The Case of the Mangled Millionaire or 
The Case of the Maligned Margrave
A Magnesite, PI Story

by Craig A. Reed Jr.




     It's raining in Crystal Tokyo this morning. Not a cold, hard thunderstorm that forces 
everyone to find shelter and wonder to themselves if the sun is ever going to come out again. 
No, we get a gentle, soft drizzle that will gently soak the ground and be gone before noon.

     Sheesh. Even the weather around here is sweet and good natured. It's not bad enough that 
I have to put up with clean streets, well-maintained buildings, happy citizens, and a very 
helpful police force. No poverty, very few homeless vagrants, and in this Burg, the term 
`Organized Crime' can only be used in the loosest sense of the term. It's a good thing Beryl 
never saw this - I think all the sweetness and light would have killed her in minutes.

     And who am I to say such wonderful things about Crystal Tokyo? Name's Magnesite. I'm the 
best PI in Crystal Tokyo. All right, the only PI in Crystal Tokyo, but I'm still the best. 
Just your average former Youma-now-a-phychoplasmic-ghost-turned-PI....

     It's a living, considering the alternative. I spent 700 years locked up inside a crystal, 
and when I was freed on Serenity's orders, I was given three choices. I could try to fit into 
this squeaky clean society, go back into the crystal, or fight the combined might of the 
Renegades and the Senshi and die. I wasn't ready to die, I sure wasn't about to go back into 
that crystal, so I chose the first option.

     The problem is I need human energy to stay in a corporeal form. Without it, I fade away 
like a bad TV signal. I can't go around taking it at will, as that would certainly piss off 
all the Senshi, which I have found is not a bright idea. So, I have to work for a living, 
just like anyone else in CT. Only instead of being paid money, I get paid in life force. Lucky 
for me, because if I was a human PI dependent on money, I would have starved in this job a 
long time ago.

     I deal mostly with divorce cases, suspicious spouses, missing property, with the 
occasional juicy case every so often to liven things up. I thank the Abyss that there's still 
some darkness in the human soul, even in a place like CT. I'm never going to be the Youma I 
used to be, but I'm not doing too bad, considering the alternatives. 

     It had been a good couple of weeks for business. I had finished a nice messy divorce case 
involving a woman, her husband, his mistress and her hairdresser. I'm still not sure how that 
will turn out in court. I did think the wife's attempt to drown the mistress by sticking her 
head into a large bowl of fruit punch during the husband's birthday party was amusing. Sort
of restores my lack of faith in most of the human race. I also had a couple of tailing jobs 
that weren't worth the lifeforce energy I took for payment.

     From my window, I was watching the people walking on the street several stories below my 
office, and waiting for the rain to end when I saw her. She was on this side of the street, 
coming towards the building I'm in. Every so often, she looked up in my direction, as if she's 
trying to see if I'm in.

     She was tall, with a figure that would give most men a serious case of whiplash as they 
did a double take. A big black hat with a wide brim covered her face most of the time, but 
when she did look up, the face matched the figure. She wore a funeral outfit - a tight black 
dress, elbow long black gloves, black shoes, and a black purse.

     Just as I started to turn away from the window, the woman's form blured for a fraction of 
a second, then adjusted itself again. Well, well, well. The person below is using a glamour, 
which means trouble for somebody in one form or another. I waited until the woman climbed the 
stairs leading into the building before I turned, sat down behind my desk and poured a large 
shot of scotch into my glass. 

     I picked up my glass and look at it. As I did so, my mind started listing people who can 
and do use glamours. Despite contrary opinion, glamour magic is still too new to be widely 
used. Only a few people in CT have good glamour magic, and most don't want to be seen anywhere 
near me.

     The Senshi don't bother - they run the city after all, and don't need to sneak around. 
That includes my old nemesis, Rei, who is still convinced that letting me out of the crystal 
was a bad idea. Not that Sailor Mars - sorry, LADY Mars - needs any help in being pissed off 
at me. 

     The Renegades? More likely, but whom? Calcite? He's not even in the city right now. There 
have been rumors floating around that him and Minako had another one of their knock down, drag 
out fight a couple of months ago. That supposely resulted in several rooms having to be 
condemned and having to be completely rebuilt. If those two split again, it would really break 
my heart, if I had one - either physically or metaphorically.

     Pyrite? Assuming you can drag him out of his lab, and that would take something serious, 
say the end of the world. Also, I doubt he'd go for the Man-eater look - the Mr. Spock or 
Bones McCoy look maybe, but not the femme fatale.

     How about Pyrite other half, Azurite? Not likely. Sure, she'd go for the hourglass figure 
glamour in a heartbeat, but there's no way she'd voluntarily get with screaming distance of 
me. Besides which, she's got more than enough natural firepower to eliminate most problems 
that would arise, including me.

     And while Azurite isn't willing to come near me, Titanite is more then willing to blast 
me on sight, no matter how far away I was at the time. When we were in the last days of the 
Dark Kingdom, she and I had a small misunderstanding - I was trying to kill her, and she 
didn't want to die. She wouldn't use a glamour to see me - she'd just come blasting in and 
turn me into a teddy bear, just like the one I have stuffed into a desk drawer.

     That just leaves one person who could, or would, use a glamour - Margrave. She's the only 
one in this merry municipality I have any respect for. When I was released from the crystal, 
she took it upon herself to explain the new facts of life to me. Of course, she took great 
pleasure in informing me that I had gone from being an up-and-comer in the Dark Kingdom to a
semicorpreal has-been, in only seven hundred years. Still, she's the one that pulled the 
strings that got me this office, position, and chance to stay clean in this asylum for the 
terminally happy.

     I heard footsteps walking down the hall, and I could see a shadow in the frosted window 
of my door. I downed the scotch in one shot and placed the glass on the desk. It's times like 
this I wish I could feel the alcohol run down my throat, and settle into my stomach, but I 
don't have a real throat or a stomach. One of the items on the downside of being a psycho-
plasmic ghost.

     I then put my feet on the desk, crossed my arms, and said, "Come on in, the door's 
unlocked."

     The bombshell from the street walks in, looking scared. She glanced around the room, 
sniffing the air. Lucky for her that I ran out of cigarettes yesterday, so the air in here is 
somewhat breathable. Another blurring of the dame's form happened, but this time, it's more 
then a fraction of a second before it firms up again.

     "Have a seat, Margrave," I said, waving to the chair in front of the desk. "And can you 
turn off that glamour? It's a major distraction."

     "Only if you loose the fedora and trenchcoat."

     "Sorry, no can do. Union regulations." That and they are literally a part of me. Being a 
psychoplasmic ghost has some advantages.

     She sat down, and the glamour faded, leaving CT's leading courtesan sitting in my 
client's chair, looking like a long tailed white Persian cat in a room full of rocking chairs. 
She suddenly glared at me, and I realized I've been narrating out loud again. It's a side 
effect of spending seven hundred years reliving every Bogie movie ever made. I still can't 
break the habit.

     "What can I do for you today?" I asked, watching her. "Got another husband looking for 
dirt on his unfaithful wife?"

     She shook her head. "Worse. I have a murder case for you to solve."

     "Oh?" Now I'm really interested. Murder in CT is rare, very rare. I remembered a couple 
of years ago there was a shakeup in the city's police department because the number of murders 
for the year before had actually reached double figures. The press really ate that one up. 
"Who is the victim?"

     "Quinton Kallion."

     I let out a low whistle. "The millionaire? The head of KallionCo?"

     "The same."

     "Then why bring it to me? I'm sure there's a bunch of bright and eager police detectives 
down at the station waiting to handle this for you." 
     
     She leaned forward and stared at me angrily. "Because," she hisses at me, "he died in my 
place of business, while he was with me!"

     Now, it's beginning to make sense. While I'm a PI to earn my energy, Margrave earns hers 
the old fashioned way, practicing the world's oldest profession. She enjoys what she's doing 
for a living, and she has more then enough eager clients for her services. I knew she had some 
high powered patrons, but I hadn't realized how high powered. "Was it a heart attack?"

     "There isn't enough of the heart left to find out!"

     I blinked twice. "Come again?"

     "He was torn apart." Her words had the cold stillness of someone in shock. "One minute 
I'm leading him into the bedroom, the next, I'm looking down at my hands wondering where the 
blood came from."

     Suddenly, other things click into place. Margrave's looking a lot twitchier than usual. 
Still, finding you just turned a client into hamburger is the sort of thing that can really 
upset dames. Definitely ruins the mood.

     "If you're done with the brooding monologues can we get back to my little problem?"

     "Sure doll, but what do you expect me to do about it? Open and shut case, you got a 
little excited and tore him apart. Maybe you can get away with manslaughter but ..."

     "Dammit, I didn't kill him!  I ..."

     "Not on purpose, sure. Bad for business. But while my memories of the Kingdom are a 
little hazy, I seem to remember when Calcite worked for me he'd sometimes show up with your 
marks on him. Nothing he couldn't handle but humans are a lot more fragile."

