12. That sad. Beating gorgon males fun. #3
“Not even bother to take purse. Just leave her on floor.” I pulled her clothes away from her body to reveal broken bones in her chest, similar to the statue outside. “Like poor woman outside, but truly dead. Stabbed in chest. Bones broken.”
“I see the damage,” my husband replied. “Keep going.”
The stairs creaked under my weight, and I flattened my ears at the thought of plunging through the weakened wood, but I made it to the second floor, discovering five more gorgon females, all dead from traumatic damage to their chests. “Why kill them like this?”
“I don’t know. It’s definitely weird.”
Like with the other bodies, they had their purses with them, and I dug for their identification.
Not all of them had gorgon listed as their species. “Dust change, they murdered after change?”
“That’s definitely a possibility. I don’t know why they would kill them after going through the trouble of infecting them, though.”
“No co-op-er-ate. Like me no co-op-er-ate with stupid bitch.”
“That’s possible. Audrey lacked patience on a good day. And considering she was less than sane by the end and rabid, it is what it is. Get the identifications you can, and the CDC will notify any living relatives.”
“Sad no burial.”
“I know. It’s just too dangerous. Look for any paperwork while you’re up there,” Quinn ordered.
All-in-all, someone had done an excellent job of cleaning the place out, leaving nothing but bodies, empty rooms, and decaying furniture. I checked every room, and in the bathroom of the largest bedroom, I discovered a gorgon male, and the meter squealed a warning. “Oh. Poor male.”
He’d been left bound after death, and someone had beheaded his serpents. Dust filled the tub around him.
“And that’s the real deal. Alan is processing the meter data now to see if we can get a match on the 120 Wall Street dust—and the stuff that’d been in your apartment.
They did a full sample diagnosis on the stuff out of your apartment before destroying it, and the meter reports from 120 Wall Street indicated it was the same batch, so if this matches, we’ll have some damned good evidence. Does he have his wallet?”
“Don’t see wallet. He in rags, very rotted. Tied up. Why do that to his poor snakes?”
“I don’t know.”
Fuckers. “Want to find bastards and burn them!”
“I know. Chances are, the women you found were members of his hive, which should make it possible to identify him. Go finish checking the building, then we’ll light it up and help the rest of the victims.”
I sighed, did one last circuit of the upstairs and ground floor before heading into the building’s basement.
Save for a rusted metal cage filled with bones, it was empty.
I examined the skeleton, pondering at the skull shape. “Big dog? Wolf?”
“Likely a wolf,” my husband replied. “Too long dead to be of use for us telling what killed it.”
I placed my bet on rabies. I did a circuit of the basement to discover decaying scraps of paper.
“Oh, paper!” I nudged them with my claw until the camera, with some help from the flashlight, could snap video of the text.
“Very sturdy receipts. For big dog food, rodent food.” I nudged the pet store receipt out of the way, uncovering several invoices for medical equipment beneath the dust. “Oh, this weird.”
“Flip it over to see if there is anything on the back,” Quinn requested.
I obeyed, discovering handwritten notes about disease progression, eating habits of several test subjects, and some cryptic notes involving months and days but no years listed. “This very weird, Queeny.”
“It is. Check for anymore papers. The CDC is getting nervous, and they want to get onto the napalm portion of your day.”
“They no hurt statues?”
“The statues close to the building have been safely moved, and an angel has arrived to assist. I fear we’ve been sent an archangel that’s not my grandfather, and the archangel is rather miffed.
It turns out archangels have zero problems with picking up statues and moving them to a safe location.
Without magic. Everyone has been thoroughly intimidated.
He’s seen the gorgon, and she’s been moved a safe distance.
Judging from the blindfold being carefully tied into place and the hoods for her serpents, he intends on saving her. ”
At least there would be a little hope amidst the tragedy. “Thank angel for me.”
“I’m sure we will, with our wallet or some form of horrific bargain.”
“Archangels bargain?”
“When it suits them.”
Ugh. “Naughty angels, always making trouble.” I explored the basement, but I found no more pieces of paper. “Want paper in coffin or let burn?”
“Let it burn. We have what we need on video record. The neutralizer would ruin it anyway, and there’s enough dust in that building to become a major problem if it isn’t destroyed. Try to stay outside of the building when it collapses this time, my beautiful.”
“I try, but no make promises. May not keep. Nay-palm’s fault. It tay-stee.”
“Just try not to give me a heart attack this time, Bailey.”
“That promise can make. Will try best!”
“That’s all I can ask for when it comes to you and your favorite treat.”