"Why the hell would someone remove his head?" I scanned the rest of the room. He'd obviously been killed here – the arterial sprays across the wall and floor were evidence enough of that. "Surely no one would want a trophy that size."
Or that macabre.
"I do not think it has anything to do with a trophy, but a means of stopping us. Or rather, me."
"So you can't read his thoughts."
"Yes."
"Which would imply whoever did this is fully aware a reaper can access the memories of the freshly dead."
"Yes."
Meaning Lauren had either realized she was missing the cuff link, or she was simply taking out anyone or anything that could pin down her location. And if the latter, that undoubtedly meant there had been something here that could give away her current whereabouts. Maybe she was a longtime customer.
That's presuming our dark sorceress was the one responsible for this murder.
"If it was not Lauren, then it confirms there is another sorcerer involved. The taint of dark magic lingers in the air."
"Meaning the bastards are still one step ahead of us."
He pushed to his feet. "Unfortunately, yes."
I stared down at the broken body. From this angle, I couldn't actually see the stump of his neck, thanks to the shadows and the depth of the shelf, and of that I was glad. I'd lost the contents of my stomach far too often in the last twenty-four hours, and I had no desire to test its stability again.
"He's wearing a dressing gown, so he obviously lived upstairs. It might be worth doing a quick search through the whole premises, just in case he keeps a record of buyers somewhere."
"Is that likely?"