     "Idiot! I've been in business for centuries. Have you ever heard of any of my clients 
turning up dead?"

     "No. For that matter if they did you'd never have lasted this long."

     "Right. Nobody gets hurt...well not unless that's what they want and even there I know 
where to draw the line."  

     Makes sense but I'm wondering how she manages that. Like I said humans break easily and 
loss of control is something of a given. "So how...?"

     "How do I manage it?" I nod and she tells me, "There's what I call a suppresser reflex...
well, reflex is the wrong word as you have to consciously engage it. I think it's a leftover 
from Metallia's engineered evolution. Keep the breeding stock from  tearing each other apart. 
Result is part of my mind stays in control and minimizes the biting and clawing. Accessing it 
is almost second nature to clawed types like me. I learned how to engage it pretty young but I 
had to teach Titanite..."

    "Titanite?  What's this got to do with her."

    "Think it through, dolt. She's a Youma, her partners are human. Someone had to teach her 
how not to injure them and it never occurred to her relatives. Azzie and Pyrite never had the 
problem and while Calcite's self control kept him from injuring his human partners it never 
occurred to him that his sister was in the same boat. Idiot kept thinking of her as the sweet
and innocent kid he watched over and didn't notice she'd grown up. So I taught her a few 
things."

     That creates a few interesting mental pictures. "What exactly did you teach her..."

     "Get your mind out of the gutter! She got theoretical instruction not practical demos. 
Don't ever suggest otherwise!"  

     Hmmm, definitely a little twitchy about Titanite. Still, Polaris is her major defender so 
she can't get stories circulating that might alienate Titanite. Not after all this time 
conning her into thinking she's got a heart of gold.  

     "Okay so you've got some mental switch that keeps you from injuring a weaker lover.  I 
take it you didn't have to worry about this with Calcite."

      "Right. No more than he has to worry about Minako. Or vice versa."

      "So you've been stuck leaving the switch on for centuries which must be aggravating. So 
last night you finally hit your limit, got fed up and switched it off. End result was you 
turned that poor slob into..."

     "Dammit, I didn't!  I've been framed.  Someone used me to kill him!"

     "How's that?"

     "Someone shut down the suppresser. Maybe a psychic, maybe they used magic but they did 
it. They wanted to get rid of Quinton Kallion and turned me into their murder weapon."

     "Interesting theory. So why not go to Rei and have her read your mind. That would 
establish you're innocent...relatively speaking."

     She shakes her head. "Two problems. That'll only prove I believe that's what happened. If 
I've gone loopy then my sense of reality is gone and my memories can't be trusted. Besides I  
really don't want her in my head again." 

     "Could mean life or death."

     "Yeah but not in the way you mean. That's the other problem. The reading would have to be 
done at a public inquest. Publicity is the last thing I need! Even if I get found innocent 
it's the charge that'll be remembered. How many clients am I going to get if rumors start that 
I might kill them? This could ruin me. I'm not ready to start getting old!" She's getting a 
little hysterical but stops and takes a deep breath. 

     When she resumes she's under control again. "Now, if I can prove I was manipulated and 
produce the real killer then this need not come to trial. I've got enough connections to get 
this quietly swept under the rug, same as that Adamite mess."

     "That what?"

     "Before your time and not important. That's where you come in."

     "Why not tell your story to the police?"

     "Because I have zero proof and can't trust them to investigate seriously. On the other 
hand, you owe me quite a bit which should motivate you."

      I have to smile. "Except that if you get Flame Snipered..."

      "...All your IOUs pass to Ti according to my will." She's smiling but I'm not anymore. I 
really don't want to be in debt to Titanite. She'd love an excuse to ruin me! Aren't they 
supposed to forgive and forget?

      "I get the point. Okay, so if I find the killer..."

      "I'll cancel all your debts for the 28th century."

      "I was thinking more like all of them." I owe her quite a bit from when they brought me 
back plus a few favors this century.

      "Not a chance." I study her and realize she's not bluffing. Her life's on the line and 
she's not going to give and inch. Hell of a dame. Makes me wish I was still flesh and blood.

      "You're a real hardcase, lady."

      "Takes one to know one, Maggie."

      "However that crack just cost you another 25 years. Take it or leave it."  

     She glares at me before muttering, "Fine, solve this and we're clear 2700 to 2825." 

     I figure that's the best I'm going to get so I tell her,"Congratulations, you just hired 
the best PI in Crystal Tokyo."

      "I just hired the only PI in Crystal Tokyo."

      "Details. Now I'll just revise my contract, you can sign it and I'll get to work. While 
I'm doing that you can tell me about the late Mr. Quinton Kallion."

      Time to get my brain in gear. So far, I'd say there are three possibilities. First, 
Margrave slipped up and is either trying to set up a good story or has suppressed the memory. 
Second, she's telling the truth and someone had it in for Quinton Kallion. Or, something that 
hasn't occurred to her yet, she's the real target and Quinton Kallion is just the innocent
bystander.  She's made to rip the guy apart and the Senshi fry her for it. Margrave is dead, 
the killer has what they wanted and no one is any the wiser. Question is who hates her that 
much...apart from many jealous wives and girlfriends. 

     Could be trickier than I thought. Whoever did it I'd better find an answer fast. The 
clock is ticking.



     It takes me thirty minutes, and what was left of the bottle of scotch, to get all the 
details of the victim and the crime out of Margrave. She's less twitchy now, though I'm not 
sure if it's from the liquor or the fact someone's listening to her story. Margrave was 
hesitant about explaining her relationship with Kallion, until I gently reminded her that I 
didn't need to know ALL the details, just the important ones. With a little prodding from me,
she lays it out for me, chapter and verse.

     Quinton Kallion, age fifty-five, but the pictures I have seen of him in the newspapers 
made him look ten years younger. He had been CEO and president of KallionCo, one of CT's 
largest corporations, and a major business leader in the city. Wife's been dead for five 
years, so there's no jealous spouse hanging around to make my number one suspect. He has one 
daughter, age sixteen, who's away in Europe right now. 

      He'd been a regular of hers for the last three years, the first Monday of each month at 
ten o'clock in the morning, just like clockwork. Sometimes, he stayed and talked to her 
afterwards about things on his mind, and other times they never got past the talking stage. As 
I listened, I got the feeling that she really like this guy, and not just as a client.

     Today was the same as every other visit. He showed up on time, and met Margrave in her 
reception room. She remembered leading him into her "Office," and him sitting on the bed, 
talking about a minor problem he'd been having with a department head. The next thing she 
remembered is she's kneeling next to the bed, staring at her blood covered claws, while what 
was left of poor Quinton was splattered across much of the bedroom. She only stopped long
enough to tell her receptionist to call the police, then came it hightailing over here to 
spill her story before Rei and CT's finest could grab her.

     I sat on the edge of the desk and looked at her. She looked calmer then when she'd come 
in here, but she still had an air of fear and confusion about her that I had never seen 
before. Unlike the others, Margrave's never really fit into the city's society, and she never 
will. Until now, she's used that incompatibility like a cloak of honor to thumb her nose at 
the city's high and mighty. But now, she realizes that cloak is full of holes, and the winter 
wind is coming.

     She looked down at the glass of scotch in her hands and then up at me, frowning. "You've 
said some real stupid things in the past, but that has to be the dumbest thing I have ever 
heard you say."

     I groaned. "I was narrating out loud again, wasn't I?"

     "You got it." She downed the rest of the scotch in one go, and placed the glass on the 
desk.

     "How much this time?"

     "The entire cloak business. That's tacky, even for you."

     "I'll keep it in mind." I picked up the now empty scotch bottle, and drop it into the 
trash can. The thud of the bottle hitting the bottom of the can was the only sound in the room 
for several seconds. "What exactly did Kallion talk to you about?"

     She shrugged. "Business mostly. Plans the corporation was making, finances, some problems 
with a couple of projects the company was having, and deals he was working on. Sometimes, he 
talked about his wife and daughter, and how he missed them both."

     "What about the last month or so? Anything unusual?"

     She thought for a minute, then nodded. "He seemed a bit tense about a month ago. After I 
relaxed him, I asked him about it, seeing as he wasn't usually that tense. He told me he 
thought there was a spy inside his company." 

     "Oh?" That had some possibilities. "What made him think that?"

     "He said that over the last couple of months, he thought that sensitive information had 
been obtained from KallionCo. Important project papers would disappear for a day or two, and 
turn up misfiled. Computer crystals containing important information would appear and 
disappear almost at will. Personnel would vanish for a couple of days, then turn up with no 
memory of where they were."

     Better and better. I now have something I can work with. "What type of information did he 
think was getting out?"

     "That's what had him worried. He thought that the leaks involved several defense related 
projects KallionCo is doing for the Queen."

     "Any suspects?"

     Margrave shook her head. "If he did suspect someone, he never told me."

