Lupi 08 - Death Magic

something interesting?”
    “Nothing much on Sjorensen. She was a good student and did well at Quantico. Not much on Mullins, either, except that he’s a recovering alcoholic—that’s how they say it, you know, even if they’ve been sober a long time, and he has. Twelve years. But that’s not why I called.”
    Lily smiled. Arjenie had trouble summarizing. “You found something on Drummond?”
    “I think so. Maybe. His wife died last year. They’d been married twenty-two years. No children.”
    They headed for the elevators. “This is important?”
    “It’s how she died. She was killed by a woman named Martha Billings whom Drummond had arrested years ago. Billings was Fire-Gifted and mob-connected, and had a bad habit of burning things down for money.”
    “Ah.” Some Gifted had killed his wife. “What happened?”
    “Billings got out of prison, partied for about a week, then went and burned down Drummond’s house. He wasn’t home, but his wife was, and she died of smoke inhalation. They know it was Billings even though no one saw it because she confessed. She was mad that it hadn’t killed Drummond, so she sent him a video where she raved about how she’d killed his wife and she’d be coming after him next. Can you imagine that? She confessed in a video.”
    “Criminals are often not all that bright.” The elevator doors opened and the three of them got in.
    “She might have confessed, but she didn’t hang around to be found. Drummond went nuts. He tore up his office and did some raving of his own. Then he vanished. Just poofed, abandoned his cases, went missing. He’s gone for two weeks, and in that two weeks, Billings turns up dead.”
    “That is definitely worth a phone call,” Lily said. “I take it there was nothing linking him to Billings’s death?”
    “No, it was ruled an accident. The car she was driving burst into flames. There were witnesses, and no one saw anything except that it was suddenly engulfed in flame. No sign of ac-celerants, shots fired, nothing. The investigating officers decided she’d suddenly lost control of her Gift. She had a rep for doing drugs, and drugs do mess up your control,” Arjenie added, “so that wasn’t implausible. This happened four days before Drummond turns up. He’d been drinking the whole time, he said, and he doesn’t remember everything real well, but he had credit card receipts to show that he’d stayed at an inn down in Tennessee, a long ways from Boston. Boston’s where Billings died. It wasn’t a real alibi, but Billings’s death wasn’t ruled a homicide, so it didn’t matter.”
    They’d reached the seventh floor. The doors opened. Mark went first again, with Lily and Rule right behind him. No one in the hall. “That was not all in Drummond’s personnel file.”
    “No, but there was enough in it that I knew you’d want the rest of the story, so I went digging.”
    “I’m glad you did. Thanks, Arjenie. Feel free to bother me anytime you get a hunch like that. Did you find anything about Drummond’s alibi for five to six on the day of Ruben’s heart attack?”
    “He had his teeth cleaned at three thirty, and the dentist says he probably left about four thirty. The agent’s notes suggest he could have gotten to Headquarters by five if the traffic wasn’t bad, but in the end he was eliminated based on scan and visual records and the testimony of the guards on duty at the entrances that day. They know Drummond by sight,” she added. “He’s been at Headquarters for years.”
    “Hmm. Well, send me the dentist’s contact info and address, okay? Thanks.” Arjenie told her to take care of herself and Lily disconnected. She looked at Rule. “You heard all that?”
    He nodded. “You said Drummond had an attitude about magic. Now we know why.”
    “It’s not proof, but it’s suggestive. If he decided once to take justice into his own hands, he could decide to do it again. Maybe wiping out one Gifted wasn’t enough. Maybe he wants to get rid of all of us.”
    They’d reached a door with 715 over the spyhole. Lily knocked.
    No answer. She waited a moment and knocked again. She’d been reluctant to call ahead. Too easy for Sjorensen to turn her down. “Damn. Guess we’ll have to try back later.”
    “Lily. Step aside a moment, please.”
    Something in Rule’s voice kept her from asking why. She moved away from the door. He moved up—and put his face next to the crack where the door met the frame. Slowly he