Ben shrugged. “We should find out who had business with him. Maybe they argued over a bill.”
Tenzin raised an eyebrow. “You don’t really think this has anything to do with an angry customer, do you?”
“No.” Ben walked to the side and leaned against a doorpost when he felt a new vampire approaching the house. “I don’t.”
The unknown vampire stayed outside the door with the guards, and a group of four humans came into the small house with a canvas stretcher that looked like it was out of a historic movie.
One of the men addressed them in a low voice. “The magistrate has sent us to take Haitao’s body to the temple so it can be prepared for burial.”
The magistrate? Ben looked at Tenzin, and she mouthed, Myung.
She asked, “Does he have any family?”
The human said, “He has cousins on his father’s side, and the daoshi have already been called.”
Ben watched the four humans. Two of them couldn’t seem to look at the body. Queasy stomachs or guilty minds?
Tenzin came to stand next to him as the four men lifted the dead body, which had started to become stiff. The humans who hadn’t been able to look at the body both appeared pale, but Ben still couldn’t tell if they were squeamish or ashamed.
“Stop,” Tenzin said. “Put him down.”
Ben half expected Tenzin to look at something on the body, but she must have noticed the two men’s reluctance too, because as soon as they set the body down, she was in the face of the first pale human.
“Did you kill him?”
The man’s eyes widened; then he shook his head. “No.” He held out his hand. “You may ask me again if you wish.”
Ask me with amnis. It was as good a proof of innocence as anything.
She turned to the second man. “And you?”
The man’s shoulders were slumped, his eyes full of sorrow. “I didn’t hurt him, but… I owed him money. I promise I will pay his family.”
Tenzin narrowed her eyes, then nodded silently. “Your name?”
“Hwan, the tailor.”
She turned to the other man. “And you?”
“Lim. I tend the gardens in the town.”
The first human spoke again, and an edge of irritation colored his voice. “And I am Jinhai. This is my brother Shen. As I said, Myung sent us, and we should take him to the temple.” He bowed deeply, possibly regretting his words. “That is unless you have any other questions.”
Tenzin looked at the man. “Not right now; you may go.”
Jinhai bowed again. “Thank you, Lǎoshī.”
They once again lifted the stretcher and, with some difficulty, maneuvered the body out of the small room. Left behind was a black pool of sticky blood that was congealing on the wooden floor of the house.
Tenzin bent down, stuck her finger in it, and licked it.
“Tenzin!” Ben curled his lip. “What if he was poisoned or something?”
She shrugged. “It’s not like it would hurt me. I think he’s been dead for about four hours.”
Ben looked at the old-fashioned clock on the wall. “So before Sina’s arrival.”
“It was a busy time at the palace; a vampire could have snuck away without it being noticed.” Tenzin stood and walked toward Ben. “A human could have visited him with even less notice. There are no streetlights here, and most go to sleep not long after the sun goes down.”
“So we can ask neighbors,” he said, “but it’s likely no one would notice if the harness maker had a visitor.”
The amnis that had been lingering outside entered the room, and Myung nodded at both of them. “The humans will care for the body, but I doubt you’ll find any who will have seen Haitao’s killer. As Tenzin said, most humans are home after dark. This house isn’t near the tavern or the meeting hall, so most of his neighbors were probably already sleeping.”
Ben had thoughts, but Tenzin pushed a negative energy through their mating bond and he remained silent.
“What did you know of the harness maker?” Tenzin asked.
“Not more than I know of any craftsman here in the town. He was a hard worker. I never had a complaint against him for cheating, shoddy work, or the usual petty problems the humans have when they bicker with each other.”
There was a thread of disdain in Myung’s voice that was hard to miss.
“You are their magistrate,” Ben said, “so you hear their petitions if there are disagreements.”
Myung turned his eyes to Ben. “I do.”
“But nothing against Haitao?” Tenzin asked. “What could be the motive for someone to kill him?”
“Perhaps he was sleeping with another man’s wife or something of that nature.”
Tenzin raised her eyebrows and looked around the room that was clearly meant for a bachelor and not for company. Dirty dishes in the kitchen, piles of work, and empty jugs of beer accompanied the thick scent of sweat and woodsmoke from a poorly ventilated room.
“Yes,” she said. “I can see how that would be possible.”
Ben bit his lip to keep from smiling. “We’ll continue looking for who killed the man.” He cleared his throat. “Thank you for your insight, Myung.”
Ben’s eyes moved from Myung to the door, then back to Myung. He kept staring silently until the other vampire turned to Tenzin.
“I will leave you to your work,” Myung said. “Please let me or Elder Lu know if you need anything else.”
He left the small house, and Ben felt his amnis drifting away as the vampire put more distance between them.
“Did you notice how he inserted his sire’s name in there at the end?” Ben kept his voice quiet and switched from Mandarin to Spanish again.
“I did.” Tenzin crouched down to examine the bloodstain again, then looked at the door. “Everyone on Penglai Island has secrets, but I’m beginning to think Myung has more than the rest.”
Cold rain battered the tile roof over Ben and Tenzin’s heads as the winter dawn approached and vampires, humans, and animals took shelter from the freezing cold front passing over the islands.
“We need to head back to the States soon,” Ben said. “I promised my sister I’d be in Los Angeles for Christmas.”
“We will finish this. Then we will go to Christmas.” Tenzin was wrapped around Ben under a heavy silk quilt. Neither of them produced body heat without conscious thought, so when Ben slept during the day, she kept him warm.
He didn’t need to be warm, but it was an aspect of his humanity that Tenzin found she missed. Whether Ben missed it or not was debatable, but either way, she liked to keep them warm.
“We’ll go to Los Angeles and buy presents,” he said. “And look at the palm trees wrapped in pretty lights. And maybe cruise around the marina and look at the boats.”
“I like presents.”
Ben kissed the top of her head. “Your skin feels like the surface of the sun, Tenzin.”
“It’s cold outside.”
He chuckled a little. “And this affects us how?”
“Be quiet and sleep.”
His arms hugged her tighter. “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier.”