     Before I could ask anything else, I sensed the oncoming presence of a Senshi. And only 
one of them would bother to come down here. I stood up. "Trouble."

     She looked startled. "What?"

     She found out several seconds later when Rei flung the door open and stormed in. She 
dressed in her Sailor Fuku, red high heels that combined impracticability with awkwardness, 
and a scowl that matched some of Beryl's better attempts. She looks at me, then at Margrave, 
then back at me again.

     Rei relationship with me can best be described as caustic. She is convinced I'm respon-
sible for everything that has gone wrong in the city in the last hundred years, no matter what 
it is. Every day I walk free and unblasted makes her just a little bit madder. Of course, 
since I'm not allowed to leave the city, she just gets madder and madder. Just the way I like 
it.

     "Hello, Rei," I said mildly. "Come to hire me to find you a boyfriend with his own 
asbestos underwear?"

     The look on her face gets even more impressive. "Don't press your luck, Youma," she 
hissed.

     "Sorry," I replied. "I'm an ex-Youma." I looked at Margrave. "See what I mean? She's 
getting testy with no one to use for target practice - "

     "SHUT UP!" Rei yells, loud enough to rattle the windows. It does have the desired effect 
though. I shut up. It takes several seconds for her to get her temper under control again, 
long enough for me to notice that Rei didn't come alone this time. There were half a dozen 
Special Security types standing outside my office, armed to the teeth, and ready to swarm in 
at the first sign of trouble. 

     When Rei did get her temper under control, her words were glacier cold. "If you say one 
more word to me, I'll haul you in with your friend here, and keep you locked up until you fade 
away. Understood?"

     I opened my mouth to say something scathing, take one look at Rei's expression, and 
closed it again. That wasn't a threat from her, but a promise. I sat down slowly, leaned back, 
and put my feet up on the desk.

     "I thought I would find you here," she continued, glaring down at Margrave, who's 
beginning to look twitchy again. I find that Rei does have that effect on people anyway. "I 
arrest you on suspicion of Murder," the Senshi continued formally. She placed a hand on 
Margrave's shoulder. "In the death of Mr. Quinton Kallion. Are you going to come along 
peaceably?" The way she said the last sentence sounded to me like she expected Margrave to say 
no.

     Margrave looked at me for help, but I shook my head. "Go with her, doll," I said. "Right 
now you're safer in a jail cell then out running the street." She still doesn't look sure, so 
I said, "Remember what you said to me once about how we have limits inside the law, and so do 
the Senshi? Rei may not like you, but she won't do anything against the law to hurt you."

     She nodded, though she's not thrilled with the idea. Neither am I, but she is really 
safer in a cell. All it would take is for her to turn up dead for the case to be quickly 
closed by Rei and the police department.

     Margrave stood slowly, and turned towards Rei, arms held out in front of her. Rei quickly 
placed a pair of heavy duty handcuffs around Margrave's wrists, and signaled two of the squad 
outside the office to come in and take charge of the prisoner. The last I see of Margrave is 
her look of pleading in her eyes as the two police officers escorted her out of my office.

     Her prisoner safely away, she turns her glare back at me. "All right," she said. "I want 
to know everything Margrave told you since she arrived, and I want to know it now."

     I reached into a desk drawer, pulled out an unopened bottle of Scotch and a fresh glass. 
I placed the glass on the desk, open the bottle, poured a full glass, and finally looked up at 
Rei. "Sorry, I can't."

     "Can't? Or won't?"

     I picked up the glass and down the contents in one gulp. "Margrave's my client," I 
replied slowly, using my best Bogie sneer. "When she hired me, whatever she said to me became 
confidential."

     Rei's face starts getting puffy. "She hired you?"

     "Yep."

     "I want to see that contract!"

     I waved to the contract, still sitting on the desk. "I shouldn't let you see it, but I 
know you won't believe me until you do see it with your own eyes."

     I had time for another glass while Rei read the contract, but she doesn't look any 
happier about it. I thought for a minute she was going to tear it up, but reason ruled, and 
she slammed the still intact contract back down on the desk.

     "All right," she growled. "You win this round, but your time is coming, sooner or later. 
And when it does, I'm going to nail your hide to the wall." With that as her parting shot, she 
turned and stalked out of my office, not bothering to close my office door behind her. The 
rest of the Special Security goons followed her like baby ducks after their mother. 

     I listened to the entire group stomp down the hall to the elevator, before I went to the 
window and looked out. Two long back crysticars stood idling in front of my building. There 
were no sign of Margrave, or her escorts. A minute later, Rei came storming out of the 
building, surrounded by the goon quartet that had been standing outside my office. They all 
climbed into the first car, and both cars drove off into the rain and traffic.

     I stood at the window for several minutes, deciding my next move. I knew, with a case 
this important, Rei was going to handle the investigation herself. Which meant she wasn't 
about to give me any assistance on this case. With Margrave in jail, one of my prime sources 
of information and string pulling went with her.

     Have I ever mentioned I hate Mondays?

     After some brooding, I realized that I was going to need someone's help. Someone with 
many high level connections, and was willing to help me clear Margrave. My list was very short 
to begin with, but there was only one person that fit the bill on both accounts. 

     And she wasn't going to be thrilled to see me.

     Tough. The client comes first. Personal problems come later. All I have to do is get 
close enough to talk to her without getting pulverized.

     I looked up into the cloudy sky. I'd like to think Bogie would be proud.



     An hour later, I'm stalking through the offices of the Crystal Palace, watching people 
scurry here and there like rats in a maze. I was ignored by most of the office types, but one 
or two would watch me walk by them, and I could see the question in their eyes. Who is that 
fat man?

     The few other times I've been in this place, I was always in disguise, and today's no 
different. I didn't want people to remember I'd been here. With my luck, word would get back 
to Rei that I'd been seen around this joint, and she would close me down before I even 
started. I didn't need her breathing down my neck while I tried to get Margrave out of this 
jam.

     So, I went with the Sidney Greenstreet look for this run into giggles central, down to 
the Panama hat and white suit. Of course, most of the people today don't know who Bogie was, 
let alone Sidney. I wonder what the response would have been If I'd shown up as Cary Grant....

     I found a directory near a pair of elevators, and scanned it until I found what I was 
looking for. Tenth floor. Seems she's moved up since the last time I saw her. Let's hope she's 
in a pleasant mood. But that elevator music has got to go - You would have thought Barry 
Manalow would have gone out of style by now....

     I reformed myself in the elevator, so by the time I reach the tenth floor, I'm back to my 
old self, sneer and all. No one saw me as I strolled down the corridor, looking for the right 
door. 

     A large double door at the end of the hall pointed me in the right direction. LADY 
TITANITE: PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MEDIA LIAISON, it read in large and bold letters on the door. 
So, I'm now in the right place.

     I straightened up my appearance, deciding the shabby look would freak out Titanite 
quicker then a more upscale look. I started by reforming the trenchcoat and suit so both were 
a bit darker and more stylish. Next, I made sure the fedora looked sharp. I thought of having 
a small card in the hatbrim that said PRESS, but I doubt anyone in this century would have 
understood. Finally, I went as far as absorbing the five O'clock shadow so I looked clean
shaven. The things I have to do for a client....

     I opened the door and stroll in. There's two desks flanking an inner door that said LADY 
TITANITE: PRIVATE. The room was decorated in modern pizzazz, with strong bold colors and 
accents. I think they did it up this way to impress the media types that meander in every so 
often from outside the city. All it did for me was make me ill, a neat trick considering my 
condition. 

     The desk on the right was occupied by a well-stacked red head who looked up as I walked 
in. "Can I help you?" she asked politely.

     "Is the Boss lady in?" I asked in my best Spade growl. My senses had already supplied the 
answer, but I thought I should ask anyway.

     "Yes, but - HEY!"

     As soon as she said yes, I started for the inner door. She managed to move quick enough 
to place herself between me and the door. She stared up at me, her green eyes showing nothing 
but politeness. "I'm sorry, but Lady Titanite is busy right now. If you care to make an 
appointment -"

     "I don't have the time, sweetheart," I replied, picking her up and placing her off to one 
side. "I need to see the lady now." Before she could say another word, I opened the door and 
walked in.

     I had half hoped to catch the lady playing desk tennis with a young stud, but she was 
sitting behind the desk, shuffling papers, in prim and proper business suit. She looked up as 
I entered. "What is...." Her eyes opened wide as she realized who I was. "Magnesite!"

     "I'm glad you remembered my name, Doll."

     She stood slowly, and glared at me. "You've got five seconds to explain why you're here, 
or I'm going to -"

     "Turn me into a teddy bear?" I finished for her, as I sat down in a chair in front of her 
desk. It's been her promise to me since I was released from the crystal, should I step out of 
line. "Relax, babe. I've got a very good reason to be here."

