“Perhaps Mom didn’t want the goddess’s coin tarnished by betrayal.”

“Betrayal? You can’t think... I won’t believe...” She half hiccupped; half sobbed. “It’s not possible.”

“I’m not saying Vincentia murdered her, Aunt. There’s no physical evidence to suggest that at all.”

“But you do think she’s involved with those who did this?”

I hesitated. “She’s involved in something bad—that’s the only thing I’m sure of at this point.”

Her face crumpled, then she thrust to her feet and walked to the other end of the kitchen before disappearing into what looked like a pantry to the left. Tension rolled through me, and I was tempted to reach back for my knives, though if my aunt had gone in there to get a shotgun, knives would be of little use.

Thankfully, she reappeared a few seconds later holding nothing more than a couple of tissues she dabbed her eyes with.

She sat back down, took a drink of tea, and then said, “How did Meabh die?”

“She was shot in a tunnel, and her body buried under stone.”

She briefly closed her eyes, but tears nevertheless squeezed past. She dabbed them again and said, “That suggests she was on a hunt. Do you know what for?”

I hesitated. While I had no doubt her emotions were real where mom was concerned, that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware Tia was involved in the hunt for the Claws—even if she didn’t know exactly what they were and what it involved. I had to be careful about what I said, especially until we knew which theft Vincentia was involved in.

“No. She rushed out without saying where she was going and just... disappeared.”

“Why didn’t Sgott use her phone to track her?”

“Because by the time we realized she was missing, her phone was dead.”

“Surely the location of her car would have given him at least some idea where to begin the search.”

“She didn’t use the car. Someone picked her up and drove her.”

“That someone wasn’t Tia. She’s not a murderer.” It was coldly but also desperately said. “If you believe otherwise, you can get out of this house right now.”

I held up my hands. “As I’ve already said, I don’t believe Tia was involved in Mom’s murder. Her death is separate to the theft I believe Vincentia’s involved it. But after the break-ins and the attempted kidnapping—”

“What attempted kidnapping?” Riayn cut in.

I told her, and her face lost what little color had remained. “I can’t believe—”

“Ring Sgott. He has the would-be kidnappers in custody and can confirm what I’ve said.”

“They could be lying—”

“I truth spelled the ringleader and forced her to contact the contractor. It was Vincentia who answered.”

Riayn rubbed her eyes. “She would not kidnap you in order to get the Eye. She is not that desperate for it.”

I rather suspected she was but was using her contract with the Looisearch as a cover. “Our current theory is that the people behind the kidnapping are aware that I won’t use the Eye to help them, so they’ve contracted the next best option. I really need to talk to Vincentia before this whole situation gets any worse.”