Abominations (23 page)

      That out of the way, Gwen felt they could safely get back to work on the case. Now that they knew where the altars might have been gotten from they just had to check on all the sales made from the most likely locations first, then the others if that didn't pan out. Easy. The idea tickled her a little bit when she stopped to think about it. Nothing in this place was really simple. Everything ran so slowly all the time and getting even simple information took days, when back home it would have already been in their possession most likely.

      They dropped Wiseman back at the university and finally got back to the district house about eight in the evening. Everything seemed to move at a positively glacial pace in this world she noticed again. True, they'd identified one of the members of the group that did this, and got several leads, but to a person used to seeing everything resolved within the hour-long confines of a television show, the police work seemed almost non-existent here.

      “Hey, Bethany... whose checking out Mathews known associates? I only ask, because it might be a good idea for you and I to go along to the interviews, so that you can check them out telepathically. Odds are at least some of these other people are going to be in his life somehow, right? He had to know them well enough to be willing to trust them not to blab about the sacrifices, and if this is really some kind of... god, I don't even have a word for it... misguided altruism? Whatever, some kind of attempt to help people, then chances are at least some of the other people in this aren't going to be traditional bad guys, just in it for the money or something like that.”

      The Westmorland detective looked at her abstractly and asked her to place her in analytical mode for a moment. As they pulled up to the front of the building, she got the other woman to move back to her normal state, so that she could ask her what she'd been doing, before she could ask though, Bethany spoke.

      “We need to get with Peals on this. Ordinarily only a cursory examination of those around such a high profile person would be done at all, I think in this case, a closer examination may be in order.”

      Peals wasn't in his office, having gone home for the day at about five, Detective Chuan told them.

      “Hey... Detective Chuan, not trying to be too forward, but are you married, or do you have someone... you know?” Gwen asked, tense, suddenly feeling like she was in the seventh grade again and about to have the boy across from her call her ugly and tell her that she should kill herself instead of asking normal people out.

      Instead he smiled, a slightly enigmatic thing on him and told her that he was single, however technically he had a fiancée back home, though they'd only met once when they were children.

      “Oh good, would you like to go to a party this Friday? With me I mean? I need a date, uh, it's kind of formal...”

      He smiled and told her that sounded lovely.

      Now they just had to get a date for Bethany and they'd both be set.

Chapter twelve

      The next morning Gwen noticed that they didn't have any food in the house, Solicitor Grimes was apparently having more trouble finding people to provide services than expected, and while they could, given the cost of dining out and her allowance from the Vernors, afford to eat out for every meal, it seemed a bit of a hardship, especially when they got home late like they had the night before. In the morning, as they walked to work, she mentioned this to Bethany.

      They decided to go out shopping if they could, or Bethany said, if she couldn't get away, Gwen could go without her. Given that she had both money and James to drive her this should be fine, the detective assured her. That didn't make Gwen feel any better about the idea, but getting out into the world had to happen sooner or later, so it might as well be today. Adapt or die, right? The idea didn't make her feel warm and fuzzy, but she could do it.

      Gwen had an eerie feeling that Beth hadn't been telling her that the situation would be alright mentally for her, but rather that the social rules would allow her to have James take her shopping in public somehow. Not that it was a personal problem for them, since James was entirely proper all the time. Even if he didn't know that Gwen wasn't Katherine he'd never do anything that would let her look bad, she didn't think.

      They found the Chief in his office, a cup – a huge earthenware mug really, with the words “Number One Father” on the outside and from the scent, coffee on the inside – clutched in his right hand. Gwen stood, listening to Bethany's presentation of the plan they'd come up with the night before, to check out Mathews' known associates using telepathic interview.

      “I know that this is unusual, but given the death toll so far I think –” Bethany found herself interrupted by the man, his balding head shinning and face stern.

      “Do it. We've lost enough people to these murderers. If we have to rub a few scholars the wrong way, then so be it. If they can't see that the need to catch the malefactors here outweighs their need to feel comfortable, it's their problem. We're sending you with backup though. Will Chuan and Wilbur do? Or do you want someone else?”

      Bethany told him that both those detectives would do just fine, a small smile touching her lips as she considered the idea.

      They planned to go in the afternoon, Bethany spending the morning doing paperwork, leaving Gwen free to go out and get that shopping done on her own. Whee. James sat on the driver's bench reading a newspaper when she came out. She stood there for a moment smiling before he looked up.

      “Oh! Sorry, Miss Vernor... didn't know you'd be back so soon. I know I'm not supposed to read while on duty, I just...”

