Dresden Files Reread - Summer Knight Chapter 16

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Harry calls Billy off, and Meryl sets him down, although she left bruises holding him up by his neck that way. She wanted to apologize for hitting him and throwing him in the trash earlier, although as Harry points out, ambushing someone in a dark alley is not the usual way one delivers an apology. She also needs his help. And the thing I want to draw attention to here is that Harry seriously considers refusing. When Harry initially sees her picture, Meryl is described as "homely", and "muscular" with a "heavy brow". I don't think we're ever given her height, but she's tall enough to physically hold Harry, who's, what, 6 foot eight?, off the ground, which even with supernatural strength still requires that your arms go up pretty high, especially since it takes more effort to hold something (or someone) up above your head than at shoulder level or lower. She speaks softly, but her voice is described as contralto, which assuming that's accurate, puts her in the same basic vocal range as a baritone - in other words, her voice is about as deep as Harry's (established as baritone in , although the timbre is likely very different. And it very much seems that neither Harry nor the text itself really consider Meryl a woman, and that seems, idk, kinda transmisogynistic. Like, I don't think we're meant to read her as transfeminine, exactly, but this is a young woman with a lot of stereotypically masculine physical features, and we were reminded of Harry's "involuntary" chivalry reflexes just on a hundred pages ago by my copy, maybe a bit less in hardcover, but apparently they just don't come into play here. I went back and checked Storm Front, because he did come close to refusing to help Monica as well, but the "I can't resist a lady in distress" thing is explicitly invoked there. Same with Lydia in Grave Peril. So, yeah, this feels...not great.  

Lily is missing, and Meryl want Harry to help find her. They live together, because Lily isn't very good at taking care of herself, and would you believe me if I told you this was the first read during which I considered that there might have been something gay going on there? Anyway, she hasn't contacted the police because the supernatural elements would be a little too difficult to either explain or extricate, and, I suspect, although she does not say this to Harry, because Lily works as a nude model, and is therefore likely to be written off as a sex worker or similar, and therefore disposable, by the mortal cops. Realistically, the response is likely to be "are you sure your girlfriend, who routinely gets naked for other people, and who you yourself acknowledge is not overburdened with survival skills, didn't just run off with a man?", and that's no help at all. It's also established in this conversation that all four of the kids are changelings whose fae parents are in the Winter Court, and that they're under Reuel's protection because Maeve was hurting them for fun, and no one in Winter, or at least no one with propensity for that kind of petty cruelty, was willing to cross the Summer Knight. Oddly, at some point, Maeve also told Lloyd Slate, who had it out for Lily specifically, to back off, which if I have the timeline right may have been part of the impetus for his betrayal. Meryl thinks Slate might have come after Lily again now that Reuel's gone - someone broke into their place, and there were signs of a struggle. At one point, Billy interjects to ask whether Meryl's fae father couldn't have done something, which is interesting inasmuch as it implies that Billy is the kind of person who expects parents to be both present and useful. 

Despite this being, in ordinary course, exactly Harry's kind of case, he's on the point of refusing and walking away when Meryl says she can pay him. A thousand up front, which she has on her person, and triple his fee, although she may not be able to pay that right away. So now I'm thinking maybe Reuel did have life insurance or some other arrangement for these kids, but it's being held up by legal nonsense, which is not a huge surprise when a high-profile figure leaves substantial money to four random young adults that aren't related to him. What eventually makes the call for him is that he's very hungry and won't otherwise be able to afford food, and that while Meryl may not meet his criteria for "lady in distress", Lily certainly does. He gives her his card, telling her to call his office and let him know how to get in touch with her. He doesn't ask if she has anything of Lily's that he could use for a tracking spell, which strikes me as an odd oversight, but he's been having a bit of a day. 

Harry and Billy head back to the funeral home, since that's where Harry left his car. He's going to call Murphy and see what she knows about Lloyd Slate, presumably whether he has a mortal-side criminal record, and he wants Billy to start calling morgues and see if any unidentified women with green hair have shown up. Billy complains a little about not doing something more exciting, but Harry points out, not too harshly, that this is a lot of what private investigation is. He's almost back to his car before he notices the blood. Elaine is curled up, mostly unconscious and actively bleeding out, on his passenger seat. 

Sorry I don't have more like, thoughts, about this one. It's a short chapter. I'll get you the next post as son as I can. Until then, be Gay, do Crimes, and read All The Things!