Chapter 5

“The other tigers are locked away?” Dashiell asked.

The Captain nodded. “They’re in the cage, the female and the cubs. If you walk around to the other side of the enclosure, they’ll let you in to examine the body.”

He walked around the enclosure and through the tiger cage, making his way out over the grassy verge toward the limp body. In his mind, he ran over the various uses for tiger parts. In China, the various organs of the tiger were used as parts of folk remedies. Perhaps a trip to China Town later would be in order.

He arrived near the tiger’s body and carefully examined it. As he had suspected from the path, the tiger’s body was neatly slit right up the middle. The cut was clean. Perhaps a surgical instrument had been used. There were no other obvious injuries, so cause of death was unclear. What was clear was that the tiger’s body cavity was completely empty. Whoever had done this had taken all of the internal organs.

His eyes scanned the grassy area around the body. He didn’t see any obvious signs of occult practices. No stray wax from candles. No impressions from a brazier. No. Whoever did this was not wasting any time. Get in, get out. Any rituals would be performed later, to the organs themselves, rather than at the time of harvest. Some might say it would make the organs less potent. Others argued that the ritual at the time of use was more important.

Whoever did it had to deal with not only this tiger, but his mate and their cubs. To do that, and get out alive, without injury, indicated a great deal of skill. He or she would have had to cast a powerful charm spell on all five animals. The fact that he didn’t go after the cubs would have helped. The protective instincts of mother over cubs, and the need of a cub for its mother would have been difficult to overcome. No, if it had been him, he’d have gone for the male too.

Still, that was a powerful piece of witchcraft.

He finished examining the area around the tiger, then headed back out to see the Captain and Regina. As he walked back around the exhibit, his eyes scanned the ground. About the middle of the path around the tiger enclosure he saw what he was looking for. A spattering of black wax on the asphalt. It had blended in fairly well. He knelt down and gave the wax globs a closer look. From their dispersion, it appeared there had been three candles here. That was unusual. You only needed one, for concentration. Then again, every caster was different, and if you were trying to charm multiple targets, perhaps multiple focal points was best. Yes. That made sense. One for the male, one for the female, and one for the cubs. Being younger, they’d be easier to charm.

He took out a pocket knife and scraped up some of the wax. He sniffed it. Odorless. He put the knife away and held the wax in his clasped hands, eyes closed. He spoke a short cantrip. Nothing. Whoever had used these candles had been smart. He hadn’t owned them long enough for traces of an aura to develop.

When he opened his eyes, Regina was standing next to him. She had been quiet during the ritual. She spoke now.

“Find something?”

Dashiell stood. “The tiger’s organs were removed. Someone set up some candles here, probably to charm them. Can’t get a read on who it was, though.”

“Ideas?”

“Well, Eastern cultures have various uses for tiger organs. Since tigers are indigenous to that part of the world, that’s our best bet. I was thinking about taking a run down to China Town, checking in with some sources I have there.”

Regina nodded. “Sounds good. Mind if I tag along?”

“Not a problem for me.” He checked his watch. “With traffic at this time of day, we’ll be getting down there just in time for lunch.”

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