Monster - A. Lee Martinez [19]
The cop in red did some quick gestures with her hand, and a tongue of fire danced on her fingertip. Judy used it to light her cig.
“Thanks.”
“Those things will kill you, ma’am,” said the cop. “Thanks for the tip,” Judy replied absently.
If the cop recognized the sarcasm, she failed to acknowledge it. She was a dark-haired giant with a muscular swagger and a scar on her lip. She reminded Judy of a less pretty, more realistic version of Wonder Woman. Judy studied the badge, a seven-pointed star wrapped in a hexagon, on the Amazon’s chest. Her name tag read m. goodday. The cop put her hands on her hips and pulled her wraparound sunglasses down to the end of her nose. One of her eyes was ice blue. The other was a solid scarlet orb.
“Are you Miss Judy Hines?” Her voice was smooth and delicate.
Judy nodded.
Goodday flipped a notebook open. She wrote something down and wasn’t looking at Paulie as she asked, “And you are, sir?”
He held up his hands. “I’m nobody. I didn’t see nothing. I was in my apartment the whole time.” He jammed his hands deep into the pockets. “I think I left some rice on the stove. I gotta go check it. See you, Jude.” He skipped away. Goodday lowered her head and watched him go from under her hat brim.
“Would you please relate to me your recollection of the events, Miss Hines?” said Goodday.
Judy puffed on her cigarette. “Sure. There were these trolls and this… uh… big red thing. I think they called it a codger.”
“Kojin,” corrected Goodday. “So there were these things,” said Judy, “and they came out of my closet and ate the apartment manager. Guy was a dick, but that doesn’t really make it right.”
It was slipping away. She struggled to find her focus. “Shit, I can’t remember the rest.”
Goodday waved the fingers of her right hand in a small circle and poked Judy in the forehead. “Is that better, ma’am?”
The memories snapped back into sharp and perfect clarity. The details spilled from her lips in a steady stream, almost against her will. It was like recapping a movie she’d just seen that she wasn’t particularly interested in. It took a few minutes. Goodday wrote it down without a single note of personal interjection.
“In your opinion, ma’am,” asked the officer, “did Mr. Dionysus behave in a responsible manner?”
“Who?”
Goodday gestured over her shoulder at Monster. “Mr. Dionysus, the freelance cryptobiological rescue agent. Did he perform in a negligent manner?”
“You mean because of that guy getting eaten? I guess he’s not responsible for that. If the moron had listened, he’d probably be alive still.” Judy mulled it over. “No, it wasn’t Mr. Dionysus’s fault. Not really.”
Goodday snapped her notebook shut and marched away. Judy wasn’t sure if the interview was over, so she stuck around and smoked three more cigarettes while watching the Reds do their job. They talked to Monster for half an hour, then waved wands around the overturned van and parking lot.
Monster walked over and sat on the car beside her. “Thanks,” he said. “For telling them it wasn’t my fault. Can’t really afford more demerits on my license.”
“No problem.” She caught him staring at the pack of cigarettes on the car. “I’d offer you one, but I’ve only got eight left.”
“It’s all right. I quit.” He glanced at the ruins of her apartment. The Reds were inside, using a staff dangling with charms to do some forensic work. “Sorry about your place.”
She shrugged. “Sorry about your van.”
She rubbed her temples. “It’s the memory enhancement,” said Monster. “It’ll give you a helluva headache in another twenty minutes.”
Judy slouched and grumbled.
The Reds continued doing all that weird stuff that Judy didn’t understand. They walked around the parking lot swinging pendulums, drew more runes, and took reports. It took two hours for them to finish, and in the meantime, Judy and Monster had to wait.
They didn’t talk.
The Reds had Monster and Judy sign some papers and told them they could go.
“Is there somewhere we can reach you, ma’am?” asked Officer Goodday. “In case it’s decided