“Mmm. Mmm. This is good. This is really good. You want some?”
Raven shook his head as Claire held up a fork of her Musho Pork. He quietly ate his Chow Mein as he watched Claire wolfing down her plate. For some reason he couldn’t help but stare in amazement at her and he felt a nagging question at the back of his throat. Finally he realized what he wanted to ask and just came out with it as their plates were cleared away.
“Why do you trust me?”
Claire paused as she brought her drink to her lips. She looked at Raven as she took a quick sip and set the glass down with a clank.
“Well you’re my partner.”
“Oh bullshit. How can you trust me?”
She watched as Raven leaned back in his chair, pinning her with a look. She understood what he meant and crossed her arms on the table leaning against them.
“It’s simple. I’ve decided to trust you. You, Raven. Not your name but you.”
She waited as her words hit home. The only reaction she got out of Raven was a raised eyebrow. She sighed slightly as she pressed on.
“So…can’t you trust me and not my name?”
A small smile played on her lips as Raven spoke, “Your name’s not even a mage name.”
Her smile brightens as she sat up, “Exactly!”
At that Raven did chuckle as he leaned back on the table ordering coffee. Claire kept her smile wide as that gave her encouragement. Coffee was brought and she ordered tea for herself as Raven took a sip.
“I found something on Bron’s online profile.”
Claire’s eyebrows shot up as her hot tea was brought and she poured herself a cup, “Well don’t hog it all to yourself. What was it?”
“He was seeing a shrink.”
“A psychiatrist? He was seeing a psychiatrist? How do you know that?”
“His profile mentioned going to another appointment. I did some digging and turns out he was meeting a Dr. Crawford. Figured we’ll stop by on the way back to the office.”
Claire flashed a grin, “We?”
Raven sipped from his coffee and glared at her from over the rim, “You’re able to detect magic right? Then you should be able to tell if the doc is our culprit or not.”
“Hmm.” Claire shrugged her shoulders as she stirred her tea, “What was he seeing the doc for, do you know?”
“That’s what we’re gonna find out.”
They quickly paid the bill and made their way outside. Raven gave Claire the address and they made their way to the public port. Claire kept an eye on him and silently offered her hand. Raven gave half a thought of taking it but berated himself instead. He walked in the port side by side with Claire. She quickly gave the destination to the fairy and off they went. They came upon a skyscraper of the New York skyline. Claire tilted her head back to look at the tower of windows tickling the sky. Her lips twitched as she thought of the first time she looked down on New York and here she was looking up. Raven called to her from the front door and she sprinted to catch up.
“How can I help you?”
The young secretary at the desk looked Raven and Claire up and down. All walks of life walk into this office to talk to the doctor so she has developed a way to tell who’s who. Talk, dark, handsome and screaming of wild nail-biting sex was obviously a cop. But the ditzy looking blonde with him looked anything but. The secretary simply pegged her as someone wanting to make an appointment and kept her eyes on the candy before her.
“We’re here to see Dr. Crawford.”
Raven watched as the genuine smile on the girl’s face dropped 10 degrees, “Do you have an appointment?”
“No but I’ve got a free pass.”
Raven pulled out his badge and flashed it to the young girl. She looked it over and figured it was real and pointed her head to Claire, “And her?”
“My associate.”
“Partner.”
Raven turned his head to glare at Claire and she did her best ‘what’ impression. He turned back to the secretary and saw her switching her eyes between the two. She did her ‘whatever’ eye roll and pressed the intercom.
“Dr. Crawford.”
“What is it Paula?”
“Police’s here to see you.”
“Police?” There was a pause as Paula waiting for her reply, “Send them in.”
Paula waved her hand to the door beside her and they quickly went in. Dr. Crawford stood from behind her desk, straightening her suit as she went to shake Raven’s hand.
“Hello. I’m Dr. Melissa Crawford.”
“Nice to meet you Doctor. I’m Detective Raven Black and this is my associate Claire Dunsworth.”
