"Or vampires."
His long eyebrow quivered. "Yes, Sam. Vampires. Some vampires will kill - "
"And kidnap."
"Yes, and kidnap for these things."
I set it on the table and mostly covered it with my hand. "And what is this thing? Another immortality reverser?"
Kingsley shook his head sharply. "No. There was only one of those made."
"And you know this how?"
"I know some things," he said.
"Because you've been around longer than me."
"A lot longer than you, Sam."
"Fine. So only one of those were made. Then what's this?" I moved my hand aside, revealing the shining medallion again. It caught the overhead chandelier light and returned a thousandfold, and the three emeralds within twinkled like green stars. Or like lime jello. Which so happened to be Anthony's and Tammy's favorite jello.
Kingsley glanced briefly at the medallion before reaching across the table and covering my hand with his own. Hell, he covered most of my wrist, too. And some of my napkin and plate. Big hands.
"I don't know yet," he said. "But I can tell you one thing."
"And what's that?"
"It's valuable as hell. Which means..." And his voice trailed off.
Unfortunately, I knew the ending to this sentence all too well. "Which means some people will kill for it."
"Some people," said Kingsley, "or some vampires."
Chapter Ten
"You tampered with evidence. What were you thinking, Sam?" scolded Detective Sherbet.
"I was thinking about finding our killer."
We were in his glass office. Some of the officers on duty were watching us from outside the office. One or two were shaking their heads in a way that suggested they did not approve of me or of the department using my inferior services.
"Your men don't like me," I said.
"They see it as a slap in the face, a blow to their ego," said Sherbet, sitting back in his chair. He laced his thick fingers over his rotund belly. The rotund belly was looking a little more rotund these days. This time, however, I shielded my thoughts from him. He didn't need to know what I thought of his belly. He went on, "They don't understand why I brought you in, so they see you as a sort of indictment on their own abilities."
"If they only knew," I said.
"Truth is, sometimes I wish I didn't know, Sam. I mean, isn't this kind of stuff supposed to just be in books and movies?"
I said, "Someone told me recently that if enough people believe in something, put their attention on something, then that something becomes a reality."
Sherbet immediate shook his head. "That doesn't make sense," he said, which didn't surprise me much. Detectives lived and died by things that made sense. Cold hard facts. "Who told you this?"
"My guardian angel. Actually, my ex-guardian angel."
Sherbet blinked. "Please tell me you're kidding."
"Sadly, no. He visited me over Christmas. Expressed his undying love for me, in fact."