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“What is that?” says Candy.

“It’s the chemical composition of whatever is on his pants and shoes. It doesn’t look like city dirt. Something drier and desert-like. I’ll collate the numbers with USGS maps of the area.”

“Awesome,” says Candy.

I angle for a better look at the tablet.

“That’s Vigil tech. How did you end up with it?”

Julie puts the tablet away and collects more of the dust in a paper envelope.

She says, “We have an understanding. Now that I’m a civilian, I can do things, go places, and ask questions the government can’t. In exchange, I get access to certain Vigil equipment and information.”

“Can you use your toy to tell you anything about the knife?”

“I doubt it,” she says, sealing the envelope and putting it in the bag. “I wonder if we loaned it to the Vigil they’d be able to come up with anything?”

I pick up an empty DVD case and toss it back on a pile of others.

“Forget it. Boss or not, there’s no way I’m handing over our only serious piece of physical evidence to those Pinkertons. We’d never see it again.”

She stops working, her hands still in the bag.

“I hate to say it, but you might be right. They wouldn’t want civilians to have access to a magical artifact that powerful.”

She turns to Death.

“Have you showered since you’ve been here?”

He shakes his head.

“Good. I’d like to take some samples of the dirt under your nails. Also, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take your fingerprints and do a quick physical exam. Is that all right with you?”

Death frowns slightly, looks from Julie to me.

“She wants your clothes off so she can make sure everything is where it’s supposed to be.”

“If it will help,” he says.

“He’s not the shy type,” says Candy.

Julie doesn’t ask what that means. She just pulls another device from her bag, this one like a large cell phone.

“Good,” she says. “That will make things go faster.”

To Death I say, “After this, you’re cleaning up. This place is starting to smell like the reptile room at the zoo.”

“Smells are interesting,” he says.

“Some less than others.”

Julie sets one of his hands on the device. It lights up for a second. When she takes his hand away, his finger and palm prints glow pale blue on the screen. She does the same thing with the other hand and puts the device away.

“Can I take your picture?” she says.

Death nods.

She uses her phone to take full-­face shots and each profile.