.

  Then he read the words.

  She is gypsy, will not speak to those

  Who have not learnt to be content without her;

  A jilt, whose ear was never whispered close,

  Who thinks they scandal her who talk about her

  He looked up at Elise. “Do you recognize this?”

  She shook her head.

  “Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to find. We’ll just plug the verse into Google, and we should find it, no problem, if it’s from a literary source.”

  “Maybe it’s original,” Sophie suggested, reading over Gabriel’s shoulder.

  “It might be, but I highly doubt it. These types of people are rarely original.” He peered down at the red spots near the bottom of the page. It could’ve been dark red paint or ink, but it wasn’t. The odor was unmistakable.

  He reached into his kit, took out a large Q-tips and rubbed it over one of the spots, the largest one. Then he retrieved a small plastic bottle of alcohol, the chemical phenolphthalein, and hydrogen peroxide. He dripped two drops of alcohol on the swab, then the phenol and finally the peroxide. The tip turned a purplish-pink.

  “Definitely blood present,” he said as he held the swab up for Elise to see.

  She paled visibly.

  “Could be animal blood. We won’t know more until we analyze it at the lab.” He put the swab into a plastic tube, capped it and labeled the side. He set that into his kit, then took out a plastic bag and slid the letter into it. “We’ll fingerprint it at the lab. We’ll need the envelope, as well.”

  Lily handed the plain white envelope to Gabriel. On the front Elise Leroy was printed in printer ink in small capital letters. They might be able to determine what kind of printer had been used.

  After putting all the evidence in his kit, he peeled off the latex gloves. “How many people have handled it?”

  Lily put her hand up. “I did, as well as Elise obviously.”

  “Who else? Where did you get it?”

  “From Chuck, who’s one of the studio guards at the front gate. He said it came for Elise by a courier.”

  He glanced at Sophie. “Okay, print Ms. Leroy and Lily, then go with her to the front and talk to this Chuck. Print him and get his statement. We’ll need to know the name of the courier company. Call them and get the courier to come down to the station for printing and a statement.”

  The lycan nodded, and took out her fingerprinting kit and got to work. As she rolled ink onto Elise’s fingers, Gabriel tried not to watch. He looked around the trailer instead, trying to get a sense of the woman he had known over fifteen years ago.

  She looked much the same. She’d always been devastatingly beautiful. The type of beauty that sometimes is difficult to look at. Because of her vampiri
c genes, she aged slower, as he did. They were of the same species; both sangloups. They had known each other as children. Grown up together in a sense. But their respective families had been in conflict. For as long as Gabriel could remember, the Bellmontes and the Leroys had been at war. Fighting over territory they’d long ago claimed as their own, a disagreement that had been started by their vampire ancestors and torn their two families apart.

  When Sophie was finished, she followed Lily out of the trailer to print the guard and take his statement. Once the door was firmly closed, Gabriel leaned against the kitchenette counter and looked at Elise.

  She was busy wiping the black ink off her fingers.

  “Are there more, Elise?”

  “More what?”

  “More letters?”

  When she was done cleaning her hand, she tossed the wadded-up tissue in the small garbage can near the kitchenette. “Yes, there are more. I get all kinds of fan mail.”

  “This goes beyond fan mail, and you know it.”

  She shrugged and then tossed her hair. It was a typical move for her, especially when she didn’t want to talk about something.

  “How long have you been getting these?”

  She took a sip of her drink. He could see the tremor in her hands. It was subtle, and to another person most likely invisible, but Gabriel was a trained observer, a lycan with fine-tuned senses, and he also knew Elise. “Two years, I guess.”

  “Two years. And you never thought to tell anyone?”

  “They’re harmless. Mostly poems.”

  “Harmless poems written with cutout letters from magazines? Only people with malicious intent think to hide their handwriting with this technique, Elise.”

  “I never thought to bother anyone with them. I never felt threatened, Gabriel.”

  He lifted an eyebrow in question. “Until now.”

