Novak’s face turned red. I assumed because such robots were expensive as hell and Dolin was correct about the Novaks using them.
“Mostly. The human servants have been with us for generations.”
Dolin typed on his keyboard, and a similar chart appeared on the screen. I stepped closer and looked it over. Martin Johansson’s name appeared in one of the boxes, but the two lines leading to it were dotted, not solid.
“What do the dotted lines mean?”
“Unconfirmed connections. We may have heard a rumor, or someone snitched, but we don’t have any evidence that the person is involved in anything illegal. Sometimes it might simply be a john who was caught with a girl who was trafficked.”
“Thanks. Yeah, if I could get this one in addition to the one with Fredo’s connections, that would be great. And as soon as I have IDs on the victims from this morning, I’ll send them on over. Second question, do you know anything about a private play space called Dorothy’s Dungeon?”
Dolin nodded. “It’s come up in conversation a few times. Want the section of the map with it at the center?” I smiled, and he said, “I’ll send that, too.”
We left Dolin’s office and wandered down the hall to Detective Sergeant Jeff Collins’s office. Novak told me he knew Collins well, and I had seen them chatting at the crime scene that morning.
“You know him, you take it,” I said to Novak as I knocked on the closed office door. How did a sergeant rate his own office? I didn’t even get a cubicle, just a desk in an open office with six other detectives.
“Who is it?” a voice came from inside. Novak didn’t even bother to answer, just turned the knob and walked in.
“It’s the tooth fairy,” Novak said. “Stop watching porn and give us a few minutes of your precious time.”
“Sure,” Collins said. “I’d much rather watch her.” He sat up straight in his chair, giving me his full attention. I smiled and batted my eyes at him. I couldn’t believe there was a cop in Arcane who didn’t know who I was.
Novak choked back a laugh, and I remembered that he hadn’t known who I was, either. It appeared the drug section of Vice wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on around them.
“We’ve got a couple of murders, and astropene has cropped up at both scenes,” Novak said, settling into one of the side chairs. “In addition, that one this morning also had a fairly large quantity of rasheen on hand. What we’re wondering is, if there are any new players moving large quantities of those drugs.”
I didn’t sit but moved to lean on the wall behind Novak. Collins’s eyes followed me. He was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and work boots. He appeared to be a little older than Novak and me, shaggy light-brown hair that needed trimming, not at all bad-looking. The t-shirt showed off a ripped physique, and his lascivious grin was rather attractive. Nothing about him or his office gave me a clue as to what kind of magik he wielded.
“I haven’t heard anything about new players,” Collins said, “but there are rumors that one or more of the big players are moving to consolidate. I’m sure Frosty got caught up in that.”
“Frosty?” I asked.
“The frost demon this morning. Lavessinel is his name, but on the street he’s known as Frosty, for obvious reasons. He’s been around for about five years and started expanding his business during the past year or so. Arrogant prick. Looks like someone gave him a dose of his own medicine.”
“Any idea who his supplier was?” I asked.
Collins tossed off three names. “Those are my best guesses. Now, answer me a question. You’re both mages, right? Who killed him? I mean, could a human mage do that, or would it have to be another demon?”
I kind of shrugged my shoulders and was about to say his guess was as good as mine, but my partner surprised me.
“There are mages strong enough to take down even a demon lord,” Novak said. “That kind of power isn’t common, though.”
“Are you saying it could be someone from one of the Families?” I asked.
“Could be, but it could also be a street urchin,” Novak responded. “Talent is inherited, but you never know where or how magikal talent manifests.”
Collins laughed. “And you never know where someone from one of the Families has been dipping his pen.”
After we left Collins’s office, I asked my partner, “What kind of talent does he have?”
Novak laughed. “No talent, not in the way you mean it. He’s a cat shifter. Fast as lightning, smooth as silk. We were partners for two years, and I trust him. Good cop, honest cop.”
Chapter 21
By the time I finished sorting through everything I received from Dolin and Collins, I had a set of boxes drawn on a piece of paper with lines connecting them. Not as fancy as Dolin’s computer map, but good enough for me to visualize things a little better.
Three of my boxes had Xs through them. Lavessinel and the devil dealer at Middle River were dead, and Fredo was out of action in a cell up in Gettysburg.
Martin Johansson, Sarah Benning, and Dorothy’s Dungeon formed a triangle. Johansson and Ashvial had a link.
On the drug side, I could link one of Lavessinel’s potential suppliers to Fredo, according to Collins.
While I was trying to make sense of what I was looking at, Kelly Quinn, the new medical examiner, called and gave me the results from her investigations.
“You were right about the girls,” Kelly said. “Evidence of restraints on their wrists and ankles. Signs of sexual abuse. I estimate one was about fifteen, the other a year or so older. Cause of death was broken necks, quick and effortless. A very strong man or a Rifter.”
“Do we have any identification on them?” I asked.
“Not yet. Preliminary DNA places one girl’s origins in Mexico, the
