They had reached the police station by the time Helena finished her explanation. “And that’s why cell phones don’t work here.”
Judging from Camila’s expression the jiang-shi wasn’t convinced. “All I’m getting is ‘because I say so.'”
“Not me. Reality,” Helena replied. “That’s the basis of most natural laws. Because reality says so. You’re just used to the natural laws in your home realm. Here things are different.” She grimaced. “Be glad the rules aren’t flexible. Those realms are troublesome. Gravity switching makes me sick to my stomach.”
Camila shook her head. “None of that makes any sense to me.”
“Sometimes it doesn’t,” Helena said as they walked into the building. “You have to learn when things will make sense, and when you have to improvise.”
“Heh. Suppose that’s life,” Camila said.
A thin young man in an ill fitting uniform walked up to them. “Excuse me? Are you Ms. Aoede and Ms. Barbosa?” Helena nodded. “The Inspector wanted you two to meet him at the morgue.”
Camila grinned. “Like, if they wanna know how I died they can just ask. They don’t need to check my corpse.”
As amusing as her new friends’ jokes were, Helena had a better guess. “The gang war’s started.”
The policeman flinched. “Can’t say. But we have some people killed by magic. He’d like you to take a look.”
“Right.” Helena wasn’t looking forward to this, but it was probably necessary to put the Long brothers away. “Take us there.”
“So this is what you do? Like a magic detective?” Camila asked as they followed the officer through the tunnels.
Helena grimaced. “I’m a freelancer. Kilduff normally hires a priest for this. I guess he just wants his five hundred dollars’ worth while I’m stuck here.”
Camila’s jaw dropped. “You’re doing this for five hundred dollars? Do you get hazard pay when people start trying to kill you?”
“I wish. Still it’s not as bad as you think.” Helena pulled out a dollar coin. “Our dollars are worth far more than the electronic ones. The Immigrant Realm uses real silver after all.”
“That’s not how currency works,” Camila muttered as she shook her head. “But okay I guess that makes some sense. Gonna take awhile to get used to the new prices. Well when I get money. Or a job.” The jiang-shi perked up at that. “Know any good jobs by the way?”
That was a painful question. Helena settled for shaking her head. “No.”
Their arrival at the morgue saved her from any more questions on the job front. Kilduff was standing outside, fiddling with his cigarette carton. “So you’re back. What did that rat Ling Wei Hsu have to say?”
“Apparently there’s a gang war in the Triads. But they’re still scum so I can’t have my friends help,” Helena replied sweetly.
“And here I was trying to cut back on smoking,” Kilduff muttered. “Well, that explains the bodies. If you’d be so kind as to tell me what killed this lot, we can add the tally to the charges when we finally catch the two.”
Camila hopped forward. “Kinda strange they’re killing people personally. Like, when you’re the boss you get other losers to murder people for you. It’s one of the perks, right? Also keeps the cops from arresting you.”
“The lads probably don’t have enough people to get away with that. A small blessing.” Kilduff pocketed the cigarette pack. “A very small blessing because they still had enough thugs to fill morgues two and three with corpses. These are just the ones that were killed with magic. Bullet and knife wounds the lab boys can handle on their own.”
“Well then. Let’s see what we can find,” Helena walked into the morgue.
There were seven shrouded figures in the morgue this time. Recently killed too, judging from the death curses that swirled around the corpses. Camila shifted beside her. “Something’s wrong about those bodies,” the jiang-shi woman said.
“Which one’s specifically?” Helena asked.
“Uh…” Camila blinked and stared at the figures. “That one, those two and the one on the end. They’re all… empty.”
“Probably drained of chi,” Helena said before walking up. She grabbed the gloves again, then checked the bodies. All four were weathered and leathery. Two had shoulder bruises, while the other two had gunshot wounds. “The Undead Dragon must have drained the wounded.” She realized Kilduff wouldn’t know the magician’s title and added. “Long Jiao Han that is.”
“Figured the monster would have his brother to keep him hopping about,” Kilduff said. “Why would he want to commit murders that could be traced back to him?”
Helena gestured towards Camila. “Power. Every person Long Jiao Han drains gives him more chi. Chi that he can turn into magic. Now that he’s conscious again, he’ll be catching up on his spellcraft.” Because of her hard work. No good deed went unpunished it seemed.
She waved away the miasma to see if there was any other magic on the bodies. Then she stepped back as the curses snapped at her like an angry dog. “Know your place,” she whispered as she crushed the dark energy with her left hand. She looked over the drained corpses again, peering closer at the curses around them. “Have you blessed these corpses, Kilduff?”
“They aren’t exactly Catholic, so we don’t do that,” Kilduff said.
