Read Delusion in Death for Free Online

appears the substance left no permanent damage other than violent death.”
    “That’s pretty fucking permanent.” She stuck her hands in her pockets, scanned the bodies again. “I need everything and anything you get as soon as you get it.”
    “You think this is the first, but not the last?”
    “Unless this was some twisted form of self-termination and whoever did it is on one of your slabs, yeah. It worked so well, why stop now?”
    “Then we’ll hope he’s here. Otherwise, anyone, anywhere, anytime.”
    Murder could happen, she thought as she drove to Cop Central, to anyone, anywhere, anytime. She’d seen the worst of what people did to people over love, money, for power, for revenge. Or just because. But mass murder painted a darker canvas, and using victims as weapons made for a particularly twisted mind.
    Morris was right. That was Mira’s territory, and she needed to bring in the department’s top shrink in a hurry. She checked the time, shook her head, and contacted Dr. Charlotte Mira at home.
    “Eve.” Mira’s calm, pretty face filled the screen. “What can I do for you?”
    “There’s been an incident,” Eve began.
    “We’ve seen several bulletins. Multiple deaths in a bar downtown.”
    “That’s the incident. I’m sorry to disturb your evening, but I need you at Central. There’s a briefing scheduled. This is Code Blue. We’re not going to be able to hold that very long, but for now. I need you on this, and fast.”
    “I’ll come right in.”
    “Okay.” Eve thought of Dennis Mira, with his mismatched socks and kind, kind eyes. “Ah, is Mr. Mira home?”

    “Yes. He’s right here.”
    “Maybe you could make sure he stays home. Stays in. Just a precaution.”
    “Eve, how bad is this?”
    “I don’t know yet. That’s the problem. I’ll fill you in at the briefing.”
    She clicked off as another thought struck her. Her friend Mavis, Leonardo, the baby. She could contact Mavis, tell her to keep her family home. But for how long?
    To soothe herself, she sent a quick text as soon as she’d pulled into her spot at Central’s garage.
    Can’t talk, can’t explain. Just stay home until I contact you .
    Then she thought of her city, the millions inside it. Going into bars, restaurants, shops, museums, theaters. Using the subways, the buses, the trains.
    No way to protect them all, and there never had been. But unless one of the bodies in Morris’s house had caused more than eighty deaths, more people would die.
    Anywhere. Anytime.

3
    She went straight up to her office, ignoring everything else—and did what she rarely did. She shut the door.
    Inside the small space with its single skinny window, she dropped down at her desk. And ignored her flashing message light on her desk ’link.
    For the next fifteen minutes, if she could manage it, she wanted to concentrate on putting everything she knew, had seen, had confirmed, every detail, every conversation, every speculation into words.
    Narrowing her focus, she worked. She backtracked, changed angles, rechecked timing. She scanned a text from Peabody—her partner was on her way.
    No time to dump grunt work off, so she printed out stills from her record of the crime scene, of individual victims. She checked her incomings only to add to her list of names: victims and survivors.

    Notification of next of kin, she thought briefly, would be a nightmare. One, due to the number, she’d have to share.
    She didn’t glance up at the knock on the door, but started to snap out when it opened. Swallowed the harsh words as Roarke stepped in.
    He looked as tense and pissed off as she felt.
    “Word was you were back,” he said briefly. “I need some bloody coffee, and not that slop they have up in EDD.” He went straight to her AutoChef and programmed two cups as she didn’t have one on her desk.
    He knew she stocked the blend he supplied her with. And had wooed her with.
    “You’re busy, I know.” He set her cup down by her