The Devil's Teeth (Ravenwood Mysteries #5) Read online

  "The same reason opening a book and reading it from the beginning matters. You'd never do that, would you?"

  "Mother starts past the middle of the bible all the time. She never reads the beginning."

  "Does she read to you?"

  "Every day," he said sullenly. "It's boring."

  "Just so. Why don't you start at the beginning." Isobel stared at the boy with all the authority she possessed, which was considerable—a long line of Portuguese aristocracy ran through her veins.

  It loosened his tongue. "We had a small party. And then father left for San Francisco."

  "Who was there?"

  "Mother and father."

  "Servants?"

  John made a face. "What do they matter?"

  Isobel plucked up a baseball, and tossed it in the air. "How many servants do you have here?"

  "A cook, a maid… well, we had a maid. And a groundsman." He crossed his arms, and waited for her to ask another pointless question.

  "What happened to the maid?"

  He shrugged. "She left."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know."

  Isobel sat on his desk, tossing the ball in the air, and waiting for him to go on. John obliged. "Titus and me decided to go camping to try out my new rifle."

  "Did you and your brother go camping often?"

  John nodded. "We once stayed out five days. I hunted for all our food."

  "What did Titus do?"

  "Complained."

  Isobel smiled. "Sounds like my twin and me. What direction did you walk?"

  "Where you found me. Towards the mountains."

  "Do you always go there?"

  "We go all over. But I thought the hunting would be best out that way."

  "Was it good? The hunting?" she asked.

  "I shot a deer, but it ran."

  "When was that?"

  John made a face. "Why's it matter?"

  Isobel arched a brow.

  John shrugged. "Wednesday, I think. Real early. It was still foggy."

  "Are you sure it was a deer?" she asked.

  "It looked like one. It was in a meadow. Then out of nowhere that man came screaming at us. Titus told me to run, so I did. Only Titus is slower than I am, and when I stopped… he was gone." Tears welled in his bright blue eyes. He scraped them away.

  "Did the man say anything to you?"

  "He was hollering something fierce. I went back to our camp 'cause I figured Titus would know to come there. Only he never did." John snatched the baseball out of the air above her palm. He gripped the ball so hard, his knuckles were white.

  "Do you like sports?" Isobel asked.

  The question restored him. "I'm going to be a batter like Jimmy Ryan."

  Isobel picked up a coonskin hat, beside what she assumed was the creature's skull. "Or Davy Crockett?"

  "Him, too. Or maybe I'll join Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. I'm a crack shot," John boasted. But his pride deflated. "I should have shot that man."

  "A twenty-two gauge bullet wouldn't have done much damage."

  "Unless you shoot something in the eye."

  "Speaking of eyes, perhaps you should check your eyesight."

  His face screwed up. "My eyes are fine."

  "You shot a dog. Not a deer."

  John blinked. He looked at her in shock. "It was a deer," he insisted.

  "It was a dog."

  John shook his head. "I'm sure of it."

  "Are you?"

  John dropped his baseball, and stalked out of his room.

  "You're lying, John." Isobel called after him.

  The voices in the sitting room cut off. Mrs. Sheel appeared in the hallway, and her son drew up short. "What's going on?" Mrs. Sheel asked. She was pale, and used a hand to support herself on the wall.

  John turned, and crossed his arms.

  "How did you get that black eye?" Isobel pressed.

  "I don't want to answer any more questions!"

  "Miss Amsel," Julius began, but Isobel put up a hand.

  "I know you're lying, John."

  "What is going on?" Mrs. Sheel asked again. But this time it was a demand. John stood in the middle of the hallway, equally distant from his mother and Isobel. His fists were clenched.

  "You fought with your brother, didn't you?" Isobel asked. "You knew that deer was a dog, and Titus tried to stop you from shooting her."

  "Miss Amsel!" Mrs. Sheel cried. "Leave my son alone."

  John was staring at his shoes. "It was just a dumb dog. Titus didn't want me to shoot it. We got in a row, and he started punching me. I shoved him away, and I aimed at the dog, and pulled the trigger."

  Mrs. Sheel flinched.

