The Nectar of Eternal Life Read online

  Genn shook his head. “How can you possibly come up with this entire implausible scenario from the scraps of information we have?”

  It was as if Lang heard nothing that Genn had just said. “It would have to be someone entrenched in the system, or have friends right within the lab.”

  “And the conversion would have to be done by a qualified technician. Maybe we should start there,” Genn suggested.

  “Good idea. Let’s start with Tasha Murdock, seeing as the victim worked right in her department. Pull over, I’ll look it up. We may be going back to the conversion building.”

  Detective Lang quickly retrieved any phone numbers that were available that would help her get in direct contact with Tasha Murdock.

  Tasha sat in her office glancing through the latest fashion magazine when her phone rang. “Tasha speaking.”

  “Hi Ms. Murdock, I’ve got a call for you.”

  “Okay, thanks Joanne…Tasha Murdock speaking.”

  “Oh, great, I managed to get a hold of you. I’m sorry to bother you. My name is Susan Lang. I’m a Detective Sergeant with the police department, homicide division. I was just wondering if we could come over now, and speak to you for a few minutes?”

  Tasha’s felt a sudden stab of anxiety. “Sure…anytime. When were you wanting to come?”

  “Well, we just happen to be in the neighborhood.” Lang looked over at Genn. “We could be at your door in 5 minutes.”

  Genn pulled a u-turn.

  Tasha hung up the phone and tried to gather her wits. At the very least, someone is dead, Tasha thought; at the worst…I’m in big trouble. She knew Drake had escaped. Elsie had just told her yesterday. A brief glimpse of Elizabeth Bower flashed in Tasha’s mind as she replayed the meeting with Elsie back in her mind. I’ll just play dumb if it’s about Drake…and remain calm. How can they possibly suspect anything? Tasha asked herself. All of a sudden a wave of dread consumed her mind. DNA…shit he’s not registered. If he’s committed a murder…oh shit no, please no. Tasha slumped at the thought. They’ll be here soon, relax and play dumb…keep your composure.

  A few minutes of deep breathing later Tasha’s phone rang.

  “Thanks Joanne. I’ll greet them in the hallway.”

  Lang and Genn walked down the long hallway, empty except for a woman standing, waiting, three quarters of the way down.

  Tasha watched them come-noticing Lang first, as a sharply dressed business woman with a nice figure, then Genn’s massive appearance, lumbering beside his petite partner.

  Tasha forced a convincing smile. “Hi, I’m Tasha Murdock. Detective Lang?” Tasha extended her hand.

  “Yes. Thank you for seeing us at such short notice. This is my partner, Detective Genn.”

  “Hello.” Tasha’s hand was engulfed by his, but his grip was gentle.

  “Please, come in. Have a seat. It’s never good news to have a visit from police, but even less when it’s homicide.”

  Lang made herself comfortable, while Genn did his best.

  Genn spoke first, as pre-arranged on the drive over. “Ms. Murdock, I’m sorry to inform you that Elizabeth Bower is dead. She was murdered. The body was discovered earlier today.”

  “Oh, my blood! Where did it happen?”

  “In her apartment. She either knew the murderer or he lay in wait for her. It appears as though it was targeted.”

  “Did you know her well?” Lang asked.

  “I’ve known her for a few years. She was a pretty private person. Basically it was just a work relationship.”

  “Did she have any admirers that may be down on their luck, or depressed?” Lang asked.

  “Umm, not that I can think of. Why do you ask?”

  “These are questions we never have to ask at this point of the investigation because we always have an identity.” Lang paused. “We are dealing with an unregistered Vampire. His DNA is not on file.”

  “Well, that’s unusual isn’t it? I thought the clerical process was foolproof.”

  “Well according to your boss, it is. So, that just leaves one other possibility-an illegal conversion…and that’s what brings us to see you. You have firsthand knowledge of the security measures associated with this kind of operation. Is it a valid possibility?”

