Chapter 9 #2
“I’m sorry,” Des said. “This is Mal and Hala, my other consultants. I’ve got a tough one and could really use your help.” Des pulled out a file and handed it to the old woman, who ummed and arred for a second before smiling.
“You know I like a good puzzle.” The old woman took the file, then changed completely.
In lieu of the old woman was now a slightly smaller, skinny individual about their age, with ear-length black hair and beige skin.
They had instantly transformed; their clothes, however, had stayed the same.
Mal rubbed his eyes as if he was seeing things, but the old woman was no more.
“Meet Yu,” Des said. “They’re my brain when mine’s not working.”
“I’m surprised I’m not glued to your side then,” Yu said in an altogether new voice. They bore a smirk upon their face but their eyes remained pinned to the file. After a few moments of intense reading, Yu returned to reality. “So you’re looking at Taran by the looks of this?”
“Yeah, he fits the power profile and the witness descriptions.” Mal wondered how easy it would be to re-question those witnesses and if he would be required. “But we can’t see a motive or a connection to any of the victims.”
“Ahh,” Yu said. “Well, there is a connection. It’s a bit tenuous and it’s only for the first three victims.” Mal and Hala moved in close as Yu put the file down on a nearby desk and pointed to the locations on a map.
“So victim number one was killed near the University—the University that Taran used to work at. Victim number two was killed in this park. Now, this park has a statue in the middle just off from where the body was found—a statue of Taran’s grandfather Augustus Merlin Ambrosius, who was also a great wizard in his day, thwarting some plague, I think, back in the seventeen hundreds.
” Mal tried to do the math but remembered that Taran was nearly two hundred years old; his ancestors probably lived just as long.
“Now, victim number three was killed in Avalon, just down the way from where Taran lives. I read an interview with Taran from a paper in 1904 and he stated that he used to take walks there with his wife before she passed.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Mal found himself saying.
“I remember a lot and I read a lot, it’s not that hard.
Now, can I continue?” Yu watched Mal from over their glasses.
Mal fell silent. “The other victims, four through seven, have seemingly no connection at all.” Mal mentally noted Des and himself as extra attempted victims. “They were, however, all found within fairly close proximity, closer than any of the others.” Yu circled an area encompassing Murray, Stephanie, Ray, and Kosh.
On the edge of that circle Mal saw the intersection of Copperfield and Bow Streets.
Yu was good. “I would hazard a guess at two killers, or a possible change in motive for the killer. But what that motive could be I have no idea.”
“Impressive,” Hala said.
“What are these names?” Yu said, pointing to a list at the bottom of one of the files. Mal peeked over to see the names Noe, Leptoptilos, and Mazino Knare scrawled in thick black ink.
“Potential suspects,” Des said. “I’ve been trying to follow up on them but it’s not going well. Why do you ask?”
“Well, these two, Leptoptilos and Knare, they know each other. They were both in the same evil group at one point, I can’t remember the name.
I’ll never understand why evil wizards like to team up so much.
They tried to overthrow the city of Kitezh and found their own country.
I believe Taran was one of the wizards who stopped them. It was all over the news.”
“I’ve been trying to get in to see Leptoptilos.
That name, seriously, I’m calling him Lee from now on.
Anyway, I haven’t been able to find anything recent on Knare.
He fits the bill though: matches the magical profile, he’s got to be pushing eighty, and he holds a grudge against Taran,” If Taran was right and he is a necromancer, he would have a grudge against the Order too, Mal thought.
“Well then, you have your leads,” Yu said, clapping their hands together.
“Glad I can be of assistance. I’ll let you get on with it.
” In an instant Yu had transformed back into the strict-looking librarian.
“And do try and keep a modicum of decorum, will you?” they said in a voice more befitting the old woman.
Yu led them back through the nooks and crannies of the labyrinthine library and into the study hall.
Hala remarked on the way that had Yu not been there, they probably would have been lost down there forever.
They arrived to find no scholars or denizens, no one horny or frustrated, just empty desks.
Yu became themselves again and wore a new mask of concern.
The other three couldn’t see why; Mal just assumed everyone had gone on lunch break.
When Mal voiced this possibility, he was perturbed by the reply.
“They don’t go on lunch break. They don’t eat lunch.”
What the fuck do they eat then? Mal thought.
Books? Mal put his hilarious thoughts aside as he suddenly shared the concern that Yu was showing so visibly.
A creeping had set in. He couldn’t tell quite what it was, but it felt like a ghostly hand was slowly walking up his spine.
Caressing his very being. He felt it worm its way up and through him, as if under his skin.
His world swam. He followed the others as they headed for the stairs.
He squirmed as the feeling reached the middle of his back.
The others, now aware of the strange malady befalling Mal, seemed all the more concerned for their situation.
Even Yu seemed genuinely worried for him.
He would have thought it very sweet given they had just met, but now the creeping had reached the top of his spine and it was a creep no more.
Mal was hit by a wave of dread, a cavalcade of pain and nausea.
It was so violent it nearly knocked him off his feet.
Now, however, he recognized the malady; he’d felt this before, but never this acutely.
His death sense. Gods, he hated that phrase.
It made him sound like Spider-Man, but Spider-Man was a hero, and all he could do was fuck with the dead.
He was balled over now, hands on his knees, head heavy with pain.
The others had stopped to check on him, but a sense of urgency had gripped the group.
The kind of panic that sets in upon prey when it knows it’s being hunted.
Mal didn’t help matters, as in his haste to explain what was happening he simply said, “The dead are coming.” Which is possibly the worst thing to say to a group of frightened people. Unfortunately for them, it was also quite accurate.