Doctor Who_ The City of the Dead - Lloyd Rose [34]
'Dupre really does it right,' said Roy with respect. 'You know what's in that little red bowl over there? Fingernail clippings from that American serial killer, Angel Whatshisname.' Apparently noticing the Doctor's silence this time, he tried a new conversational tack. 'So, I thought you were someone when I saw you at the party. A being of power. Know what I mean?'
'No.'
'One of the natural elite. No wonder Dupre invited you. Usually it takes months before he lets anyone in.'
'Does Teddy Acree ever come?'
'Naw. I think he could, I think Dupre would have him, but he never leaves the house. He's kind of weird, you know? Man, you know whose stuff I'd like to see. That German guy's - the one who makes his sculptures out of actual dead bodies. That's keeping it real. Shows how fundamentally sentimental Teddy's stuff really is.'
'What about Swan?'
'Oh, no way, man. She does her own rites. They're all about protecting and helping Teddy. She's really hooked on him. It's refreshing, you know, seeing a woman support a man's art instead of trying to compete with him.'
The Doctor let that one pass. 'And the late Chic, did he come here?'
'Yeah. Dupre got most of this stuff from him. He was a pretty advanced mage.'
Not advanced enough to keep his throat from being cut, the Doctor thought, and if magic didn't help you with basic problems like that, what use was it?
'How about Vernon Flood?'
'Jesus, do you know everybody? Again, like, no way. The guy's a major loser. Dupre wouldn't touch him with a pole. I mean, he'd just come to see the naked babes, know what I mean?'
The Doctor noticed that Roy didn't seem averse to seeing the naked babes himself. His upper lip was sweaty. The Doctor was more interested in Dupre's circle. Insofar as the word could be used about magic, it looked traditional to him, identical to the circles designed by Eliphas Levi. The Doctor was almost certain he had once met Levi - he had a sharp, near-memory sense of a troubled but sincere man, fearfully respectful of the powers he tried to evoke.
Unlike present company. The women and Roy looked expectant, even eager, and Dupre had the calm arrogance of a man who considered himself the equal of any power he might call up. Not so hard, thought the Doctor, when you'd never actually succeeded in summoning anything.
Dupre's confidence was impressive. Or perhaps he was just stubborn.
Surely, if Dupre had the charm he'd be using it. Or would he? No one would know it was connected with Chic's murder, but still, why take chances? Perhaps he wanted to work with it in private. Perhaps he hadn't figured out how to use it. The Doctor thought of the runes in nail polish on the cement block walls of Flood's makeshift cellar. What was that about?
Roy was talking about Nietzsche. The Doctor remembered Goethe's Faust, and the way a demon Faust conjured mocked him with the title 'superman'.
He himself had always preferred Marlowe's version. He'd have to go back and see it some time.
Dupre had finished setting candles at the points of a pentagram drawn inside the circle. Now he straightened up. 'I shall conjure the power to appear within the circle,' he announced, 'where it will be imprisoned and unable to attack us.' He looked challengingly at the Doctor, as if expecting an objection, and indeed, if the Doctor had thought anything was going to appear, he would have pointed out that this was definitely doing things the wrong way round. But he said nothing, just tried to look encouraging.
In fact, the Doctor had decided it was about time for him to leave. Dupre's ideas were unoriginal and his conjuring sloppy; it was