  “Well, security is a lot more lax around here since we’re not performing any more conversions. Hundreds of people have been laid off and more will follow I’m sure.”

  “But it would have to be performed by an experienced technician, right?”

  “Yes, absolutely.”

  “Could you possibly provide us with a list of technicians and please highlight the ones that have already been laid off.”

  “I would be happy to do that.”

  Lang stood and Genn managed to un-wedge himself.

  “Thank you for your cooperation, and I am sorry about Elizabeth Bower. I assure you, we’ll do all we can to bring this selfish Vampire to justice.”

  “Thanks, and if I think of anything further, I’ll give you a call.” Tasha took the detective’s card.

  Lang looked up at Genn as they walked to the car. “Did you notice that she never asked who the murderer was. We had to tell her that we had no identity. That’s one of the first questions people ask.”

  “Maybe she was just in shock at the news.”

  “I know different people react in different ways for different reasons, but, percentage wise speaking…most people ask that question, because they know we know, and they want to know if it’s anyone they know…ya know?”

  Genn rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I know.” then zoned out for a few minutes as he drove.

  “Where do all the humans come from, Genn?”

  “From the base of the dome where they are bred for market,” Genn answered in monotone.

  “And there is super tight security about humans coming up. Someone must have brought this human up…and the only people that can do that are the liaisons; the people who are in constant contact with humans and their development.”

  “But we already talked to Kamber. He’s the head of that entire operation,” Genn reminded.

  “But not hands on. We need to talk to a person who does the dirty work.”

  Lang paused as she typed in search information and Genn pulled the car over.

  “Here it is, Elsie Fleck-she’s the liaison manager for this region. Let’s try to see her.” Lang looked intently at Genn as she keyed a number into her phone. “Busy, damn it, I’ll try back in a few minutes.”

  Elsie Fleck sat in her office, worried, heartbroken and jealous. She was relieved to hear her phone ring. “Elsie Fleck.”

  “Hi buddy, guess who just left my office?”

  Elsie didn’t like the direction this was headed. “Uhh, hi Tash…I’m not sure I want to hear.”

  “Two homicide detectives.”

  “Oh my life-blood. What did they want?”

  “Well, it seems they are investigating the first murder of a rising up and comer in the world of serial murderers. And here’s the kicker…he’s an unregistered Vampire.”

  “Shit. What did you tell them?”

  “As little as possible of course. I did mention that since the passing of the Great Edict, security has relaxed considerably and an illegal conversion isn’t out of the realm of possibility.”

  “You didn’t mention illegal transformation first, did you?”

  “No, of course not. They came up with that one all on their own.”

  “I think it was good what you said about the lax security measures now. That means anybody could have done it.”

  “Well, any technician, they realize that. The woman detective asked me for a list of qualified technicians. She seems pretty sharp. We’ll have to be careful.”

  “Just don’t offer any information, but gladly get whatever they ask for.”

  “That’s the same conclusion I came to. They’ve already been to see Kamber.”

  “Shit.”

  “And like I said, she seems s
harp, so you may be getting a call soon. It was a woman in my department by the way.”

  “What? Who was?”

  “The victim, it was Elizabeth Bower. You met her briefly when you told me about Drake the other day. He probably had her in his sights, even then. He obviously chose her for a reason. You’d better not tell the cops you know yet, or they’ll know that I was in touch with you.”

  “Good idea. Okay, I’d better go. I’m so sorry about this, Tasha.”

  “Uh-huh…this wasn’t supposed to happen. You really messed up. Hopefully our lives don’t get messed up. You know they could try us as accessories to murder or something serious like that-and I believe that’s the death penalty.”

  “We won’t get caught. If we stick to our story they can’t prove anything.”

  “What about when they catch Drake and Megan; they may inform on us.”

  “Drake won’t get caught. My fear is what he may start.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, if he manages to get to the base and raise the alarm-we may have a revolt on our hands.”

  “Crap. We are doomed if we come clean and we may be responsible for a revolution if we don’t tell. For the love of crimson, what do we do?”

