Chapter Fifteen

Police collect Harry and bring him to Linda Randall’s apartment, where he arrives exhausted and disheveled after the night’s chaos. The scene is active with forensics as rain and flashing lights frame the investigation. Murphy, haggard but sharp, tells Harry the murder matches the earlier magical killings, and he realizes the killer is powering spells with the storm.

Inside, the apartment reveals Linda’s solitary, hard-living lifestyle. Harry views the body: Linda, fresh from a bath and on the phone when she died, has had her heart violently torn out and left on the bed. The forensics team looks to Harry for answers he cannot give, underscoring their fear of a crime beyond science.

Murphy explains 911 recorded Linda claiming she knew who killed Jennifer Stanton and Tommy Tomm, then screaming as the line died. She mentions Linda’s employers, Greg and Helen Beckitt, whose daughter was killed amid Marcone’s gang war and who rejected Marcone’s reparations. The team wheels Linda away, leaving Harry and Murphy in a tense quiet.

Murphy privately hands Harry a bag containing his blood-speckled business card found at the scene. Pressed, Harry offers “premonitions” about Linda’s background—ties to Bianca’s Velvet Room and Jennifer Stanton—information he should have shared earlier. Murphy explodes, accusing him of withholding leads that might have saved Linda.

Weighing the risks of exposing Murphy to the shadowy killer and to the White Council, Harry decides not to tell her more. Murphy formalizes his connection by logging the card and, with Carmichael as witness, invites him to make a statement, warning she’ll seek a warrant if he refuses. Harry leaves, feeling guilty and isolated, as their partnership fractures under the pressure of escalating magical murders.