To Kill a Sorcerer (12 page)

“Her, too.”

Van Nuys Boulevard on any night has foot traffic, and with Christmas so close, it was busier than usual. Passersby stared at the two vampires. Aliena and Katherine remained oblivious to the attention, intent on watching us. They exchanged a glance and laughed. They were listening to our conversation.

“Maybe she’d let me make her dinner sometime. I can do natural food.”

Maybe she would like to
have
you for dinner sometime. You
are
natural food. “Find a nice girl and forget about Kat.”

“What’s her last name?”

I took a sip of beer.

“I can find out about her on my own, you know.”

I set my glass down. “No, I don’t think you can.”

“What’s she hiding?”

“A deep, dark secret.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

He raised his hand and waved. Both girls waved back. While we watched, Katherine smiled at a man walking past. He stumbled.

“I think she likes me,” Hamilton said.

He was undoubtedly right. Aliena had already told me she adored Hamilton. Of course, she had also licked her fangs when she said it. Katherine would feel the same way about him.

“I’m sure she does like you,” I told him. “She likes everybody. She’s super-friendly.”

He gave me a look. “Why do I get the feeling sometimes that what you’re saying has a double meaning?”

Wednesday, December 22, 9:06 p.m.

“Go slowly, Auggie,” I said. “Mr. Hamilton is not up to speed on the subject of the occult.”

We were back in the BioLaw building, standing in Reed’s office. Hamilton had been disappointed to discover Katherine was not with Aliena when we left the restaurant.

“Where did she go?” Hamilton asked.

“She had a dinner appointment she did not want to miss,” Aliena said. “Don’t you think she’s beautiful?”

Once, I had spoken to Aliena regarding the ethics of teasing someone based on information acquired while eavesdropping. Not only had she told me to go to the devil, she had warned me that if I ever spoiled her fun by giving away her secret, she would kill me. Or something like that.

The second floor twinkled, quiet. Lights burned in Lab One as the team Preston had assembled to analyze the Barlow evidence worked on the samples from the Patterson kill.

Augustus Reed was our resident expert on all things paranormal, a lean Aussie who wore a rope bracelet on his left wrist that dangled tiny gris-gris charms designed to ward off evil spirits. He spoke fluent Spanish as a result of his travels in South America and occasionally mixed it into his English.

His workspace was less office and more shaman’s utility closet. African death masks hung along a wall covered with necromancy charts and ancient runes. Four tall totems with the bodies of humans and heads of ravens leaned against one another in a corner, like creepy black kindling. Next to the computer lay two massive leather-bound tomes. The books appeared old and well read, with stained pages and markers throughout.

“Right,” Reed said. “I can get back to the conjurer angle in a few minutes. Let’s focus on the physical evidence. Smitty did a search for places that sell the incense Tashua Jong, and we’ve got seven possibles in a twenty-mile radius. Based on our initial profile, he has ranked them in order of likelihood.” He handed me a sheet.

I slid the list into my pocket. “What about that small, soft ball recovered at the scene?”

“Candle wax.”

“Could it have been there before the murder?” Hamilton asked.

“I doubt it. It’s from a black candle. Most places that sell black candles specialize in the occult, and no one in the Patterson family has any such history we have been able to find. Also, the SID team found no black candles in their inventory of the house.”

“Well, what do you think?”

“It’s obvious. The killer is performing a complex ceremony, something with religious or magical overtones.”

“Or both,” Aliena said.

“Probably both.”

“Okay, so this guy is holding a black mass, lighting candles and performing rituals,” Hamilton said. “In the middle of the day, with every second he spends in the house increasing his chances of getting caught. What if someone came home—what if he was interrupted?”

“That should be obvious, Detective Hamilton,” Aliena said. “He would kill anyone who walked in on him.”

“
Indudable
, without hesitation,” Reed agreed.

“Hey, come on,” Hamilton said, “who are we talking about here, the bogeyman? This is two in a row right in the middle of the San Fernando Valley. I know people don’t give a shit about their neighbors anymore, but people notice
some
things. If he’s taking that kind of time in broad daylight in someone’s home, I can’t believe we haven’t found a single witness.”

