Page 40 of Girl, Unmasked
‘Please, join me over here,’ Kane said.
Ella followed Kane deeper into the catacombs, keeping her hand within pistol-drawing distance.
Ripley said, 'Cozy.Have you ever thought of investing in an air freshener?'
‘I find the patina of age lends a certain ambiance.What can I do for you two, anyway?’Kane drifted towards the counter at the far end of the shop while Ripley kept a casual distance.Close enough to pounce if they had to, but far enough away that he wouldn't feel cornered.
‘I’m here about a homicide,’ Ella said bluntly.
Kane's steps hitched for a second.But Ella saw.
He recovered quickly, though.She had to give him that.By the time he reached the counter and turned to face her, the mask of a mild-mannered shopkeeper was firmly back in place.'A homicide, you say?'
‘Yes indeed.’
‘And you say I canfill in the blanks?How so?’
‘Let’s just say your name's come up in connection to the investigation.Call it professional curiosity.’
‘How flattering.’Kane's lip curled, though whether it was a sneer or a smile was anyone's guess.‘I'm always happy to aid the authorities, but you'll have to give me more to go on than that.I'm no psychic.’
'Pity.A little ESP would go a long way in my line of work.'Ella leaned a hip against a precarious stack of hardbacks.She could feel Kane's gaze on her.'The victim was a local girl named Sophie.Thirties.Worked in publishing.Ring any bells?'
Something rippled across Kane's face, there and gone too quickly to parse.His tongue darted out to wet colorless lips.'Not off hand.But I keep my nose out of my customers' affairs unless they're picking my shelves over.'
Ella kept a close eye on Kane's microsignals.His facial ticks jumped around at a rapid pace, so discerning anything from that pale visage was out of the question.Instead, Ella turned to the shoulders, the hands, the twitchy fingers.The crafty son of a bitch had hidden his bottom half behind the counter.Coincidence or premeditated?
‘Even the crazy ones?’
That earned her a prissy little sniff.‘I'm a seller of fiction, not a psychiatrist.I don’t know what my customers get up to in their own homes.’
Ella went for the kill.‘How about what they do in the privacy of someone else's home?With a scalpel?And barbed wire?’
Kane made a show of polishing his glasses on his cardigan.His hands trembled ever so slightly, and Ella wasn't sure if it was from fear or simple malnutrition.‘Scalpels and barbed wire?This imagery is positively Victorian, detective.’
Ella flashed her most disarming smile.Kane wanted to play this the hard way?Fine by her.
‘Then let me get specific for you, William.A woman named Sophie Draper was murdered last night.Killed in her own home.Eyes gouged out, barbed wire wrapped around her head, fashioned her skin into wings, cut off one of her fingers.’
The last piece of information wasn't true, but Ella always threw in a curveball when relaying the details of death to possible suspects.A killer like this wouldn't be able to stop himself from correcting her.
But Kane gave nothing away.The color drained from his face, leaving him fishbelly white.He clutched the edge of the counter.‘Good Lord.That’s… awful.’
It was the most reaction she'd gotten from him yet, and damned if there wasn't an edge of real shock there.It pinged Ella's instincts because this wasn't the usual response of a guilty man, and she doubted Kane, this fifty-something scarecrow, was a very good actor.
But she wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily.Even if he hadn't sunk the knife in himself, he was still the closest thing she had to a lead.
‘Awful is one word for it.Something only a real monster could dream up.Sound like anyone you know?’
Kane shook his head vehemently.'Absolutely not.I deal in detective fiction.In fantasies.What you're describing, it's...it's...'
‘And not only that, but I have reason to believe that the person who did this looks eerily similar to you.And happens to call himself Cain.’
And there it was.The flinch.The flicker of recognition quickly shuddered with a theater mask of confusion.But Ella pounced on it like a starving wolf.She pushed off the books and stalked forward until only the counter separated her from Kane's trembling carcass.
‘Something you want to tell me, William?Some salacious detail you've been holding back 'cause you like watching me dance for it?’
Kane held up his hands, palms out.‘Detective, I… know this sounds odd, but please hear me out.’