  “For now, we protect ourselves. We’ll reassess at a later date. I won’t cancel his line of credit. That will make it easier for him to elude capture. And I am in the process of acquiring information on where the card was used. If I can locate Drake first maybe I can talk some sense into him. What a jam.”

  “That’s putting it mildly. Let me know if the cops come to call.”

  “I will.” Elsie hung up the phone and paced, trying to get herself together. She actually hoped for the call from the detectives, the sooner the better, just to get it over with. Finally her phone rang.

  “Hi Ms. Fleck, I have a call for you-it’s the police.”

  “Thank you Wendy. Put it through…Elsie Fleck speaking.” Elsie could tell her voice sounded more shrill than usual. Calm…calm.

  Lang set up a meeting that Elsie was glad to accommodate right away. Genn rolled his eyes and turned the car around, yet again.

  Elsie paced, jaw clenched. The 5 minutes it took for the detectives to arrive felt more like 5 hours. Finally they arrived and introduced themselves.

  “We have already talked to Mr. Kamber, but we wanted to talk to someone on the front line; someone with direct experience of transferring humans from the base and preparing them for conversion, and naturally, your name came up.”

  “Well, I’ll be glad to offer you my opinion on anything that you think may help in your investigation.”

  Lang smiled. “Thank you. First, is it possible for a human to be smuggled up from the base?”

  “It’s very unlikely.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, there just isn’t any opportunity to do so, and there are security measures that would make it extremely difficult.”

  “What if a human had a Vampire accomplice?” Genn asked.

  “But, what motive would the Vampire have to engage in such a risky endeavor?”

  “Love?” Detective Lang put out there. “What if a Vampire was upset, that a human, they had foolishly allowed themselves to fall in love with, was destined to be fodder? That Vampire may be desperate enough to try to save that human.”

  “More likely a Vampire woman would try something like that, than a man,” Genn added.

  Elsie felt a wave of anxiety. “Umm…why?”

  “I just mean that women are more likely to fall in love with a human than a Vampire man; statistics prove it.”

  “Yes. I suppose you’re right.”

  “What percentage of the supervisors are women?” Genn asked.

  “About half, or maybe a third.”

  “I suppose management has recognized it as a possibility because it’s actually less than 25 percent,” Lang corrected.

  Elsie stiffened. “Oh, I wasn’t aware of the current figures. But, I’m sure you’ve already investigated the impeccable records and admirable traits of that 25 percent.”

  Lang smiled and sat back. “We will thoroughly check the character and records of all supervisors, men and women as soon as we can. This investigation is new and unique and the passing of the Great Edict has certainly changed the dynamics of things.” Lang paused. “Previous to its passing, I suppose a woman in your position could recommend anyone she became fond of.”

  Elsie controlled her blossoming dislike towards the detective. “Yes, but I have been well schooled in ethics and favoritism.”

  Lang continued, “But now, with conversions halted that avenue has been closed. So a desperate woman that has allowed herself to perhaps, fall in love with a human and was counting on it happening, would now not be able to meet that need.”

  Elsie felt the blood pulsing in her temples. “Well, I’m the only one that has occupied this position for almost 2 hundred years, so that would mean that you may be implying that I have done something irregular,” Elsie sounded offended.

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Fleck-we are after all, police officers. We are trained to dig and imply and ask probing questions. There are dozens of different scenarios that could have led to this unfortunate case; most likely a clerical error that Mr. Kamber will never admit to. And we are in unfamiliar territory. We usually already have the identity of the perpetrator, so we are scrambling for any helpful information. We may have to actually work for our paycheck this time.” Lang smiled, Genn chuckled and Elsie felt a little of the tension loosen.

  “That’s alright, I understand, but I’m afraid I can’t think of anything that may help you. Maybe this unauthorized Vampire was converted hundreds of years ago and has just now turned murderous. Who knows how long he has really been around,” Elsie said.

