Reality Hack Page 14

  The kitchen had a cottage feel to it, complete with a huge range cooker which looked as though it never got used. The lounge and dining room had a similar ‘country retreat’ feel to them. None of them had a wizard in them, and the upper floor with its four bedrooms and huge bathroom was equally devoid of people. They did find a coat lying on one of the beds, and the wallet in it belonged to one William James Jasperson. It suggested he was there, and Nisa was expecting to find him in the attic anyway.

  Except that the attic had a window in it, which was not how Emily had described it. The light coming in from that as they edged up the stairs showed an empty room. There were boxes, an old dresser, and a blank, wooden wall. There was a beam running through at the right height for someone Emily’s height to be tied to, but there was no one tied to it.

  ‘Fuck!’ Kellog snapped, keeping his voice low, but obviously thinking they had hit a dead end. Nisa was more surprised at the display of emotion than she was at not finding anything. ‘Check around. Maybe there’s…’

  ‘Secret door?’

  ‘In this business, anything’s possible.’

  Nodding, Nisa walked down the room, avoiding the boxes. The dresser contained a few old dolls kept behind glass. Jasperson had had a sister who had died young and the toys had likely belonged to her. Nisa made it to the wall at the end without seeing anything strange and looked back.

  At the far end of the attic, Kellog was checking over the sloping area where it might have let through into the smaller wing where the kitchen was. She frowned. He seemed further away than she would have imagined from the walk she had just taken. Closing her eyes, she brought up the image of the outside of the house. She had seen the attic window from the ground and it had been closer to the kitchen than to the other end. But when she opened her eyes and looked, the window was in the middle of the sloping wall and…

  There was that tension in her mind again, the feeling of magic happening somewhere nearby. It could have been Kellog, but she thought not. And… And the shadows were wrong. In the angle between the window and her end of the room, the shadows seemed deeper than they should have been. She walked into the corner…

  And raised her pistol, automatically taking the stance Kellog had taught her and aiming the weapon at the man standing with his back to her. He had greying hair, was not tall, and that fitted Jasperson’s description. He was chanting something, in Latin, Nisa thought, and the result seemed to be that the naked young man hung by his wrists from the roof beam was screaming so loud that the chant was barely audible. Whatever was hiding the room was suppressing the sound because there was no way they would have failed to hear that horrible, pain-racked wailing.

  ‘Stop the spell,’ Nisa said, ‘or I’m going to put a bullet in the base of your skull.’ She was not actually sure she could hit the base of his skull, even at three yards, but she figured his back would do.

  The chanting stopped and Jasperson turned, slowly. The man he was torturing sagged in his bonds, panting.

  ‘You mustn’t stop me,’ Jasperson said, his voice calm and soft. ‘I have to give Auns what he wants–’

  ‘Or he’ll take your soul. I know. That doesn’t give you the right to give him other people’s.’

  ‘I can give you money. When I’ve given Auns this one, I can arrange for anything you want. Power? The love of your life?’

  ‘Thanks, but I can get those myself. I want you to–’

  He moved, raising his hand, fist clenched. She saw the ring on his finger just as he said, ‘Incendiariam ignitionem!’ She had no idea what it meant, but it sounded like it was something to do with fire and she felt the sudden flare of her magic sense as the ring began to glow. Reacting on instinct, her mind filled with the image from the coin and she wrapped herself in it as a pulse of light she thought she recognised shot from the ring to hit her in the chest. Fire blossomed and died as quickly as it had appeared. Nisa smelled burned cotton and squeezed off three rounds from her pistol.

  ‘Impossible…’ Jasperson croaked, and then he was falling forward, collapsing onto the wooden floor.

  Nisa looked down to see skin showing through the burned hole in her T-shirt. The pink flesh was a little redder than usual, but whatever she had done, it had worked. She was about to step forward to check on her arrestee when something appeared over the body. It was indistinct, misty, but it looked like it had horns and a tail. It hovered there for a second, gave a hiss of dissatisfaction, and then vanished.