“He’s probably doing a drive-through or a walk-through, and taking a look,” I said. “Making sure the block is a quiet one. According to the ME’s estimates on time of death, the girls were killed around two in the afternoon. That gives our man plenty of time before most people come home from work.”

“And he’s taking all these risks so he can do this voodoo ritual.”

“He’s reproducing magical ceremonies,” Aliena said. “He has to do it in exact detail. Any deviation from the formula and he fails.”

“That’s right,” Reed said. “Worse, the magic could rebound on him, even kill him.”

Hamilton threw his hands up, let them fall back. “I don’t know. I guess I’m tired. Are you saying the man we’re looking for is actually becoming some sort of magician?”

“Well . . . not yet, anyway,” Reed replied. “But
he
believes he is. I’ve studied the occult for twenty-three years, and I’ve only seen real magic twice.”

“Oh? Is that all?”

“So far. I need to look at some more data, but I have collated the facts we have, and there is one answer in both
Clavicula Salomonis
and
Grimorium Verum
.”

“Clav-what? What was that?” Hamilton asked.

“They’re
grimoires
,” I told him, pointing at the crudely bound volumes on Reed’s desk. “Textbooks of black magic.”

“Of course they are. I can get the spellings later if I need them.”

“All of the elements of his ritual, including eating their hearts, leads me to believe this man is trying to become a Thief of Souls.”

There had been something familiar about this pattern from the beginning. Decades ago, I had read an ancient manuscript that described a magician who could manipulate awesome forces, an invincible sorcerer known as the Thief of Souls. According to this document, acquiring the power was tied to the ritual murder of virgin girls. The tale had been so over the top, I had discounted it as myth.

“He’s a specific sort of conjurer,” Reed continued. “He’s not just killing these girls, he is stealing their souls. That’s the reason for the candles and the incense, and why he drinks their blood and eats their hearts. It’s a ceremony, like a Catholic priest taking the Eucharist.”

“He must also believe the murders will give him magical powers,” Aliena said.

“
Exactamente
,” Reed said. “That is precisely what a Thief of Souls attempts to achieve through his ritual slayings.” He looked troubled. “According to what I’ve read, he would keep the spirits of his victims in limbo, forcing them to do his bidding, even killing for him.”

A horrible thought.

“What about the drug?” Hamilton asked. “Why is he using that? Why doesn’t he just crack them on the head before he suspends them from the ceiling?”

“They have to be conscious when he cuts them open in order to capture their souls. Based on Watanabe’s analysis of the cuts, it’s possible he was able to drain their blood and drink it while they watched. At least, that is an important part of the ritual according to these
brujerias,”
he said. “He would not want the drug to kill her, that much is certain. And there’s one other thing.”

“Yes?” Hamilton asked.

“The way he removed their hearts. According to Watanabe’s examination of the Barlow girl, he didn’t cut it out of her.”

“She told us that.”

“She found bite marks inside the body.”

“What?” Hamilton looked at me, back to Reed.

“The high-def photos show the marks clearly,” Reed told us. “If we have a suspect, we can identify or eliminate him now based on dental characteristics.” He stood, walked around his desk, sat on the front edge of it, looked down at his hands. “I’m not positive, but I think the killer ate her heart right out of her body. According to the
Grimorium Verum
, the ritual requires he begin eating it while it’s still beating. The vertical cut down her middle that laid her flesh open was a single, swift slash. It appears it was the first cut, so it’s possible he could have pulled her heart out and eaten it right in front of her.”

“Jesus. How sure are you about all of this?”

“I’ve already run it past Watanabe. She won’t say absolutely yes, but she admits it’s possible.”

We were all silent for a few moments. Something Reed said earlier occurred to me.

“Tell me, Auggie, what would happen if he did not perform the ritual exactly according to instructions?”

