Chapter 46 - Family Matters
9:10pm - In the Bedroom
"The white horse leaped forward. Snow, ice and frost fell from his tail. The brave Valkyrie raised her sword on his back and let out a fearless battle cry. She-"
"Tamsin," Bo interrupted the Valkyrie's mumbles as she gently smacked Tamsin's head with a stack of files in her hand. "Stop."
"Stop what?" The blonde slurred, nuzzling Bo's soft breasts in the most affectionate way.
"Stop narrating your war stories while using tiny marshmallows as warriors, monsters and Valkyries and my naked body as the battlefield," Bo said in chuckles as she picked up a green marshmallow that was on her belly and ate it.
"Hey! You just ate the clan leader of the Orcs," Tamsin complained.
"And I am now eating the King of the Frost Giants," Bo told her as she tossed a blue candy into her mouth.
"No actually you've crushed the King of the Frost Giants a while ago," Tamsin giggled sillily as she tucked her hand under Bo's butt and took out a blue marshmallow that had turned flat.
She tossed it into the trash can, before she turned back and pushed Bo's breasts together. "And the Valkyrie is now trapped in the valley of Kyöpelinvuori…."
She tried to fish the candy out using only one finger, but instead she made Bo giggle and squirm. When she had finally gotten it out, it had already been flattened into a thin slice.
"Awww, look, I think the brave Valkyrie had found her eternal peace between my boobs. Bless her soul," Bo teased, and Tamsin laughed.
"I thought we were supposed to be reading the case files, Tamsin. The arson cases, you know," Bo drawled.
"You were supposed to be reading the case files, sweetheart, cuz I've already finished reading them," Tamsin said as she nuzzled Bo's soft nipple. "And while you do that, I'm just gonna enjoy how soft your boobs are…."
"Oh really? You've already finished reading all of them? Are you saying that you've read and remembered every detail?" Bo taunted.
Tamsin raised to look at Bo, one of her eyebrows cocking, as if she was amused that Bo dared to ask that question.
"Fine," Bo said as she scooted back. Sitting up against the headboard, she wrapped her perfect body in a blanket cozily despite Tamsin's teasing protests. "I'm gonna ask you some question about the details of the cases. If you get one thing wrong, you are gonna get punished tonight."
"And if I get everything correct?" Tamsin leaned in and lifted a corner of the blanket. She pressed a gentle kiss on Bo's exposed skin and purred.
"Well in that case..." Bo hummed as she gave the Valkyrie a light kiss on her lips, "...I'm gonna reward you by telling you a very, very dirty war story…" she seductively nibbled Tamsin's bottom lip, "...between your legs."
"Does your war story have a Valkyrie in it?" Tamsin asked, unable to hold her chuckles. She lowered her head to kiss Bo back and said, "alright, let's do this."
Bo crossed her legs and put the stack of files on top of them. She waved her fingers at Tamsin, telling the Valkyrie to move back and to sit up straight.
After getting an eyeroll from Tamsin, Bo cleared her throat and asked,"in the first case, the one that happened in the mid 1800s. How many victims were there?"
"12 deaths," Tamsin replied quickly. "10 children died in the fire with 2 adults. And of course, 1 child went missing."
"Who were those adults?"
"Bertha Boyer and Laura Ellis. They both worked for the orphanage."
"The name of the missing child?"
"Mary," Tamsin answered. "No last name."
"Describe her."
"Well, according to the files, they found her outside the orphanage 3 years before the fire. When they found her, she said that her name was Mary and she was 3 years old. Then, she went missing after the fire. She was short, quiet, blonde hair, green blue eyes. The day she went missing, she was wearing a blue dress and a golden locket. Later they recovered the locket from the fire. I think there's a sketch of the locket in there somewhere."
"There is," Bo glanced at the sketch, before she asked the next question, "what was the name of that orphanage?"
"St….John's, yep, St. John's," Tamsin said with a firm nod.
"Correct," Bo playfully pinched the proud Valkyrie's nose. "Alright, moving on to the second case. In what year did the fire take place?"
