Double Take - Catherine Coulter [94]
Soldan inclined his head, puffing contentedly. He looked toward Ancilla. “What is the day today?”
“It’s still Tuesday, Sol, very late on Tuesday, I might add.”
“How strange, I won’t see him tomorrow night, Wednesday night. Yes, every Wednesday and Saturday I am with Thomas. Only he had to break our session for tomorrow night. I saw him last evening at his lovely home on Russian Hill from six o’clock to eight o’clock in the evening. I did not return home until nine o’clock, very late for me.”
Cheney said, “Did you kill Dr. Ransom to gain control of his rich clients, Soldan?”
“It doesn’t sound like something I’d do, does it, my dear Ancilla?”
“No, Soldan. You loved Dr. Ransom. You thought he was practically a god. If he had asked you to kill this federal assassin you would have done it gladly.”
“Probably so,” Soldan said and sucked in deeply.
“From Dr. Ransom’s bank records, Thomas Pallack paid him a great deal over the past ten-plus years.”
“Oh yes, I would imagine so. He provides excellent reimbursement to me as well.” He puffed again.
“Did you make contact with Mr. Pallack’s parents, Soldan?” Julia asked.
“Naturally. Vincent and Margaret Pallack are quite gregarious, always pleased to speak to their son, though Mrs. Pallack did tell me tonight that she believed her poor Thomas was, sadly, looking his age. She even mentioned the age spots on the backs of his hands. She said she didn’t trust his wife Charlotte, told me to tell him to be careful of her. She was surely too young for him and what did he think he was up to?”
“Did you pass this along to Mr. Pallack?” Cheney asked.
“Only a bit of it so Thomas would know that he was indeed in contact with his parents. Evidently Mrs. Pallack was always a possessive mother. That didn’t change when she died.
“Her sniping is a mother-in-law’s jealousy, nothing more. I myself am very fond of Charlotte. She’s done Thomas a world of good, keeps his spirits bolstered, laughs when she’s supposed to, and is of immense assistance to him in all his political fundraisers. Thomas’s mother was simply being bitchy, not at all uncommon amongst the departed, you know. Some of the dead are like that—mad and vengeful. So is Margaret Pallack, on occasion. I’m relieved she hasn’t terrorized anyone. She would be very good at it.”
Cheney asked, “Do you stop aging once you die, Soldan?”
“Oh yes. Thomas looks older than his parents now. He’s quite a bit older than they were when they were killed. This disturbs them, naturally. They don’t want him to die. For two reasons: They don’t want to have to spend eternity with a son who looks older than they do, and they’ll lose their only strong connection to this world since there are no other relatives here who would even think to call them, much less want to.”
Cheney said, “You make it sound like picking up a video phone and punching in the right numbers.”
Soldan merely puffed away.
Cheney was frowning. “Soldan, you mentioned the dead terrorizing the living. But that’s the movies. Do you think a dead person can really physically affect a living person? In other words, if Margaret Pallack wanted Charlotte Pallack out of the way, could she make it happen?”
“You’d need to be a federal assassin for that,” Ancilla said, and sneered at him.
“Usually,” Soldan said, “once a person crosses into The Beyond , they lose their corporeal being, with all its advantages and disadvantages.”
“Disadvantages?” Cheney asked.
“Liver disease, for example,” Soldan said. “That is why I indulge only in my Asian delight. The liver is a sensitive organ. It does not deal well even with the finest vodka.”
Cheney said, “So not all the dead lose their ability to assume a corporeal form?”
“Yes, they do, only—this is difficult but I’ll try to explain it simply enough for you, Agent Stone. Some of the dead appear to be able to tap into a source of energy—it’s black, this energy, and it’s frightening. I have no idea where it comes from, no one does. I myself have never tried to connect with any of the spirits who wallow in it, and I don’t ever want to. They scare