My breath caught. “Another murder? From when? Who is it?”
“A citizen discovered the body less than an hour ago in the Ninth Chime,” Hiram said. “Blue Capes are there now.”
“Was this what you were warning me about in your note?”
“No.” He shook his head. Worry and frustration bled through the sharp line of his jaw and the tense set of his eyes. “We received a tip that there might be some trouble at the debate today, but then an officer found the body. We haven’t identified it yet, but it’s close. I’m going to check it out now.”
“I’ll come with you.” The words were out before I could second-guess them. If I Slipped, maybe I could find some clues and be back before anyone noticed.
“Honestly, I was hoping you would. I thought you might be able to help.”
His words lit a warm glow in me. While Desmarc dismissed the Lower Chimes, Hiram devoted his life to helping others. The warmth spread to my cheeks, and then I shook my head. I shouldn’t be comparing them.
“Thank you for believing in me,” I said. “I know it probably still seems crazy.”
“It helps that you aren’t the first person I’ve met with a strange ability.” He scanned the people around us. “We should go.”
He took off before I could question him about the others with strange abilities he’d met. Even if they weren’t the same as mine, the fact that other people were out there with any abilities just confirmed that Papá had lied after all. There were more people out there than just me.
My head spun as I followed Hiram down an alley where the buildings towered over us on both sides. His admittance made other things fall into place—why he’d been willing to let me join him all those weeks ago and his strange reaction after watching me Slip the first time.
The debate behind us shifted to discussing environmental stewardship and social equality, but the voices grew fainter as we left the Epoch Clock behind and firmly entered the Ninth Chime until I could no longer make out the responses over the sounds of the city. Once we left the relative isolation of the alley, people pressed around us once more. It was easy enough to keep track of Hiram with his azure cape flashing in the crowd, but keeping up with him was another matter, especially in a leather corset.
Hiram grabbed my hand. “We have to hurry. It’s only a matter of time before word of this gets out, and with it so close to the debate, things could get bad.”
“Right.” I followed him, trying not to pay too much attention to the warmth of his fingers through the gloves. He was just guiding me. Nothing more.
We cut through one of the major roads of the Ninth where brass and glass sky-bridges connected the towering high-rises overhead, then joined the traffic on a smaller street. Narrow alleyways with wrought-iron fences, trailing ivy, and intricate filigree arches branched off it.
“Almost there.” Hiram squeezed my hand.
Did he know he did that?
We passed a large clock shop on our left, a majestic grandfather clock in the display window demanding attention, and an apothecary shop, whose large glass window displayed bottles filled with colorful liquids and whirring gears. Steam rose from a few vents on the ground, reminding me of the city at night when mist rolled in from the Steele.
At the scene, a few officers had an alley roped off and were directing curious bystanders away. The sounds of the amplified voices at the debate were just a faint background rumble. We weren’t too far from the city center, fifteen minutes at most. It was almost like the killer hadn’t cared that he’d cause a commotion so close to the debate, where all the Blue Capes would be.
Hiram pushed past everyone, pulling me behind him, and I got my first glimpse of the body covered by a brown canvas.
“We need to clear the area,” Hiram instructed the handful of officers. He let go of my hand, making me feel suddenly adrift in the chaos and panic.
“We’re trying, sir,” an officer with short curly hair said. “There are a lot of people out today because of the debate.”
Officers and curious civilians surrounded the crime scene. I fiddled with the edge of my glove and pulled up my hood. Any number of them could blow my cover.
I tugged on Hiram’s sleeve, and he turned his piercing gaze on me. “Do you trust me?” I asked softly.
“Of course.”
“Then I need to touch everything the victim has on them right now, but I need to do it in a less conspicuous place.”
He studied me for a long moment, and I waited to see if he still doubted my ability. The sound of my pounding heart filled the space between us.
Hiram turned to one of his men. “Has someone already taken tintypes of the crime scene? Yes? Good.” He gestured to another alley. “Move the body there and block off the alley on both sides and redirect traffic around this spot.”
The men around him jumped to do his bidding.
“You’ll have a few minutes at most.”
“That should be enough.”
He caught my wrist as I turned to go into the alley. “I hope you find something we can use.”
“Me too.” I swallowed and tried to ignore the nerves twisting in my gut.
“We have to stop this guy before he kills anyone else.”
“I know.”
Minutes later, I was kneeling in the alley next to the dead body and peeling off one of my gloves. “May the aether guide your soul,” I whispered to her before moving closer. I pulled back the canvas to reveal an older woman who appeared to be in her sixties or seventies. Bile rose in the back of my throat at the hole in her chest. It looked like no wound I’d ever seen before, cleaving straight through her chest. The edges almost seemed cauterized. No bullet left a wound that large nor did that sort of damage.
I took slow, deep breaths and forced myself to rummage through her things. The harsh feel of the cobblestone pressing through my dress to my knees. The sounds of voices echoing back from the street. The faint noise from the debate reminded me that I only had a little while before Papá or Desmarc questioned my absence.
In one pocket, the woman had a coin purse, a small fan, and a glass vial filled with a colorless liquid. In the other pocket, she had a handkerchief and a miniature rabbit made of gears and cogs, though one ear was broken. What could a woman with a curious assortment of items such as these have to do with our serial killer, and how was she connected to the other victims?
The noise of the crowd grew louder, and though my engagement watch around my neck was closed, it was as if I could hear the seconds ticking by. I needed to hurry.
My attention fell to a crumpled piece of paper in her hand, and, instinctively, I reached for it. A blue spark jumped from my finger, and I braced myself for the inevitable tug as my spirit Slipped from my body into the past.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I let the world race by me until I dropped into the memory. Darkness surrounded me, but this time I didn’t let myself panic. I had to see what I could learn from the past to help us prevent the murderer from striking again. He was just going to keep taking lives until we stopped him.
And we would stop him.