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"Not when you're reporting that the killer is a red-faced demon."
That raised my eyebrows. "Really?"
"Seriously." His gaze met mine. "My normal response would be to suggest the witness's alcohol intake might have been a little high, but Dusty found cloven hoofprints. Which supports the whole demon thing."
A laugh escaped, then I realized he was being serious. "But demons don't have cloven hooves."
"That we know of. But there's no saying there isn't a branch out there that has."
"I guess that's true." I shifted, my gaze sweeping the park. Neither Dusty nor Dobbs was in sight, and the morning was filled with the sound of children's laughter. It was a happy noise that seemed so out of place given the brutality that lay at our feet - although we'd certainly seen far worse over the years. And done worse. Like shooting a soul mate. I bit my lip for a moment, using one sort of pain to control another, then added, "Anything else worth knowing?"
"Nothing obvious at the moment. I'll send you the report as soon as it's done."
"Thanks." I rose and pulled off the gloves.
And that's when I felt it - the rush of power, the chill of death. There was a soul here.
I scanned the park again, trying to pinpoint the soul's location. There was nothing obvious - no wispy, insubstantial form, no obvious focal point for the energy that was washing across my skin.
"Have we got an ID on the victim yet?" I asked softly.
I felt rather than saw the sharpening of interest from Cole. "His name is Wayne Johnson. He was released from prison a week ago."
"His crime?"
"Murder. I requested the trial records, but they haven't been sent through yet. He served twenty-five years."
Then it had to be a nasty crime, because the average sentence wasn't usually that long - unless you were a nonhuman, and then the sentence was death.
"I'm betting he strangled his victim." It would certainly explain the method of his demise as well as the bitter taste in the air.
"I agree," Cole said, "and it would certainly be worth finding out who he killed, and where the victim's relatives were during the early hours of the morning. You never know; it might turn out to be an easily solved case for a change."
I snorted at the improbability of that and turned, my gaze moving to the strand of trees behind us. There in the softening shadows drifted a fragile wisp no bigger than a handkerchief.
The soul.
I walked toward it. My ability to communicate with the dead was still growing, and most souls could now gain shape and talk quite coherently. Of course, it was my strength they were drawing on to materialize, and it had reached the point where the mere act of talking to the spirit world could leave me weak both in body and mind. But it was a weakness I was willing to endure if it meant catching a break and solving a crime.
Not that this soul was drawing much energy at the moment. He might be here, but I had a feeling he was of two minds about speaking.
The closer I got to him, the colder it got, until it felt like fingers of ice were creeping into my bones. No one could really explain why these souls brought the chill of the underworld with them, but the general consensus was that it had something to do with them being in between - neither here nor in heaven or hell. Or wherever else it was that souls went to.
As I stepped into the ring of trees, his soul retreated, and fear swirled through the ice of the afterworld. I stopped.
"Why are you lingering here, Wayne Johnson, if not to speak?"
The wispiness that was the soul seemed to pause and then the energy flowing from me surged, the suddenness of it making me gasp.
Why? His voice was guttural, harsh, as it flowed through my mind. Why did this happen? I paid for my crime. They should have left me alone. It's not fair that I should pay twice.
I couldn't argue the validity of that without knowing who and how he'd killed. I'd learned over the years there were some crimes that deserved nothing less than death, but whether this man's did wasn't the point. "I'm here to find your killer, Mr. Johnson. But to do that, you need to talk to me."
For a moment he didn't answer, but the chill continued to grow until my fingers and nose ached with the fierceness of it. Energy continued to flow out of me, building in the air, giving him the strength to speak.
I didn't really see him, he admitted after a moment. He was wearing a mask.
"Are you sure it was a mask?"