      She waved that away.

      “Don't let it worry you. From now on, as far as I'm concerned, you should bring plenty of reading material and whatever else you might need while you're waiting. For that matter, let me know if you need money for anything and I'll provide it.” She wrinkled her nose and smiled up at him. “Within reason of course. I'm trying to not burn through money anymore. Still, if you need something to make your job easier, let me know, alright?”

      The man blushed and ducked his head.

      She told him that she needed to do some grocery shopping, but that she didn't really know where to start, which made him chuckle a bit. James didn't seem like he meant to ridicule her, it actually felt genial and good-natured. That, ridicule, she had an intimate knowledge of from her previous life, which had been nearly twelve years longer than what Katherine had in this body.

      “Sorry again, miss. Just, I can see as how you wouldn't have an intimate knowledge of the grocers, being who you are. I can take you to a few places and carry the bags for you. You didn't bring any bags with though, right? So, do we go buy some or do you have them at your new place?”

      The errands took longer than she'd thought, they had to buy the bags first, of course, which cost a bit of extra time. Even after that...a shopping trip that would have taken an hour and a half at home took nearly three times that long here. Everything had a different store, canned goods in one place, bread from an actual bakery, meat from a butcher's shop, and vegetables from a green grocers. Milk, cheese, and eggs turned out to be something you had delivered directly to your door each day. When James found out she didn't know how to do this, he didn't laugh at her but had to bite down on his lips hard to do it. After he composed himself, he showed her how to leave a note for the delivery man and explained how to pay him at the end of the week.

      “He'll slide a bill in an envelope into your delivery crate. It varies when, depending on the company doing the deliveries, but usually on Friday or Wednesday. When you put out your bottles for return in the evening next, you just slide the cash into the envelope and put it out for him to pick up. Course, if you see him in the morning you can just hand the money to him to directly, avoiding theft. Usually comes to about five decs a week at home, with me, the missus, and our three. So I can't imagine you and Miss Westmorland would be up to any more than that.”

      She wrote a note, leaving her apartment's address and what she thought she'd need delivered each day in the lobby on the board, which James assured her would be good enough, telling her it would probably take a day before the man started to deliver. She could also use the same board if she needed any work done on the apartment, knowing that the idea of hiring repairs wasn't strange to her, but how to do it might be.

      “When in doubt, just put up a notice that says what's broken and about how much you're willing to pay to have it fixed. Don't offer too much money. If it's not enough, someone will put up a counter offer.”

      He carried her bags up for her, seeming surprised when she grabbed the last two herself instead of making him come back down for another trip. It only made her chest twinge a little. Once there, he stood in the open door while she put things away rather than coming in to wait, speaking to her occasionally when she asked questions. Given the way everyone else had acted here, Gwen assumed this to be normal behavior, meant to let any passerby know that nothing untoward would be going on. Of course if he came in and they closed the door, no one would know he was even there.

      Gwen wondered at their system, but decided to just go with it. After all, she couldn't change their whole society, so she had to be the one to grow and change instead. The more she adapted now, the easier it would be later when the real problems came into play, she figured. She didn't know what those things would be, but they'd come, she knew. Probably just in time to knock her legs out from under her.

      Back at the station, it being almost time to search out Mathews' friends and family, Gwen looked up in the sky and saw a large blimp, or maybe a dirigible. James saw where she looked and pointed.

      “Yeah, that's one of your Father's, you can tell by the insignia, the red falcon on the nose there. Been a while since you've been up in one right? You not being fond of flying and all?”

      She almost answered honestly then remembered that James may not know that the switch had taken place. There was no way to find out from him without hinting so broadly that he might figure it all out. After a moment she nodded.

      “Yes, but after... everything of late, I think I'm getting closer to being able to enjoy it than I was before. After some things, well, you know, you either bounce back and become stronger or curl up and die. I don't feel much like doing that last one, so...” This just hung in the air.

      To her surprise, the big man looked at her strangely, not laughing or acting amazed. His head slowly began to bob as he looked at her.

      “I saw that happen in the last war. Men would get hurt bad, then come back to the line, some shaking at every pop and crackle, others going fey and almost daring death to take 'em. Best way's between the two, if you don't mind me giving my opinion. Don't cower from life of course, but don't throw it away either. Not that flying in an airship is dangerous. Safer than walking they say.”

      When Gwen got back to the district house, it only took ten minutes to get everyone into the carriage and head toward the university. Bethany thought for a few minutes while they drove, then laid out her basic plan of attack.