"1902."
"How many victims were there?"
"21 children died in the fire. 1 child went missing."
"What was the name of the missing child, and how old was he?"
"Thomas Wood," Tamsin replied after a long pause. "He was 7 when he went missing, I think."
"Any adult died in the fire?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Abso-fuking-lutely sure," Tamsin said. "The teacher of the class called in sick that day, and the substitute teacher wasn't there when the fire happened."
Bo giggled. "Okay, next question. Who were the primary suspects of this case?"
"A teacher who got fired a week before the fire, but his alibi eventually checked out. An arsonist who lived nearby, but it didn't match his signature. Then, they investigated the witch rumor, where multiple people had claimed that it was a witch's ghost who wanted payback because she had gotten burnt in flames. It turned out to be some bullshit story made up by a few kids who had hoped that school would stay closed."
"How did they find out that someone set the fire?"
"They found a lot of kerosene at the scene, as well as some sort of ignition device," Tamsin answered. "Also, the classroom was locked tight from the outside."
Bo nodded. She flipped the page and said, "Now, the third case, where my uncle was the one who went missing. How many kids died?"
"13, including a body which your grandfather identified as your uncle but it really wasn't him."
Bo asked a few more questions, until she realized that she had run out of questions. She bit her bottom lip as she watched the cocky smile on Tamsin's face bloom.
Letting out an evil grin, Bo said,"okay, last question. Tell me the names of all victims in this case."
"What?"
"Tell me the names of all victims in this case," Bo repeated.
"What? That's not even relevant!" Tamsin protested.
"Well, I believe that you said you remembered every detail of every page, not just the relevant stuff," Bo winked. "Besides, how do you know they aren't relevant, hmmm?"
"We've already run those names in the system and nothing popped up," Tamsin argued.
"Wel..." Bo drawled, "maybe the answer isn't in the system..."
Tamsin growled, and that made Bo chuckle.
"Answer the question, Tamsin, unless you want to admit that I win," Bo announced.
Tamsin murmured some curses in Old Norse, before she replied, "Jack Jones, Elizabeth Nelson, John Evans, Andy Cooper, Penelope Cox, Brenda Miller, Alexandra-Alexandra…."
"Alexandra-?"
"-Sanders," Tamsin added hesitantly.
"You sure?"
"Wait..." Tamsin murmured. "No, I think it's Coleman. Alexandra Coleman."
"Is that your final answer?"
"No...yeah, wait," Tamsin squeezed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that it's Alexander Coleman."
"Sorry, wrong," Bo formed a cross using her forearms. "Alexandra Sanders was the correct answer. There was a girl named Cindy Coleman, though.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Tamsin grunted.
Bo grinned as she grabbed Tamsin's waist and pulled her close. "Too bad, you lost."
She leaned in and pressed her lips on Tamsin's, but when the Valkyrie opened her lips, she pulled back and chuckled.
"Fine, you win. Can I at least get some spoilers?" Tamsin grumbled.
Bo let out a big smile, before she pressed her lips on Tamsin's ears and whispered something to her softly. The Valkyrie bit her bottom lip and inhaled sharply, before she closed her eyes.
6:00am - In the Bedroom
Tamsin groaned as she flipped over to silence the screaming alarm clock. She fumbled with the buttons for a while before she finally turned it off.
Burying her face in the pillow, she let out a lazy moan. Then, she got off the bed and went into the shower, still half asleep.
After a quick shower she got out with a big towel wrapped around her body. A chuckling Bo was in bed staring at her.
"You have umm..." Bo breathed as she propped herself on her left elbow. She waved her right hand in the air, telling Tamsin that she had bruises and hickeys all over her body.
"I know," Tamsin told her while looking for clothes in the closet. "Don't look so proud of yourself, okay?"
Bo laughed and slid off the bed. She held Tamsin from behind and placed several soft kisses on the Valkyrie's back while giving extra attention to a bite mark she had left on Tamsin's left shoulder. The blonde breathed some sweet moans as return.
