Read At the Behest of the Dead for Free Online Page A

ay, I’ll see if I can authorize it. When can you get started?”
    “As soon as you get it authorized.”
    “Right, of course. How do I get ahold of you?”
    “You prick your left index finger and splash the blood in the air and say my name three times, then once backwards. I will arrive within moments.”
    “Are you fucking kidding me?”
    “Yes I am.”
    She burst out laughing and her shoulders unclenched for the first time since she’d arrived. I wrote down my phone number and she slipped it into her pocket.
    “Can I keep the pictures?”
    “Mind if I ask what you want them for? Please don’t tell me it’s for some weird occult stuff.”
    “It’s for some not so weird occult stuff.”
    “Mr. Cavanaugh, I don’t know if you think this is a joke , but people are dying out there.”
    “I apologize, d etective. I’ve been around death for most of my life and it’s given me a morbid sense of humor.”
    She studied me for a moment so I studied her back. Jokes aside , I wondered if it would be worth risking a potion on her. I tossed the thought away immediately. The only thing worse than a woman scorned is a woman fucked with.
    “I need them back. T hey aren’t exactly evidence but they belong in a file.” She sighed and handed them over. “These are copies, but don’t lose them or it’s my ass.”
    “Now that would be a crime.”
    She sniffed and looked away.
    I carefully placed the photos back in the envelope and studied it for a moment. Murders like this weren’t good for tourism and it made sense that they would want to get to the bottom of them as soon as possible.
    “Detective, can I ask you a quick question about a different case?”
    “If I can talk about it. Sure.” She put her stony face on , which was a real shame.
    “I’m helping Thora Whitfield. You may not know the case, but her husband was murdered at Alear Park in Auburn. I went out to find a trace last night but came up blank. Any chance you can do me a solid and tell me what happened? She’s an older lady and I think she might have been confused about some of the facts.”
    Andrew s produced an actual pad of paper with a tiny spiral ring at the top. She extracted a pencil stub and jotted down some words. I wondered why she didn’t use some kind of electronic device. Were the police more behind the times than me?
    “Whitfield you said?”
    “Right. Thora.”
    “Strange. I didn’t hear about a case. I’ll check the computer for you if you give me a minute.”
    “Sure. And I wouldn’t expect you to know every case in King County.”
    “That’s just it. I work homicide so I would know about it. Name doesn’t ring a bell.”
    It did for me, though. The wrong bell.
    I showed the detective out. She didn’t even look annoyed at the fresh deluge that pelted the ground. I held my hand out to gather a handful of water in my left hand, leaned over and blew on it, muttered a few words , then poured the water into my right hand. It was easy when I wasn’t running for my life and had energy to spare.
    Andrews stopped and craned her neck upward and marveled as the rain fell in a circle but didn’t touch her. She shook her head and got into her car. The rain haze followed and continued to form a perfectly dry halo. Was I showing off?
    Maybe a little bit.
    She sat for a few minutes, typing on a computer mounted to the dash.
    The detective walked back to my door and shook her head. She left her jacket in the car this time. Andrews tapped the pencil stub on her notebook but kept glancing up at the sky, which continued to rain all around her.
    “Neat trick.”
    “I have my moments.”
    “I don’t know where you heard about a murder because nothing went down at the park.”
    “That can’t be right.” I scratched my head.
    “Trust me, Phineas. There was no murder at the park.”
    “But the woman was so …” So what? so convincing?
    “Sounds like someone got a hex placed on them. That’s what they’re called,