Part 31 (1/2)

Actually, though, I was surprised by the level of violence. I'd figured the Loghyr wouldn't want to attract attention from the Hill. Sorcerers could get real interested in this kind of show.

Morley said, ”We'd better take care of the dead and get the wounded to help.”

Two kinds of guys had run from the excitement, those who were so ashamed that they never came back and those that did come back looking sheepish. They helped sort the mess out.

Maya hadn't run. I don't know why not. She couldn't have done anything but get hurt. Fifteen minutes into the cleanup she grabbed my arm. ”Agire bought it. And Hester is gone.”

For a moment I felt sorry for Jill. She deserved more of life...Then suspicion raised its snoot. ”Where's Agire?”

”Over where they were.”

I walked that way, keeping one eye on the smoldering black thing. Its flesh-if flesh it could be called-was almost consumed.

I found the Warden and knelt. Maya dropped to her knees opposite me. ”Been hard on religious bigwigs lately,” I said. And on littlewigs, too, as the cults and denominations stripped their priests and monks to see how well they were hung.

Blood had run from Agire's mouth. He was lying on his back. There was no wound visible. I rolled him over, grunted.

A minute later I told Sadler, ”Far as I can see I've done my part here. You guys know how to handle it. I'm going home.”

Morley stayed. Maya tagged along with me. She had nowhere else to go. We had to do some serious thinking about her future now. She said, ”You've got something on your mind. What is it?”

”Jill.”

”What upset you?”

”She killed Agire. While we were distracted she stuck a knife in his back. Couldn't have been anyone else because the excitement never got to them.”

”But why?” She didn't claim Jill couldn't do a thing like that.

”The Terrell Relics, I think. Agire gave them to her to hide. He never said he got them back. The only thing she left at our house was that key. That could've gotten her killed if she'd kept it. h.e.l.l. Maybe she was out to s.n.a.t.c.h the Relics from the beginning.”

”Why?”

”She's fond of money and nice things. How much would the Church pay for the Relics? How about some other cult?”

Maya just nodded. After we'd walked a few blocks, she said, ”We should be headed for the Tenderloin.”

Maybe. But I'd wanted to ask the Dead Man if it was really any of my business.

52.

It was my business. I'd been hired by Peridont and I'd made a point of claiming he was still my client, dead or not.

Maya was pleased. I wasn't so sure I was. It had started to snow earlier than I'd expected, heavier than I'd antic.i.p.ated. The wind was nippy. If I'd let it go I'd be home, toasty warm, sipping a beer, wondering how I could get Dean out of the house and the Dead Man to go to sleep so Maya and I could...

We walked into a Tenderloin like a ghost town. The first snowfall always has that effect on TunFaire. Everyone gets in out of it and stays. We went around the side of the talk house, into the alley.

”Too late,” Maya said. There were tracks in the snow on the steps to the second floor, downward bound.

”Maybe.” I hustled upstairs, went inside, hurried along a hallway not unlike the one downstairs. One door stood open. I stuck my head in.

Jill's, all right. I recognized the clothing scattered around. It included what she'd worn to the festivities down south. I cursed and headed out.

Maybe I was a little loud. A door opened. The elfish woman Polly looked out. ”What're you doing?” she asked.

I fell in love all over again. I gulped. ”I came to tell you how much...I'd better go. I'm making a fool of myself.” Not bad for off the cuff, Garrett. I got out.

I rejoined Maya. ”She's gone. Let's get after her before her tracks disappear.”

As we moved out I glanced up. The elfish woman was at the top of the steps looking down, wearing a puzzled smile.

Jill wasted no time but the snowfall betrayed her. We gained ground. Her tracks became fresher. The snowfall tapered off. Visibility improved. The street we were following entered a square. A figure shuffled across it ahead of us.

”That's an old woman,” Maya said. ”Look at her. She's old enough to be Hester's mother.”

I could see that, just the way the woman moved. She wore a lot of black, the way old women do, and moved slowly. ”d.a.m.n it!” How had I confused trails? I thought back.

I hadn't. This trail hadn't crossed any other. That woman was the one who had come out of the talk house. And she was carrying a bundle she hugged to her breast. ”Come on.” I began to trot.