Hands were shook and pleasantries were given as everyone shuffled to the chairs. Raven sat in the chair in front of the desk as Claire stood silent studying the room. Dr. Crawford went behind her desk and folded her hands on top. From the corner of her eye Claire studied the doctor up and down. She surely wasn’t what she had expected from a psychiatrist. She had glasses hanging from a chain around her neck but didn’t seem to need them. She wore no make-up and her dull colored hair was in a simple bun. She looked if anything like a normal plain doctor.
“So, what can I do for one of New York’s finest?”
Raven pulled out a notepad and flipped to a clean page, “We’re here investigating the murder of one of your patients. James Bron?”
“James?” Dr. Crawford blinked as her hand reached for her throat, “James is dead?”
“Yes ma’am, I’m sorry.”
“H-He was a good patient.”
Dr. Crawford reached for a tissue forever in reach within her office and silently blew her nose as her tears welled up.
“Were you close to the victim Doctor?”
She looked up as Raven asked her, “Um please call me Melissa and no I wasn’t it’s just…he was making such progress. A few more sessions and he wouldn’t have to see me again.”
“What was he here to see you about?”
“Detective, although my patient might be dead I still have to honor our doctor patient confidentiality.”
Raven snapped his notepad shut, “We could come back with a warrant Doctor.”
“Detective there’s no need for that. I assure you my sessions with my patient will give you no insight on his murder.”
Raven moved to stand, “We’ll be back with a warrant.”
Melissa held up a hand to stop him, “Detective-“
“Did you know this is sage?”
Raven and Melissa stood and turned to Claire who was pointing at an oil painting of a plant hanging on the wall over the couch.
Melissa let her hand fall as she walked towards Claire, “Yes it is a very nice painting of sage and very expensive, please don’t touch.”
Claire ignored her as she grabbed the plant and actually pulled out a stem of sage from the painting, “It’s not a painting doc, it’s real sage. You hung this here so the smell would overwhelm your patients, causing them to spill their guts and secrets as they became hypnotized.”
Raven grinned as Melissa tried to think of something to say, “Now you’ll tell my partner everything he needs to know or I’ll report your use of a magical artifact without a proper permit to the Guild.”
Melissa went ridged as she became trapped. Finally she sighed and collapsed behind her desk.
“James came to me a few months ago with nightmares. He couldn’t sleep and had begun sleepwalking when he decided to seek my help.”
Raven opened his notepad and quickly took notes, “What were the nightmares about?”
“Brain control. He had different dreams but one reoccurring one was of him being control through his mind to jump from a cliff.”
“A cliff?”
Claire came up beside Raven crossing her arms. Melissa looked up, “Yes. He never dreamt of his death but of being commanded to jump to his death and being helpless to disobey.”
Raven nodded his head as he continued to make notes, “We’ll need a copy of his file.”
Melissa opened her mouth to refuse but saw Claire hold up the piece of sage still in her hand. She finally relented and went to her file cabinet. She pulled out the file and slapped it on her desk, “Here. Take it and leave.”
Raven picked up the file and slipped his notepad back into his pocket, “Thank you for your time.”
They walked to the door and Claire stopped pointing to the painting, “That really is a nice painting.”
Melissa said nothing as Claire smiled at her. They quickly left the building and Claire grabbed the file from Raven as they walked to the port. Raven said nothing but was curious about something.
“How did you know about the painting?”
They stepped in the port and Claire quickly gave the fairy their address, “I could smell it.”
Back in front of their building Raven furrowed his eyebrows, “I didn’t smell anything.”
Claire chuckled as they walked up the steps, “No, I meant I smelt the magic coming off the painting. It was faint but still there.”
Raven nodded his head as they walked in, “What’d you do to the painting?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Raven grabbed her elbow as they reached his desk, “You said patients were spilling their guts because of the painting, not her. Wouldn’t you destroy it?”
Claire gently placed the file on Raven’s desk as she turned to him, “Why? Because she was using magic to help her patients? Regardless of how she does it, she really is helping these people. Who am I to take that away from them?”
Comments (0)
See all