Dresden Files Reread - Storm Front Chapter 4

Photo by Will Swann on Unsplash   

Murphy explains that the reason she didn't bring Dresden in sooner is that internal affairs suspects them both of involvement with Marcone, after the rumors he's been spreading, and Internal Affairs has been breathing down her neck this whole past 6 months. This explanation includes a much clearer, albeit shorter, explanation of what actually went on in the previous book. She then goes into the background on the "Lobo Killings" - for five days centering on the last full moon, there was a string of murders in which the victims were torn apart. They kind of looked like wolf attacks, but the dentition and footprints weren't quite right, so the FBI's going theory is that the murders are being done by a cult using weapons edged with wolf teeth, and ritualistically leaving fake footprints around. There appear to be five different sets of teeth, which the FBI thinks represent five of these "weapons", and Harry thinks are more likely from five different werewolves - a pack. There is one victim who stands out from the others; James Harding III was killed in a parking garage, while aside from Spike, all the others were killed outdoors. Like Spike, he also has connections to Marcone. 

The foreshadowing here hasn't quite started to come together yet. There's nothing to indicate that Marcone's business activities have anything to do with Kim Delaney's activism, even if one happens to have made the connection that Kim is the unnamed young woman in the crowd at Mac's in Storm Front, the one who has a connection with animals and is involved in a number of environmental causes. We also get our first glimpse of Terra West, tailing Murphy's car. Harry doesn't mention this, figuring she's already stressed enough, and he's not sure she's following them. He does mention the blood he found on the broken glass and that he may be able to use it to track down the killer. He also promises to get her a report on werewolves by the next morning - right now, he doesn't know much beyond that they aren't like in the movies. 

Once Murphy drops him off at his car, Harry sits there for a while thinking. He goes back over his compulsive need to protect women, which is still gross and misogynistic, but the way it's presented here is already less defensive, and more self-critical. Like, he still goes on about how he likes to treat women on dates, but he also says "maybe I'd call it chivalrous if I thought more of myself", and acknowledges that his perspective here could be viewed as chauvinistic, without acting all persecuted about it the way he does in Storm Front. More to the point, while identifying Murphy as a "lady in distress" is till super icky, he's shifted focus some from "protecting" her to actually helping. It's on this basis that he decides to go ahead and use the blood for a tracking spell, here and now, before the blood dries. As far as I can tell, when he was talking to Murphy about it, he didn't quite realize earlier that he would have to use it tonight or not at all, and he's worried that she'll think he planned it like this. That's a valid concern, although if he were being sneaky, why tell her about the blood in the first place? But it's not drying so fast that he couldn't like, find a pay phone or something and let her know, ask if she wants to come along. On the other hand, based on her behavior in the previous book, it's not unreasonable to think that she might try to forbid him from following the trail, and refuse to accept that he can't just set up the tracking spell for her and stay behind himself. 

Sorry for the late post (again), my weekend got eaten by work on another project, and yesterday I just couldn't get the thing to happen. I'm going to start work on the next post as soon as this one is done, so I will have it ready on Wednesday. Until then - be gay, do crimes, and read All The Things!