Tamsin turned around and put her arms around the brunette's waist. "I gotta go," she announced while using her fingertips to draw small circles on the back of Bo's waist.
"I know," Bo smiled, kissing her collarbone gently. "I'll see you at dinner?"
"Sure," Tamsin said. Then she pulled her lips into a smirk and added, "or, if you'll stop by the precinct, I'll see you at lunch."
Bo chuckled and gave the Valkyrie another kiss. "See you at lunch then."
1:05pm - In the Precinct
Cautiously sticking her head out from behind the door of an empty office, Tamsin looked around. After making sure no one was on the hallway, she quickly exited the room and put her messy hair into a bun.
She cleared her throat and stood by the door. Bo immediately snuck out.
The brunette let out several giggles, her eyes bright blue and her blouse ruffled. She playfully slapped the Valkyrie's butt, before she ducked behind Tamsin to button her blouse.
"I'm gonna go get some real food, okay?" Tamsin told Bo as she wiped off a lipstick smudge on Bo's face with her thumb, "What do you want? Burger? Sub? Anything?"
"Burger sounds great," Bo commented.
"Then why don't you go find an empty interrogation room and wait for me there? You can go over the case files if you'd like."
Bo nodded and raised Tamsin's hand to her mouth. She kissed the Valkyrie's ring finger before she walked to the elevator with her.
2:30pm - In the Interrogation Room
"You know," Bo started as she watched Tamsin gobbling down her fourth burger in amusement, "sometimes I really wonder how you could pack all those food in there." She gently jabbed the Valkyrie's toned belly.
Tamsin shrugged while munching. She quickly finished her last bite, before she ate all Bo's fries. Then, she tossed all the wrapping papers into the trash can and cleaned the table.
Taking a big sip from her drink, she took the files from Bo's side and asked, "found anything interesting while I was gone?"
"Well, I guess there is something that's kinda weird," Bo said as she flipped through the pages. "That substitute teacher in the second arson case. Why wasn't she with the kids?"
"She probably happened to be away from them during the fire," Tamsin said.
"Okay, but why didn't they interview her?" Bo murmured. "If she was in school that day, they should have interviewed her, right? I don't see her statements anywhere...nobody mentioned anything about her being there either."
"Maybe she never made it to school that day?" Tamsin said.
"That's entirely possible, but...the teacher called in sick and the substitute teacher didn't make it to school either, on the same day when the fire took place?" Bo tapped the table. "It's a bit too much of a coincidence…."
They went through the files again while paying extra attention to the mentioning of the substitute teacher, but the only thing in there was the principle saying that someone named Margaret should be coming in that day but she wasn't there.
Tamsin frowned at file. "I'm gonna go make some phones calls and see if I can find out more about this Margaret chick."
"And I need to go," Bo said as she squeezed Tamsin's hand. "Gotta go see a client. See you at dinner?"
Tamsin nodded and watched Bo exit the room. Her flirty whistle at the brunette's swaying butt made Bo laugh.
9:40pm - Tamsin and Bo's Apartment
"I thought we were gonna see each other at dinner," Bo teased after she opened the door for a worn out Tamsin.
"Blame the fucking assholes who decided to rob a store with fake guns," Tamsin growled as she kicked her shoes off. She threw herself into the couch and laid everything that was in her hand on the floor next to her.
Burying herself in the soft fortress of pillows and cushions, she purred while beckoning to Bo.
The brunette came over to sit beside her. She let Tamsin rest her head on her lap while sprinkling some charms to soothe Tamsin's sore muscles. The Valkyrie let out a soft, lazy moan as she rubbed her cheek against Bo's palm.
"Anyway..." Tamsin slurred as she reached for a stack of files she had put on the floor. She handed them to Bo and continued, "everything I can find about this Margaret is here. I didn't get the chance to go through them so...why don't you read them to me, sweetheart?"
"Okay," Bo nodded and gave the blonde a kiss on her forehead before she started to read the files. "Her name is Margaret Stewart. The school had hired her as a substitute teacher at the beginning of that semester, which was a few weeks before the fire. She was in her early fifties, single, no known relatives at that time."
