Lupi 08 - Death Magic

puzzle.
    The elevator came and went and another small crowd had gathered when Lily glanced at her watch. “It’s ten till eight. I’m going to have to take the next elevator. It was good running into you, Anna.”
    “Oh, yes. And I do have to thank you, whether you like it or not. If you hadn’t gotten me here for training, I wouldn’t be part of the investigation.” She leaned closer to add softly, “We’ve got a lead on the dagger.”
    “Oh?” Lily didn’t bat an eye. “Maybe you can tell me about it later.”
    “Later would be best.” Sjorensen grimaced prettily. The poor woman did everything prettily, which was why she wore severe suits and kept her hair so short. “I have to go, too. I’m supposed to be in Croft’s office in ten. See you soon, I hope.”
    Lily frowned as she got on the elevator with Rule and three others. “She’s not Unit.”
    “Croft could transfer her now, if he wanted.”
    “I know. And she’s bright enough, but . . .”
    “Inexperienced.”
    Lily nodded, her expression abstracted. They got off on the ground floor and turned left. There were four entrances to Headquarters; one for freight; two for Bureau personnel; and one for the public. Lily usually avoided the one the public used because it meant passing two checkpoints, but Rule had to turn in his visitor’s badge.
    In a low voice he said, “You didn’t mention to Anna that you weren’t part of the team anymore.”
    “If you’re thinking I should have—”
    “I’m glad you’re being your usual inquisitive self. If Croft wants to be sure no one talks to you, he’ll tell them so. As for Sjorensen . . . she’s bi, you know.”
    “What?”
    “Bisexual.”
    “What are you talking about? Why are you telling me this?”
    “That’s why she doesn’t like me. Not because I’m lupus, as we had suspected. She has a major crush on you, so she’s jealous, not bigoted. Possibly she thinks of herself as lesbian, which would make her attraction to me both unwelcome and suspicious. She may think I’m putting out some mysterious, magical sexual juju on purpose.”
    “I cannot imagine why you’re telling me this.”
    “You need to understand the people who are your allies. If you . . . Lily?” He stopped, taking her arm. “Are you—”
    “You don’t see it.” She was staring at the checkpoint where people were admitted to the secure area they were in. A guard made sure that everyone passing that point had an ID or visitor’s badge. The IDs were scanned; visitors had to sign in and out. “Of course you don’t see it.”
    “What?”
    “The ghost. He ran his ID through the scanner, nodded at the guard as he walked passed, and vanished.”

NINETEEN
     

     
    “NONE?” Lily said. “Okay, okay. I’m not arguing, I just . . . yeah, go ahead. Might as well be sure. Thanks, Arjenie.” She disconnected and frowned at her phone.
    “Arjenie couldn’t find anyone recently deceased who fits your ghost’s profile?” Rule asked.
    She looked over at him. Rule was behind the wheel himself for once. Not that they’d gotten away without any guards, but they were in Lily’s government vehicle because Cullen was AWOL in Rule’s, and Lily refused to sit in her own backseat. Rule refused to sit back there by himself, so Scott was.
    Lily shook her head. “Not an agent, not a secretary or a clerk or researcher or janitor. No male working at Headquarters has died lately.” And Arjenie would be able to find out. She might be living in California now to be close to Rule’s brother Benedict, but she was still a Bureau researcher, with access to pretty much any database her little heart desired. “She’s going to expand the search to include frequent visitors to Headquarters.”
    “Someone who visited often enough to make going through the checkpoint routine.”
    “Yeah.” She drummed her fingers on her thigh. “He wasn’t looking at me this time, just going through the motions, so maybe it wasn’t the same ghost. Some ghosts are more like habits than people—they go through the same shtick over and over until they fade. This could have been that type, and not the same one I saw before. I didn’t see a face. But I did see the wedding ring. It’s got a bit of color, even with the rest of him all filmy and white, so I spotted it.” She paused, frowning. “Though I guess more than one ghost could have a glowy gold wedding ring.”
    “You could call the Etorri Rhej and ask her.”
    “Maybe.” Rhejes