In Death 05 - Ceremony in Death

her waist.
    The hand she gestured with held rings on every finger and her thumb. A silver chain was attached to each and twisted into an intricate mesh over the back of her hand.
    "Lieutenant Dallas and Officer Peabody, isn't it? What interesting visitors on such a dull day. Will you come in... to my parlor?"
    "Are you alone, Ms. Cross? It would simplify this if we could speak with Mr. Alban as well."
    "Oh, what a shame." She turned, silks whispering, and slipped through the arch. "Alban's busy this morning. Sit down." She gestured again, encompassing a generous room crowded with furniture. Every seat boasted the heads or claws or beaks of some predator. "Can I offer you something?"
    "We'll skip the refreshments." Considering it apt, Eve chose a chair with the arms of a hound.
    "Not even coffee? That is your drink, isn't it?" Then she shrugged, slicked a fingertip over the pentagram above her eyebrow. "But suit yourself." With that same studied skill, she lowered to a curved settee that stood on cloven feet and draped her long arms over the back. "Now, what can I do for you?"
    "Alice Lingstrom was killed early this morning."
    "Yes, I know." She continued to smile pleasantly, as though discussing the nice run of weather. "I could tell you I witnessed the... accident through my scrying mirror, but I doubt you'd believe that. Of course, I'm not one to disdain technology and often watch the news and other forms of entertainment on-screen. The information's been public for hours."
    "You knew her."
    "Of course; she was a pupil of mine for a time. A dissatisfactory one as it turned out. Alice complained to you about my tutelage." It wasn't formed as a question, but she waited, as if for an answer.
    "If you mean she reported to me that she was drugged, sexually abused, and was a witness to an atrocity, then yes, she complained."
    "Drugs, sex, and atrocities." Selina let out a low, purring laugh. "What an imagination our little Alice had. A shame she couldn't use it to broaden her vision. How is your imagination, Lieutenant Dallas?" She flicked the hand gloved with mesh. In the small marble fireplace, flames burst to life.
    Peabody jolted, didn't manage to muffle a yelp, but neither woman acknowledged her. They continued to stare, unblinking at each other.
    "Or may I call you Eve?"
    "No. You can call me Lieutenant Dallas. It's a little warm for a fire, don't you think? And a bit early in the day for parlor tricks."
    "I like it warm. You have excellent nerves, Lieutenant."
    "I also have low tolerance for grifters and dealers and child killers."
    "Am I all of that?" Selina tapped her sharp red nails on the back of the settee, her only outward sign of annoyance in Eve's lack of response. "Prove it."
    "I will. Where were you last night between the hours of one and three a.m.?"
    "I was here, in my ritual room, with Alban and a young initiate we call Lobar. We were engaged in a private sexual ceremony from midnight until nearly dawn. Lobar is young and... enthusiastic."
    "I'll want to talk to them both."
    "You can contact Lobar any evening between eight and eleven at our club. As for Alban, I don't keep his schedule, but he is generally here or at the club most nights. Unless you believe in magic, Lieutenant, you're wasting your time. I could hardly have been here, fucking two very entertaining men, and out luring poor Alice to her death."
    "Is that what you consider yourself, a magician?" Eve glanced toward the still burning fire with a mild sneer. "That's nothing more than trickery and distraction of the eye. You can be licensed to juggle on the streets for two thousand credits a year."
    Selina's muscles quivered as she sat forward. Her eyes were burning now, as the fire did. "I am a high priestess of the dark lord. Our numbers are legion, and I have powers that would make you weep."
    "I don't cry easily, Ms. Cross." Ah, a temper, Eve thought with satisfaction. And easily ruffled pride. "You're not dealing with an impressionable eighteen-year-old girl now, or her frightened grandfather. Which one of your legion called Alice last night and played a tape of chanting threats?"
    "I have no idea what you're talking about. And you're beginning to bore me."
    "The black feather on the windowsill was a nice touch. Or simulated feather, I should say, but she wouldn't have known that. Are you into droid pets, Ms. Cross?"
    Idly, Selina lifted a hand, skimmed it through then down her hair. "I don't care for... pets at all."
    "No? No cats and