Abominations (29 page)

      Gwen started a full load, making sure she selected only the right kinds of clothes for the machine. Then she got herself ready for the day, making certain they both looked alright and didn't have things in their teeth or major fasteners left undone. Then they headed back in to work.

      The office was empty when they got there. If it had been a movie, Gwen was sure the spooky music would be playing by now. She looked around carefully, to make sure there wasn't a bomb or something that had required an evacuation. The room looked clear to her, but then, if the explosives were on the floor below, they'd still be just as dead when it went off.

      Not a single person in the place at all, even Peals' office stood vacant. They hadn't even left a criminal sitting chained to a chair. It felt eerie to Gwen, who wondered if the rapture had happened or something, but then realized that the detectives all would have been left behind if it had, along with her and Bethany, since none of them believed in the required religion.

      Beth went to check the rest of the building to see if anyone knew what had happened. Finally, at almost nine, some of the others started to come in. Chuan, Wilbur, Haversham, and Chief Peals arrived almost at the same time.

      “Right...” Peals said loudly, his voice sounding stern and more than a little angry.

      Bethany hurried in from the hallway, hearing her commander's voice. The man waved for everyone to gather around.

      “If you haven't seen the papers... well then, lucky you. It seems that someone leaked word about Miss Farris here to the press. We expect this to turn into a national story within the hour...”

      “Hey... great...” She heard her own voice dripping sarcasm.

      Gwen snorted after she said it. This could have at least waited until after they'd caught the people that tried to kill her, couldn't it? Obviously not.

      A crowd of men and women, some with microphones, poured into the hallway from the stairs, each trying to push to the front, all calling her name. Peals walked to the door and kicked it shut in their faces.

      “Damned jackals.”

Chapter fifteen

      She tried to collect her thoughts for a moment as someone, one of the reporters probably, began to knock on the door insistently. Taking a few deep breaths she tried to remember everything about handling the press she'd ever learned from watching television programs. Making an effort, she relaxed and stood up.

      “Chief Peals... we need to let them in. I have to talk to them or they'll simply ruin the Vernors with innuendo. The fastest way to look guilty is to not speak. Would you and Bethany come stand by me? Everyone else, could you keep them orderly do you think? Maybe give us ten feet of space, three meters I mean, so that we don't get overwhelmed?” The one thing that this place had in common with her world was that both English and metric measurements were used, with the English ones being the most common. Chuan however came from a place that used metric exclusively, so she threw that in too, when she remembered.

      Detective Chuan nodded his head, almost a small bow, and took up a position near the door, Wilbur followed immediately with Haversham moving forward a few moments later. They waited without moving, until Gwen asked them to open the door. The men stood, as if ready to fight for her, she thought, even though this would be a battle of words, not fists and nightsticks. She hoped so anyway. If it came to that, she'd bet on her side against the reporters. At least in the initial confrontation. The fallout would all go to the reporters, since they controlled the news people heard. Best to avoid that if she could then.

      “Miss Vernor!” An older man pushed through the crowd, or tried to, being pushed back by the reporters, on the third repeat of Katherine's name she recognized him as Benjamin Grimes, Mr. Vernor's solicitor.

      “Mr. Grimes!” she called out, making her voice a little haughty and her accent as crisp as she could get it without sounding phony. “Did Father send you to help me out of this...misunderstanding then? Please, let that man come forward. Please...”

      After a bit the reporters realized this wasn't a trick of some kind, and let the man move to the front. Gwen smiled at him and thanked him for coming on such short notice, asking him to stand next to Chief Peals, who stood slightly behind her on the right. Once he got into position, she turned to face the crowd.

      “Now... I haven't been keeping up with the news, so I guess I'll just take questions? Unless this isn't about me... which would make much more sense, honestly.” She let her voice go a little dry toward the end, making it clear that she thought all of this attention unwarranted.

      A dozen voices shouted at once, finally causing Haversham to yell over them.

      “One at a time or we'll move you all out until you can be civil!” The large man roared. It got the crowd's attention and they actually went quiet.

      Gwen tried to help by gesturing at a man near the front with her right hand, fingers together, using the whole hand, careful not to point because that could seem angry or accusing she remembered from some show or another. That had been about courtroom stuff, but still, just in case it turned out to be true for reporters too, it seemed like a good idea.

      “Miss Vernor... Rumor has it that you were attacked last week... Stabbed? Is that true?”

      She nodded, then in her crisp voice, she elaborated.

