* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SEX, LIES, AND NECROMANCY by Daniel Parsons and Brandi Weed * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ardrin gulped down his coke and mumbled, "What do we have so far?" "Not a great deal," Angel took a sip of tea and looked over her notes. "We still had no idea what we are up against. The symbols on Mr. Samuels' wall seem to indicate that our opposition is either some sort of cult, or a larger group masquerading as one." "Actually, that sounds more likely. The Crowleyites wouldn't have enough money to nab a ship with government protection. They're real little." "But why the hell would a real organization try a cover as lame as this? It's stupid." Angel sighed. "It certainly does seem that way, doesn't it? But not everything is what it appears. It may be that a small group is overreaching itself. Or it may be a rouge group within a larger, more respectable organization, attempting to conceal themselves behind a lurid mask. There are several possibilities. But for now, we really ought to concentrate our efforts on the possibilities that are open to investigation." Janie scooped up a glob of ketchup with her chips, dripping a bit on her shirt front. "We still haven't looked up any of those phone numbers we got out of Finger's house. That'd be a good thing to do." "Gee, do you think we should check out the female names first?" "Ardrin, that may actually be a good idea. They are much less likely to be 'contacts' who can move away at a moment's notice. Where shall we look first?" Ardrin paged through his notes. "Uh... lemmee see... here we go. There's a Lorelei Height in Liverpool. That's pretty close." "Couple hours away. Any others? Damn, I spilled ketchup on me." "Janet Andrin, in Corpac, Jillian Flash in Inverness, Rebecca McEwey in Aboyne, and Alice Johnson in Fyvie. Those are all up in Scotland." "Johnson? Say, is she any relation to Thomas and Robert and Donald? And are there any more of them up there?" Ardrin grinned broadly. "You guys are not going to believe this. I checked her out. She is Thomas and Robert's little sister, and Donald's cousin. And they have more siblings, and some of them have children of their own, too." "Oh, wonderful." Janie grinned. "Wonder how many of them will try to pick our pockets or write us bad checks?" "I have the vaguest suspicion that we are going to find out. Though I must admit, it does make sense that our friend Mr. Finger would have one of this lot in his harem." "Yeah. The guy's got some style." "Ardrin," Angel said with an edge in her voice, "you almost sound as though you admire him. We should drive to Liverpool this afternoon and see abut Ms. Height. Oh, and we should also call the home office to see if they have any news on Mr. Samuels." The call to London brought some very pleasant news: Mr. Samuels was alive, awake, and pleasantly chatting with the hospital staff as though nothing had happened! The doctors couldn't account for it, but he was brushing off the whole experience with a speed and calmness they never would have expected out of anyone. They couldn't give many details over the phone, but he had apparently described his attackers and their actions in detail. He was now expected to make a complete recovery, though how soon he'd be up was anyone's guess. They would not be able to see him until tomorrow, so they decided to visit Ms. Height as suggested, then go back to London to see Mr. Samuels bright and early the next morning. The afternoon's drive was actually a very pleasant one. The sun was out, and England's broad central fields were alive with flowers. In Warwickshire, when they drove past a farm, they saw a large circle with a ring around it outlined in a field of barley. "Oh, dear" commented Angel, leaning out the window to look at the huge formation. "Looks as though some of the local farm boys haven't got enough work to do." "I prefer to think of them as pixies," Janie smirked, "innocently throwing a monkey wrench into the works, just to see what happens." "I don't think so. They're certainly not doing enough damage to really work anything up." "Well, you don't want to do damage or anything. Just throw some weird shit into the mix, that's all." Angel knitted her brow. "Why?" Janie knitted her brow back. "Why not?" "That's no answer." "It's not much of a question, is it?" Angel stared back at Janie, who was grinning to herself. "Trying to confuse matters just to confuse matters is pointless. What on earth do you expect to accomplish? There's enough pointless chaos in the world without intentionally creating more." "I'm not trying to accomplish anything. I don't think I can improve anyone's life but my own. I just think things need to be shaken up every so often. Keeps things from getting dull." "Well, I do think I can at least try to improve someone's life besides my own, Jane. And as for being dull, I've had quite enough *real* excitement in my life. I think the world would be a better place if there were less of it." "Why? What happened?" Angel looked away. "Family affairs. I'd really rather not talk about it. Ardrin, how far is it to Liverpool?" "Another half hour. You wanna know what I think? If somebody wants to do something, they should go ahead and do it and get it over with and quit dorking around with crop circles and shit." "Thank you, Ardrin. We feel refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view. Who's to say why anyone made that circle? It's a childish prank, and nothing more." "Gee, don't you all know the space aliens made it?" "Thank you, Janie. Yes, I had heard that." The address in Liverpool was a large complex of warehouses on the waterfront, next to a pier. Ardrin drove up to the gate and leaned out to talk to the gate guard. "Hi there. Can you tell me where I can find