“If we were talking about real magic”—he glanced at Hamilton—“a ritual of this sort, with such ancient powers involved, would have to be handled delicately, or the procedure would blow up in the sorcerer’s face. Becoming a Thief of Souls is an extraordinarily hazardous career choice. If he makes even the slightest error or deviates from the ritual in any way, the soul he is attempting to steal could actually become a threat to him.”

“Are we done with the bogeyman yet?” Hamilton directed the question at Aliena. “Please don’t tell me you believe this voodoo bullshit.”

“I admit it is not a scientific explanation for what this man is doing.”

“That’s no answer.”

“May I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Since you do not believe in the magical angle,” Aliena said, “do you have an alternate explanation for why this man is murdering in this specific way?”

“No, but that doesn’t matter. Maybe this dork really does think he’s a Soul Thief, but that just makes him a psycho, some guy who’s probably played too many fantasy video games.”

“Very well, then answer this: how does he know they are virgins?”

“What?”

Aliena arched an eyebrow. “It is not as if you can tell a girl is a virgin just by looking at her. How did he know these girls were virgins if, as we all agree, this man is a stranger to them?”

“Shit, I never thought of that . . . maybe the guy’s her gynecologist.”

“And both girls had the same doctor?”

“All right. I have no idea how he knows they’re virgins. I suppose you’re going to say he’s using magic.”

“No. I am saying it is an important question—whether he’s using supernatural powers or not.” Aliena gave me a smile, her head cocked to one side.

“She’s right,” Reed said. “That is a vital question. If our murderer is skilled in astral travel, he could see these girls with etheric eyes, and if he knows how to read a person’s aura, he would be able to tell if these girls were still pure. In fact, that is probably the thing that attracted him to them in the first place. He must travel on the ether to complete the ritual, so he may have already learned how to control his
ti bon ange
.”

“Astral travel. Auras.” Hamilton shook his head. “Christ, what’s next? Are we going to perform a séance and see if the spirits can point this perp out to us, maybe give us his name and address?”

We ignored him.

“Is there any way we can tell if he has made a mistake?” Aliena asked Reed.

“You mean, maybe he botched one of the murders? Now, that would be interesting, but . . . no, I don’t think we’d be able to tell. If he makes a mistake, only he and his victim will know.”

“What about on the astral plane?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s say he was unable to capture her soul after killing her. Then her spirit could be out there, waiting to make contact with someone.”

“Hmm, you know, that’s not bad. I don’t know, though, finding a specific soul in the ether . . . I’ve heard of it, but it’s difficult unless you’ve met that person before. And we don’t know that he has made a mistake anyway. Based on what I can see, he’s been very careful. It’s unlikely someone this meticulous has let a soul get away from him. Frankly, I am concerned for you and Detective Hamilton if this guy turns out to be for real.”

“Why’s that?” Hamilton asked.

“I saw the two of you on the news tonight. They showed your names. It’s a good bet the killer knows you are the leads on this case. If he ever decides you are a threat, he will use all his powers to attack you.”

“Somehow, I’m not worried about that,” Hamilton said.

Reed shot me a troubled glance. “My assumption is that this man has a
grimoire
and is following the steps to becoming a Thief of Souls. But he would need something else to make the rituals yield true magical power.”

“Such as?” Aliena asked.

“According to
Clavicula Salomonis
, the conjurer requires a potent supernatural object. I’ve studied with verified conjurers, and their magic is real, but it’s strictly bush league compared to what a true Thief of Souls could do.”

“Do you know of any artifacts that would qualify?” I asked.

“The very next thing I was going to research.”

“How many murders must he commit to complete the ritual?” Aliena asked.

“My
grimoires
have different answers to that. One says three, the other says four. They both agree that after even one perfect sacrifice, the murderer would have simple magical powers.”

“And after two?” I asked.

“Then he would have formidable abilities, a true conjurer.”

Hamilton snorted. We ignored him.

“What kind of power?”

Reed thought for a moment. “Assuming he has a magical object, he would be able to make the formulas for potions and other magical concoctions in his
grimoires
actually work. He would be able to create powerful charms. With two murders, he could control his captured spirits and make them do his bidding. He’d be damn tricky to handle in person, possibly able to move objects with a thought.”