Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

hid it with a grin. "Don't think I mentioned it at the time, but that's one of the things I appreciated about you. You didn't give me that 'let's just be friends' crap."
    "Cody." She dragged a hand through her hair. "You want to get together and have a heart-to-heart, fine. But later, dammit. Right now, I've got an investigation. It's not about just one guy - one lupus - who got stabbed. It's a whole, huge, scary lot more than that. That's where my focus belongs. You are not helping."
    He regarded her out of eyes gone flat and unreadable, then pushed the button she'd tried twice, and held it down. "Magruder's on vacation. Davis did the autopsy. He's new, so you may not know him, but he's got a good eye."
    The door opened. "You don't have to lean on the goddamn buzzer," the young man snapped. "I'm coming as fast as I - oh, hey, Cody. What's up?"
    "Jamal, my man." Cody and the attendant executed an elaborate high five, then Cody intoned, "We've come to see dead people."
    Jamal cracked up. Cody could do that - make the corniest line sound fresh and funny. And he knew everyone. There were one and a quarter million people in San Diego, and Cody seemed to know half of them by name. Grinning, Jamal said, "You're at the right place, then."
    "Then I got one thing right today. Jamal, this is Agent Yu," Cody said as they came in.
    "Sure, I know you," the attendant said, amiable now. "Lily Yu, right? But I thought you were a detective."
    "Used to be. I'm with the FBI now."
    "Oh, yeah, I heard about that. Want to have a seat? Dr. Davis is working on another one right now, but he'll be out to talk to you when he's done."
    "I need to see the body with the wound to the heart. I can do that while I'm waiting for Dr. Davis."
    "Guess that ought to be okay. He's a smelly one," Jamal warned as he started down the hall. "I'll get you a mask, but it won't help."
    "Worse than a floater?"
    "Four, five days in this heat - what do you think?"
    The door to the second autopsy room opened and a tall, lanky man with silver-rimmed glasses, a Jay Leno chin, and dirty blond hair stepped out. He was unfastening his green surgical gown when he noticed them. He frowned. "Cody. You don't have a case here, do you?"
    "Not today," Cody said cheerfully. "You called me about that one you did this morning, remember?"
    "Right." His gaze flicked to Lily. "This must be the FBI agent you mentioned."
    "Lily Yu," she said, moving forward and holding out her hand. "You're Dr. Davis?"
    He reached out to shake automatically. His hand was large, dry, and devoid of magic. "Good to meet you, Agent Yu. You're interested in Mr. Xing, I understand."
    Lily's heart kicked up a beat. Maybe she knew this vic. "If he's the man with the wound to the heart, then yes, I am. You've ID'ed him?"
    "I did that," said another voice. "It's tentative, pending the dental."
    An older man sauntered down the hall from the direction of the offices. His white hair and beard gave him the look of Santa in civvies. The blue eyes twinkling behind gold-rimmed glasses heightened the effect, though Santa wasn't supposed to have... Well, those weren't just bags beneath his eyes. More like steamer trunks.
    "T.J.," Lily said, grinning with pleasure. "You've grown fur."
    He gave a nod to Cody and stopped in front of Lily, fingering his new beard. "Hides the wrinkles."
    T.J. didn't just have wrinkles. He had deep, droopy crevasses. "It looks good on you, but how in the world do you get away with a beard?"
    Cody's phone chimed just then. He plucked it from his pocket, glanced at it, and moved a few feet away. "Beck here."
    "Doctor's orders," T.J. said.
    "The doctor ordered you to grow a beard?"
    "Got this dermatitis thing that's irritated by shaving."
    He looked completely serious. T.J. always looked completely serious when he was winding you up, which was pretty often. The man might resemble Santa, but he had a sick and twisted sense of humor. He was also one of the best cops she knew. He'd mentored her when she got transferred to Homicide. "This your case, then?" she asked.
    "It was. You going to grab it away from me?"
    "I play nice, when I can."
    He shook his head mournfully. "Didn't learn that from me."
    Actually, she had. "You said the vic's name is Xing. Anyone I know?"
    "Probably. I made him based on what's left of the tattoo on his right bicep. One of those Chinese thingies they use for writing. You'd recognize it."
    The Xings had an import company. They brought in cheap pottery, souvenirs, and