"Anything interesting?"
"I don't know...there's a bunch of her old files, resume and stuff...I don't really-oh here's a photo of her."
Tamsin propped herself on her elbow and took the photo to study it. In the photo, the woman, Margaret, was wearing a short sleeve dress. She was smiling at the camera. It was a tight smile, though. Tamsin thought that it was probably because of the long exposure time required for taking a photo back then, but there was just something in that woman's eyes that made her frown.
She moved her eyes away from Margaret's face to her arms and hands that were resting on her lap. There, she noticed that the woman had a scar on her right forearm. It looked like an old burn scar with peculiar pattern, and it almost made it look like she had been branded.
She frowned at the scar, before she reached for her laptop that was under the couch. She laid on her back and placed it on her stomach, her head still resting on Bo's lap.
"What is it?" Bo asked as she examined the photo.
"That scar on her arm...something's just-" Tamsin murmured while logging into the police database system. She retrieved the digital copy of that photo and opened it.
She zoomed in on the scar and adjusted the screen so Bo could see it too. "Does this look familiar to you?"
"Yeah...the pattern of the burn..." Bo murmured as she examined the burn scar. She paused for a while, and opened the photo in a drawing software. She traced the pattern with the drawing tool, highlighting the boundaries with a bright red color.
She studied the pattern afterwards, before she concluded, "it's some sort of...something with wings…."
She trailed off as she stared at the image, and murmured, "I think I've seen it somewhere."
"Yeah, me too," Tamsin said as she sat up. "I've definitely seen it before, I swear, but where did I see it...?"
She pondered for a long time while going through everything she had in those three arson cases. Then, she located a sketch. It was from the first arson case, where the cops had drawn a sketch of a locket that they had recovered from the fire. A locket that the missing girl, Mary, had worn before she had gone missing.
The sketch revealed a handmade locket with a delicate pattern, a winged animal of some kind. It could match the burn mark on Margaret's arm.
"Look," she handed that sketch to Bo.
The brunette compared them and nodded, though her eyebrows were still knotted. "This is...weird," she murmured hesitantly.
"No, actually, it's not weird at all," Tamsin explained. "Think about it. Someone set the fire. The locket got burnt in the flames, giving Mary a burn mark. She dropped it. She went missing. Years later, she appeared at some school as Margaret, probably a way to get close to Thomas Wood. Then, she set the fire there and abducted him. The apprentice, Mary, eventually became the master, Margaret."
"No, I mean, yeah, I understand that," Bo explained. "What I was saying was...I've seen this pattern before, like way before reading these files, Tamsin."
"Really?" Tamsin raised her eyebrows. "Where have you seen it?"
Bo shook her head hesitantly. "I don't-" she murmured as she stared at that pattern. Where exactly have I seen this before? She asked herself. Maybe in one of the old cases I've worked on? Maybe at one of the client's place? Wait, maybe it's in one of Trick's books?
She dug deeper in her memories while examining every detail of that pattern. It was a four legged animal, looking like some sort of lizard. It had two feathered wings, though, and a body covered in scales. It also had a small, spiky horn right above its nose.
The winged lizard...she remembered it dangling in a sheen of colorful light. It was a very loud place...people were laughing and talking...kids were running around with cotton candies in their hands...she could hear the music from a carousel nearby….
"It was that travelling carnival!" Bo exclaimed in excitement as she squeezed Tamsin's hand. "Remember we were there with my dad while being chased down by a bunch of assholes in dark suits? Remember he told us how his father originally identified my uncle's body by a pendant that both my father and my uncle had been wearing? That pendant! It had the same pattern!"
"Huh," Tamsin murmured. She now recalled the moment when Bo's dad showed them the pendant. "Yeah...he said that it was supposed to ward off the evil spirits or whatever...Why did your father, your uncle and this...this Margaret wear something that had the same pattern?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's something popular? You know, like a cross or a peace sign. Something like that."
