Glass glanced at his watch. “You should consider the kind of men you hire to represent you, Kazan. One loose screw can make everything fall apart.”
Both Shepherd and I stood up at the same time, and I gave the body one last appraisal to try to find something similar between the two victims besides their hair color. She wasn’t dressed as conservatively, and I couldn’t say if she was missing a jacket since the sweater would have kept her warm enough. I began to realize how DNA evidence would be pointless. The higher authority didn’t even keep records of fingerprints.
“When they take her body, do they check for DNA samples?” I asked. I already knew the answer from what everyone had told me, but I wanted to hear it from the detective.
“Raven, we can discuss later,” Viktor said.
Glass pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as if tired. “That’s all right. She’s new. You know how strict the slander laws are. We can collect all the hairs and blood we want, but if we ask someone for their sample to compare with what we found, we better be one hundred percent sure that person is the killer. Gossip lasts centuries and can ruin a man’s reputation and career, even if he’s proven innocent. Just remember, Miss Black, this doesn’t work like the crime shows you’ve seen on TV.”
“Were the other victims blondes?” I asked.
He inclined his head. “Most of them, yes. But we haven’t definitively linked each one as related. All we have are drained victims on our hands.”
Maybe we could automatically rule out any brunette victims as unrelated to the case.
“Did anyone take pictures?”
He shook his head and watched Christian speed off on his bike. “When they link murders, they assign one of us to the case so we can write up a report and keep the information in here,” he said, tapping on his head. “I think it’s safe to say the victims were human, but to err on the side of caution, the higher authority doesn’t want pictures. It’s against regulation.”
“What about the pictures on our fake driver’s licenses?”
He smiled and tilted his head to the side. “That’s attached to your alias. Humans will never make the connection to your true identity if there’s a name attached to the picture.” He studied me for a moment. “Viktor said you’re new, but are you also newly made?”
I flicked a worried glance at Viktor, who quickly intervened.
“We appreciate your cooperation, Detective Glass. Has anyone filed a missing-person report?”
“I haven’t checked this morning, but we haven’t received any in the past that matched up with our victims.”
“How is it possible there wasn’t a struggle?” I wondered aloud, noticing how clean the front of her sweater appeared. She didn’t have a mark on her body that I could see.
Glass tucked his hands in his coat pockets. “I suspect he charms his victims to do his bidding. That’s what makes Vampires so dangerous.” He turned to face Viktor. “Remember that, Kazan. I’d hate to see it come back to bite you.”
Shepherd yawned and headed back to the van. I could see that Viktor had trained the rest of the team to do their job, so they didn’t stick around to ask questions. They left that job to Viktor.
Glass approached me, his voice soft. “You’re a clever Mage to have noticed their hair.”
“Everything else is different,” I said. “This one has makeup on, the other didn’t. She’s dressed more sophisticated, like a businesswoman out on the town. They don’t look like prostitutes. Usually killers are attracted to victims with similar qualities. Maybe he has issues with his mother.”
Glass stammered. “Say again?”
I tapped my finger against my chin. “If they were all natural blondes, then they were selected for that reason. Maybe his mother was a blonde and didn’t love him enough.”
Glass coughed into his hand and turned away. “Kazan, you should have a talk with your Vampire about sticking around in case we need someone before the cleaners arrive. This is the human district, and someone might get curious about what’s behind your van.”
I rocked on my heels. “These shops aren’t opening for another three hours,” I informed him, drawing from my personal knowledge of life on the streets. “It’s Sunday, and people like to sleep in. No one’s going to be poking around in the alley unless they’re walking their dog, and there aren’t any apartments around here.”
Glass looked over his shoulder at me. “Nevertheless, we can’t take chances.”
He lifted a few large boxes and dragged them in front of the body to shield it. “I’d like to schedule a meeting to talk further on the case,” he said to Viktor. “If we put our heads together, we might come up with something. I’d also like to speak with Miss Black since she appears to have some insight.”
I shrugged indifferently. “Fine by me.”
As Glass walked by me, he said in a quiet voice, “Good. Then it’s a date.”
* * *
“What doyou think he meant by date?” I asked Gem, who was sulking by the dining room window behind me.
