Deadly Sin (Cassandra Farbanks) by Sonnet O'Dell

much at the crime scene after that. The explosion of dust left a glittered spattering of black over the body and surrounding ground that would compromise things. I didn’t know the cabinet would explode like that when I took the necklace off. Both Hamilton and I checked it, and it appeared very solid. Hamilton called Carson down from the tree. He and his partner, a larger man with a gut a bit like a deflated balloon, took me back to the station. Butcher wasn’t that pleased to see me return, even if the sight of two of his officers escorting me did make his lips twitch.
    “Now you let me know if there is anything you need,” said Carson pleasantly. He was a very charming young man with light brown eyes, hair and skin.
    “Actually, if I could use a computer for ten minutes that would be great.” He thought about it for a minute.
    “Detective Inspector Hamilton did say give you anything you need, and as long as you stay out of the database it should be okay. You can use my desk.” He showed me to a corner where several smaller desks were jammed together with only one computer between them. I guessed the lower down officers had to share. He set me up on it. I didn’t look when he put in his password and left me with the promise of coffee. I brought up the web browser and typed in ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ before hitting enter. I got the same group of result as I did on my laptop, if in a different order, and searched for the page that had been the most helpful before. I printed pages and entered a new search for Chinese characters. Finding all the right ones would mean a lot of copy and pasting. I thanked Carson as he popped a mug down by me. I took a sip of coffee and was sharply reminded how bad police station coffee is. I pushed the cup away and got to work. When I had that list compiled in a word document I printed it too. I made sure to close it all down before getting up and scanning the room for the printer.
    Butcher was no longer at his desk. He stood in the break room doorway, a half-eaten bagel hanging from his mouth as he chewed and my pages in his hand. I walked right up to him and tried taking the pages, but he just raised them above his head.
    “Why on god’s green earth are you wasting police resources on this crap?” I reached for the pages but he pulled them back from me.
    “I’m working on the magic angle. I’m sure you wouldn’t understand.”
    “If it’s got magic involved then I’m sure the case will be going down to PCU, and from what I hear of it, Rourke doesn’t like you worth a damn.” I balled my fist and put them on my hips.
    “It’s up to Hamilton whether or not he hands the case over. Now will you give me those?” He brought them forward and when I reached for them, he pulled them back again. He was messing with me. One, because he thought he could and two, because Hamilton wasn’t there to stop him. He didn’t think I could stop him myself. I showed my anger. I never did anything to this man and he was a jerk to me anyway.
    “Give me the papers Butcher. I can, and will hurt you if you keep this up.” He sneered at me, right until the moment I put him on his back blinking up at the ceiling. I snatched the papers. His face was shocked, then abruptly angry. I bruised more than his body with the sudden contact with the ground. I’d really dealt his pride a blow.
    “You little…”
    “Ah, ah, ah,” I said, smiling as I wagged my finger at him, “don’t go calling me names because you lost your balance.” I gave him a level look. “Little boys who play with fire get their fingers burned.”
    He looked up at me with a truculent set to his jaw. I stared him down trying to communicate that yeah, he could try me again and see how quickly a girl could hand him his ass in the process. When he seemed to give in, I took a step forward and offered him my hand to help him up. He took my hand, gripping it hard. I could see his other hand rising up. The bastard tried throwing me, so