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Inside, there were ns of hu like it to pry the lid off the huge sarcophagus, leaving clean scratches in the discolored old marble The dusty floor of the mausoleum had been swept to obliterate footprints, and there were s dark

"Blood?" I asked

The chief shook his head "More like grease"

"Huh" I us It held a wooden coffin, which had also been pried open A scent of decay rose from it, but other than a bit of debris, which I chose to believe was deco, it was e lain there, staining the rotting satin fabric that lined it A big body The Tall Man’s nickname was no joke He must have stood seven feet tall "What the hell?"

"The chief asked me to make sure I took a turn around the cemetery before my shift ended," Ken Levitt said "I spotted the open door and got out to take a look"

"You didn’t see anything?" I asked him

He shook his head "Just this"

"Did you test the crime scene?" I asked Chief Bryant

"Miven hile over the violated sarcophagus It had beendwarfish craftsmanship as the spirit lantern, only it was responsive to the residue of eldritch presence If this grave robbery had been the work of anonhu like a penduluclockith ordinary mortal precision "Whoever did this was human"

I stared into the coffin "Why the hell would anyone steal a hundred-and-thirty-year-old corpse?"

"It was probably kids" Ken shrugged "Teenagers Hell, there are a couple of trouble on a dare You went to Peh, Daisy--you relanced at the chief His eyes were glea under their deceptively sleepy lids "But you don’t think it’s a coincidence, do you?"

"Do you?" he countered

"No"

Chief Bryant gave a decisive nod "Soht with you, I’d like to turn this one over to Fairfax He and Daisy worked together well on the Vanderhei case"

Ken Levitt shrugged again "It’s your call, sir"

The chief looked at his pocket watch "Fairfax is off duty, and he’s not answering his phone Daisy, you lanced involuntarily at the sky; I couldn’t see through the cloud cover, but I knew the full y for another twenty-four hours, but he should be okay to work, at least during daylight Probably, anyway "Sure"

"Good"

Before I drove out to Cody’s place, I stopped at Druht a sturdy ha salesclerk as just opening the store for business

What can I say? I felt better for being prepared

The sky was only just beginning to turn an o the river The ht underneath the lowering clouds, and the narrow, serrated leaves of the staghorn su the conical clusters of their unlikely fuzzy-looking scarlet fruits I passed the entrance to Sedgewick Estate,a mental note to call my mother later, and drove deeper into the countryside until I reached Cody’s house

It was quiet, but the front door was standing open That didn’t see

"Cody?" I called softly There was no answer Trying the screen door, I found it unlatched and letthe front door behind me

Traces of pine needles and dirt led fro room beyond I followed them and found Cody Fairfax curled in a pile of blankets on the floor of his living rooreen plaid wool and Cody was stark naked beneath theht in his disheveled bronze-colored hair Well, he wasn’t exactly lying beneath the blankets It waswould Or, apparently, a wolf<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>