  “At first we thought that it was an experienced Vampire as well, because he mesmerized her so quickly and effectively, demonstrated by the lack of bruising. But then we thought that maybe he was a fairly recently convert. Some Vampires are very gifted at that aspect. Maybe our murderer is one of these exceptional individuals.”

  Elsie sat back in her chair. “Possibly, but going by statistics and the law of averages; it’s more likely a Vampire that has been around for a while, unhappy and frustrated with his situation, whatever that is, and has finally turned to murder. It happens all the time-the only difference this time is that it is an unregistered Vampire. I don’t envy you in your task, but I wish you good luck.”

  “Thank you for your time Ms. Fleck. Please let us know if anything comes to mind.” Lang got up and Genn followed. “Oh by the way,” Lang said. “I already talked to Tasha Murdock in your conversion lab. Do you know Ms.Murdock?”

  “Yes, I know her and have talked to her a few times at company functions.”

  “Yes, this is a huge operation with hundreds of employees. It must be hard to know everyone. She’s providing us with a list of qualified conversion technicians. Would you be able to provide us with a list of base supervisors?”

  “Of course.”

  Elsie watched them leave, then called Tasha.

  “Well, you were right; they showed up right on cue. The woman is pretty sharp, but, they have nothing but theories-there is no concrete evidence against us. We just need to be calm. But she is an annoying little bitch.”

  “And did you see her partner? He looks like he’s been eating pretty well-for hundreds of years.”

  “Let’s try not to worry, they really have nothing.”

  “Unless they find them and Drake implicates us.”

  “I don’t think a human can testify against a Vampire, and Drake is unregistered, so his credibility would be in question. But it would definitely be awkward.”

  ***

  Genn turned the car onto the greenway. “So what do you think?”

  “I think we nailed the scenario. Elsie Fleck had the opportunity and Tasha Murdoch has the expertise. I’d bet they are good friends. We need to do some more digging and I’m sure t
hings will become clearer. Pull over.”

  Genn did as he was told. “You know Ms. Fleck had a good point about the perp. It makes more sense…statistically speaking. And you’re always throwing statistics in my face.”

  “I know, but sometimes it is the lower percentage thing that turns out to be the reason. That’s why the stats never come up as 100 percent. This may be one of those times and we can’t overlook it. And besides, you can’t tell me that you didn’t sense a lot of tension in those interviews. Obviously we don’t know their personalities but it’s too coincidental for me that they reacted the way they did. Kamber was the only one of the three that didn’t get rattled by the questioning, but he seemed guarded. It’s just too many little things that give me a feeling deep in my core that we are on the right track. We need to keep digging.”

  “Do you want to interview Kamber again?” Genn asked.

  “No, I don’t think we’ll get any more out of him. We may just tip him off with our suspicions and make it easier for him to cover anything up. We need to go lower, I think. Let’s go back and wait for Kamber’s receptionist to leave. We’ll just introduce ourselves and ask some simple questions. We may get lucky or we just may get more tiny snippets of interesting information that will help to solidify our theory.”

  “Our theory?”

  “Yes, our theory.”

  “So we’re going back there again?”

  “Sorry, but I’m new at this actually having to work to find the murderer.”

  Genn turned the car around and looked over at his partner. “You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

  Lang smiled. “It does add an element of challenge to our job, don’t you think? And yes, I do find the challenge exhilarating. But with any murder investigation, I just want to find the perp., before he can ruin more innocent lives.”

  They sat in the parking lot waiting for Kamber’s receptionist to leave.

  “I hope Kamber doesn’t come out first and notice us. There aren’t a lot of cars in the lot,” Genn said.

  “Even if he does, I don’t think there would be time to warn his receptionist to keep her mouth shut, but he may have already done so. Her name is Kimberly Forrester, by the way.”

  “Is that her?” Genn asked.

  Lang’s heartbeat quickened. “Yep, that’s her. Let’s go.”

  They exited the car and walked quickly towards Kimberly. She noticed and recognized the detectives walking towards her and slowed her own pace.