Ceremony in Death (In Death #5)(9)

“I know what it is.” Troubled now, Peabody set the note down. “Wiccans are peaceful, Dallas. And they use herbs, not chemicals. No true Wiccan’s going to buy, sell, or use Zeus.”

“How about digitalis?” Eve cocked her head. “That’s kind of an herb, isn’t it?”

“It’s distilled from foxglove. It’s been used medicinally for centuries.”

“It’s what, like a stimulant?”

“I don’t know that much about healing, but yeah, I’d think.”

“So’s Zeus. I wonder what kind of effect you’d get combining the two. Bad mix, wrong dosage, whatever, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d get heart failure.”

“You think Wojinski self-terminated?”

“The commander suspects it, and I’ve got questions,” Eve said impatiently. “I don’t have answers. But I’m going to get them.” She picked up the note. “We’ll start tonight, with Alice. I want you there at eleven, in civilian clothes. Try to look like a Free-Ager, Peabody, not a cop.”

Peabody winced. “I’ve got this dress my mother made for my last birthday. But I’ll get really pissed off if you laugh.”

“I’ll try to control myself. For now, let’s see what we can dig up on this Selina Cross and The Athame Club.”

Five minutes later, Eve was smiling grimly at her machine. “Interesting. Our Selina’s been around. Spent some time in a cage. Just look at this yellow sheet, Peabody. Soliciting sex without a license, ‘43, ‘44. Assault charge also in ‘44, subsequently dropped. Ran into Bunko in ‘47, running a medium scam. What the hell do people want to talk to the dead for, anyway? Suspected of animal mutilations, ‘49. Not enough evidence for arrest. Manufacturing and distribution of illegals. That’s what tagged her and put her away from ‘50 to ‘51. All small-time shit, though. But here in ‘55, she was brought in and questioned in connection with the ritual slaying of a minor. Her alibi held.”

“Illegals has had her under observation since she was sprung in ‘51,” Peabody added.

“But they haven’t brought her in.”

“Like you said, she’s small-time. They must be looking for a bigger fish.”

“That would be my take. We’ll see what Marion has to say. Look here, it says Selina Cross owns The Athame Club, free and clear.” Eve pursed her lips. “Now, where would a small-time dealer get the credit power to buy and run a club? She’s a front. I wonder if Illegals knows for who. Let’s take a look at. her. Computer, display image of subject, Cross, Selina.”

“Whew.” Peabody gave a little shudder as the image floated on-screen. “Spooky.”

“Not a face you’d forget,” Eve murmured.

It was sharp and narrow, the lips full and vibrant red, the eyes black as onyx. There was beauty there, in the balance of features, the white, smooth skin, but it was cold. And as Peabody had observed, spooky. Her hair was as dark as her eyes, parted perfectly in the center, and it hung straight. There was a small tattoo over her left eyebrow.

“What’s that symbol?” Eve wondered. “Zoom and enhance segment twenty to twenty-two, thirty percent.”

“A pentagram.” Peabody’s voice quivered, causing Eve to glance over curiously. “Inverted. She’s not Wiccan, Dallas.” Peabody cleared her throat. “She’s a Satanist.”

Eve didn’t believe in such things — the white or the black of it. But she was prepared to believe others did. And more inclined to believe that some used that misguided faith to exploit.

“Be careful what you discount, Eve.”

Distracted, she glanced over. Roarke had insisted on driving. She couldn’t complain as any one of his vehicles beat the hell out of hers.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, when certain beliefs and traditions survive for centuries, there’s a reason for it.”

“Sure there is, human beings are, and always have been, gullible. And there are, and always have been, individuals who know how to exploit that gullibility. I’m going to find out if someone exploited Frank’s.”

She had told Roarke everything, and had justified it professionally by telling herself since she couldn’t tap Feeney for his computer expertise, she could, and would, tap Roarke for his.

“You’re a good cop and a sensible woman. Often, you’re too good a cop and too sensible a woman.” He stopped for traffic, turned to her. “I’m asking you to be particularly careful when delving into an area such as this.”

His face was in shadows, and his voice much too serious. “You mean witches and devil worshipers? Come on, Roarke, we’re into the second millennium here. Satanists, for Christ’s sake!” She pushed her hair back from her face. “What the hell do they think they’d do with him if he existed and they managed to get his attention?”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” Roarke said quietly and turned west toward the Aquarian Club.

“Devils exist.” Eve frowned as he slid his vehicle up to a second-level spot on the street. “And they’re flesh and blood, they walk on two legs. You and I have seen plenty of them.”

She got out, took the ramp down to street level. It was breezy, and the freshening wind had cleared the smells and smoke away. Overhead, the sky was a thick black, unrelieved by moon or stars. Crisscrossing beams from sluggish air traffic flickered, chased by the muffled grumble of engines.