Ghost of a Chance

Alex felt a surge of adrenaline burn away his exhaustion. Had the Mayor or Chief Montgomery changed their minds and loosed Detweiler on him?

“I’m sending them over to you now,” Iggy went on before Alex could ask why cops wanted him.

Iggy wouldn’t tell the cops where he was if they intended to lock them up, that much was sure.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Get your kit together,” Iggy said, his voice heavy and serious. “The ghost has killed again.”

23 The Seal

It was pouring down rain when the police cruiser that picked up Alex pulled up in front of an Inner-Ring address. The Wentworth Building was a luxury high-rise, strictly upper crust. Alex remembered seeing the building listed as the address for one of the members of North Shore.

“The Lieutenant’s waiting for you inside,” the officer who picked up Alex said. He wore a sadistic grin indicating that his pulling up on the far side of the street in the pouring rain was no accident.

“Thanks,” Alex said. He pulled out his rune book and tore out a barrier rune, licking it and sticking it to the brim of his hat.

“What’s that?” the driver’s partner asked.

Alex didn’t answer, just lit the paper with a match.

“Hey,” the driver protested as the flash paper burned away, filling the interior with light and smoke.

“Thanks, fellas,” Alex said as the air around him distorted for a moment. The feel of the rune taking effect was so subtle that he wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t been paying attention. He hadn’t realized it before, but he’d grown so used to the sensation of magic that he’d begun to tune it out. With the week he’d been having, he resolved to savor every bit of magic he could.

As the cops continued to protest, Alex picked up his kit and stepped out of the car into the pouring rain. The world around him seemed to shimmer as the barrier rune repelled the rain, sending it spattering away from him. It was only a dozen yards across the street and he’d certainly been wet before, but he didn’t want to show up at a crime scene looking like a drowned rat.

Detweiler would like that, after all, and Alex wanted to deny him any such pleasure.

He dismissed the rune during the elevator ride up to the thirtieth floor. The man operating the elevator was short and built like a fireplug, with a square jaw and big hands. He wore a tuxedo and maintained an air of quiet dignity despite having to ferry cops and P.I.s up to a murder scene.

“The Gordons’ apartment is to the right,” he said when they reached their destination.

Alex stepped off the elevator and found himself in a short hallway with only three doors. One was the door that accessed the stairs. The other two were for the apartments on this floor. That idea made Alex shake his head. How big were these apartments?

At the right end of the hall, a policeman in a blue uniform stood guard at an open door. Alex could see many more officers moving about inside.

“Lieutenant Detweiler sent for me,” Alex told the man at the door.

“You Lockerby?”

When Alex nodded, the man stepped aside.

“There you are,” Detweiler growled as soon as Alex came in. “It’s about time.”

“Sorry Lieutenant,” Alex said, keeping his voice and expression neutral. “Your boys went to my apartment, but I was at my office.”

“Spare me the details,” he said, clearly in a foul mood. “I need you to look over this crime scene.”

Alex looked around. At least half a dozen officers and detectives that Alex could see were milling around. The apartment was enormous. From where he stood, Alex could see a sitting room, formal dining room, a solarium, and what looked like a library in the distance.

The elevator man had said the crime occurred at the Gordon residence. Marcellus Gordon was one of the names on the North Shore Development articles, and Alex knew from the research Leslie had done that he was married.

“Where is Mrs. Gordon?”

“She was in hysterics,” Detweiler said. “I had some of the boys take her over to the hospital.”

“Is there a back way out of this apartment?” Alex asked.

“There’s a back door that goes out to a stairwell, but it’s locked and barred from the inside.”

“Did you double the guard here like the Chief said?”

Detweiler’s face turned red and his eyebrows knit together.

“I didn’t bring you here to ask stupid questions,” he exploded. “Of course I did. There were two uniforms in the lobby and three up here, one outside the door and two in the apartment.”

Alex wanted to find fault with that just to be a contrarian but he had to admit, five officers should have been plenty.

“What did your men say happened?” he asked.

Detweiler looked like he wanted to stay angry, but his color faded and he sighed.

“Come with me,” he said, then headed off through the parlor to the formal dining room. A huge table of light wood with gold art-deco inlays occupied this room, with seating for six. A mahogany sideboard held a full service of gleaming silver and a china cabinet opposite shimmered with dishware.