  ‘No point in checking him,’ Kellog said from behind her. ‘Auns came to collect so we can be pretty sure he’s dead.’ He produced a folding knife from a pocket and flicked it open, holding it out to Nisa. ‘I’ll hold him up, and you cut the ropes.’

  Nisa stared at the body on the floor for another second and then took the knife. ‘Sure,’ she said.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Physically or mentally?’

  ‘Either, both.’ He stepped over to the man hanging from the beam and took his weight.

  ‘Physically fine. I’ll let you know about the mentally.’ Reaching up, she began to saw through the rope.

  Westminster, August 25th.

  Hanson had suggested they take Monday to sort themselves out and rest. Both Kellog and Nisa had been up half of Saturday night and it had taken hours to get everything taken care of at Jasperson’s house. Nisa had refused, saying she would take Tuesday out, if that was all right.

  Partially she wanted to be doing something rather than being at home and dwelling on killing a man. Both Norbery and Sandra spent the morning watching her on and off to see whether there were any signs of stress. She was, she thought, taking it a little too well, but it had been self-defence and Jasperson had given her no time to think or much of an option about what to do. She had a ruined T-shirt to prove that.

  The other reason she had wanted to be there had been the date and the time. At three in the afternoon she went to the little room where Emily Copper was sitting up in bed, because in less than fifteen minutes the woman was going to die.

  ‘Hello again,’ Emily said when Nisa walked in.

  ‘Hi… Can I call you Emily? I’m Nisa.’

  ‘I don’t mind. It’s nicer than Miss Copper.’

  She was looking pale. She seemed bright enough, but her face was drawn and her eyes were losing some of the brightness which had been there before. Nisa walked over and pulled out the chair she had used before, sitting down beside the bed.

  ‘We got him, Emily. We tracked him down. He had kidnapped someone else, but we got there before he could do the same thing again. He won’t be doing it again.’

  ‘You… You killed him?’

  ‘I killed him,’ Nisa said. ‘I killed him. Shot him three times in the chest. He didn’t give me any choice–’

  ‘Good.’ The word came out as a whisper, but Nisa heard it. ‘I’ve never wanted anyone dead before. I don’t think I could have done it. Even after… Thank you.’ She paused and then said, ‘I’m going to die, aren’t I?’

  Nisa bit her lip to force the tears back. ‘Yes. I’m sorry.’ She reached out a hand and Emily took it, squeezing her fingers.

  ‘Don’t worry. I’m not leaving anyone behind. My parents are dead and there’s no one special. No one to worry I’m gone or remember me. I think I knew… When it did what it did to me, I think I knew I was going to die then. Sandra has been looking more and more depressed the last day or so. It’s going to happen soon, isn’t it?’ Nisa nodded in reply. ‘Will it hurt?’

  ‘No. You’ll just… go away.’

  ‘Would you stay with me?’

  ‘That’s why I’m here. I didn’t want you to be alone. Mister Norbery would have liked to be here, but he thought it might disturb you.’

  ‘He… might have. He seems like a nice man. He seemed very angry about what had happened, but he was trying not to show it. Tell him thank you for me, would you?’

  ‘I will.’

  Emily lay back against the pillow and closed he
r eyes. She looked tired, but serene, as though she really had been preparing herself for this since Auns had ripped out her soul.

  ‘You seem very young to be involved with chasing demons and wizards. Are you some sort of magician? A witch?’

  ‘Norbery’s the witch. I’m… something else. I haven’t been doing it long. I kind of got into this because… Well, magic is supposed to be a secret and there I was learning to do it all by myself. I got into some trouble, like I said, and they made me a deal. I work here and they don’t need to try to stop me doing magic.’

  ‘That sounds a little threatening.’

  ‘Yes… But… I guess I’ve never done much with my life before now. I have a degree, in mathematics, but I was working in a kebab shop. This place has given me something… I don’t think I realised it, but this case…’ She felt the grip on her fingers slacken and closed her eyes. ‘Goodbye, Emily,’ she said. ‘I’ll remember you.’

  Part Five: Alchemy

  Westminster, London, September 9th, 2014.

  ‘Happy birthday,’ Norbery said, putting a small, wrapped box on the desk in front of Nisa.

