Diana Racine 02 - Goddess of the Moon

mouth-to-mouth and alternated with a series of chest compressions.
    Within a few minutes the paramedics arrived , one older, one barely shaving . The older medic quickly broke an ampule of something between two pads of gauze and placed it over Deems’ s airway while the younger medic administered an intravenous solution. After thirty seconds, the first medic removed the gauze.
    “A myl nitrate ,” the paramedic told Lucier.”
    “Can you save him?” Lucier asked.
    The medic didn’t answer for a minute. “ D oesn’t look good. His pulse is fading. ”
    The two men worked feverously. “ Sometimes high doses of oxygen can ― shit, he’s convulsing!”
    The other paramedic gave him an injection, and Deems stopped jerking and lay still. “ Nothing ’s working,” he said .
    “ Move over. I’m going to give him CPR . ”
    Lucier watched for ten minutes as medic worked feverishly, pumping his chest. The other guy administered a second shot. When Deems didn’t respond, he rested his hand on his partner’s shoulder and spoke softly. “He’s gone.”
    “Damn,” Lucier said. “Damn, damn, damn.”
    Within a few minutes, the two men hoisted Deems onto a gurney and covered him. “Sorry,” the older medic said . “ Stuff works fast. He was a dead man the minute he bit down on that capsule.” T hey rolled the dead man from the interrogation room.
    “You did your best,” Lucier said.
    “ We emptied his pockets and patted him down,” Beecher said when they left. We thought he was clean.”
    “You couldn’t have known. Who walks around with a cyanide pill in his mouth? ” Lucier rubbed the back of his neck. “ What the hell do we have here, Sam? A guy steals a baby, then commits suicide rather than be interrogated. He didn’t steal this baby for money. No ransom , no calls. Nothing . I want to go over his personal effects. Maybe we can find something that’ll lead us to the babies.” Lucier rub bed his chin. “Son of a bitch.”
    He picked up the bag with Deems’s belongings . A wallet, no driver ’ s license or credit cards, six dollars and change . A nd a key. He called Diana , told her what happened . “There’s a key in his personal effects.”
    “And you want to see if I get a reading.”
    “Yeah, I do. Maybe it will lead us to the house you saw in your vision.”
    “ A re you sending someone to pick me up?”
    “Stay there. Cash will come for you. I’m still worried about that note.”
    “I’ll be ready by the time he gets here.”
    * * * * *
    D iana’s heart pumped a few extra beats when Cash ushered her into Lucier’s office. He had that effect on her from the first time she saw him. After a quick smile in his direction, she took her usual seat. The key sat on the desk in front of her. She stared at it.
    “What do you think?” he asked.
    “Only one way to find out. You know I might not get any reading at all, don’t you?”
    “I know. Feel no pressure.”
    She laughed. “No, of course not. It’s just a baby.” She gingerly picked up the key. “Does the Captain know I’m doing this?”
    “He said he’s going to have to put you on the payroll.”
    “That’s an idea. I’m out of work.”
    “Not lately.” He clicked on a tape recorder , identified himself, and gave the date . “ Diana Racine channeling a key found on Ridley Deems.”
    She wasn’t sure she liked the word channeling , but what else could he call what she did? G lanc ing at Lucier , she tucked the key in the palm of her hand and made a fist. “Here goes.” She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes. A few minutes passed before she spoke.
    “I see a large Victorian house with a turret covered with decorative shingles. The house is pink with white trim, and there’s a black wrought iron fence, the kind with spear-like tops.” The vision clarified. “Brass numbers 107 are on the right side of the front door.” Before long, she opened her eyes. “That’s all I see, Ernie. I don’t know if it’s the same house with the pink room.” She replaced the key on the desk, but she couldn’t shake the ominous feeling the vision generated.
    Lucier patted her back. “Good work, Diana.” He flipped his intercom. “Willy, Deems was near Audubon Park, right?”
    “Yeah, on Charles Street.”
    “Pu ll up all the addresses in the area with th e number 107 . ”
    “ I’m on it ,” Cash said.
    Lucier turned to Diana. “If he finds anything, will y ou go with me to check it out?”
    “You know I