Elisa had calmed down somewhat by the time she'd gotten to the castle.
She had talked to Matt, tossing around ideas on ways they could explain away the picture.
It was an interior shot of the castle, so they could claim that someone had taken the shot at night and were only claiming it was daytime.
They could claim it was a Photoshop job, as the only gargoyle trait that showed on the picture was the wings. Her wing structure was identical to Goliath's so maybe…
They could tell a version of the truth, saying that Nayeli was a gargoyle who was able to be awake during the day. The Guatemalan clan had magical talismans who allowed them to do the same, though she hated to drag another clan into the mess.
In the end, the pair of detectives decided to take the problem to the clan and see what solutions they could offer.
The clan was already discussing it, having been apprised of the situation by David and Fox. Elisa and Matt walked into a confusing mixture of ideas and accusations being tossed around.
"Enough," Goliath roared above the noise. He spotted Elisa and gestured for her to come to his side. "We knew that there may be a time when Nayeli would be discovered," he said, gently guiding Elisa to his side.
"I was just hoping it would be later," Elisa admitted on a sigh. "And not so… sudden."
Goliath nodded his head in agreement.
"But we can't tell the humans everything," Lei-Ji pointed out. "They'd not accept her. Not now."
"Not ever," Demona growled. "Can any of you honestly see a day when a half human, half gargoyle child would be accepted by humans?"
"Not now," Garia said in her thick accent. "But maybe someday…"
"Someday is not today," Griff said sadly. "We must find a way to keep her protected."
That set off a new round of everyone talking at once, each shouting to be heard.
It was so loud that Elisa almost didn't hear her phone ring. She took it from her pocket, glanced at the screen and, recognizing the number, hurried to the double doors that led outside.
"Maza," she answered, closing the door behind her to soften the noise.
"Maza," Acting Chief Carlin's voice came through loud and clear. "I thought I told you and Bluestone to handle this mess, and to leave the NYPD out of it."
"We tried, sir," Elisa said, trying to hold on to her temper. "But the show was pre-recorded. They notified the NYPD earlier this evening to try to get our statements, but by the time we found out, it was too late."
"Did I ask for excuses?" he barked out. "You and Bluestone handle this thing. Now. Call the station and offer to go on their show tomorrow night, if that's what it takes. The sooner the better."
"Yes, sir," Elisa said.
"And tell the gargoyles to be here, at the station tomorrow night as soon as they wake up. We're going to have a press conference to try to fix this."
"Yes, sir," Elisa said again, only to realize that she'd said it to dead air, as Carlin had already hung up.
Elisa tucked the phone in her pocket, walked to the far side of the courtyard and gave herself a moment, just a moment, to give in to the anger she was feeling.
She wanted to scream, cry or throw something, like Matt had said.
Better yet, she wanted to get her hands on the reporter who had taken that damn picture. No matter that she was impersonating someone from another publication. No matter that she was trespassing when she'd taken it.
It was out there now, and none of them knew what kind of reaction it was going to call up. It hadn't been that long ago when the Humans First group had caused so much trouble, and before that there was the Quarrymen. There were still minor outbreaks of protests in the city.
Would those minor protests gain more traction now?
Elisa slapped her palms to one of the stone walls and pushed against them hard, essentially shoving herself back. Not as satisfying as hitting it, but with her luck, she'd break her hand and that wouldn't do anyone any good.
Elisa took a deep breath, schooled her face into her cop face, and went back inside to talk to the others.