Disclaimer: All familiar looking characters belong to Jim Butcher and the Sci Fi channel. Furthermore I do not practice, encourage or condone the use of magic in RL.
Chapter 9
"So let's have it, I'm off the case, right?"
"Shut up, Dresden, I'm trying to think here."
"I'm a big boy, you can tell me straight up."
"Harry…"
I clasped my hands together prayer-like and pleaded, "Not the Dear Harry line please."
We stopped at a light. Then another. I was about to have Murphy stopped the SUV and let me out. Its not like I needed the money, which I did, but it was the principle of the whole idea. A guy thing, you know.
Then at the third red light she turned to me and said, "Dresden, if you so much as jay walk next time…" She grinned.
"Murphy…" I laughed. She is always serious, she got me good. "You really had me going there for a minute."
"Would it have been so bad?" she asked.
I had to think for a minute. "Yeah, it would. It would've meant that I let you down."
Silence.
"About the case, as you know I was DISTRACTED today, we don't have much to go on. I did however; get a call from a cop-friend in Philly that might have a vic with the same M.O."
"Philly, as in Philadelphia?"
"Ah-huh,"
The Feds involved?"
"Not yet. Anyway my friend's sending the file Overnight so it should be here in the morning."
"Why does he think it's connected?"
"Besides the dried up mummy look," Murphy gave me that 'duh' look, "The vic was in Chicago two weeks ago."
"Good point."
"Have you got anything?"
I debated with myself whether to tell Murphy my plans. "Well, I've been DISTRACTED today, so I couldn't do the research I had planned on doing," See, Murphy I can dish it out too. "But I might have a lead."
"Really? Who?" I could hear a small amount of excitement in her voice.
"Angela Johnson."
"Dresden, if it was anyone but you I would think they were pulling my chain, but you're serious."
"Dead serious, pun intended," I smiled.
"Talking to the Dead is pretty dark stuff. You do that kind of thing?"
"No, Necromancy is not my thing, but I have a friend that can."
"Have I ever told you that your friends are creepy?"
"Have I ever told you that Kirmani is a jackass?"
One more question, Dresden," she said as I was climbing out of the car. "Did you get a cat?"
I looked over to the front of my place and saw a black cat with front white boots leisurely stretched out on the hood of my jeep. It looked up at me and went back to licking its paw.
"No, it's not mine, why do you ask?"
"I could have sworn I saw that cat sitting at your front door this morning."
--"Sally has been relaying the events of your little adventure last night," Bob sounded amused. "It sounded delightful except for the shopping part, you poor boy. I must say you surprised me by the good taste of her clothing, could use that on yourself."
"It wasn't me."
"It wasn't you what? The blow up the bad guy part or the romp through the women's underwear aisle?" Bob saw my confused look and said, "Or both?"
"Both," I looked at Sally. "You think I blew up Perini?"
I got strange stares from both of them.
"Maybe her English is not as good as I perceived it to be," Bob interjected.
There were so many thing that I needed to get done today and now it was late afternoon and I had yet to find out what happened in the alley, teach Sally some defense against bad guys, go to Mort and chat with the dead. If that wasn't enough, I needed to eat, sleep, shower and shave.
I'll settle for the shower and shave.
"Sally, I want you to tell me about last night, what you told Bob, but first I'm going upstairs…"
She leaned toward me and sniffed. "And shower?"
I scowled at Bob. He raised his hands with that don't-look-at-me-I-can't-smell-a-thing look and walk through the lab wall laughing.
"…When I come down we will talk, do you understand me."
"Not a problem, Jack," She said smiling.
I shook my head as I headed upstairs.
--I returned feeling renewed.
I found a plate of sandwiches and chips waiting for me. That was considerate of Sally. So was the warm shower, I don't know how she did it but it felt great. Maybe her shower comment wasn't so barbed after all. Where is she?
"Bob?"
Bob walked out of the wall. "Ah you look …" He mimicked smelling, "and smell much better also. You found the warm water pleasant, I take it?"
"You knew about that?"
"I know a lot of things," Bob said nonchalantly looking at his manicured fingers.
"Like where is Sally?
"Gone."
"Gone?"
"Gone, like left with some gentleman called John."
"Kirmani?"
"Well, if you mean the well-dressed, polite, young man that asked her to accompany him to dinner, then yes, it was Kirmani."
"She could have told me."
"She asked me to relay the message since you were obviously enjoying your bath. It was a splendid introduction," Bob smirked, "When the gentleman tried to shake hands with me."
"Bob you didn't?"
"What was I to do, I couldn't very well be impolite and refuse. His expression was priceless…"
"I bet it was."
Even though I had given Kirmani permission to come over. I didn't think he would pounce so quickly.
"Bob," I said chasing out any more thoughts of Sally with Kirmani. "What can you tell me about a wasting curse or poison?
Bob was silent. "Surely this Kirmani isn't worth the risk for dabbling in the black, Harry."
"No, Bob, it's the case I'm working with Murphy. But now that you brought it up…"
"Tell me about the body," Bob cringed.
"Bodies, there are three dead women. All in their early forties, scattered locations, no connection yet. The one I saw yesterday died in her sleep... I think. She had…" In my mind I saw the woman of the photographs, then the corpse, "… There was nothing left but dried skin and bones." I shuttered. "She was alive and functioning the night before. Her seven year old daughter found the body when her 'mommy didn't come to wake me,'" I said recalling the child's statement.
"Poor babe," Bob said with sympathy. He paced. "It doesn't sound like any poison that I know of, something of that magnitude would be excruciating painful."
"A curse then?"
"Yes, possibly, I would have to do some research."
"While you are doing that I am going to have a chat with the dead woman."
"Harry," Bob gasped. "That is absurd. You are signing your own death warrant."
"I don't have a choice, Bob. Murphy's got no leads."
"There is always a choice, Harry, let the police handle it, if they come up with nothing then so be it. It's not like they don't have unsolved crimes in their backlogs."
"They have unsolved cases, true, but they didn't ask me to help on them, now did they?"