     "Which is?" She's mad, REALLY mad. Power is crackling around her like a runaway genera-
tor. She isn't the girl I'd tried to kill a long time ago.

     "You can say that again, Mags."

     Damm, Narrating out loud again! I ignored the Mags crack, and say, "I here because Mar-
grave's my client, and she is in a mess of trouble."

     Titanite relaxed slightly, but she still glaring at me. "What kind of trouble?"

     "She sitting in one of Rei's air-conditioned, richly furnished dungeon cells, on a charge 
of murdering one of her clients."

     "Who?"

     "Quinton Kallion."

     I couldn't have provoked a better response if I slapped her. The energy around her vanis-
hed like the content's of a wino's bottle. She sat down slowly, and didn't look at me. "I 
don't believe you."

     "Call Rei," I replied. "Better yet, call Margrave's place."

     She duly called both places, finishing the second call just as a pair of overbred 
security types came barging through the door and bore down on me. I felt a hand come down on 
each shoulder just as Titanite said, "Leave him. Wait outside in case I need you." 

     The hands released me, and I watched the pair barge out of the office with the same 
energy as they came in with. They're probably upset they couldn't pound me some before they 
tossed me out. My metaphoric heart bleeds for them.

     Meanwhile, Titanite is pulling herself together, so by the time I turned back to her, 
she's looking more sober. "Rei and Margrave's receptionist confirm your story. Why are you 
here?"

     I relaxed slightly. "I need someone with connections on this one. Rei's going to do 
everything in her power to shut me out of this investigation. I need someone to counter her 
long enough to allow me to find out what really happened. You're the logical choice. None of 
the Renegades can or will help Margrave out of this mess."

     She simply nodded. She saw my logic. "What do you want me to do?"

     "For starters, I need to get into Margrave's office without Rei finding out. View the 
scene of the crime, and all that."

     "I think I can arrange that. What else?"

     "I need the autopsy report on Kallion."

     "That's going to be tougher."

     "I know. But Rei has her office wired six ways to Sunday against the off chance I'd drop 
in for a visit. I can't simply sneak in and look at it myself." I know, I tried sneaking into 
her office on another case years ago, and nearly got fried for my trouble. Rei's getting 
paranoid in her dotage.

     "I'll try. Anything else?"

     "Depends. How well did you know Mr. Kallion?"

     "We met several times." 

     "Did he seem to be the type to jump at shadows?"

     "No." She seemed edgy. "Why do you ask?"

     "According to Margrave, Kallion thought there was someone inside his company who was 
sniffing around several special projects."

     She became even more tense. "Did she said what projects?"

     I shrugged and slouched in my chair. "Several defense related projects KallionCo is doing 
for the Queen."

     If Titanite became any more stiff, I'd could use her as a doorstop. Well, well, well. I 
think I hit a nerve there. "Look, I'm not interested in what exactly what the Queen's got up 
her sleeve should someone big and ugly come knocking on the city's door. I just need to get 
inside KallionCo, and dig around. It's the only lead I've got."

     She nodded slowly, but she looks far from happy. I don't blame her. Helping someone who's 
tried to kill you in the past isn't something she's really happy about. Then again, I not 
exactly thrilled about coming in here with my hat in my hand asking for her help.

     "All right," she finally said. "I'll help you get into KallionCo. But if you nose around 
anywhere else looking for information on those projects, I'll turn you -"

     "Into a teddy bear, yea. I get the picture. Your Brother was rather graphic about that 
when he gave me that stupid teddy bear." Talk about one track mind....

     She looked calmer now. "OK, now that I've agreed to help you, tell me something."

     "If I can."

     "Why are you helping Margrave? She's not exactly a friend of yours."

     "She's closer to being a friend then you Renegades."

     She let that slide by. "What are you getting out of this?"

     "Cancellation of all my debts with Margrave for a hundred and twenty five years." I 
looked at her. "And if Margrave ends up deceased, you inherit my debts, and there's no way 
that'll happen if I can avoid it."

     Her eyes glowed, and I realized I may have just made a mistake telling her about 
Margrave's will. But she snaped out of it quickly enough. "That's fair enough."

     "There's more."

     She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

     I hold up a finger. "First, there's a certain self interest here. If Margrave buys it, 
Rei will be all over me like a cheap suit. She does that, and I might as well pack it in for 
good." 

     "And the second?"

     I gave her my best Bogie smile, and hold up a second finger. "I think she's innocent, 
sweetheart. Margrave's become too civilized to do something that stupid."

     She nodded and stood up. "Alright, let's go so the scene of the crime."

     That was unexpected. "Who's we?"

     "You and I."

     "Now wait, Kid -"

     She slammed her hand on the desktop, and I heard something in the desk crack. She may 
look human, but she's Youma to the core. She's angry again, and she radiating power just like 
before. Touchy, isn't she?

     "Let's get something straight, Magnesite," she ground out between clenched teeth. "I hate 
your psychoplasmic guts. That's not going to change anytime soon. The only reason I don't 
blast you out of my office is that won't help Margrave. So, I suggest that you refrain from 
calling me sweetheart, Kid, doll, dollface, babe, or any other archaic form of address. If you 
have to address me at all, I prefer Titanite, lady Titanite, or Polaris. I am also not about 
to let you out of my sight, if I can help it. Do I make myself clear?"

     Great, I just picked up a partner, one that wouldn't mind if I ended on a slab with a tag 
on my toe. Of course, I'd fade away long before that stage, but the image is still there. If 
I'd know this, I would have held out for more. It's times like this I wonder if maybe I should 
get out of the PI business, and open a nice quiet cafe somewhere. I sort of like the name
`Rick's Dark Kingdom Cafe'. Well, someone said hindsight's twenty-twenty....

     I sighed. Time to lay it out for her. "Will you do both of us a favor, and lay off the 
anger for a while? I once tried to kill you, and you can't forgive me, right? You hate me, 
despise me, wish I would melt away into the sewers. If I step out of line, I get teddy beared. 
I know all that, all right?"

     This caught her off guard. "Er...yes -"

     "Look, kid. I'm only going to say this once. I am not the same nasty overboss who bossed 
around Calcite, Pyrite, and Azurite back in the good old days. These days, I don't have much 
power. Hell, I don't even have a real body anymore! I am not much of a threat to anyone in the 
current power structure, except to that paranoid part of Rei's mind. The weakest Senshi can 
blow me away without working up a sweat, and you aren't the weakest Senshi by a large margin. 
Clear enough?"

     "But -"

     I cut her off again. "But nothing." I was on a roll now, the anger and frustration that 
had been building up in me since I been released finally finding a target. I stood up and 
leaned on her desk, and looked down at her. She returned my stare, and my estimates of her 
went up several notches. 

     "In order to get the life energy I do need to stay corporeal," I continued, "I have to 
work for it. By The Abyss, I have to actually work for it! I can't go around feeding on human 
life energy at will, not without having every Senshi in the city come down on me like a ton of 
bricks." 

     I think she tried to interrupt me again at that point, but I didn't give her a chance. 
"I'm not cut out for Margrave's line of work, so I'm stuck finding lost pets or spying on 
husbands stepping out on their wives. The closest thing I have to a social life is watching 
`The Maltese Falcon'. If our positions were reversed, I'd be ecstatic at your fall from power. 
I wouldn't waste anything more on you then the occasional gloat. I'm not worth your hate these 
days."

     My words seemed to have an effect. She managed to get out a weak "I see."

     "Look, Titanite, There's no way we're ever become anything more but life long enemies. 
But, right now, a mutual acquaintance is in a serious jam, and it's going to take both of us 
working together. It's time to act like an adult, and not a child. The first thing you can do 
is remember my name's Magnesite, not `Mags' or `Maggie'."

     She stood slowly and glared at me. "I'll keep it in mind."

     "Good." Add two more notches to my opinion of her. "When do you want to leave?"

     "In a minute." I slouch back into my chair while Ti tells her secretary to hold all her 
calls, and cancel her appointments for the rest of the morning. She smoothed out the skirt 
she's wearing and glares at me. "Ready?"

     I got up slowly. "You want me to lead the way?"

     The smile she gave me wasn't pleasant. "You read my mind."



     In the time it took us to go from Titanite's office to Margrave's lair, I was busy 
morphing from one form to another. I went from my usual appearance to Sidney Greenstreet in 
the elevator down, back to my own form in Titanite's car, and on the way up to Margrave's 
penthouse suite, I became Peter Lorre. Titanite watched it all without saying a word until I 
finished the last metamorphosis. "Your selection of disguises seems a bit old fashion."

     I shrugged. "You should see my Claude Rains."

     "I'll pass. How do you want to do this?"

     "First, we'll see if Rei left some of her people to keep an eye on the place. If not, no 
problem, I'll just walk in and look the place over."

     "And if she did leave a reception committee?"

     "Then we go to plan B."

     "I see your planing skills haven't improved any."