  "It was Samuel Lopez's dog," Isobel said into the quiet.

  "I didn't know!" The boy squeezed his eyes shut. Tears slipped from his eyes. "I thought it was a wild dog," he whispered. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault."

  And just like that, Isobel had crushed a child.

  "I think you should leave, Miss Amsel."

  Mrs. Sheel marched them towards the front door. But Isobel stopped at the doorway to the sitting room. Julius gave her a look, but she ignored his silent plea and ducked inside.

  "Erm, Mrs. Sheel. I hope you can get some rest. I can prescribe a…" Julius tried to distract the lady of the house.

  "Where is Miss Amsel?"

  Footsteps approached. Isobel ignored them. A large leather-bound bible that lay on a lectern had caught her attention. The family bible was much handled, and its bookmark was buried deep in the back. But it was open to the front—to Genesis.

  "I asked you to leave, Miss Amsel," Mrs. Sheel said. She was the kind of woman who forced authority into her voice. The result was more to reassure herself than to command.

  Isobel spun on her heel, and smiled. "Why did your maid leave?"

  "She found other work." Mrs. Sheel shook her head. "Why does that matter?"

  "Does your husband strike the children, too?"

  Mrs. Sheel flinched. "I don't know what you're talking about. Charles is a good man."

  "With a temper." Isobel gestured at Mrs. Sheel's neck. "I know those kind of men. I saw the bruises under your collar."

  Mrs. Sheel adjusted her collar, tugging it higher. "I don't see what my husband has to do with Titus's disappearance. You should be out looking for my son. I can't believe you recommended her, Doctor Bright."

  Isobel cocked a brow at the doctor. Isobel was as surprised as Mrs. Sheel. "We'll show ourselves out."

  The door slammed shut on their heels.

  Isobel hurried down the steps, and headed to the main street.

  "Are you happy with yourself?" Julius asked as he hurried to catch up with her quick strides.

  "I had to know."

  "He's a child!" Julius bit out.

  "Who lied to us," she said.

  Julius pulled her to a stop in the middle of the road, and took a deep breath. Anger, it seemed, was something he kept on a tight rein. "Yes," he admitted. "But it's a natural response under the circumstances. You all but blamed John for his brother's disappearance. That kind of guilt won't go away."

  "It had to be done."

  Julius squared his shoulders. "Did it really, Miss Amsel?"

  Isobel kept walking.

  "You have all the tact of a battering ram."

  Isobel gave a sharp laugh.

  "This isn't amusing."

  "No, it's not. But my methods get results, Doctor."

  "My peers make the same claim when they cut out portions of a brain, and lock lunatics in cages, Miss Amsel."

  "Noted," she said over her shoulder. "Would you prefer Sheriff Nash's methods?"

  "The lesser of two evils is still evil."

  "I'm well aware, Doctor."

  They reached the boardwalk along the main street, and Isobel turned towards Bright Waters.

  "One thing is clear," Julius said at her side. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

  "I am not my mother," Isobe
l snapped, and instantly caught herself. He knew precisely where to hit. "At least, I'm trying not to be."

  "I dread to think what your methods would be if you weren't trying."

  "Everyone loves my father, but no one forgets my mother," Isobel admitted. "Say one thing about my mother—she's a force to be reckoned with."

  Julius grunted his agreement.

  "Do you fear turning into your father?" Now it was her turn to poke.

  "Yes," he admitted. "It's the reason I started Bright Waters. No one should be locked in a room."

  "What about murderers?"

  "I'm not the law," Julius admitted. "Can you imagine no reason to kill, Miss Amsel?" His question was asked so casually that it chilled her blood. Isobel stopped, and looked up into his eyes, searching for the truth behind the jovial mask he wore.

  Her parents had once taken her to the Japanese theatre. The Noh masks were fixed, but depending on the light, the movement of the actor, and tilt of the head, the featureless mask changed expression. From jovial to sad, from sad to menacing. Julius Bright wore one of those masks. And his ever-present smile now appeared threatening.

  Isobel steered away from his question. "I talked with Samuel last night." She told him what she had learned.

  "I knew he wouldn't hurt the boy."

