faerie murder

"Long story. So the security guard on the building didn't see anyone come in?"
She peeled off the bandage with brisk motions. It hurt. She fished out some disinfectant. "Cameras didn't pick up anything, either, and there aren't any bursts of static to indicate someone using magic. I checked."
I whistled. "Not bad, Murph."
"Yeah, sometimes I use my head instead of my gun. This will hurt."
She sprayed disinfectant liberally on my hand. It stung.
"Ow!"
"Wimp."
"Any other ways in and out of the building?"
"Not unless they could fly and walk through walls. The other doors are all fire exits, with alarms that would trip if someone opened them."
I kept paging through the file. " 'Broken neck due to fall, it says. They found him at the bottom of the stairs."
"Right." Murphy used a wipe to clean both sides of my hand, and then she put more disinfectant on. It hurt a bit less. "He had contusions consistent with a fall, and he was an old man. No one seen entering or leaving an apartment building with a high-security system, so naturally - "
" -  no one looked for a killer," I finished. "Or reported anything that might have indicated one. Or, wait, did they? Says here that the first officer on the scene found 'slippery goo' on the landing above where Reuel fell."
"But none of the detectives on the scene later found any such thing," Murphy said. She pressed a gauze pad against the wound from either side and began wrapping medical tape around to hold the pads on. "The first officer was a rookie. They figured he was seeing a killing where there wasn't one so he could get in on a murder investigation."
I frowned, turning the printouts of the photographs around. "See here? The sleeves of Reuel's coat are wet. You can see the discoloration."
She looked and admitted, "Maybe. There's no mention of it, though."
"Slippery goo. It could have been ectoplasm."
"Is that too tight? Ecto-what?"
I flexed my fingers a little, testing the bandage. "It's fine. Ectoplasm. Matter from the Nevernever."
"That's the spirit world, right? Faerieland?"
"Among other things."
"And stuff from there is goo?"
"It turns into goo when there's not any magic animating it. As long as the magic is there, it's as good as real. Like when Kravos made a body that looked like mine and came gunning for you."
Murphy shivered and started putting things back into her kit. "So when whatever it is that has made this ecto goo into matter has gone, it turns back into ...?"
"Slime," I said. "It's clear and slippery, and it evaporates in a few minutes."
"So something from the Nevernever could have killed Reuel," Murphy said.
"Yeah," I said. "Or someone could have opened up a portal into the apartment building. There's usually some gunk left when you open a portal. Dust drifting out from the Nevernever. So they could have opened a portal, then gotten out the same way."
"Whoa! Hold it. I thought Faerieland was monsters only. People can go into the Nevernever?"
"If you know the right magic, yeah. It's full of things that are fairly dangerous, though. You don't just cruise through on a Sunday stroll."
"Jesus Christ," Murphy muttered. "So someone - "
"Or something," I interjected.
" -  or something could have gotten into the building and out again. Just like that. Past all the locks and guards and cameras. How scary is that?"
"Could have, yeah. Stepped in, pitched grampa down the stairs, stepped out again."
"God. That poor old man."
"I don't think he was helpless, Murph. Reuel was mixed up with the faeries. I kind of doubt his hands were squeaky clean."


Summer Knight Chapter 7, Page 101-103