     The elevator doors opened at that point, cutting off my snappy comeback. There were three 
people in the lobby, all of who turned to look at us as we walk out of the elevator. Two were 
CTPD uniformed type, looking big, tough, and bored out of their skulls. 

     They're trying to make time with Margrave's receptionist, a statuesque blond by the name 
of Veronica. Which is sort of like me trying to seduce Serenity - it's possible in theory, but 
a snowball's chance in hell in reality. What these two don't know is that Veronica is a lot 
smarter then they thinks she is. Margrave likes the people Calcite hires for her to be both
intelligent and beautiful, and this girl fits the bill on both accounts.

     She proceeded to show it immediately. "Lady Polaris!" she breathed in a voice that 
combines sweetness with a hint of empty headiness. "I'm glad you could come, and so soon!" 
Which is pretty good, considering Veronica was no more expecting us then she was expecting a 
brass band.

     "Thank you, Veronica," Titanite replied with ease, as if meeting people standing outside 
a murder scene is something she does every day. She gave CTPD's finest a quick nod. "Good
morning, Officers."

     Both of the boys in blue suddenly look very uncomfortable, and I think I see a large 
sweatdrop form on each of their foreheads. Being in the presence of a Senshi seems to have 
that effect on people. It's almost as bad as groveling. After several seconds of uncomfortable 
silence, one of them said, "Good afternoon, Lady Polaris. Can we help you with something?"

     Ti ignored the question by looking around the lobby, and nodding to herself.  "Very...
stylish. Make a note of that, Peter."

     I'm a little slow on the uptake, and it takes several seconds to realize she's talking to 
me. I quickly pulled out what looked like a pad and pencil, but are really just a small part 
of me and started scribbling into it. "Yes, Lady Polaris," I replied in my best Lorre voice. 
"Excellent idea, Lady Polaris."

     The two flatfeet still weren't sure what's going on, and neither wants to be the first to 
ask Ti. I guess hanging around Rei has cured them of curiosity. But Ti solved that problem 
easily enough.

     "I am here," she said with a wave of her hand. "To pick up some items for Margrave." She 
turned and strode towards the door leading to Margrave's inner sanctum, with me trailing after 
her like any good syncopate would.

     The cops now looked really nervous. The spokesman for the pair stepped forward. "But, 
Lady Polaris!" he said quickly. "Lady Mars has declared the Penthouse off limits to everyone."

     Ti looked at the officer, and he started to squirm under her gaze. "Everyone?" she 
replied coldly.

     "Yes Lady Polaris. There are several people in the city who might want to tamper with 
evidence at the murder scene."

     "Did Lady Mars tell who these people were?"

     "She just mentioned one - the Private Investigator calling himself Magnesite."

     "Oh?" She placed both hands on her waist, stuck out a hip to show a bit more leg and 
stared at the cops. "Do I look ANYTHING like that dried up refugee from an old time movie?" 
she said in a low voice full of venom. "Or has the police department recently dropped their 
vision requirements?"

     The poor cops start to sweat. Ti can be overbearing when she puts her mind to it, and 
she's not faking her anger. Of course, I have to stand there and take Ti's insult in silence.

     "But this Magnesite can change his shape -"

     Uh-oh. Wrong move. If Ti was angry before, she's now moved into towering rage territory 
now. The air suddenly became charged and Ti seemed to gain a couple of centimeters in height. 
As for me, I'm trying hard not to look amused at the entire event. Out of the corner of my 
eye, I noticed Veronica quietly slip out from behind her desk, and head for the elevator. Like 
I said, Margrave likes her people to be smart, and Veronica's taking the opportunity and 
getting out of Dodge as quickly as she can. 

     The cops are wishing they could the same thing themselves. They're backing away from Ti 
now, looking like a pair of animals caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. Ti's not 
letting them off the hook, though. She advanced slowly, her words coming out in short, angry 
bursts.
     "My name is Titanite...Lady Polaris to you...My brother is LORD Calcite, adviser to the 
Queen...I am a Sailor Senshi...I am here on official business...I am not that jackass, 
Magnesite...."

     If the cops weren't convinced before she's the real article, they are now. The spokesmen 
nodded like his head was about to fall off. "Official business, Lady?"

     "Yes," Ti hisses. "Now are you going to allow me and my assistant into the penthouse, or 
will I have to make my own entrance?"

     "If you're here on official business....For the Queen, right?"

     "Who do you think?" A nice Youma-like answer. Maybe she's isn't as civilized as she 
pretends to be.

     "I think we can make an exception for the Lady...right, Joe?"

     His partner nodded vigorously. "Sure, Mike," he croaked. "She's here on official 
business, right?"

     "I'm so glad I convinced you gentlemen," replied Ti slowly and politely. She turned down 
the power levels and the charged air in the room dropped like a stone. Five seconds later, 
there's no evidence of Ti's outburst. "Now," she said calmly, "can you let us in?"

     The cops fell all over themselves to reach the door first. Ti followed them, and I 
continued to trail behind Ti, forgotten by everyone. The spokesmen started punching in a short 
combination into a small device attached to the door.

     "What's that?" asked Ti, keeping a slight edge in her voice.

     "A device that detects certain types of matter entering the room. Lady Mars borrowed it 
from Lord Pyrite." 

     "I see," replied Ti thoughtfully. "What type of matter?"

     "Er...psycho...phyc...."

     "Psychoplasmic?"

     "Yes, Lady Polaris. That's the term that Lady Mars used."

     Ti shot me a look of triumph, as to say `Aren't you glad I came along?' I gave her a 
shrug in return, as if to say, `I would have found a way in anyway.' But I'm thinking, as we 
pass through the doors, that Rei's isn't taking any chances with me tracking through her open-
and-shut case. Well,ain't that too bad....

     We found ourselves in Margrave's inner sanctum. Margrave once told me that she'd modeled 
this room on the one Beryl was rumored to have in her private quarters in the Dark Kingdom. As 
she explained it to me, Beryl had more then her share of paramours, and she had a special room 
she used to `entertain' those she decided were worthy of her attentions. Personally, I think 
Margrave just feeding me a line. Beryl never struck me as the type to worry about foreplay, as 
it wasn't her style. But, it's the type of thing her customers would accept without a qualm.

     I think her real source of inspiration is Earth's history, namely that time historians 
call Greco-Roman. The room is circular with twelve Doric columns evenly spaced around the 
perimeter, with doors leading off to other rooms of the penthouse, hidden behind long purple 
drapes. On the far side of the room, opposite the door, there's a red velvet couch that 
Margrave used to greet her customers. Here and there, Margrave has these life sized nude 
statues of humans. I guess is supposed to be erotic, but all it does for me is make me wonder 
how the human race managed to survive for so long.

     As the four of us walk in, I started looking around for any clues. The bedroom Margrave 
used for her business is on the right, and that's where the murder took place. I saw the 
curtain had been pushed aside, and there's a couple of strips of bright yellow tape across the 
door. There were some bloody footprints on the carpet leading away from the door. They're just 
the right size and shape to be Margrave's.

     Ti strode over to the other side of the room, and flung the curtain aside to reveal 
another door. If I remembered correctly, that door leads to the other bedroom, dining room, 
and kitchen, none of which gets much use. "Have you completely search this place?" she asked 
authoritatively.

     "No Lady Polaris," replied Mike, eager to keep that glare of Ti's off him and his 
partner. "We were just told to guard the entrance."
 
     "Then I think it's time we did a through search of the rest of the penthouse, right? In 
case Lady Mars missed something?"

     The sweatdrops come back again, as both cops tried to figure out a way to say no without 
incurring Ti's wrath again. They're still thinking when Ti takes the matter into her own hands 
again. "Very well then," she said. "Peter?"

     "Yes, Lady Polaris?" I replied, adding some maniac to Lorre's voice. Both Mike and Joe 
turn to look at me, and I gave them both my best Lorre creepy smile. They turned away quickly, 
but I could see both now are tense and uneasy. Good.

     "Stay here with the officers, and make sure no one else comes in."

     I started nodding eagerly. "Yes, Lady Polaris. As you command, Lady Polaris."

     Mike stepped forward. "Lady Polaris. If your assistant is willing to stay here, and not 
allow anyone else in these rooms, I think both Joe and myself should accompany you on this 
search of yours." And to get away from your creepy assistant, his expression added silently.

     Ti considered for a few seconds, then nodded and said, "Very well." She looks at me. 
"Peter, if anyone comes into the lobby, let us know immediately."

     I nodded my head again. "Yes, Lady Polaris. As you command, Lady Polaris." I saw both 
cops shudder at the sound of my voice, and I shook my head in contempt. If this was Bogie's 
era, the cops would have belted me over the head and tossed out of the penthouse on my ear, if 
I was lucky. But today's cops....If you gave them a madly giggling psychopath, they would have
no idea  what to do with him besides drive him to the nearest mental health center and drop 
him off with a smile and a lollipop.