  "You believe him?"

  "Of course," Julius insisted.

  "Despite what he did in the jailhouse?"

  "I helped him. I… raised him after a fashion."

  Fearing the doctor would turn maudlin and she'd be forced to comfort him, she asked, "How did Samuel come to be at Bright Waters?"

  "His mother died under my care. Her husband or lover put her there, and I suspect he was the cause of Samuel's mental stunting. When I finally coaxed Samuel out of the forest, he was whip-thin, and cowered at every noise."

  "Why didn't he stay at Bright Waters?"

  Julius looked away, down the road to the oblivious white-clad vacationers and tourists strolling under the sun. "Samuel wanted to be independent. To live on his own."

  Isobel narrowed her eyes. "You're lying," she said bluntly. "Something happened."

  Julius took a deep breath. "Samuel had a puppy. One of the nurses tried to take it from him. He pushed her. But that's all."

  "You want to believe he's innocent."

  "Of course I do! But he would never harm a child."

  "This isn't one of your clinical diagnoses, Doctor. You sound desperate."

  "Do you blame me?"

  "I expected better of you," she said coolly. "Every murderer, every rapist, every brute has a mother and a father. And I'd wager they'd sound very much the same if their child was accused of a heinous crime."

  "Not all," Julius insisted. "There are some parents who would be relieved that their child was caught."

  "A bad seed?"

  Julius nodded. "Some alienists hold to the theory that murderers and rapists are born."

  "You?"

  "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't think humans fit into a neat mold. We're too messy. But there have been studies. Cerebrum dissections have been performed on some of the most violent criminals. As of yet, there's no explanation, but we ache to find one. To know why some men commit the most heinous of crimes."

  "And women," she added. "Does your work as an alienist ever answer the why of a thing?"

  "In some cases I'm able to guide a person through their own mind. They need to answer that question for themselves. It's often a question they've never realized needed answering."

  "Speaking of patients. Don't you have a hospital full of them?"

  "I do," he said. "But I have the rare chance to study a reticent patient, so I've cleared my schedule."

  Isobel chuckled. They walked in silence for a time, and then she pulled him to a stop under a tree between a blacksmith and stable. "I've been thinking about your question. About why I'm marrying another so soon after Alex."

  Julius stood attentive. Listening. He had a pleasant listening face. Not intrusive, but curious. Another trick of his mask. "I asked you if it worried you."

  "But you wanted to know the why of it."

  "I can hardly deny it now."

  "Does the ocean call to you?" she asked suddenly.

  The shift in topic surprised him. "I find it pleasant, but terrifying."

  She nodded. "Can you swim?"

  "I can, but I know my limits. I like to think I have a healthy respect for Mother Nature."

  "Where you see danger, I see freedom. Storm or sun, in wind and rain, in all its moody glory. I'll jump in that ocean every chance I get. There are no lies. There's nothing but calm surrender. Right down to my bones." She let her words linger. Let him unravel the meaning. And finally, "I never thought I'd find that in a person."

  Julius smiled, warmly. "Some call it love."

  "Some call love fleeting."

  "Not the deep sort," he said gently. "Thank you for sharing that with me, but honestly, I was only worried you were with child and felt forced into marrying again."

  Isobel cocked her head, and leaned slightly to the right, looking past his arm. "I am, after a fashion." She cursed under her breath, and took off running.

  A small, thin child in an oversized cap turned on its heel, and ran. The child disappeared up and over a fence. Isobel cursed her riding skirt as she scrambled over the top, trying not to trip over the extra fabric. She cut to the right, down a lane, and came out the other side. The child ran straight into her.

  Isobel reached for the child as it bounced away. Cap flew off, exposing a long black queue. A revolver skittered across the dirt. Both child and woman lunged for the weapon. The child got there first, and started to raise the revolver.

  "What the hell are you doing, Jin?"

  Julius Bright huffed around the corner. Sao Jin's eyes widened, and she pointed the revolver at the towering alienist. Isobel growled, and snatched the weapon from her. Before the girl could run again, Isobel grabbed her by the shoulder. "Don't move."

