Prodigal Son

'Who's she?'

'It's bring-your-sister-to-work day at the department. Are you the super here?'

''Super' don't seem to be a word that fits anyone or anything about this dump. I'm just sort of the jack-of-all around here. You come to see Bobby Allwine's place?'

'News travels fast.'

Putting down his screwdriver, getting to his feet, the jack-of-all said, 'Good news does. Follow me.'

Inside, the public stairwell was narrow, dark, peeling, humid, and malodorous.

The old guy didn't smell so good, either, and as they followed him up to the second floor, Michael said, 'I'll never complain about my apartment again.'

At the door to 2-D, as he fumbled in his pockets for a passkey, the jack-of-all said, 'Heard on the news his liver was cut out.'

'It was his heart,' Carson said.

'Even better.'

'You didn't like Bobby Allwine?'

Unlocking the door, he said, 'Hardly knew him. But this makes the apartment worth fifty bucks more.' He read their disbelief and assured them, 'There's people that'll pay extra.'

'Who,' Michael asked, 'the Addams family?'

'Just people who like some history about a place.'

Carson pushed inside the apartment, and when the old man would have followed her, Michael eased him aside and said, 'We'll call you when we're done.'

The blinds were drawn. The room was uncommonly dark for a bright afternoon.

Carson found the switch for the ceiling fixture and said, 'Michael, look at this.'

In the living room, the ceiling and walls were painted black. The wood floors, the baseboards, the door and window casings were black, as well. The blinds were black.

The sole piece of furniture was a black vinyl armchair in the center of the room.

Closing the front door behind him, Michael said, 'Does Martha Stewart have an emergency design hotline?'

The windows were closed. No air conditioning. The moist heat and the blackness and a tauntingly familiar sweet fragrance made Carson feel slow, stupid.

'What's that smell?' she asked.

'Licorice.'

Thick, sweet, pervasive, the aroma was indeed licorice. Though it should have been pleasant, the smell half nauseated Carson.

The black floor had a glossy sheen, unmarred by dust or lint. She wiped a hand along a windowsill, down a door casing, and found no grime.

As it had in the library with Allwine's corpse, fear found Carson, a creeping disquiet that climbed her spine and pressed a cold kiss to the back of her neck.

In the meticulously clean kitchen, Michael hesitated to open the black door of the refrigerator. 'This feels like a Jeffrey Dahmer moment, severed heads among the bottles of pickles and mayonnaise, a heart in a OneZip bag.'

Even the interior of the refrigerator had been spray-painted black, but it held no heads. Just a coffee cake and a quart of milk.

Most of the cupboards were empty, too. A drawer contained three spoons, two forks, two knives.

According to his employee file, Allwine had lived here for two years. An inventory of his possessions would give the impression that he'd been prepared to leave on a moment's notice and to travel light.

The third room was the bedroom. The ceiling, the walls, and the floor were black. Even the bed and sheets: black. A black nightstand, black lamp, and black radio with glowing green numbers.

'What is this place?' Carson wondered.

'Maybe he's a satanist? Or just an over-the-top metal fan.'

'No music system. No TV.'

Michael found the source of the licorice odor. On the unpadded windowseat sat a tray holding several fat black candles, none burning at the moment. Bending down to sniff, he said, 'Scented.'

Carson considered the time and effort required to create this unrelieved blackness, and suddenly she thought of Arnie and his Lego castle. Bobby Allwine held a job and interacted with the world, but on some level he was as dysfunctional as her brother.

Arnie was benign, however, whereas judging by the available evidence, Allwine's psychology must be, at the core, malignant.

'This place is worth an extra hundred bucks a month,' Michael declared.

When Carson switched on the light in the adjacent bathroom, the startling contrast stung her eyes. Paint, floor tile, sink, toilet- everything was a dazzling white, assiduously polished. The pungent smell of ammonia allowed no intrusion of the scent of licorice.

Opposite the vanity mirror, hundreds of single-edged razor blades bristled from the wall. Each had been pressed at the same angle into the sheetrock, leaving half of the blade exposed, like a wicked silver fang. Row after row after row of clean, sparkling, unused razor blades.

'Seems like,' she said, 'the victim was even crazier than his killer.'

CHAPTER 18

In New Orleans uptown society, formal dinner parties were a political necessity, and Victor took his responsibilities seriously.

Inside the sprawling Garden District mansion, his housekeepers — Christine and Sandra-and his butler, William, had spent the day preparing for the evening's event. They cleaned every room, added flowers and candles, swept the covered porches. Gardeners tended to the lawn, trees, flower beds, and shrubs.

These people were all his creations, made at the Hands of Mercy, and were therefore tireless and efficient.

In the formal dining room, the table was set for twelve with Pratesi linens, Buccelatti silverware, Limoges china, historic Paul Storr silver chargers, and a monumental Storr candelabrum featuring Bacchus and attendants. The sparkle factor was greater-and embodied greater value-than any display case of diamonds at Tiffany's.

The housekeepers and butler awaited their master's inspection. He entered the dining room, already dressed for dinner, and considered the preparations.

'Sandra, you've selected the right china for tonight's guests.'

His approval drew a smile from her, though it was uneasy.

'But, William, there are fingerprints on a couple of these glasses.'

At once the butler took the indicated glasses away

Two centerpieces of cream-colored roses flanked the candelabrum, and Victor said of them, 'Christine, too much greenery. Strip some of it out to emphasize the blooms.'

'I didn't arrange the roses, sir,' she said, and seemed to be dismayed to have to reveal that his wife had taken charge of the roses. 'Mrs. Helios preferred to do it herself. She read a book on flower arranging.'

Victor knew that the staff liked Erika and worried that she should do well.

He sighed. 'Redo the arrangements anyway, but don't say anything to my wife.' Wistfully, he removed one of the white roses and slowly turned it between thumb and forefinger. He sniffed it, noting that a few of the petals already showed early signs of wilt. 'She's so? young. She'll learn.'

AS THE HOUR drew near, Victor went to the master bedroom suite to determine what had delayed Erika.

He found her in the dressing room, at her vanity Her shoulder-length bronze hair was as lustrous as silk. The exquisite form and buttery smoothness of her bare shoulders stirred him.