The Demon and the City

back to the days of his ancestors, who had ridden the Mongolian steppes, sweeping all before them. Including demons. With Chen, who was after all married to a former citizen of Hell, Zhu Irzh was allowed to feel almost human, or at least, not noxious. With Sung, he had no doubt as to where he stood in the hierarchy of lower lifeforms, but the captain never let his animosity show and that unnerved Zhu Irzh more than anything.
    "Seneschal," Sung said formally.
    "Captain. Good morning."
    "So. We have an identity for the victim, I believe? Just as well."
    "I'm sorry?" Zhu Irzh frowned. Of course it was "just as well." What a strange thing to say.
    Sung's gaze grew colder and heavier. "You haven't heard? Word hasn't filtered back? I suppose that's encouraging. Usually I'm the last one to hear the rumors."
    "Heard what?"
    "It is just as well that the lab got a positive ID from the samples it took from the body, Seneschal Irzh, because now the body is gone."
    The demon gaped at him. "Gone?"
    Sung nodded. "It disappeared from the morgue last night. No signs of forced entry, no locks tampered with, nothing out of order except that the body of the unfortunate Ms Sardai is simply no longer there."
    "Could it have walked by itself?" was the first thing that occurred to Zhu Irzh. "Let itself out?"
    "You tell me."
    "It is sometimes possible to raise a corpse," Zhu Irzh said, frowning. "But it's not easy. You'd need a very powerful piece of necromancy to do that, and anyway, I wouldn't have thought that the body was in any real shape to walk . . . Crawl, maybe. But it wouldn't have been able to see. She didn't have much face left."
    "Could someone have spirited it out by magic?"
    "Possibly. But that would have entailed opening a gate between the worlds, and that's not so easily done."
    "Think about the possibilities, would you? I've put Exorcist Ghi on this particular part of the case; he'll be liaising with you in due course. Try and be co-operative, please."
    "I'm always co-operative," Zhu Irzh protested. Sung gave him a long, level look. "I suppose you'd like me to alert the family?"
    Sung sighed. "Actually, no. Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I'll have to put some of our top people on the Sardai case. It's high profile. It was one thing to send you out on a murder investigation when we didn't know it was such an important victim, but now—"
    The demon bridled. "It's an embarrassment to have me on the case, is that what you're saying?"
    "I'm not saying you haven't been useful, Zhu Irzh. The fact that not everyone can see you is often to our advantage, but you can see how it might be a bit of a handicap if I were to put you in charge of the investigation. Besides, your specialty is really vice, isn't it?"
    "I see." Impossible to resent it, really. Sung's reasons were good ones and now that Zhu Irzh thought about it, he couldn't see a couple of socialites wanting a demon investigating their daughter's death.
    "Although how we're going to tell this extremely rich and powerful clan that we've managed to mislay their daughter's mutilated corpse, I have no idea. I suppose I'll think of something. Leave it with me." For which small mercy Zhu Irzh found himself extremely grateful.
    Leaving the captain's office, he returned to the more amiable company of Ma.
    "Very helpful, that magazine," Ma said. "Gave me several names, they did." His face wore a small, smug smile, somewhat foreign to Ma's usually anxious countenance.
    "Well?" the demon asked. He'd break the news about the body in a minute; why spoil Ma's moment of triumph.
    "I think we might have a lead," Ma said.
    "What, already?" After the news that the main piece of evidence had gone astray, this was welcome.
    Ma nodded. "Deveth Sardai was a close friend of Jhai Tserai." He glanced expectantly at Zhu Irzh, as if anticipating explanation, but the demon was ahead of him.
    "The Paugeng heiress. Even I've heard of Jhai Tserai." He grinned. "Most of Hell has, as a matter of fact. She's got a number of interesting contacts down there."
    "Do we go and see her?" Ma asked rather hopefully. Zhu Irzh caught his lip beneath one pointed tooth.
    "Tserai's one of the most powerful industrialists in this city, even if she is only in her twenties. She's got a lot of clout. I know for a fact that some of that extends to the police department . . .I think I'll pay Jhai Tserai a visit, Ma. Alone. Sort of off the record." There was no need to tell Ma about his conversation with Sung