JК
Guilty Pleasures :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 18 из 205It handled all supernatural-related crime. It wasn't exactly a step up for his career. Willie McCoy had been right; the task force was a half-hearted effort to placate the press and the liberals.
Dolph had pissed somebody off, or he wouldn't have been here. But Dolph, being Dolph, was determined to do the best job he could. He was like a force of nature. He didn't yell, he was just there, and things got done because of it.
“Well,” he said.
That's Dolph, a man of many words. “It was a ghoul attack.”
“And.”
I shrugged. “And there are no ghouls in this cemetery.”
He stared down at me, face carefully neutral. He was good at that, didn't like to influence his people. “You just said it was a ghoul attack.”
“Yes, but they came from somewhere outside the cemetery.”
“So?”
“I have never known of any ghouls to travel this far outside their own cemetery.” I stared at him, trying to see if he understood what I was saying.
“Tell me about ghouls, Anita.” He had his trusty little notebook out, pen poised and ready.
“This cemetery is still holy ground. Cemeteries that have ghoul infestations are usually very old or have satanic or certain voodoo rites performed in them. The evil sort of uses up the blessing, until the ground becomes unholy. Once that happens, ghouls either move in or rise from the graves. No one's sure exactly which.”
“Wait, what do you mean, that no one knows?”
“Basically.”
He shook his head, staring at the notes he'd made, frowning. “Explain.”
“Vampires are made by other vampires. Zombies are raised from the grave by an animator or voodoo priest. Ghouls, as far as we know, just crawl out of their graves on their own. There are theories that very evil people become ghouls. I don't buy that. There was a theory for a while that people bitten by a supernatural being, wereanimal, vampire, whatever, would become a ghoul. But I've seen whole cemeteries emptied, every corpse a ghoul. No way they were all attacked by supernatural forces while alive.”
“All right, we don't know where ghouls come from. What do we know?”
“Ghouls don't rot like zombies. They retain their form more like vampires. They are more than animal intelligent, but not by much. They are cowards and won't attack a person unless she is hurt or unconscious.”
“They sure as hell attacked the groundskeeper.”
“He could have been knocked unconscious somehow.
Dolph had pissed somebody off, or he wouldn't have been here. But Dolph, being Dolph, was determined to do the best job he could. He was like a force of nature. He didn't yell, he was just there, and things got done because of it.
“Well,” he said.
That's Dolph, a man of many words. “It was a ghoul attack.”
“And.”
I shrugged. “And there are no ghouls in this cemetery.”
He stared down at me, face carefully neutral. He was good at that, didn't like to influence his people. “You just said it was a ghoul attack.”
“Yes, but they came from somewhere outside the cemetery.”
“So?”
“I have never known of any ghouls to travel this far outside their own cemetery.” I stared at him, trying to see if he understood what I was saying.
“Tell me about ghouls, Anita.” He had his trusty little notebook out, pen poised and ready.
“This cemetery is still holy ground. Cemeteries that have ghoul infestations are usually very old or have satanic or certain voodoo rites performed in them. The evil sort of uses up the blessing, until the ground becomes unholy. Once that happens, ghouls either move in or rise from the graves. No one's sure exactly which.”
“Wait, what do you mean, that no one knows?”
“Basically.”
He shook his head, staring at the notes he'd made, frowning. “Explain.”
“Vampires are made by other vampires. Zombies are raised from the grave by an animator or voodoo priest. Ghouls, as far as we know, just crawl out of their graves on their own. There are theories that very evil people become ghouls. I don't buy that. There was a theory for a while that people bitten by a supernatural being, wereanimal, vampire, whatever, would become a ghoul. But I've seen whole cemeteries emptied, every corpse a ghoul. No way they were all attacked by supernatural forces while alive.”
“All right, we don't know where ghouls come from. What do we know?”
“Ghouls don't rot like zombies. They retain their form more like vampires. They are more than animal intelligent, but not by much. They are cowards and won't attack a person unless she is hurt or unconscious.”
“They sure as hell attacked the groundskeeper.”
“He could have been knocked unconscious somehow.