Lorelei Height?" "Certainly, sir. She's in warehouse 5B. Just take the third road there back to the back, and then left around the side. It'll be right in front of you." Ardrin nodded, and drove in the direction indicated. It was slow going, with forklifts and people running back and forth from building to building, some of them even yelling at the car. Angel pondered to herself for a moment. "Say... isn't it odd that the guard didn't ask who we were?" "Yeah, that is a little odd, I guess." Ardrin glanced in the rear view mirror. "Uh oh. He's calling somebody on the phone." "Oh, no." Janie turned around and looked around out the back window. "I hope this won't be a repeat of Mikleway." "I think we should be cautious" Angel said. "We have no reason to suspect they may take violent action." "We never did at Mikleway either." "Mikleway was a catastrophic accident. We should be cautious. But to attempt an armed entry would be unjustifiable at this time. However, I do believe that the gate guard has directed us into an area that cars are not supposed to be in, judging from the things these workmen are shouting at us." Ardrin nodded. "Yep. It dead-ends up ahead there." He turned down a side street, which was considerably less crowded, and hailed a worker. "Hey, there. Can you tell us we can find Lorelei Height?" "Yeah. She's super in 3B. Just go to the back and go left." "Thanks again. We'll be in touch." Unfortunately, this street also dead-ended. Ardrin turned around again, and got good and lost in the huge complex. Everyone they asked for directions was either too busy to help, or directed them through someplace they couldn't take the car. They were beginning to despair before they ran across warehouse 3B by chance. "Oh, thank you, Lord" Angel gasped as she climbed out of the car. "Being greeted with gunfire might almost be a blessing just now." "Be careful what you wish for, Angel. You might get it. Should we ask at the door?" "Yep." Ardrin stretched. "Sounds like a plan." Next to the warehouse door there was a desk, with a fat little man behind it, filling out forms. He didn't even look up as they approached. "Yes?" "Can you tell us if Lorelei Height is here?" "She left ten minutes ago. Are you the people who just arrived?" Angel snapped, "Is there anyone else here?" The little man sat up and looked out the door. His body odor was oppressive at close range. "No, doesn't appear to be. I guess you're it. She left a message for me to read." "Do tell." Janie crossed her arms, becoming more than slightly peeved herself. "Let me find it." The little man searched through his desk for nearly a minute before coming up with a sweat-stained piece of paper. "Here we are. 'A mutual friend has told me you might be dropping by, so I must tell you I cannot answer any of your questions, and am taking a long vacation.' There." They stared at the little man, who had gone back to his forms without ever having even looked up at them, and then at each other. "Should we try to chase after her?" Angel asked. "I think she's long gone. Did she have a Caddy?" "Yes, she does. A large blue car. I have no idea where she parks it." "Thank you so much for being so helpful." Angel smiled as best as she could force herself to. "Now, since you're in such a solicitous mood, perhaps you could see your way clear to allowing us the pleasure of searching Ms. Height's office?" The clerk looked up. "Hah?" Angel waved her badge under his nose. "We are under the authority of the British government, and hereby request that you show is Ms. Height's office immediately." Janie said, "And hurry it up. We want to use your phone, too." Ms. Height's desk was off to one side of the warehouse; it yielded nothing of value, or even of interest. The clerk didn't have the licence number of her car, so Janie called in a description of it and Ms. Height, and had the police put out a bulletin. There wasn't much point poking around the complex after that - even the gate guard, when they finally managed to escape the place, was long gone - so they drove back to London, arriving back at the home office just at 5:00. "Well, that's good timing." Angel said as she stepped out of the car. "I was wondering about something, though." "What is it?" Janie said, stretching her neck. "I hate to sound morbid, but I was wondering when we're going to be assigned a new supervisor. I don't want to sound as though I'm glad to be rid of Samuels, as I rather like him, but we really should have one. He's in no shape to do it, even if he is recovering well." "I dunno" Ardrin said. "We've been doing pretty well so far. Got plenty of leads to chase down yet. Tomorrow, we should go up to Scotland. There's four more girls up there." "Okay. And this time, let's try to catch them at home." "They'll probably assign us another when things calm down some" Janie said. "But I gotta get home. I have some hungry cats to feed. See ya tomorrow, okay?" "Yeah. See ya." Janie climbed into her own humble Rabbit and drove home. She was still thinking about the case when she drove into the garage, mulling over facts in her head, and almost didn't notice the figure coming up behind her. He looked like a very sung biker, and stood out badly; Janie didn't live in a nice neighborhood, but it wasn't *that* bad. She turned and looked him right in the eye. "Yes?" He took a swing at her. Janie caught his arm, and twisted it around behind him; she'd never had to really use her judo before, and was a bit surprised that the maneuver actually worked. Forcing him to the hood of her car, she tried to think of what to do next, when something like a small truck hit her over the back of the head, and everything danced off into starry oblivion before she hit the ground. Daniel Parsons Brandi Weed Questions or comments to bweed@muddcs.claremont.edu