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Chapter 21

The Grey Detective Agency didn’t usually get called to murder scenes We had helped the police in the past when so bad, but that was usually as decoys or advisers I could count on both hands the number of ers left over

I had one less finger to count today The wourney Her yellow hair trailed across her face, darker gold where the ocean had touched it Her very short evening dress was pale blue on the edges but dark blue where the water had soaked into it A broad ribbon, probably white, sat just under her breasts, tightening the dress enough to show cleavage Her long legs were bare and tanned Her toenails were painted a funky blue to ernails Her lips were an odd blue color, too; but it was lipstick, not son of her death

"The lipstick color is called asphyxiation"

I turned to the tall woman just behind ed inside the pockets of her slacks She tried to give me her usual smile, but it didn’t work Her eyes stayed worried and the sotten started Her eyes were always cynical under the humor, but today the cynicism had spilled out and sed the humor

"I’m sorry Lucy, what did you say about the lipstick?"

"It’s called asphyxiation It’s supposed to mimic the lip color of a corpse who died from suffocation Nicely ironic," she said

I looked down at the woain There were bluish and white tints around the eyes, the nose, the edges of the lips I had a strange urge to wipe off the lipstick and see if the lips really were the sareat itch across my palms

"So, she suffocated," I said

Lucy nodded "Yeah"

I frowned "She didn’t drown?"

"I doubt it None of the others did"

I stared up at her "Others?"

"Jereo with Teresa to the hospital"

"What happened?" I asked

"Teresa touched a lipstick that one of the women had been about to put on before she died Teresa started hyperventilating, then she couldn’t breathe If we hadn’t had paraht have died I should have known better than to invite one of the most powerful clairvoyants in the country into thisa little out of the way, one hand on the other wrist, very bodyguardish The effect was so around hi to pull loose from the ponytail A pale pink shirt matched the show hankie in the white suit jacket that matched the slacks The slender silver belt matched his hair His shiny loafers were creauard, though the wind gave occasional glimpses of the black shoulder holster underneath all that V white and pink

"Jere late today," Detective Lucy said "You getting much sleep lately, Merry?"

"Not much" I didn’t bother to explain it wasn’t Frost who had keptfriendly banter, e to say to fill the windy silence while we stood over the dead woman

I looked down at her face, lovely even in death The body looked thin, not exactly strong, more like she’d dieted her way to a size whatever If she’d known she would die last night, would she have gone off her diet the day before?

"How old was she?"

"Her ID says twenty-three"

"She looks older," I said

"Dieting and too one now She was somber as she looked up on the cliff above us "You ready to see the rest?"

"Sure, but I’m a little puzzled about why you called Jereot herself killed, or choked to death, or so She suffocated, it’s horrible, but why call us in?"

"I didn’t call in your two bodyguards" For the first time there was true hostility on her face She pointed down the beach at Rhys Frost ood ti, hu to Hawaii Five-O under his breath Or at least that’s what he’d been hu when he went farther down the beach to watch sonum, PI, until Frost told hiart fan at heart, but Bogie wasn’tmovies anymore In the last few months Rhys discovered reruns in color that he actually enjoyed

He turned toward us and waved, s His white trench coat billowed out around hie his way back up the beach He had had to take off his tan fedora to keep it fro into the sea

"Rhys is creepy around ood time, like he’s happy someone’s dead"

I didn’t kno to explain that Rhys had once been worshipped as a god of death, so death didn’t bother him all that much But that part was best not shared with the police I said, "You kno much he loves filot you all upset, Lucy? I’ve seen you at worse murder scenes than this Why are you sobothered?"

"You just wait You won’t need to ask once you’ve seen it"

"Can you just tell me, Lucy, please?"

Rhys ca "Hi, Detective Tate There’s no burst blood vessels in the girl’s eyes, no bruising anywhere that I could find Does anyone kno she suffocated?"

"You looked at the body?" Her voice was cold

He nodded, still sht that’s ere here to do"

She pointed a finger at his chest "You weren’t invited to this show Merry was, and Jereer into his chest, " -- were not"

The smile faded and left his tricolored blue eye cold "Merry has to have two bodyguards with her at all tiain, hard enough that he was shoved backwards just a little "But I don’t like you around my murder scenes"

"I know the rules, Detective I haven’t messed with your evidence I’ve stayed out of the way of everyone frousted, blowing her dark hair across her face, so she was forced to take a hand out of her pocket to smooth it back "Then stay out of ?"

"You enjoy this" The last was almost spit in his face "You’re not supposed to enjoy it" She stalked back up the beach toward the stairs that led up to the road, the parking lot, and the club on its little pro way?" he asked

"She’s creeped out by whatever’s up the stairs, and she needs someone to take it out on You’re it"

"Why me?"

Frost had joined us "Because she is hu at it like you do"

"That’s a lie," Rhys said "A lot of the detectives enjoy their work, and I know the o around hu at the crime scene," I said

"Soure out how to , or tell bad jokes over the bodies so they won’t be scared You hum because you’re happy This doesn’t bother you"

He glanced down at the dead woman "She doesn’t care anynerian opera on top of her and she wouldn’t care"

I touched his arm "Rhys, it’s not the dead you should try to placate; it’s the living"

He frowned at me

"Be less happy in front of the hu at their dead," Frost said

"Very well, but I don’t understand why I should pretend"

"Pretend that Detective Tate is Queen Andais," I said, "and it bothers her that you go around chortling over the dead"

I watched soed "I can seem less happy around the detective, but I still don’t understand why"

I sighed, and looked at Frost "Do you understand why?"

"If it werefor her death"

I turned back to Rhys "See"

He shrugged "I’ll be sad around Detective Tate"

"Just soe of hi "Don’t overdo it"

He grinned atof exactly what I’d feared "I et you barred from crime scenes"

He suddenly looked soood Sheesh"

Detective Tate yelled back at us, her voice riding the wind like seagulls overhead She was halfway up the stairs, and it was impressive that her voice carried back to us so clearly "Hurry it up We don’t have all day here"

"Actually, we do," Rhys said

I was already walking through the soft sand toward the stairs I was very sorry that I’d worn high heels today, and I didn’t protest when Frost offered me his arm "Actually we do what?" I asked

"We have all day We have all eternity The dead aren’t going anywhere"