I hesitated, not wanting to speak out of turn. Sailor, like the rest of us, kept the details of his life close to his chest. But then I reminded myself that Patience probably knew more about Sailor’s training with Renna than I did.
“Sailor told me he’s been working on projection.Would it be possible for a psychic’s astral self to have gone after someone like that? Could Sailor’s unconscious or id, or whatever you want to call it, have taken over and killed Tristan Dupree?”
I was hoping the answer would be a definitiveno. After all, if Sailor had experienced an out-of-control astral projection, however unconsciously, it would mean he was not responsible for his actions. But good luck explaining that in a court of law.
“Are you joking?” Patience studied me. “You’re not. You’re serious.”
“I don’t know a lot about this sort of thing.”
“Obviously,” she snorted. “Somebodyneeds to do her homework. Astral projection, my dear little witch, is a form of telepathy. The spirit leaves the body, but the body stays put. Spirits have no substance—they’re immaterial. They can’t affect the physical world. So, no, Sailor’s astral projection could not have killed Dupree.”
“But Maya thought she saw Sailor the other day, in an herb shop in Chinatown. He claims he wasn’t there, and when I asked him about it, he hesitated and wondered if it was a result of projection.”
“He projected himself to anherbalstore inChinatown? Why?”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Now that you mention it, it does seem odd.”
“No shit, Sherlock. Listen, a powerful psychic—and I mean averypowerful psychic; this stuff isn’t easy—might be able to project an image along with some thoughts... but what would be the point? The appeal of projection is it allows you to see without being seen.”
“A sort of psychic invisibility cloak,” I pondered aloud. I wondered if there was a witchy version. I could dearly use something like that. “Cool.”
“But seriously, in answer to your question, no, it could not have been Sailor’s psychic projection thatkilled this guy. For one thing, unless you’re lying to me, Sailor doesn’t have sufficient motive. We both know he’s not a stone-cold killer. For another, unless Sailor were suffering from some sort of schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, he would have remembered killing a man, no matter what form he took.”
“He didn’t remember being in the herbal shop, when Maya saw him.”
Patience shrugged. “That could be something else entirely. If Sailor’s been working on astral projection with Renna, he would start with wandering through areas he knows well, like his apartment or neighborhood, or even this shop. Maybe Maya picked up on his projection, somehow. Does she have abilities?”
“Maya? No.”
“You sure about that?”
“As sure as I can be. She’s never said or done anything to suggest otherwise, and I’m pretty sure she would have told me if she had. But what if it’s not projection at all? Could the man Maya saw in the store have been the same guy? The murderer?”
“I suppose it’s possible there’s a Sailor look-alike wandering the streets of San Francisco,” Patience said. “So that’s your plan to get Sailor out of jail? Find Sailor’s look-alike, the one who’s the real killer? How do you intend to do that?”
“By asking for help. Starting with you. Will you use your scrying skills to find this look-alike?”
“If it will help free Sailor.”
“What can I do to help you get started?”
“This is a tricky one,” Patience said, looking thoughtful. “Usually I have a clearer idea of who I’m looking for. If I search for a fake Sailor, I’m likely to keep finding the real Sailor, if you see what I mean.”
I nodded.
“So what I need to do is a more generalized searchand then eliminate all the signs that point to Sailor. But how do I distinguish Sailor from Not Sailor?”
I remained silent, fascinated by watching an experienced and powerful psychic at work. The magic arts are enormously variable, even within specialties. Some witches are experts at chanting to alter reality, for example, while I shine in the art of brewing. I had been tutored as a witch, and had only a general idea of how psychics functioned.
“Let’s try this: I need something of Sailor’s. No, wait—I need something that carries energy from both you and Sailor. Your combined energy should work better, help to distinguish between Sailor and the Other Guy.... Something you associate with him, a sweatshirt, a boyfriend shirt. You have something like that?”
I glanced at my engagement ring. I hated to take it off my finger for even a moment, but if it would help Sailor, it would be worth it. I slipped the ring off and handed it to Patience.
Her eyebrows rose. She tried to put it on her ring finger, and I took mean pleasure in the fact that it was too small. Instead, she put it on her pinkie.
“Please—,” I began, then cut myself off.
“No worries, princess. I’ll take good care of it. I shouldn’t need it for long.”
