"Jarek Edwards," he said, sticking out his hand awkwardly, shuffling his coat to his other arm as he did so. "Medical examiner on loan from London." He smiled a goofy grin. "My plane got in this morning and it was too early to check into my hotel so I came by the office instead. They said I'd find you here." He paused, and looked expectantly at Em.
Nick frowned, but shook the man's hand. "Em?" he turned to her. "I haven't heard about any..."
Em slapped her forehead. "The conference!" she exclaimed. "I'd totally forgotten. Sorry, Jarek, was it? We were going to have someone meet you at the airport, but, as you can see..." she gestured to the bodies, "we got a bit tied up."
Em turned to call out to Robert. As she did so she slipped her mind into both Nick's and Robert's. The rest of the team's too for good measure. A few false memories here, a neuron tweaked there, and viola - instant backstory.
Nicely done, said Jarek into her head.
I'm not finished yet, she answered. When was the last time you played 'medical examiner', Jarek? How about a crash course. And as roughly as she could she dumped everything she knew about forensic pathology into Jarek's consciousness with a jolt.
She was pleased to see him wince slightly.
Robert came over and looked confused but pleased to see Jarek. "Do you have your things, Mr Edwards?" he asked. "We were wondering why our usual guy wasn't here. I guess that explains everything then. Good to have you with us."
He lead Jarek over to the first of the bodies and began relaying the details. "We're just about ready to move them. If you can get your bit done with we'll be away."
Em watched with amusement as Jarek knelt beside the first of the bodies and rummaged in his bag for some gear. There was only one person Jarek knelt to. To see him working at the feet of her human boss, on the remains of a human victim was too much fun. She made sure Jarek could hear her laughter in his mind.
"I'd like to turn this one over," said Jarek. "Have you moved them yet, at all? I'd like to see what hypostasis there is."
Em was amused. He was playing the part well.
"I'm not sure that will help you," said Robert, joining Jarek on his knees beside the victim, a good dash of professional enthusiasm showing in his voice. "All four of them are exhibiting extreme pallor. We saw something similar last week, but with a great deal more violence. I'll be surprised if you find any coagulation at all." He stopped talking abruptly as the body was rolled over. "Good lord," he said.
Nick turned away and gagged. Em pulled face, and even Jarek looked disturbed.
The nape of the victim's neck had been... chewed... right down to the bone.
Em shuddered. There had been teeth marks in the flesh of the other victims too, but whereas they looked as if they had been mauled by pit bulls, whoever had snacked on this man had a very tiny and very precise mouth.
"Em? You still with us?"
"Hunh? I mean, yes," said Em, quickly taking a swig of her drink. It was a tall vodka and lime - the usual. Every Thursday the girls gathered at the Corner Bar after work. It had become a bit of a tradition and even the bartenders had the drinks lined up when they saw the group approaching. Jennifer was there and a few of the girls from the office - again, the usual. Em was thinking about Alina and the killings. Well, she was thinking about Jarek, and Nick, and Robert, and trying to think about Alina and the killings, but either way she was not paying much attention to the gaggle of girls sitting around the table.
"So, how was it?"
Em stared at Bec for a second. She gently slipped her mind into the recesses of Bec's memory and tried to read the question while it still lingered in her friend's mind. Something about the burlesque club. She couldn't escape it, could she?
"It was cool," said Em. "Flesh and feathers, muscles and leather - just what you'd expect. The show was actually quite good." She stopped.
"And?" said Bec.
"And the vibe was ... well ... I have to say it was pretty dark and mysterious." No point in lying, thought Em. The girls all looked at her. "It was a moody sort of place," she said.
"What does that mean?" said Georgia. "I get moody when I don't get enough chocolate. Is that what we're talking about?"
Em tossed a peanut at Georgia and grinned. "No, idiot. I mean there was an awful lot of eyeliner - on the blokes! You know what I mean. It was like Berlin in the 1930s crossed with acid techno. Or something," she finished vaguely. Really, with a thousand years more experience than the others she should be better at this kind of thing, but clubs had never been her scene.
"It's alright, Em," said Georgia. "You're just such a geek, honey. A pathologist on a date with her boss. Trust you to completely miss the celebrities who were there that night and instead give us a lesson on European history."
They all chucked.
"There were celebrities?" asked Em, but the girls were off again on a new flurry of gossip about Alina's club.
The news of four young men murdered on the club's doorstep didn't seem to feature in the gossip much at all. Strange, thought Em. The killings had hit the papers with a big splash, and had just the effect Alina had imagined. The place was suddenly the hottest ticket in town, with the nightly lines at the door snaking right down the laneway that the bodies had been found in.
Her girlfriends had asked her about the killings, knowing that she was likely to be working on the case, but there wasn't much she could tell them, and Em wasn't really sure they were especially interested in her answers anyway. They were collecting gossip, that was all. Em had told them she thought they should stay away until the killer had been found, but that advice had fallen on deaf ears too. What was going on in her life, wondered Em, when she, one of the darkest creatures of the wildness of eternity, should have more common sense than her human companions?
"Well, aside from all those gorgeous bodies that seem to be going there every night, have you heard the other news about the place?" asked Bec, her eyes narrowing and gazing at her friends conspiratorially. "I probably shouldn't be telling you..."
"Is it the sex room?" asked Georgia, with a quirky but definitely interested grin.
"There's a sex room?" said Em, and then ducked as Georgia tossed a peanut back at her.
The girls all groaned and laughed.
"You're unbelievable, Em," said Georgia. "I can't figure out how you don't hear this stuff. You're a crime scene investigator, for heaven's sake! Aren't you supposed to have your ear to the ground? And you were there last week, with a backstage tour!"
"It's just my innocent and trusting nature, I suppose," said Em, and then grinned as the groans started up again. They knew she wasn't that innocent.
"So, what's the scandal?" asked Jennifer.
"The club apparently has a resident dealer," said Bec.
Em pricked up her ears at this. Bec was dating a lieutenant in the narcotics division so she'd almost certainly be speaking the truth. A resident dealer could complicate things a little, thought Em. The balance of power between the existing gangs in this town was all based on who was selling what, and where, and a new dealer in town would certainly unsettle that balance. Enough for the gang heavies to start leaving bodies on the club's doorstep? wondered Em. Maybe, but that didn't explain the vicious nature of the killings...
Bec was still talking. "Apparently this dealer is just hovering at the very edges of legal. He's not pushing crack or meth or anything that would get the local dealer's upset, but things like steroids and morphine, and some rather quaint old stuff like opium and poppy tea."
"Poppy tea?" exploded Jennifer with a giggle. "That sounds ridiculous."
That sounds very, very interesting, thought Em. "Do you know if this dealer's got a name?" she asked Bec.