      “That's right. A single stab wound to the chest, it missed the heart and luckily for me a healer came quickly, almost immediately I've been told. If not for that, I'd be dead right now. The blade went in about four inches. I don't really remember it, except that it hurt quite a bit...”

      Moving her whole arm she indicated another man, standing a few people to the right of the first, this one wearing a brown jacket and black slacks, with a fedora on his head. He held a microphone up to his mouth and took a few steps forward. Chuan let him pass, but kept the rest of the crowd back.

      “Will Warner, WTRV... Is there any truth to the rumor that your attack had something to do with the recent string of ritual murders in the area?”

      The microphone pushed toward her face, though the man stopped a good two feet away.

      “I'm terribly sorry, but that information is part of an ongoing Constabulary investigation, you'll have to address it to the proper officials, so that they can determine what information they can give out that won't aid the criminals doing this. Perhaps if you get with Chief Constabulary Detective Peals after our talk here is done? I'm sure he'd be more than willing to tell you where to go with your question.”

      Or at least where to go, she thought, keeping a smile on her face.

      The next question took them into the real issue here, she knew.

      “There have been suggestions that you are not Katherine Vernor and are instead a woman named Gwen Farris, Katherine Vernor having switched places with you using magical means. Is there any truth to those claims?” This came from a female reporter, also with a microphone.

      Gwen chuckled a little, her eyes going wide.

      “Is that what all the fuss is about?” Her voice still crisp, holding the slightest hint of derision. “No wonder everyone's here. No... I guess I best tell the whole story... I am Gwen Farris. It's the working name I took... In part so that I could try to stand on my own, without my family name opening doors for me that I haven't earned being opened yet. The other part... well, I'm sure some of you know of my reputation... If I failed I didn't want to sully the family name either.”

      She looked around the room, wide eyed. “I guess I better not fail now!”

      The reporters laughed at that, as she'd hoped they would.

      The questions kept coming.

      “Did you really take a job with a Westmorland?” This from the back. As far as she could tell it was a really short man or a talking hat.

      “Yes. This one in fact.” She brought Bethany forward, giving her full name and title.        “Hopefully I'll still have that job after all this.” She added, causing yet another round of chuckles.

      An older man in the back asked if she'd be attending any social events now that she had a job.

      “Well, occasionally, of course. This Friday's my Mother's birthday party, and I wouldn't miss that... You know how her parties are of course. As to the rest, I'm hoping to contribute a little more to society than I used to... call it a side effect of almost dying. I suddenly realized how much more I could be doing in the world than I had been, if I just bothered to try...”

      A woman actually called out to ask if she and Bethany were dating. This caused a shocked silence in the room, but the woman stood, microphone high in the air over the crowd, waiting for a response.

      “Oohh, now that would be a juicy scandal! “Heiress and Westmorland in Twisted Relationship” Alas, no. We're just friends, and, to the best of my knowledge, we both enjoy the company of men. Still... nice try! I have to say, it's at least a bit more believable than me being a body-switcher. After all, Miss Westmorland is an attractive woman...” She wiggled her eyebrows, a move that she'd seen a few of the men use when she wasn't supposed to notice. The comedic effect hit the reporters hard. Even the woman that had asked the question started laughing.

      “Has your Father disinherited you? Why do you need a job?”

      This came from a man near the middle of the pack, wearing a plum colored suit in that same shiny material that most here seemed to like. He didn't hold a microphone, but a writing pad instead.

      “Oh, no. Not at all. He's fully supporting me in this, in fact. Literally, since he's paying all my bills right now.” Another chuckle went up.

      “Honestly, I'd have to say our personal relationship has improved lately. He's really been there for me during these, what have been for me, very trying times. Mother too... I know it'll sound strange, especially coming from me, but they've really been the force that's kept me going since the attack. Without them... well, I don't know what I'd have done. Probably curled up and faded away.”

      The man scribbled furiously on his pad.

      Finally, after half an hour, she asked if anyone had any more questions, since they seemed to be dying out. A man asked her if she'd take him to her Mother's birthday party. This made the room laugh.

      “Well, you are nice enough looking, but I think that might make my date uncomfortable. Plus, your wife may get the wrong idea...”

      On this high note, the detectives sent the reporters home, smiles on almost everyone's faces. They didn't get the scandal story they wanted, but they had enough to work with, a few funny sound bites they could twist into other things, or even, if they weren't all that evil at heart, the story of a spoiled little rich girl trying to change her ways.