     "Don't mind Peter," said Ti, with a touch of suffering in her voice. "He's the first test 
case in a project to bring those recovering from mental breakdowns back into the mainstream 
again. Since I'm the one pushing the idea, I had to have one of these poor people in my office 
to show the world what were doing." I think she's been hanging around Azurite too much.

     "I see," replied Joe. "Is he going to be all right out here by himself?"

     "I should think so," she replied in a whisper, "as long as there's no cats about." She 
narrowed her eyes. "There are no cats about, right?" 

     "No, Lady Polaris. There are no cats about...but isn't Margrave a...catwoman?"  

     "Don't tell him that," whispered Ti. "He had an unpleasant experience with being thrown 
into a pit filled with cats when he was younger. Anytime he sees a cat, he freaks out. I mean, 
He REALLY freaks out."

     As she's laying it on thick about my `condition', I started edging my way towards the 
door leading to the murder scene. I managed to look like I was examining a statue when the two 
cops glanced in my direction again. I can't read minds, but with the way these two were 
acting, you didn't have to be. Something to the effect of `please don't let the guy freak out 
on my shift, I couldn't handle it.' was plain on their faces. I though about giggling, then
decided not to. No telling what that would do to the cop's self control.

     "As you can see, he also talks to himself," continued Ti, pitching her voice to carry to 
me. "Would any reasonable person decide out loud if he's going to giggle or not?"

     I was narrating out loud again! Sweet Metallia! I muttered to myself and wrote 
frantically in the notebook: Keep mouth shut when cops present!!!

     Without waiting for the two nervous officers to give her an answer, Ti led them through 
the door and out of sight. As soon as the door closed, I reabsorbed the notebook and pencil, 
and moved quickly to the door of the murder room. The door's locked, but that doesn't stop me. 
I just make myself intangible and step through. On the other side, I became myself again. 
     
     Whoever was in here last was kind enough to leave the lights on, so it's not hard to see 
that happened here. The room is almost as large as the chamber outside, and done in the same 
style. The floor is covered by a white plush shag carpet, and I wondered if Margrave put it in 
to match her fur. There's a lot of splattered blood about, most of it on and around the only 
furniture in the room. A large, four poster bed standing in the center of the chamber.

     That's my first stop. I glided over to the bed, careful not to step on any of the still 
slightly wet bloodstains flecking the carpet. Rei's people have removed the body, and most of 
the bedsheets, but not the mattress or the surrounding lace and curtains. Sloppy work. They're 
already convinced they have their Youma, and they're just going through the motions. Bad for 
them, good for me.

     Most of the blood is on this side of the bed, meaning that Kallion was sitting here when 
he was hacked up. The mattress had been shredded with several long sets of claws marks. Most 
are lost in the overlapping blood soaked mess in the middle, but one set near the headboard 
caught my attention. A set of four evenly spaced claws about the length of my hand had cut 
deeply into the mattress. Something about them set off alarms in my head, and I looked closer 
at them. After several seconds, I realized what's wrong with them.

     Margrave has five claws on each hand, not four.

     Now that I realized that, other things about the claw marks became clear. Each gash was 
exactly the same length as the others, an impossibility with the way Margrave's hands are 
shaped. Also, the gashes are too deep to made by my client's claws.

     My brain is now working in overdrive. Unless Kallion had very long fingernails, was 
missing a thumb, and had four equally long fingers, someone else had been in the room. But 
whom? And how did they get in?

     I scaned the bed for other claw marks, but no dice. The rest of the bed is a mess, too 
much so to hold any other clue. Muttering a few choice Dark Kingdom curses, I quickly searched 
the room for any other signs that Margrave was the patsy for this crime. Near the far wall, I 
found more evidence, in the shape of a cluster of blood droplets half hidden by one of the 
wall curtains. 

     I glanced at where the bed is. That's a good three meters away, with no sign of blood on 
the carpet between it and the small grouping I've just found. Add to the fact that I'm on the 
opposite side of the area that's soaked in blood, and I don't think this small collection of 
Kallion's hemoglobin flew here all by it's lonesome. I checked the bottom of the curtain. 
There's some blood there, at the bottom of the hem, but the rest of the curtain is clean as
a Nun's conscious. Sensing that I'm on to something, I pushed the curtain aside, and find 
another door.

     The door is unlocked, and I find myself in Margrave's "Props room". The place is filled 
with racks of clothes, from all different times and places, along with accompanying props. 
Some of her customers aren't satisfied with a simple noontime quickie with an oversexed feline 
humanoid, even if she's using a glamour. No, they want to play dress up, feel the clothing as 
they take it off and imaging they're making it with a high school cheerleader, nurse, or.... 

     I stifled a grin as I noticed that Margrave has a large number of Sailor Senshi Fukus 
neatly hanging on a rack, with tags attached listing the right glamours to use with each 
costume. In fact, there's a complete set for almost every Senshi...including Sailor Arcturus. 
I wonder how Azurite would react if she found out Margrave's been using Sailor Arcturus to 
fulfill some guy's fantasy.

     The only Senshi that's missing from the group is Sailor Polaris. Interesting. Maybe 
Margrave isn't soft soaping Titanite after all. Or, what's more likely, Margrave's getting 
soft in her old age....

     As I idly fingered the costumes, I wondered how many favors Margrave would forgive if I 
was to mention this to her....Forget that! You've got to get her out of this rap first, than 
you can wheedle your way out of some more of your debts to Margrave.

     Looking down at the carpet, I'm rewarded with seeing several more drops of blood lying 
there. Interesting. Our voyeur came through here after the murder. I passed through the racks 
of clothes, until I came to a dressing table tucked in a corner of the room. There's a large 
bureau next to the table, with each drawer labeled in neat handwriting. The second drawer from
the top, marked "IMAGES", has several drops of dried blood clinging to it - human blood. I 
doubt that's a coincidence.

     I strode over and open the drawer. Inside, there's a large assortment of pictures of all 
types. They are all about the size of a passport photo, each is in it's own little compart-
ment, neatly labeled so Margrave doesn't have to scramble to find the right one to complete 
her disguise. Each photograph is of a beautiful woman, of every type and description. I 
casually picked up a couple and glanced at them. Margrave sure knows what her customers like.

     Margrave must keep this large a selection of pictures to perfect and improve her 
glamours. By using this setup, all she has to do is stare at a photo, memorized the face, then 
invokes the glamour. And in Margrave's profession, she invokes many glamours.

     And that can lead to problems. Unless a glamour is used on a regular basis, it will have 
a tendency to break up. That's what happened to Margrave's glamour when she visited me - that, 
and the fact she was in deep shock at the time. 

     I pulled the drawer all the way out and placeed it on the table. I spot the bloodstained 
picture at once, sitting in the back of the drawer. Labeled "Prim school teacher - # 5234F", 
the woman in the picture looked like she was sucking on a lemon. Her dark hair was pulled back 
in tight bun, and she had on large pair of glasses. Still, her picture was far from ugly - she 
looked like the type of woman who would loosen up considerably after a few stiff drinks. 

     After mooning over the picture for a few seconds, I checked the rest of the drawer. 
Several other pictures had drops of blood on them. Only "Prim school teacher - # 5234F", had 
smears of blood on it, like someone with bloody hands had picked up the photo, stared at it, 
then tried to wipe the blood off it. 

     I memorized the title and number of the photo, then replaced the photo in its place, then 
slid the drawer back into its place. I might have found some more stuff, but I couldn't waste 
any more time looking. Ti and the officers must be on their way back to the main room by now. 
I've seen enough to convince me that someone's gone through a lot of trouble to put Margrave 
in CT's version of a hot seat - or more likely in this city, a nice warm and comfortable seat.

     I ran back through the rooms, closed the door to the prop room, and made sure I left 
everything the way I'd found it. I quickly phased my way through the bedroom door into the 
inner sanctum, changed back to Peter Lorre, and reformed my notebook ten seconds before Ti and 
the two still jittery patrolman came strolling into the room. Ti had a small satchel slung 
over her shoulder, and a questioning look in her eye. "Miss us, Peter?"

     "Yes, Lady Polaris." I waved at a statue. "But I found something to look at until you 
came back."

     "Very good, Peter." She unslung the satchel and handed it to me. "Will you please take 
this and wait for me out in the lobby?"

     I took the satchel and slung it over my shoulder. "Yes Lady Polaris."

     I only had to wait a couple of minutes before Ti and the cops come into the lobby. We 
watched them lock the doors again, and reset Pyrite's sensor. Once they did that, Ti spoke to 
them again. "Remember what I said. Do not mention my visit here to anyone, including Lady 
Mars. You know how she feels about Margrave." She gave each a warm and dazzling smile straight 
out of Azurite's book of man-eating. "Good day gentlemen. Come along, Peter."

     I follow her to the elevator, and neither one of us said a thing until the doors closed, 
and we were on the way down. "Well?" demanded Ti. "Find anything?"