  ‘Uh… thanks, but… It’s in my file, right?’ Nisa gave him a grin.

  ‘It’s in your file.’ He waved a hand at the box. ‘It’s nothing much. My wife makes them. They give you some protection against the supernatural.’

  ‘And that’s nothing much?’

  ‘Well, she makes me one every season, even though I don’t get out much, so we thought you could use one.’

  ‘Huh. Well, thanks. Maybe I’ll actually meet her sometime.’

  ‘Oh no. Alison met Sandra just after she started, Christmas party. Then she spent six months suspecting I was having an affair. I told her you look like a goat.’

  Nisa giggled and began unwrapping her present while Norbery grinned back and headed out.

  It had been a period of ups and downs recently and Nisa had not been especially keen to celebrate her twenty-third birthday. Emily’s burial had been the first thing. Everyone from XC had gone, even Hanson. They had outnumbered Emily’s friends, but at least there had been someone there to see her off. Then Brian’s email account had been unlocked and there had been the rather satisfying sight of the smug looks being wiped off John Wentworth’s and John Junior’s faces when the phone and ring were found hidden in a box in the boy’s bedroom. Two days after that, however, Nisa had been there to see Brian fade into nothing. He had been smiling, but that was another one gone.

  There had been more sightings of shadowy figures, and not even the slightest hint of a break in Nisa’s own mysterious shadow problem. Hanson was on the verge of putting the case in cold storage and marking it down as a Glitch. Nothing new had come up; aside from the shadow sightings, the supernatural world had gone quiet. The Skinwalker appeared to have decided to lay low and the shadows, while disturbing, did not appear to be actually doing anything.

  Hanson appeared in the doorway, knocking on the open door to get Nisa’s attention. ‘I’ve told Kellog, he’ll brief you, but you’re going up to Manchester next week. They think that Skinwalker has turned up there.’

  ‘Oh,’ Nisa said. So much for the Skinwalker laying low. ‘Okay.’

  Hanson nodded once. ‘Oh, and happy birthday.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Somehow the well-wishing did not go with the statement that came before it.

  Tower Hamlets.

  There was to be one bit of celebration. Nisa had bought food and a bottle of wine, and Faline had skipped the cat food to eat with Nisa. Nisa started cooking around seven. Forty minutes would see everything ready and then it would be sunset and they could sit down to eat. True, Nisa had no dining room furniture because she had no dining room, but they still felt it was a proper, sit down, birthday meal. There were even two cupcakes with pink icing, one of them with a candle for Nisa to blow out.

  ‘You’ll be all right on your own for a week?’ Nisa asked. ‘I mean, you won’t starve? Physically or metaphysically.’ Faline was watching from the floor and occasionally licking her lips once the steak had gone into the pan.

  ‘I can manage for that long, and normal food is not an issue.’ The cat licked at a paw. ‘I am, as I’ve pointed out, a superior breed of cat.’

  ‘Well, you’ll have my number if anything comes up. If there’s a problem and we need to stay longer… Well, we’ll work that one out. Maybe Norbery could come over to feed you. He knows you’re a Witch Cat.’

  ‘That would be acceptable, if absolutely necessary.’

  ‘He’s nice. You’d like him. And this is getting about where we want it. Can you change yet?’

  ‘I think so. I will meet you in the lounge.’ Getting up, Faline padded out.

  Nisa checked the vegetables, prodded the steaks, nodded, and began to dish everything out onto plates. Then, a plate in each hand, she walked out into the lounge and came to a sudden stop. Faline was standing there, looking a little nervous, naked aside from some red ribbon which was wrapped around her small breasts and around her hips to form a very short skirt. Nisa had no idea where she had got the ribbon from.

  ‘I had no idea what to get you for your birthday,’ the Witch Cat said, ‘so I thought… well, that you could unwrap me later.’

  Nisa grinned, handing Faline her plate. ‘Best present ever,’ she said.

  Salford, September 15th.

  ‘We found the torso floating in there,’ DI Havers said, pointing down into the waters of Ontario Basin. ‘Divers pulled up the rest, aside from the head. We’ve never found the head.’

