The Sorcerer Heir (Heir Chronicles) by Cinda Williams Chima Read Free Book Online Page B

it pained him.
    “Do you always interrogate minors without benefit of counsel or parental involvement?” Green snapped back.
    “It’s not an interrogation, Mr. Green,” Childers said. “Emma—Ms. Lee—is a possible witness to a crime, and I’m asking her some questions is all.”
    “And you had to drag her out here to your car to do that?” Gabriel said. “You don’t think there’s an element of intimidation in that?”
    Childers seemed uncowed by Gabriel’s aggressive posture. “It’s standard procedure, Mr. Mandrake, to remove a witness to a private area without distraction, where he or she can speak without worrying about being overheard. We also like to collect witness accounts individually so they are uncontaminated by what other people say. Anyway, she came willingly. The point is, we have three young people dead and one critically injured, and not a lot to go on so far. She seemed willing to help.”
    “I hope you can appreciate that Ms. Lee is one of the young people I am responsible for protecting,” Gabriel said. “I don’t know how much you know about my work with the Thorn Hill Foundation and the Anchorage, but these children are fragile.”
    “Fragile?”
    “Many of our students have been physically and emotionally traumatized,” Gabriel said.
    “Is that so?” Childers took another look at Emma. “I didn’t know that.”
    “You would know if you had gone through proper channels,” Gabriel said.
    I’m not some kind of invalid, Emma wanted to shout, but since Gabriel seemed bent on yanking her out of this web of lies she was snagged in, she could hardly complain. She rubbed her arms, missing the warmth of the jacket.
    “I take your point, Mr. Mandrake, but the sooner we can gather some preliminary information, the closer we’ll be to solving this thing,” Childers said, leaning his arms on the top of the car.
    “It seems to me your time would be better spent conducting a thorough search of the area and collecting forensic evidence than by browbeating a vulnerable young woman,” Green said.
    “I’ve got people searching the grounds,” Childers said. He shifted his gaze to Emma. “You feeling browbeaten, Emma?”
    “I just want to go home,” she whispered, tears leaking from her eyes.
    Childers nodded. “Ms. Lee, I appreciate your talking to me. I have your contact information, and once we get all the analysis done, I’ll probably want to have you back down to the station to answer a few more questions and sign a statement.”
    Emma just nodded.
    Childers groped in his pocket and came up with a battered card case. He fished out a card and handed it to Emma. “If you think of anything else—anything that might be helpful—will you call me?”
    “Sure,” Emma said. “Okay.”
    Emma watched him walk away. The Trinity, Ohio, chief of police seemed to be the kind of person you’d want to have on your side if you got into a jam: solid, methodical, and thorough. He was not the kind of person you’d want on the case if you were trying to hide something. Or if you just wanted to be left alone.

W hen Jonah Kinlock woke up covered in blood in Seph McCauley’s backyard, he suspected that he’d been set up. Maybe it was the bodies scattered all around him or the bloody daggers that lay half-buried in leaves next to each hand. Anyone who happened upon this little scene would name him the prime suspect. He needed to exit the stage.
    First and foremost, Jonah thought, I have to get out of these bloody clothes. He wasn’t sure whose blood was on them, but he knew it wasn’t his own.
    It wasn’t easy to think strategically with his head swimming. Whatever drug they’d used on him was still in his system. He was staggering, stumbling, shambling more than running. It was unlikely he could outrun anybody in his present state. His vision swam and blurred, like he was looking through a rain-streaked window. Was he safe to drive? He hoped so, because he didn’t see that he had any