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The Laughing Corpse :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 167 из 213"
"Can it be traced back?"
"Yes, just getit in the room with the person who truly owns it. The thing will crawl back to him. It's a piece of his soul gone missing."
"Would that be proof in court?"
"If you could make the jury understand it, yes, I guess so." He stepped towards me. "You know who did this?"
"Maybe.»
"Who, tell me who?"
"I'll do better than that. I'll arrange for you to come on a search of their house."
A grim smile touched his lips. "I'm beginning to like you a great deal, Anita Blake."
"Compliments later."
"What's this mean?" Marian asked. She had turned the charm completely over. There, shining among the hair and bone, was a small charm, like from a charm bracelet. It was in the shape of a musical symbol-a treble clef.
What had Evans said when he touched the grave fragments; they slit her throat, she had a charm bracelet with a musical note on it and little hearts. I stared at the charm and felt the world shift. Everything fell together in one motion. Dominga Salvador hadn't raised the killer zombie. She had helped Peter Burke raise it. But I had to be sure. We only had a few hours until we'd be back at Dominga's door trying to prove a case.
"Are there any women that came in around the same time as Peter Burke?"
"I'm sure there are," Marian said with a smile.
"Women with their throats slit," I said.
She stared at me for a heartbeat. "I'll check the computer."
"Can we take the charm with us?"
"Why?"
"Because if I'm right, she had a charm bracelet with a bow and arrow and little hearts on it, and this came from the bracelet." I held the gold charm up to the light. It sparkled merrily as if it didn't know its owner was dead.
30
Death turns you grey before any other color. Oh, a body that loses a lot of blood will look white or bluish. But once a body starts to decay, not rot, not yet, it looks greyish.
The woman looked grey. Her neck wound had been cleaned and searched. The wound looked puckered like a second giant mouth below her chin.
Dr. Saville pulled her head back casually. "The cut was very deep. It severed the muscles in the neck and the carotid artery. Death was fairly quick."
"Professionally done," I said.
"Well, yes, whoever cut her throat knew what they were doing. There are a dozen different ways to injure the neck that won't kill or won't kill quickly."
John Burke said, "Are you saying that my brother had practice?"
"I don't know," I said.
"Can it be traced back?"
"Yes, just getit in the room with the person who truly owns it. The thing will crawl back to him. It's a piece of his soul gone missing."
"Would that be proof in court?"
"If you could make the jury understand it, yes, I guess so." He stepped towards me. "You know who did this?"
"Maybe.»
"Who, tell me who?"
"I'll do better than that. I'll arrange for you to come on a search of their house."
A grim smile touched his lips. "I'm beginning to like you a great deal, Anita Blake."
"Compliments later."
"What's this mean?" Marian asked. She had turned the charm completely over. There, shining among the hair and bone, was a small charm, like from a charm bracelet. It was in the shape of a musical symbol-a treble clef.
What had Evans said when he touched the grave fragments; they slit her throat, she had a charm bracelet with a musical note on it and little hearts. I stared at the charm and felt the world shift. Everything fell together in one motion. Dominga Salvador hadn't raised the killer zombie. She had helped Peter Burke raise it. But I had to be sure. We only had a few hours until we'd be back at Dominga's door trying to prove a case.
"Are there any women that came in around the same time as Peter Burke?"
"I'm sure there are," Marian said with a smile.
"Women with their throats slit," I said.
She stared at me for a heartbeat. "I'll check the computer."
"Can we take the charm with us?"
"Why?"
"Because if I'm right, she had a charm bracelet with a bow and arrow and little hearts on it, and this came from the bracelet." I held the gold charm up to the light. It sparkled merrily as if it didn't know its owner was dead.
30
Death turns you grey before any other color. Oh, a body that loses a lot of blood will look white or bluish. But once a body starts to decay, not rot, not yet, it looks greyish.
The woman looked grey. Her neck wound had been cleaned and searched. The wound looked puckered like a second giant mouth below her chin.
Dr. Saville pulled her head back casually. "The cut was very deep. It severed the muscles in the neck and the carotid artery. Death was fairly quick."
"Professionally done," I said.
"Well, yes, whoever cut her throat knew what they were doing. There are a dozen different ways to injure the neck that won't kill or won't kill quickly."
John Burke said, "Are you saying that my brother had practice?"
"I don't know," I said.