  “Yes, until now.”

  “Did you keep the others?”

  She nodded. “They’re in a drawer in my office at my house.”

  “When was the last time you received one?”

  “Over six months ago.” She set the wineglass back onto the table. “I remember it was right before I flew to Paris for principal shooting on the film.”

  “You didn’t get any while in Paris?”

  She shook her head. “No. I actually thought maybe he’d given up.”

  “And this is the first letter since you’ve been back?”

  She nodded again.

  “How long have you been home?”

  “Only a few days.”

  He nodded, and wrote notes in his little notebook that he always carried in his jacket pocket. “Sounds like your fan is a local and knows your schedule.”

  “Hmm, I guess I never really considered that.”

  He slid the notebook into his jacket and closed his crime-scene kit with a snap. “I’ll have someone come by and pick up those other letters.”

  She sat forward on the sofa. “Why don’t you come by? We could have tea in the garden.”

  “No, thanks.” He picked up the kit and headed for the door of the trailer. “Someone will be by tomorrow.” He opened the door. “We’ll keep you apprised of the situation.”

  “Gabriel?”

  He looked over his shoulder at her. She was leaning toward him, biting her bottom lip. He knew that look. It was one of longing and pain.

  “I…” She paused, then licked her lips. “It was good to see you again.”

  He nodded to her and went out the door. At the bottom of the three metal steps, he shut the door behind him, the palm of his hand pressed against it. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath, let it out, then dropped his arm and walked away. He had work to do.

  Chapter 3

  “So, what’s she like?”

  Gabriel glanced away from the plastic case, where the letter and envelope were being “glued” for fingerprints, and up at Dane, the analyst. “Who?”

  “Elise Leroy.” The vampire’s eyes were bright with curiosity.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t talk to her long.”

  “Really? I heard you like knew her, knew her.”

  Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, yeah, where did you hear that?”

  “From Sophie.”

  He shook his head, trying hard not to grind his teeth, and then turned his gaze back to the fingerprinting machine. “So what do we have?”

  Wearing latex gloves, Dane opened the box and withdrew the envelope. With his magnifying glass, he examined the loops and swirls of the prints exposed on the white paper. He looked at all of them front and back then set the scope down on the desk.

  “Looks like four distinct prints.”

  Gabriel nodded. That’s what he’d thought. According to Lily’s statement, four people had touched the envelope—the courier, who they’d tracked down and had come down to give his statement and submit his prints, the studio guard, Lily and Elise.

  “How about the letter?”

  Dane plucked it from the machine, laid it flat on the desk and examined the dark swirls on the edges of the paper. Gabriel waited patiently as the analyst peered at the paper intently, knowing Dane was the best at what he did. Even if there’d only been smudges, the vampire would be able to decipher them.

  “Three different prints.”

  Gabriel’s heart skipped a little. “Are you sure?”

  Dane nodded. “Definitely.”

  “All right. Scan them and run them against what we’ve pulled from the witnesses. There’s going to be one that doesn’t match.”

  The vampire smiled gleefully. “Suspect?”

  “I’m hoping.”

  According to Lily’s statement, only she and Elise had touched the actual letter. So if there was another set of prints, Gabriel had to assume they might belong to the perpetrator.

  “Righto, boss man. I’ll call you when I get something.” Dane saluted him.

  With a nod, Gabriel left the analysis room to head back to his office. He had to make sure he got someone to pick up the other letters from Elise’s house. They would have to print them all.

  He reached his closed office door but before he could open it and escape inside, he heard his name being called.

  “Gabriel, if you have a minute.”

  He glanced toward the superintendent Jakob Weiss as he marched toward Gabriel. Another man strode beside him, his aristocratic face pinched in annoyance.

  Gabriel cursed under his breath. He didn’t really need a problem like Mayor Benoit Dubois. Since the witch had taken office he’d been constantly in his face, inquiring about this, asking about that. Gabriel had a strong feeling that the man had delusions or boyhood aspirations about being a cop.