She nodded. "I figured. The pattern matches several incidents over the past twenty years. It took me a while to piece it together, but something similar has happened three times in connection with the operations of a contract killer who calls herself the Tigress. A friend at the FBI told me that they suspect her of a number of killings in the New Orleans area and that Interpol thinks she's pulled jobs in Europe and Africa, too."
"Hired gun," I said. "So who did the hiring?"
"From what you've said, my money's on the vampires. They're the ones who benefit most from you being dead. If they punch your ticket, the Council will probably sue for peace, right?"
"Maybe," I said, but I doubted it. "If that's what they had in mind, it's stupid timing. They Pearl-Harbored a bunch of wizards somewhere in Russia two nights ago, and the Council was pretty angry about it."
"Okay. So maybe they figure that if your investigation finds Reuel's killer and gets the Council brownie points with the faeries, they're in for a real fight. Killing you before that happens makes sense."
"Except that when it went down, I wasn't involved in the investigation yet."
Murphy shook her head. "I wish we could get you together with a sketch artist, describe her."
"Doubt it would help much. She was in makeup at first, and I didn't give her a second look. By the time I was paying attention, she mostly looked like something out of a Japanese horror cartoon."
She glanced down at her now cold coffee. "Not much we can do but wait, then. I've got a couple of sources trying to turn up more, but I wouldn't bet anything on them. I'll let you know."
I nodded. "Even if we find her, it might not help with the faerie stuff."
"Right," she said. "Mind if I ask you a few questions? Maybe I'll see something you don't."
"Okay."
"This dreadlock chick. Maeve, you said her name was?"
"Yeah."
"How sure are you in your instinct about her? That she couldn't have done the murder, I mean."
"Pretty close to certain."
"But not completely."
I frowned thoughtfully. "No. Faeries are tricky that way. Not completely."
Murphy nodded. "What about Mab?"
I rubbed at my chin, feeling the beginnings of stubble. "She never out and out denied responsibility for Reuel's death, but I don't think she's the killer."
"What makes you say that?"
"I don't know."
"I do. She could have picked anyone she wanted to represent her interests, and she chose you. If she wanted to cover her tracks, it would make more sense for her to choose someone less capable and with less experience. She wouldn't have picked someone as stupidly stubborn as you."
I scowled. "Not stupidly," I said. "I just don't like to leave things undone."
Murphy snorted. "You don't know the meaning of 'give up, dolt. You see my point."
"Yeah. I guess it's reasonable."
"So what about this Summer girl?"
I blew out a breath. "It doesn't seem to hang on her very well. She was kinder than any faerie I ever met. She could have been pretty darned unpleasant to me, but she wasn't."
"How about the other mortal, then? The Winter Knight."
"He's a violent, vicious heroin addict. I could see him tossing Reuel down those stairs, sure. But I'm not sure he's savvy enough to have worked enough magic to steal the mantle. He was more of a plunder-now-and-think-later sort of guy." I shook my head. "I've got three more faeries to talk to, though."
"Summer Queen and both Mothers," Murphy nodded. "When will you see them?"
"As soon as I can work out how. The Ladies are the closest to the mortal world. They aren't hard to find. The Queens and the Mothers, though, will live in Faerie proper. I'll have to go there to find a guide."
Murphy lifted her eyebrows. "A guide?"
I grimaced. "Yeah. I don't want to, but it's looking like I'm going to have to pay my godmother a visit."
Murphy quirked an eyebrow. "Seriously? You have a faerie godmother?"
"Long story," I said. "Okay, I want to get moving. If you could - "
The store lights went out, all at once.
My heart all but stopped. A second later, battery-powered emergency lights came up and revealed a roiling cloud of silver-grey mist spreading into the store from the doors. The mist rolled over a startled cashier, and the woman slumped, her mouth slightly open and her eyes unfocused, staring.
"Good Lord," Murphy said softly. "Harry, what's happening?"
I had already gotten out of the booth and grabbed the salt shaker from our table, and the one next to it. "Trouble. Come with me."
Chapter Nineteen
At first I tried to circle around to the exit doors, but the mist proved to be flowing in through them as well. "Curse it! We can't get out that way."
Murphy's face went more pale as a young man flung himself at the exit doors. The moment he hit the mist, his running steps faltered. He came to a halt, a puzzled expression on his face, and stared around him blankly, as his shoulders slumped.
"Dear God," she whispered. "Harry, what is that?"
"Come on, to the back of the store," I said, and started running that way. "I think it's a mind fog."
"You think?"
I scowled over my shoulder at Murphy. "I've never seen one before, just heard about them. They shut down your head, flatline your ability to remember things, scramble your thoughts. They're illegal."
"Illegal?" Murphy yelled. "Says who?"
"Says the Laws of Magic," I muttered.
"You didn't say anything about any Laws of Magic," Murphy said.
"If we get out of here alive, I'll explain it to you sometime." We ran down a long aisle toward the back of the store, passing housewares, then seasonal goods on our left, while grocery aisles stretched out on our right. Murphy stopped abruptly, broke open the covering over a fire alarm, and jerked it down.
I looked around hopefully, but nothing happened.
"Damn," Murphy muttered.
"Worth a try. Look, the people in the fog should be all right once it's gone, and whoever this is, they won't have any reason to hurt them once we're not around. We'll get out the back door and get away from here."
"Where are we going to go?"
"I don't know," I confessed, as I started moving again. "But anywhere is better than where the bad guys chose to attack and have their pick of a hundred hostages, right?"