Wanted: Undead or Alive

The Business of Death

We held hands until we reached the tree line and then let go of each other with one last wistful glance. As we walked, the storm in the distance quieted and blue skies returned.

Several big black cars formed a semi-circle on the wide lawn, just off the front drive. Moose's Rubicon was among them. Nick and I took off at a jog and approached the group of household staff. Benny stood there in his three-piece suit with his arms across his chest, scowling at a pile of ash on the ground. Moose held Marcie with her arms behind her, warded cuffs on her wrists—the usual gold kind we used at the Agency, not the fancy crystal ones. She thrashed and snarled in his grip. He had a fat lip and one eye was swollen nearly shut. Kiki hovered at the edge of the group, barely visible in the bright light. A little further away, Fenssa Gampeg and the strikingly lovely weasel couple watched the drama unfold.

Price and another guy in a black suit squatted beside the ashes. When he saw us, he rose to his full height. "Mr. Adamos, where were you in the hour after your release from our holding facility?"

"I went to The Agency to clean up." Nick took another step toward the ashes and then scanned the group. "It's Ford?"

Marcie screamed incoherent threats that had something to do with disembowelment and the eternal fire of Hell. Spit flew from her host body's mouth. Nausea steamrolled over all my residual warm fuzzies.b

"Get her out of here!" Price bellowed. Benny coaxed and Moose hauled on the handcuffs and they managed to get Marcie inside the house. Once she was gone, Price asked, "What makes you think this is Ford?"

"This stinks like demon and he's not here. Marcie is, and she's furious you put her in warded cuffs to keep her under control. Who else would it be?"

Instead of answering, Price asked, "Do you have an alibi for your trip to The Agency?"

"Yes. Nowicki drove me there, and we came here together afterward. Mx. Landry saw me there as well."

Price's lip curled like demon stink wasn't the worst thing he was smelling. "Do you have any other alibi? Someone we can actually trust?"

"Security logs, camera footage, GPS tracker on the car."

I didn't always run as fast as the other kids, but I got to the park, eventually. Holy mackerel! Somebody killed Ford. And Manbar. But there was no way to know if Price knew about Manbar yet and no way to ask without giving away the fact that we found the body and left it.

"You got here and came through the kitchen," Price went on. "You spoke with Marcie."

"That's right," Nick said.

"And then where did you go?"

"To the steps. I was hoping that retracing my steps would trigger some kind of memory, but when I got that far I had no success. However, I thought about the lake." He gestured toward the general area where we'd just been fooling around while a murderer wreaked havoc. "I thought maybe I'd find some trace of what was upsetting Aglaope out there."

"I see. And did you?"

"No."

"I see," Price said again.

"And do you have an alibi for that time at the lake? Besides Agent Nowicki?"

Enough was too much. I planted my hands on my hips. "Is the lead investigator that you hired in this case not a good enough alibi for you?"

He made a noncommittal grunt and turned his attention to Moose, who had just come back. "What are you doing here?"

"Like Nowicki said, boss. You hired us to do a job. I'm just looking around."