No Humans Involved

I looked up at him. 'How?'

'The longer we keep this in the news, the more worried the group will become. Having you claim further 'messages' from the victims may not be wise. But working with May Donovan's group…?' A graceful shrug. 'Put the right twist on it, downplaying the spiritualism and playing up the ritualistic aspects of the killings, and she's likely to be quite willing to help.'

'To uncover the worst kind of paranormal scam-one with real bodies.'

'Perfect. I'll call now, tell her I want to talk.'

I phoned the number May had left. The phone rang four times, then voice mail picked up. As I listened to her inviting me to press one to connect to her secretary, I stopped, finger over the button. Then I hung up.

I laid the cell phone on my lap and thought. Then I thought some more. And while I did, Jeremy didn't question, just waited.

'May Donovan,' I said finally. 'Her accent. It sounds British, doesn't it?'

'I'm not very good with accents, I'm afraid. My language skills come from books, not conversation.'

'But it could be British, right? I was just thinking about what Eve said-that Rachel's killer was a woman with a British accent. And I know that seems like an enormous leap, but…' I took a breath, slowing my thoughts and organizing them. 'Zack Flynn said May had it in for Botnick. Imagine if she was part of this group and knew Botnick was searching for them. What better way to keep tabs on him? Purely professional interest. Even he wouldn't be suspicious.'

Jeremy looked thoughtful. Dubious? After a moment, though, he said, 'I think it's South African.'

'Hmmm?'

'The accent. I believe it's South African.'

'Like the folk magic we were investigating?'

He nodded. I called Eve.

I'd barely finished saying her name when she appeared.

'I see you haven't left the bedroom yet,' she said, plunking onto the bed.

'You got here fast.'

'She says, avoiding the subject. I didn't have far to travel. Kris and I have been patrolling. So far, nothing.'

'What about this morning. Did you see a woman like this?' I described May. 'She talked to the police earlier.'

'Yeah, Kris saw her. She said she was a lawyer for the family, freaking out over the damage to the property, wanting to know how much longer they'd be digging up the backyard. Kris listened in, but he knows a lawyer when he hears one.'

Jeremy and I exchanged a look.

'Did you overhear her?' I asked.

Eve frowned. 'No.'

I picked up the phone and dialed May's number, then held it out for Eve to listen. At first, she just fixed me with a 'what the hell are you on?' look, but after a moment, she said, 'That sounds like…' She stopped herself. 'It sounds like the woman Rachel heard when she was kidnapped. But it might just be the accent. Who is she?'

I explained. As I spoke, Eve's frown deepened.

'Okay,' she said when I finished. 'She does sound like the woman Rachel heard. And she might be from South Africa. And, yes, falsely representing herself as the family's lawyer to get a look around is suspicious, but this is exactly the kind of thing a scam-buster would take an interest in-a potential child sacrifice, pseudo-satanic shit. Someone who's so hell-bent on proving the paranormal doesn't exist certainly isn't going to get involved in it.'

'It could make a good cover story,' Jeremy said. 'But Eve has a point. If she's been actively trying to disprove the paranormal for years, that's a very elaborate cover.'

'Is it?' I settled onto the bed. 'Do you remember what she said when we first met her? She started off on the opposite end of the spectrum. A seeker. Only after getting burned did she switch sides.' I turned to Jeremy. 'Eve met this guy in the afterlife who was running a poltergeist school. He had the gift, which is rare, but instead of trying to seriously teach others, he used it to entice nymphs to his school… and his bed. Nymphs made an easy target because, in the afterlife, they're always looking for power. They get plopped into a world full of supernatural ghosts, but they themselves have lost their powers.'

'Except cheerleading,' Eve said. 'They make very good cheerleaders.'

'When Aratron was here, he talked about the evolution of the supernatural. There are people out there who have supernatural blood, but because their original powers are no longer useful, they don't know it. Isn't it possible that some sense they might be different? I've met people like May Donovan, who seem driven to seek out magic and supernatural answers. Maybe because they have the blood, but not the power.'

Eve snapped her fingers. 'That could explain why the magic is working. Latent supernatural blood. Like quarter-demon crossbreeds.' When I looked at her, she said, 'Half-demons don't pass on their powers to the children, right? But they say that the blood still counts, gives any other supernatural powers a boost. So Savannah doesn't have my demon powers, but she probably gets an added bump to her spellcasting.'

I passed her words on to Jeremy, who considered them as I went on. 'Let's say May Donovan has this drive because of her latent powers. She seeks out knowledge, but gets nowhere. So she flips sides- works out her frustration by uncovering scams while still secretly searching those scams for truth. Even after she found a backdoor in, she'd keep up the front-both searching for new magics and to protect herself.' I paused. 'Do you think she knows about Hope's powers? Maybe that's why she made contact in the first place.'

'Possible,' Jeremy said. 'But it's equally likely that she simply makes it her business to be involved in everything paranormal in this city, including offering her assistance to a new tabloid reporter who covers the supernatural. If Hope uncovered something, May would be among the first to know.'

'Which is exactly what happened.'

WE SET about brainstorming. The most obvious way to test our theory would be to take advantage of May's invitation and trap her. But we had no way of knowing how many people were involved or what magics they had.

Almost an hour passed. Then Jeremy's cell phone rang.

'It's Hope,' he said before answering. 'I should have called her.'

A couple of minutes later, he hung up. 'Zack Flynn wants to meet with us. He says he has news.'

'The reporter? But he's part of the Ehrich Weiss Society, which means he's probably in this magic group with May too, so why-' I stopped. 'Because I wouldn't see May or return her call. Now he's giving it a shot.'

'So it would seem. I told Hope to stall him and said we'd meet her in thirty minutes.'

'Go out? Is that safe?'

'We'll be careful. But we have to go to her. There's someone I need to talk to.'

BEING A Saturday, Hope had spent the day at her apartment, waiting for instructions from Jeremy. When we arrived, he walked to the head of the narrow road leading around her building. There he stopped, sniffing the air. When the way was clear, he crouched to pick up a trail.

When he straightened, he led me down an alley. I knew if he didn't explain, it was either because he didn't want to worry me or because he didn't want to speak prematurely.

We looped around another building coming out… somewhere. My sense of direction is lousy and here, surrounded by buildings, I didn't even have the sun to check. Another road, another alley.

When the dirt under our feet turned to gravel, Jeremy motioned for me to wait. Then he carried on, slowly and silently, not so much as a rock rolling underfoot. As he approached an alcove, he eased along the wall and stopped at the edge. Though he was too far and too hidden in shadow for me to see clearly, I could picture him sniffing, listening, waiting.

Then he stepped out into the opening.

'Hello, Karl.'

His voice echoed down the empty alley and was drowned out by a curse of surprise. Jeremy motioned me