"No, it's definitely not something popular," Tamsin told her. "I've never seen it before. It must be something-shit I don't know. I guess I can run it in the database and see if anything pops up."
"I'll send a copy to Trick. Maybe he has seen it before," Bo proposed.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Tamsin nodded as she ordered the system to search for anything related to the pattern.
The system alerted her that the search would take more than twenty hours, and she rolled her eyes.
Bo took a photo of the pattern and sent it to Trick through a text message. Then she put down her phone and suggested, "wanna go take a hot bath with me?"
"Do you even have to ask?"
- A Few Days Later -
7:20am - The Dal
Trick nodded at Bo and Tamsin when he saw them walking in. After both women had sat down in front of him, he took out a thick, old book from under the counter.
"I've been doing research on that pattern you sent me for the past couple of days," he said as he held the tip of a bookmark he had placed between the pages and used it as a leverage to flip to that page. "Here it is."
"Okay?"
"The pattern you gave me is a winged salamander. Hell Salamander, if you will," Trick explained as he handed Bo the book.
"Okay..." Bo murmured as she skimmed through the page. It was some legends about the Hell Salamander, and in the center there was a drawing of a crimson salamander with black feathered wings. It looked very similar to the pattern they had seen on Bo's father's pendant and Mary's locket.
"So what is this Hell Salamander? It's not a world destroyer, is it?"
"It spreads flames and plague to the earth," Trick said, "but, only in legend. It's not a real thing. It only exists in myths and legends. Although...there's this family…."
He handed them another opened book. On the left page there was a drawing of a heraldry.
It was a red shield surrounded by some green, thorny plant with small mauve flowers. On the shield, there was a Hell Salamander, one exactly like that locket pattern.
"This is the heraldry of the Clere family," Trick explained. "They have been using Hell Salamander as their family symbol for many centuries."
"The Clere family?" Tamsin raised her eyebrows.
"It's a very old and prominent Fae family. For some reasons they've always been keeping a low profile," Trick said. He allowed both of them to read the few pages in the book that were about the Clere family, before he hesitantly asked Bo, "is this about your father?"
"No, well...I guess you could say that it does have something to do with him, eventually. Why?" Bo frowned hard.
"Well, you came to me with this Hell Salamander pattern and I figure it's about your dad since it's his family symbol."
"His family symbol? Wait, my dad is from this family?" Bo exclaimed.
Trick pursed his lips, confused. "You don't know about it?"
"Well, now I know."
"If this isn't about your father, what is this about?" Trick asked. "How did you find out about this pattern?"
"It's an evidence from an arson case. We think that case has a lot to do with what happened to my brother," Bo explained.
"Oh," Trick nodded.
"Is there anything significant about this Hell Salamander?" Tamsin asked.
"Not really. It's just that...since the Clere family has claimed it as their symbol, only those who are from that family are allowed to wear it."
Bo licked her bottom lip, before she showed Trick the sketch of the locket. "So...are you saying that this should belong to someone from the Clere family?"
Trick carefully studied the sketch, and nodded. "Yeah, I would say that the owner of this locket is definitely a member of the Clere family...in fact this one looks like a family heirloom. It's a very well made piece...I might even be able to find out who made this piece for the family…."
He mumbled as he left to make a copy of the sketch in his den. Bo turned to Tamsin, her eyebrows raised and her eyes wide open. "This Margaret is from my dad's family? They are related? Can you believe this?"
"Well, consider that both your uncle and your brother are involved in this crap, so...maybe this is it. Maybe this is our connection. Maybe every single one of them are from the same family. Your family. I mean, remember that curse that your parents talked about? Something about a curse running in your dad's family, and every once in awhile, there's gonna be someone who could use their ability before they even hit puberty and be cursed? What if this is what they are referring to?"
"I can not believe this," Bo murmured. "This is what we are dealing with now? Family matters?"
A/N: Hope everyone likes the fluff! And now the big secret has finally been revealed! It's all about Bo's family (or her father's family, too be exact). More story about the main plot coming up, and I'll make sure there's enough fluff! They are getting married soon after all :)
