to be a federal marshal?" His voice was very mild. Nah, amused.
"I agreed they should license us, but giving us what amounts to federal marshal status is ridiculous."
"You could handle it."
"But who else? John Burke with the power of the law behind him? Give me a break."
"It won't get passed, Anita. The pro-vampire lobby is too strong."
"From your lips to God's ear. Unless they revoke the need for court orders of execution, it won't make killing them any easier, and they won't do that. I've already gone out of state to execute vamps. I don't need no stinking badge."
Dolph laughed. "If you run into trouble, give a yell."
"I really don't like this, Dolph. I'm out here investigating a murder without any official status."
"See, you do need a badge." I heard him sigh over the phone. "Look, Anita, I wouldn't leave you solo if we didn't have problems of our own. I've got a body on the ground here. When I can, I'll send somebody. Hell, I'd like you to come take a look at our corpse. You're our resident monster expert."
"Give me some details and I'll try to play Kreskin."
"Male, early twenties, rigor hasn't set in."
"Where's the body?"
"His apartment."
"How'd you get there so soon?"
"Neighbor heard a fight, called 911. They called us."
"Give me his name."
"Fredrick Michael Summers, Freddy Summers."
"He got any old vampire bites on his body? Healed bites?"
"Yeah, quite a few. Looks like a damn pincushion. How'd you know?"
"What's the first rule of a homicide?" I said. "You check the nearest and dearest. If he had a vamp lover, there'd be healed bite marks. The more of them, the longer the relationship has gone on. No vamp can bite a victim three times within a month without running the risk of killing them and raising them as a vamp. You can have different vamps bite somebody, but that would make Freddy a vampire junkie. Ask the neighbors if there were a lot of different guys or girls going in and out at night."
"It never occurred to me that a vampire could be someone's nearest and dearest," Dolph said.
"Legally, they're people. Means they get to have sweethearts, too."
"I'll check the bite radiuses," Dolph said, "If they match one vamp, a lover; different ones, and our boy was doing groups."
"Hope for a lover," I said. "If it's all one vamp, he might even rise from the dead."
"Most vamps know enough to slit the throat or take the head," he said.
"Doesn't sound well planned. Crime of passion, maybe."
"Maybe. Freemont is holding the bodies for you. Eagerly awaiting your expertise."
"I bet."
"Don't bust Freemont's balls on this, Anita."
"I won't start anything, Dolph."
"Be polite," he said.
"Always," I said in my mildest voice.
He sighed. "Try to remember that the staties may never have seen bodies with pieces missing."
It was my turn to sigh. "I'll be good, scout's honor. Do you have directions?" I got a small notebook with a pen stuck in its spiral top out of a pocket of the coverall. I'd started carrying notebooks just for such occasions.
He gave me what Freemont had given him. "If you see anything fishy at the crime scene, keep the scene intact and I'll try to send some people down. Otherwise, look over the victim, give the staties your opinion, and let them do their job."
"You really think Freemont would let me close up her shop and force her to wait for RPIT?"
Silence for a second; then, "Do the best you can, Anita. Call if we can do anything from this end."
"Yeah, sure."
"I'd rather have you on a murder than a lot of the cops I know," Dolph said.
That was a very big compliment coming from Dolph. He is the world's ultimate policeman. "Thanks, Dolph."
I was talking to empty air. Dolph had hung up. He was always doing that. I hit the button, turning the phone off, and just stood there for a minute.
I didn't like being out here in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar police, and partially eaten victims. Hanging around with the Spook Squad legitimized me. I'd even pulled that "I'm with the squad" at crime scenes. I had a little ID badge that clipped to my clothes. It wasn't a police badge, but it did look official. But pretending on home turf, where I knew I could run to Dolph if I got in trouble for it, was one thing; out here with no backup was another story.
The police have absolutely no sense of humor about civilians meddling in their homicide cases. Can't really blame them.