"You two just caught me," Davies was saying, gesturing for both of his guests to take a seat. "I was just walking out the door."
"We appreciate you taking the time to speak to us," Samantha said, smoothing her skirt over her long legs. She noticed that Max’s eyes dipped down to watch the gesture and she smiled. Though she was the equal of any man when it came to a fight, she wasn’t above using her beauty to her advantage. After all, it was one more weapon in her arsenal.
"How could I refuse an invitation from someone so attractive?" Max smoothly replied. With a twinkle in his eye, he added, "And might I say, Miss Grace, that you’re quite a looker as well."
Samantha stared at him for a moment before the joke hit her. She looked over at Lazarus and saw that he wasn’t quite as charmed as she was.
"Mr. Davies, perhaps you don’t understand the severity of this situation," Lazarus said, his voice betraying absolutely no emotion. "You’re the last person known to have seen Claudia Schuller alive. And an address book bearing your name was found on her person."
"Along with the business cards of other men, isn’t that right?"
"How did you know that?" Lazarus asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Inspector Cord told me when he phoned earlier."
Samantha could see Lazarus visibly composing himself. He didn’t care much for Cord’s methods, which bordered on the incompetent at times. "You’re still considered the prime suspect. Could you tell us the nature of your relationship with Miss Schuller?"
"She was at a party I attended. Apparently, she works in the newspaper secretarial pool. She was alone at the soiree and so was I. We struck up a conversation and I invited her to have dinner with me. She agreed to do and a couple of nights later, we went out and ate at O’Malley’s. Afterward, we came back here."
"And then?"
Max glanced quickly at Samantha, who was the very picture of decorum. "Miss Schuller remained here for several hours and left my residence just past midnight."
"Did the two of you have sexual relations?" Lazarus asked.
"No. Not if you mean intercourse, anyway."
Samantha felt a flush rise to her cheeks and she smoothed out her skirt once more.
"And everything that happened here was consensual?" Lazarus didn’t seem shocked by Max’s intimations and Samantha remembered that in his old life, the one he’d had before arriving in Sovereign City, Lazarus had lived in Europe and traveled a great deal. He’d been exposed to things that weren’t openly discussed in polite company.
As Max answered in the affirmative, Samantha found herself studying her employer. Not quite two years ago, Lazarus Gray had literally washed up on the shores of the city with no memory of who he really was. In his possession had been a small medallion depicting a nude male figure with the head of a lion. The words ‘Lazarus Gray’ had been printed below the image and he’d taken the name as his own. It wasn’t until after founding Assistance Unlimited, a group dedicated to helping those in need, regardless of their ability to pay, that Lazarus had learned the truth: that once he’d been Richard Winthrop, a member of a ruthless International organization known as The Illuminati. He’d turned against them and had nearly lost his life in the process. Now, he fought against his old allies, standing up to the forces of darkness with only his three aides at his side: Samantha, the young Korean Eun Jiwon, and former confidence man Morgan Watts.
Max set down his glass and leaned forward, clasping his hands between his knees. "I assure you, Mr. Gray, that I’m not the kind of man who would have done those things to a woman. To anyone, really." Something passed over the man’s face that caught Samantha’s attention — it was like a veil had fallen over his eyes. "I saw my father gunned down by criminals when I was eight years old. He was a good man and he taught me to stand up for those in need. I’ve tried to do that all my life. The kind of killer who did this… that’s the kind of man who should be brought to justice."
Lazarus said nothing in response for a long moment, though it was obvious that his mind was running through everything that Max had just said. "I believe you, Mr. Davies. But it doesn’t change the fact that a young woman is dead and that someone, for whatever reason, wanted your name thrown into the mix. Do you have any idea how your address book came to be with her body?"
"No. Someone obviously broke into my hotel room at some point but I never saw any sign of it and when I asked the clerk downstairs, he assured me that no one other than the cleaning staff had been here in my absence."
Samantha spoke up, voicing a thought that had come to her repeatedly since they’d left the morgue. "Maybe they just wanted to waste everyone’s time, forcing the police down fruitless paths, while the real killer escapes town."
"That’s possible," said Max, standing up and quickly crossing to a small briefcase that lay on a nearby table. He opened it as he continued to talk. "But unlikely. The killer’s still here in Sovereign."
Gray watched as Max returned with several newspaper clippings in his grasp. Gray took them and his eyes quickly scanned the words, drinking in their meaning. "This wasn’t the first murder," Gray murmured.
Max nodded, noting the look of surprise on Samantha’s face. "Three years ago, a prostitute was found with her hands and feet removed. The body had been bled dry and washed. Six months later, a fourteen year old runaway girl was found, beheaded and with one leg missing. Again — surgical cuts, the body was dry and had been washed. Last fall, a third one was found: a Chinese immigrant who made a living washing clothes for others. Her breasts had been surgically removed but the other aspects matched perfectly: the body had not a drop of blood left in it and the murder occurred elsewhere with the body having been cleaned afterward."
Samantha shook her head in amazement. "That doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t Cord mention that?"
"Because he doesn’t know," Lazarus answered. "Miss Schuller is the first victim who would be considered of any importance. Prostitutes and immigrants aren’t high priorities. There aren’t many family members to press for an investigation. They’re simply forgotten."
Max nodded. "That’s right. It’s actually the real reason why I’m here. I sometimes comb through old crime reports, looking for story ideas that I can feed to the editors of the papers I still have a stake in. I came here to talk to Mr. Groseclose about these murders and to see if the Gazette could look into them."
Lazarus took a deep breath before speaking. "May I take these clippings with me?"
"Feel free."
Lazarus collected them and nodded to Samantha. She understood the gesture and stood up. They were leaving, as Lazarus had evidently gotten everything he thought he needed from Max Davies.
Lazarus placed a hand on Max’s shoulder. "I’m sorry to say that you’ll still be expected to visit the police station and file a formal statement. I think you should heed my advice: don’t mention these clippings or the other murders. To a man like Cord, your knowledge of such things might only increase the likelihood of your involvement."
"You believe me, though?"
"Yes. I do. You’re much more than you appear to be, I’m sure of that… but you’re not the man we’re looking for."
Samantha wondered at those words, but said nothing until they were outside in the car. "I’m not sure I believe all that," she said at last.
Lazarus started the car and began smoothly gliding it down the perpetually rain-slicked streets of the city. "You mean that he came here in response to the murders?"