  Havers looked pale under the summer tan she was still wearing. She was an attractive woman, not tall, but fit. She had vibrant red hair and bright, green eyes. The bright spark was also missing just at the moment.

  ‘The body came dismantled?’ Kellog asked.

  ‘We figure it was for disposal. Skinned and then dismembered.’

  ‘You’ve still got it on ice?’

  She nodded. ‘Look, I’m a homicide detective. I get the weird cases because… Well, no one else wants them, but I don’t normally see much. When a skinned body turned up, HOLMES flagged it for your attention, but I’m honestly hoping this isn’t your guy.’

  ‘He didn’t dismember the last one,’ Nisa said.

  ‘Perhaps you found him before he did,’ Kellog replied. ‘I’d like to see the body.’

  Havers nodded. ‘Come on.’

  ‘I don’t want to see the body,’ Nisa pointed out as they walked down the dock, ‘but I suppose I’m going to have to.’

  ~~~

  Nisa looked down at the sectioned corpse and tried her hardest not to throw up. It was grey, distorted, and it had been chopped into pieces at every major joint.

  ‘How long was it underwater?’ she asked.

  ‘Best estimate is three weeks,’ Havers replied. ‘Pure luck that the torso got free of the net it was in.’

  ‘And the pathologist is sure it was skinned?’ Kellog asked.

  ‘Skinned or flayed. The skin was removed before it was cut up. There were some deep incisions, flesh cut away…’

  ‘This wasn’t a Skinwalker.’

  ‘You seem sure.’

  ‘It’s too…’

  ‘Inexact,’ Nisa supplied.

  ‘As my colleague says, it’s too inexact. They make mistakes when young, but by the time they’ve graduated to humans, they’re better at it than this. And the dismemberment doesn’t match the usual MO. They like to hang their victims as trophies. Disposal is usually not a concern.’

  ‘So we’re thinking this is a boring, ordinary, serial killer?’ Havers looked almost eager.

  ‘I can’t rule out something supernatural, but a normal human is quite capable of this level of violence.’

  ‘Huh. Looks like you’ve had a wasted trip.’

  Kellog shrugged. ‘If it had been our Skinwalker, we’d have been sorry to miss it. Can’t win them all.’

  ~~~

  They were staying overnight anyway so an hour later N
isa found herself sitting on the bed in a bog-standard, budget, business-oriented hotel not far from where the body had been found. The place was clean, and it had Wi-Fi, but it seemed too bright. Someone had carved up an unidentified person and thrown them in the docks, and this place was all white walls and pretty pictures.

  With nothing better to do, she sat down with her laptop and began going over the statistical work she had been doing. It was still hard, but she thought she was making progress. If she just kept working at it…

  It had been the same when she was at university. She enjoyed digging into mathematical problems and finding resolutions to them. Occasionally, as she worked and realised she was enjoying the work, she wondered how she had let herself end up in the position she had been in before XC had found her. Sometimes she thought of an answer, but it was not really an answer, more another question. She had been waiting for something, but what? The Hackers? Spike and his mysterious website? Kellog and Hanson?

  Her phone rang, startling her. It was dark outside the window. How long had she been puzzling over the maths? She grabbed her mobile and hit the answer button.

  ‘It’s Kellog,’ his voice said, rather redundantly given that his name had appeared on the screen. ‘Meet me in the lobby. They’ve found another body.’

  Moss Side.

  There was a white plastic tent set up on a large area of disused land off Lloyd Street. The streets around the place were all terraced rows of standard, brick-built municipal-style housing. It was not the best of neighbourhoods, but even they did not deserve to have what was hidden in the tent happening in their area.

  ‘Wasn’t this the place with the riots?’ Nisa asked as they walked to the tent dressed in bunny suits, gloves, the works.

  ‘In the eighties, yeah,’ Havers replied. ‘The place has cleaned up its act since then, but it still has a reputation.’

  ‘Before I was born. Guess I should give it the benefit of the doubt.’

  ‘You take ’em young, Kellog?’ Havers said, grinning.

  ‘Harper’s got a lot of talent,’ Kellog said. ‘It was take her on or try to come up with a way of containing her. I’d rather have her working with us.’