  She handed Julius the revolver, and turned Jin to face her.

  The girl looked drawn. Her left eye was swollen shut, and dark bruises blossomed along her cheek.

  "I'm here to say goodbye," Jin blurted out.

  "By pointing a gun at me?" Isobel asked.

  "You scared me!" Jin growled.

  Isobel closed her eyes. Took a breath, and straightened. "Doctor, meet one of my daughters. Sao Jin."

  Julius coughed in surprise.

  "Why are you leaving? And what happened to your eye?"

  "Din Gau is going to kill me!" Jin's whole body trembled. The girl believed her words down to her bones.

  "Who is Din Gau?" Julius asked in concern.

  "Riot. My fiancé. Her father," Isobel said.

  "He is not my father."

  "Adopted."

  "Ah." Julius busied himself with checking the old revolver chambers. It was loaded. He removed the cartridges, and pocketed both weapon and ammunition.

  Isobel considered the girl. Jin was staring defiantly at a wall. Isobel let her go, and picked up the cap, slapping it on her head. "Did you run away and travel all night to get here?"

  Jin nodded, as meekly as Isobel had ever seen. "I am sorry, Captain Morgan."

  "Have you eaten?"

  "I drank out of a trough."

  Isobel didn't press her on that point. "And you had money for a train ticket?"

  Jin continued to stare at the wall. That explained the black marks on her hands, cheeks, and trousers. "You hitched a ride on the train," Isobel surmised.

  "It was easy."

  "Well, come on. You can tell me what happened."

  "No, I am saying goodbye."

  Isobel considered the girl for a moment. "I'm in the middle of an investigation, Jin. I need your help. The doctor here isn't much of a fighter. You can leave afterwards."

  Jin frowned at the doctor in thought. Julius smiled back. That decided her. She gave one curt nod.

  Isobel thrust out her
hand. The child shook it.

  "I haven't eaten. Food first." Isobel wasn't hungry. But Jin was a proud child, and Isobel didn't want her fainting in the middle of an investigation.

  "Your daughter?" Julius asked as they walked towards a hotel.

  "Riot and I are adopting Jin and Sarah," she explained. "He's already signed the papers. I'll sign as soon as we're married."

  Julius glanced back at the child. Jin was glaring at his back.

  "You certainly jump feet first into everything," he said.

  The first hotel refused to serve a Chinese child. As did a tearoom. They finally found a rundown cafe that was only concerned about the color of cash.

  "You traveled from San Francisco alone?" Julius asked.

  Jin had a mouthful of biscuit. She chewed, and glared at the doctor. Isobel took a sip of black coffee. "We're working on her manners," she said. "Aren't we?"

  "Yes." The girl said, spewing crumbs out of her mouth. Isobel suspected it was done intentionally.

  "Those are delicious, aren't they?" Isobel asked. Jin nodded, and reached for a second, but Isobel placed a hand over hers. "First, what happened?"

  Jin blew out a breath, and sat back. "I punched Sarah. And now Din Gau is going to kill me. She is his favorite."

  Isobel tilted her head. "And how did you get that black eye?"

  Jin pressed her lips together.

  "Riot's not going to kill you, Jin."

  "He will kick me out!" Her nostrils flared.

  "So you left before he could do that?"

  Jin gave a jerk of her head.

  "I see." She took a sip of her coffee. "Why did you punch Sarah?"

  A muscle in Jin's jaw twitched.

  Isobel blinked. "Sarah punched you first, didn't she?"

  Julius cleared his throat. "You sound rather excited by that prospect."

  "I didn't think Sarah had it in her," Isobel said.

  Jin snorted, and quickly stiffened back up like a statue.

  Isobel cracked a smile at the girl. "I bet you were shocked."

  Jin tried to reach for the biscuit again.

  "Not yet. Why did Sarah punch you?"

  Jin deflated. "I tore out a page in her sketchbook. She drew me without my permission."

  "Ah." Isobel handed her the biscuit. "Jin, your sister—"

  "She is not my sister!"

  "You certainly sound like sisters. At the very least she's your crew mate. And I'm your captain. So no abandoning ship on my watch, is that clear?"