Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [623]
“Did the Aztecs ever get up this far?” I asked.
Edward didn’t treat it like a weird question. “Yes.”
“So I’m not the first one to point out the obsidian clue might mean Aztec magic?”
“No,” he said.
“Thanks for telling me that we’re looking for some sort of Aztec monster.”
“The local cops talked to the leading expert in the area. Professor Dallas couldn’t come up with any deity or folklore that would account for these murders or the mutilations.”
“You sound like you’re quoting. Is there a report around here somewhere?”
He looked out over the mound of papers. “Somewhere.”
“Isn’t there an Aztec deity that the priests skinned someone as an offering, or is that Mayan?”
He shrugged. “The good professor couldn’t make a connection. That’s why I didn’t tell you. The police have been looking into the Aztec angle for weeks. Nothing. I brought you down here to think different thoughts, not follow old ones.”
“I’d like to talk to the professor all the same. If that’s okay with you.” I made sure he got the sarcasm.
“Look at the reports first, try to find what we’ve missed, then I’ll introduce you to Professor Dallas.”
I looked at him, trying to read behind those baby blues and failing as usual. “When do I get to see the professor?”
“Tonight.”
That raised my eyebrows. “Gee, that is quick, especially since you think I’m wasting our time.”
“She spends most nights in a club near Albuquerque.”
“She, being Professor Dallas,” I said.
He nodded.
“What’s so special about this club?”
“If your career was Aztec history and mythology, wouldn’t you just love to interview a real live Aztec?”
“A live ancient Aztec in Albuquerque?” I didn’t try and keep the surprise out of my voice. “How?”
“Well, maybe not live,” he said.
“A vampire,” I said.
He nodded again.
“Has this Aztec vamp got a name?”
“The Master of the City calls herself Itzpapalotl.”
“Isn’t that like an Aztec goddess?” I asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“Talk about delusions of grandeur.” I was watching his face, trying to catch a hint. “Did the cops talk to the vamp?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She wasn’t helpful.”
“You didn’t believe her, did you?”
“Neither did the cops. But she was on stage at her club during at least three of the murders.”
“So she’s cleared,” I said.
“Which is why I want you to read the reports first, Anita. We’ve missed something. Maybe you’ll find out what, but not if you keep looking for Aztec bogeymen. We raised that rock, and as much as the police would like it to be the Master of the City, it isn’t.”
“So why the offer to take me down to see her tonight?”
“Just because she’s not doing the murders, doesn’t mean she can’t have information that could help us.”
“The police questioned her.” I made it a statement.
“Yeah, but funny how vampires don’t like talking to the police, and how much they like talking to you.”
“You know you could have just told me that we were seeing the Master Vamp of Albuquerque tonight.”
“I wasn’t going to take you down there tonight unless you got bitchy about it. I was actually hoping you wouldn’t make the Aztec angle until you’d read everything first.”
“Why?”
“I told you, it was a blind alley. We need new ideas. Things we haven’t thought of, not things the police have already crossed off the list.”
“But you haven’t crossed this Itza-whatever off your list, have you?”
“The goddess will let you call her by her English translation, Obsidian Butterfly. It’s also the name of her club.”
“You think she’s involved, don’t you?”
“I think she knows something that she might share with a necromancer, but not a vampire executioner.”
“So I go down off duty, so to speak.”
“So to speak.”
“I’m Jean-Claude’s human servant, one third of his little triumvirate of power. If I go visiting the Master of this City without police credentials, then I’ll have to play vamp politics. I hate vamp politics.”
Edward looked