     "Enough to convince me that someone is out to frame our favorite feline Youma like a 
cheap oil painting," I replied in my normal growl. I outline what I'd found in several quick 
sentences. 

     "Now what?" she asked me.

     "What's in here?" I asked, holding up the satchel and ignoring her question for the 
moment.

     "Extra clothes for Margrave. That's my next stop - visit her in prison."

     I nodded. "You best do that solo. If I go there, Rei may not let me out again."

     "All right." She doesn't sound pleased. "Do you want me to pass along anything?"

     "Ask her if she's used the 'Prim school teacher - # 5234F' image for any of her clients 
lately."
     
     "I can do that. What are you going to do?"

     "I'm going to do what every good private detective does at this point of the case," I 
replied loftily. "I'm going to talk to my snitch."



     Every PI has their "confidential sources", or snitches. Most PI's have to rely on some 
half boozed rat faced lowlife for his information. But since I'm in this happy go lucky 
metropolis, my snitch is a tea toddler - literally.

     So, after leaving Ti at the front door of Margrave's building, I didn't head for a nice 
seedy bar to meet my snitch. To tell you the truth, even the worst bar I've been in this city 
would get at least two stars from any entertainment critic. No, I head for the Sailing Star 
Tea Room, one of the more upscale places in the city.

     I waited until I'm out of sight of Margrave's building before I become myself again. A 
twenty minute walk later, I'm heading in the front door of the tea room, looking for my 
snitch. I spotted him in his favorite booth, sipping some herbal concoction that he calls tea, 
but I call a waste of herbs and water. I threaded my  way through the tables, ignoring the 
startled looks of the other patrons as I brushed past them.

     He looked up from his newspaper as I slid into the booth across from him. "Magnesite," he 
said calmly, as if he's been expecting me. He's tall, slim, with blue eyes behind a pair of 
thin framed glasses, and short blond hair I don't know a hell a lot about him, since it was 
Margrave who introduced us several years ago, but his information has been dead on every time 
I've needed it. Not that I've need it much....

     "Comyn," I replied with a growl. 

     He returned to his paper. "What can I help you with today?"

     "Background on KallionCo. Key people, any problems the outfit's been having lately, and I 
need it as quick as possible."

     He nodded. Without looking up from his paper, he pulled out a fat envelope from inside 
his suit coat and dropped it on the table in front of me. "That should be everything you 
need."

     I came very close to looking like some stupid cartoon character right then and there. I 
caught my jaw before it can hit the table, and quickly slot it back into place. Comyn watched 
the entire process with some amusement. "I take it you are surprised,"  he said in the same 
tone he'd used before.

     "You could say that," I replied coldly.

     "Margrave got word to me that she'd hired you, and mentioned your interest in KallionCo. 
It wasn't hard to deduce you'd come to talk to me."

     I opened the envelope, and skimed the contents. The information I wanted is there, and 
more. One item catches my eye. "Quinton was looking to hire a couple of telepaths?"

     Comyn nodded. "He was keeping it quiet, but my sources are certain he was within several 
days of hiring two strong B class telepaths to look into his security problem."

     Interesting, very interesting. There are very few telepaths in the world, but a large 
number of them currently live in and around Crystal Tokyo, as Serenity doesn't persecute them. 
They mostly make their living as security consultants, intelligence operatives, police 
investigators, and mediators. 

     There are five classes telepaths fall into, ranging from the paranormal weak Class E to 
the powerful and scary Class A. Class B telepaths are rare, and could command hefty sums for 
their services. Only Class A telepaths could command more money and respect, not to mention a 
larger dose of fear. "So there is something to Quinton's worries?"

     "Oh yes. I suspect another two weeks, and Lady Mars will be involved, and she has all the 
subtlety of an enraged elephant."

     "Rei certainly throws herself into her work," I replied. "I just wish work would throw 
her back every so often." I repackaged the envelope and pocket it. "What do I owe you?"

     Comyn shook his head. "Nothing. You're not the only one that owes Margrave favors." He 
caught my expression. "Not those type of favors, Magnesite."

     I shrugged "I didn't say a thing."

     "By the way, were you aware you were followed?"

     That caught me by surprise, and I remembered why I hate to come to this guy. He would 
make a great spy.

     "Thank you," he replied, and I slapped my forehead in irritation. If I don't watch it, 
that stupid habit of mine is going to kill me.

     "Who?" I asked, ignoring my irritation for now.

     "Two men at the booth near the door, dressed like a couple of cheap salesmen. They came 
in here right after you did, and at least one of them has watch the table like a hawk every 
single second."

     I nodded. Damn! How in the hell did they follow me? "You think they're Rei's boys?"

     "I doubt it. I don't think these guys have seen a shave in a couple of days, and you know 
how Lady Mars like to enforce grooming requirements."

     "It gives her something to do when she's not out terrifying innocent, hard working PIs 
like me." 

     "Do you want me to take care of them for you?"

     "I'll do it." I stood up. "I need the exercise."

     "Are you sure?"

     "No, but that hasn't stopped me before. Later, Comyn." 

     I turned and walked away, making it a point to ignore the pair of goons sitting by the 
table. Once outside, I turned left and head back towards my office. Now that I know what I'm 
looking for, I spotted the pair tailing me easily enough when they come stumbling out of the 
Tea room. They looked around for several seconds until they spotted me, and started following. 

     Amateurs! They're thirty meters behind me now, and are being as subtle as an avalanche. 
They could pass for twins in a bad light. Both are about the same height, and build. One had a 
fawn colored suit, while the other one's suit was dark blue in color. Both the suits, and the 
guys in them, looked like they've been slept in for a couple of days, and they looked twitchy. 
Is everyone twitchy today, or something? Despite the cloudy weather, both of them are wearing 
sunglasses. I can't believe I missed these guys before.

     Now that I've spotted the obvious tail, time to look for the sneaky tail. With a tail 
this conspicuous, there had to be someone else more subtle somewhere. It took several minutes 
of walking and looking into store windows to finally spot the other tail. He was standing on 
the other side of the street, thirty meters behind the twitch twins. His suit was a somber 
blue, and he had long  white hair, but he stayed well back. He sort of reminded me of Kunzite, 
but Kunzite wouldn't let anyone else do his trailing. I can't ID him at this distance, and I 
don't want to spook him now.

     An alley came up on my left. Time to get some answers. I waited until I'm passed the 
alley, before I turned suddenly, and duck into its neat and clean opening. I quickly stand 
against the wall, shift into the form of a trash can, and waited. Ten seconds later, both of 
them came tearing around the corner, skidding to a stop less then a meter from where I'm 
sitting. The alley is a dead end, and they're looking around, wondering where I went.

     "Where did he go, Krikor?" the one in the Fawn suit asked. He's had a funny accent that I 
couldn't place.

     "Maybe he climbed a fire escape?" replied the other.

     "Mr. Winter isn't going to be pleased if we loose him. Check the trash cans over there," 
the first guy directs. "He's got to be around here somewhere. He couldn't have just walked 
through a wall, or flown away."

     Huh? These guys didn't know what I can do?

     "Wait!" said Krikor. "Did you just hear someone speaking?"

     "Yes," replied the other guy. "It came from that trash - ULK!"

     Fawn suit didn't finish his sentence because I sprang at him, becoming myself just before 
I nailed him a right cross Bogie would have been proud to thrown. Fawn suit goes down like a 
sack of rocks, and out like a light. 

     Before Krikor can recover his wits, I put him onto his knees with a hard shot in the 
stomach. As Krikor lies there on his hand and knees, trying to reclaim air, I lean down and 
grabbed him by his lapels and slamed him up against the alley wall, next to a trash dumpster. 
"All right, Krikor," I said, giving him my best Sam Spade glare. "You and I are going to play 
a game. I ask questions, you answer them. If not...." I slammed him against the wall again.

     Krikor's in a bit of a bind, and he knows it. It's hard to looked scared out of your wits 
while trying to get you breath back at the same time, but he's doing it. "I can't!" he manages 
to get out. "He'll kill me!"

     "And I'll kill you if you don't tell me," I snarled back. He's not one of Rei's boys - 
she wouldn't send anyone to trail me that was this stupid, without having several backup teams 
nearby in case things go sour. In fact, from this guy's accent, I don't think he's a CT 
native.

     No police have shown up yet, so I doubt Rei's people are around here right now. But, that 
will change quickly. Already several people have passed by the alley, and a couple have 
stopped to watch the action. I didn't have time to mess around with these two.

     A get a sudden stroke of genius. Since Krikor doesn't know what I am, let's see if I can 
scare him some, at least scare him enough to talk. I'm no fan of vampire movies, but I think 
something along this line might be my best shot. 

      By reforming my features a little bit, I now had fangs and vertical pupils. I also made 
the face more drawn to look like I'd been dead for a while. The trenchcoat became a cape, and 
the fedora got a wider hatbrim. I must have been doing something right, because Krikor's eyes 
bulged out of his head at the sight of me. 