“Start,” Helena replied as she pulled out a small phial of oil. “The bodies will rise as undead.” She placed the oil on the brow of each corpse, calling upon Hades to keep their bodies still. As she did the dark miasma hiding within each body unraveled, dragged down to the underworld.
Camila hopped up. “So they’d come back as zombies?”
“Lesser Jiang-shi. But they’d be weak enough that no one could tell the difference,” Helena replied. “A bullet through the skull would put them to rest. After that people wouldn’t ask questions.”
Kilduff nodded. “And no one would have known exactly how they died, because they’d have great big holes in their heads. More clever than I thought.” He gestured to the other corpses. “Anything you can tell about the others, lass?”
Helena checked the bodies. Two looked like they’d been crushed, probably by the brothers’ elemental dragon spell. The last showed no wounds, but there was the lingering aura of necromancy. “I think this one was killed by the same spell he used on Camila. A Taoist curse that shuts down all the major organs. You’ll need someone skilled in medicine to confirm it.”
“That proof one of our new Triad leaders is guilty?” Kilduff asked.
“No,” Helena admitted. “It’s an easy spell. Half the lesser mages in Chinatown could do the same. It’s useless in a fight, but if a lesser mage caught someone by surprise the spell might work.”
Camila frowned. “Useless in a fight? That bastard killed me pretty fast. I mean sure a gun would have killed me too but the spell seemed pretty good.”
“He’s a master like me, which means he can cast complex spells quickly.” She made a mental note to explain the ranks of magicians to Camila another time. “It’s bad for a fight, because a strong luck charm or a blessing would block it. But the Living Dragon knows how to show off. Remember all that work he did to make the Liang murder look like a zombie attack? He understands how to manipulate people.” She pointed at the corpse. “And making someone drop dead just by pointing at them will make a bunch of criminals respect and fear you.”
“Good point!” Camila gave a twisted grin. “So we should make a big show about pounding his face in?”
“You’ll do no such thing!”
Helena turned as Captain Jacobs walked into the room. He glared at Camila, then leaned back in surprise. “Wait. Ryan, who is this woman?”
Kilduff rolled his eyes. “The witness to the Liang murder. It was in the paperwork I gave you yesterday, Captain.”
“Oh, of course,” Jacobs shook his head then straightened up. “Never mind that! Why is our morgue full?”
“Gang war sir,” Kilduff said. “Long Zhou Di is trying to take a cut.”
Helena covered the corpse and walked over. “A very bloody gang war that includes two magicians. But if you help me investigate the underground you might be able to stop it.”
“You want me to send my men into a gang war?” Jacobs shook his head violently. “Not a chance! Especially since they’re certain to have moved their base. I won’t waste people on a meaningless strike.”
“Begging your pardon Captain, but I’ve been keeping track of where the rats are moving their goods,” Kilduff said. Helena nodded in appreciation. The Inspector apparently was one step ahead of the game.
Unfortunately Jacobs seemed to be two steps behind. “How do you know where they are?” he asked. “And where are they anyway?”
“I have sources,” Kilduff said. “They’re in the middle of another move right now. Don’t worry Captain, I’ll know as soon as they settle in.”
Captain Jacobs ground his teeth. “You are not to act until we’ve gotten a clear picture about what’s going on. Remember that!”
Camila’s grin shifted into a fierce snarl. “The heck’s wrong with you? You’ve got people dying in the streets! Shouldn’t you do something about that? They too poor to be worth your time?”
“We will act when the time is right. Now Ms. Barbosa, I have to get back to work. Ryan, keep on the case.” Jacobs turned and walked out.
“The most helpful man on the force,” Helena said with as much sarcasm as she could muster. She’d be furious if she hadn’t been so certain the man would screw everything up. “Have you noticed his excuses for not acting have become flimsier and flimsier?”
Camila was shifting back and forth, still growling. “I don’t trust the bastard. Gives me bad vibes. You sure he’s not crooked? Acts like the cops back in Sao Luis.”
“He’s here because the lads at Internal Affairs couldn’t find any evidence to convict him,” Kilduff muttered. “There’s no depth to his cowardice, but I can’t imagine the man being on the take. Besides the Triads want the Long brothers taken care of, lass. He’d be helping if they were paying him.”
Helena considered the matter. She trusted Kilduff when it came to the police, but she found herself agreeing with Camila’s instincts more. “We’ll just have to work on our own investigation.” She turned to Camila. “Let’s go back to my room. I want to talk with Lyudmila and the others. Maybe there’s something magical we can use to catch the Triads off guard.”
“For once I’ll just wish you luck with that, lass.” Kilduff finally pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “I’ll be here trying to keep the city from falling into chaos.”
“Good luck,” Helena said to the Inspector. And she meant it.