     "I'll feed on your life force until you tell me what I want to know," I hissed. I heard a 
couple of screams from the people on the street watching, and I glanceed in that direction to 
see my audience is now into double digits. Luckily, the dumpster shields most of my body from 
the crowd, so they're not exactly sure what's happening.

     I also spotted the white haired guy lurking on the edges, but he doesn't seem too 
concerned. In fact, he looks pleased for some reason. If these two don't have the answers, I'm 
sure he will.

     Ignoring white hair for now, I fixed my glare back on the goon I've got pinned to the 
wall. If Krikor was scared before, he's far beyond it now. His eyes bulged out, and sweat is 
pouring off his face. "I-I doo-don't believe you," he gasped. "You can't be-b-be a Vampire."

     I slamed him up against the wall again, and put one hand on his throat, and began to 
feed, just enough so he can feel it. His life force is stale, bland, and not too pleasant. It 
isn't hard to stop. "Not bad," I lied.

     I released him, and he collapsed in a huddle, rapidly whispering something that sounded 
like prayers. While he's trying to pull himself together, I checked on fawn suit. He's still 
breathing, so I take the opportunity to glare at the audience again before I turned back 
towards Krikor. "Ready to talk?"

     "I don't know anything!" the guy wailed, scrambling to his knees. "I work for a guy 
called Winter. He told us to follow you when you left the catwoman's building. That's all I 
kn-"

     He stopped in mid sentence, and clutched at his head, screaming in pain. He started 
shaking violently, and his scream is hair raising, becoming more shrill every second. Blood 
suddenly poured out of his ears and nose, and he fell on his face. I don't have to be hit with 
a blackjack to know he's already dead. I glanced at Fawn suit. He's also bleeding from the 
nose and ears, and he is clearly deader then a doornail. What in the Abyss is going on here?

     I heard sirens in the distance, getting closer. I couldn't stop to try and explain this. 
With Rei's current mood, I'd be sitting in the cell next to Margrave before I could say "Saint 
Chandler". I kept the eyes and fangs, turned and ran straight at the half a dozen people 
standing at the mouth of the alley, waving my hands above my head like I coming to get one of 
them for my next meal.

     I have to give CT's citizens credit. They took one look at me, and scattered to the four 
winds. One guy did try to grab me, but I tossed him aside, and charged off down the street. I 
saw the white haired guy half a block away, and I thought he looked pleased for some reason, 
but I didn't stop running.

     I slipped into another alley, changed to the form of an elderly man, and continued on my 
way. Several police crysticars roared past me, sirens screaming. I felt a Senshi nearby, just 
before another police car came into view. It shot past me, and I saw Rei in the back seat, 
scowling. Then the car made a hard right, and was gone from view.

     Just what I needed. Hells, if she's involved, I'd better disappear for a while. I don't 
know how good a description Rei's people will get from the onlookers, but it won't take her 
long to find a way to pin it on me. So, the office is out, as are the other few places I haunt 
with any regularity. I needed someplace to hole up for a while and think.



     Two hours later, I'm strolling in one of the several hundred parks scattered across this 
city. Now, I looked like a civil servant, paunchy, balding, and none too bright. The park is 
almost deserted, but I didn't relax my guard any. No signs of either the white haired guy, or 
Rei's bloodhounds, but I had to keep moving.

     Still, the parks weren't high on Rei's `Places to look for Magnesite when I want to nail 
his hide to the wall' list. She knew I hate the sun, trees, lakes, grass, and all the happy 
people in and about these wastes of good building space. She would get around to scouring 
every park, but not before I had a chance to think things over. 

     I found an empty bench and sat down. Several pigeons came swooping in, expecting a meal 
from me. After several minutes of poking around on the path in front of me, they went flapping 
off in search of easier prey. I ignoreed them, and concentrate on  my own problems.

     I started with the deaths of Krikor and his friend. The chances of them dying naturally 
at that same minute, apparently  from the same cause aren't worth trying to figure out. So, 
someone killed them. Made sense. But how?

     Poison gas? Possible, but not probable. Since I don't breathe, gas wouldn't have an 
affect on me. But only the two hoods died, while several people standing less then three 
meters away weren't harmed. How about simple poison? The old false tooth with cyanide bit? 
Definitely not. Fawn suit was unconscious, and Krikor was too busy blabbing to remember a 
tooth. Cyberware? Doubtful, considering those two weren't worth the air they breathed, let 
alone the cost of implanting such equipment. 

     One other method came to mind. I leaned back and consider it carefully. A very strong 
telepath can induce a cerebral hemorrhage in a person to kill them quickly. A very strong 
telepath could also....

     I remembered something Margrave said to me that morning. "Someone shut down the 
suppresser," she had said. "Maybe a psychic, maybe they used magic but they did it. They 
wanted to get rid of Quinton Kallion and turned me into their murder weapon."

     *Maybe a psychic....*

     Of course! So many things clicked together in that minute, I almost got dizzy. The 
trouble Kallion was having at his company! Somewhere inside KallionCo, a telepath was working 
as a spy. Who else could influence people to leave important project papers  and data crystals 
lying around so they could be picked up and copied? The personnel who would vanish for a 
couple of days, then turn up with no memory - deep scanned for data, unless I was a complete
idiot.

     Of course, Kallion went looking for telepaths of his own - and the telepathic spy found 
out. Having a couple of class B telepaths nosing around the company would expose the spy very 
quickly. So, the spy (or spies) had to eliminate Kallion, but do it in such a way that didn't 
bring Rei and her goons down on KallionCo. At that point, there wouldn't be any way for the 
spy to avoid the scans of the Internal security telepaths.

     So, our mental madman found out about Kallion's weekly little get together with Margrave, 
and decides to use Margrave as the fall cat in this scheme. He gets into Margrave's rooms  
early, blanking Veronica's memory just long enough to slip past her. He holds up in Margrave's 
"prop room", and waited until Kallion and Margrave are engaged in business. 

     Then, he project himself into Margrave's mind right when her mental defenses are at their 
lowest, and shut off the suppresser. Margrave goes berserk, Kallion is tuned into lousy sushi, 
and our happy little telepath waited until Margrave came running to me, blanking Veronica's 
memory again on the way out. After that, he strolled out of the building, projecting the Prim
school teacher image to anyone he met.

     Now that I had a theory, I attacked it mentally, looking for holes. But why the two 
different sets of claw marks? Maybe Margrave wasn't as vicious as our friend thought she was - 
maybe our spy had to lend Margrave a claw, so to speak. It wouldn't be too hard to blank 
Margrave's memory for the few minutes he (or she) needed to finish off Kallion. And an up 
close and personal murder like that would leave the murderer somewhat noticeable. That would 
explain why the Prim school teacher image was used - Even a blind man would be suspicious
of someone with blood all over their clothes.
     
     The more I wrestled around with the theory, the more it made sense. With Margrave's 
background, it would be a perfect frame-up. Kallion's dead, Margrave in jail, and nothing to 
connect the event to our spy inside KallionCo. Nothing except a nosy PI by the name of 
Magnesite....

     Suddenly, I gave myself another mental kick. Of course! Krikor and friend! They weren't 
trailing me, they were the bait in a trap to take me out of this case! And I fell for it! 

     A sudden flash of understanding exploded across my thought patterns. The white hair guy 
wasn't a tail, he was a telepath! The sudden thought of becoming a vampire, he must have 
planted the idea in my mind. 

     To cause the deaths of two people by cerebral hemorrhage by telepathy that quickly 
requires a lot of mental energy and being near the victims. Despite the lurid tabloid tales, 
no telepath can kill someone who's across town with a simple thought, not even the really 
scary Class As. If that was true, we'd have a murder rate like the rest of the world's, and 
there would actually be something for people to argue about....

     No, these murders had to have been committed by our telepath up close and personal. 

     I was really angry now. I had been played far a sap! Our white haired friend had set me 
up to take a rap as good as the one Margrave was facing. Eliminate the one chance Margrave's 
got by setting me up for a couple of murders in broad daylight. Rei can toss me into the 
slammer, pop me for good, or have me on the run. No matter what happened, I couldn't go to the 
police with my theory. Which meant I'm left with Titanite as my only ally.

     I might as well be dead.

     That's what I think until I spotted one of the free use phones not too far away from the 
bench. These phones are scattered across the city, usable by anyone. Each phone has a small 
box attached for donations, but payment is not a requirement to use the phone. I don't know 
why Serenity insisted on this idea of free phone service, but I'm not complaining any. I need 
to get ahold of Ti, and I didn't have any cash to use a regular pay phone.

     I picked up the phone, and ask the operator for Lady Polaris's office. Without delay, the 
operator put me through. The Redhead answered the phone. /Lady Polaris's office./

     I used my Lorre voice so the receptionist won't recognize my voice. "Is Lady Polaris in?"

     /Who's calling, please?/

     "Peter. We met on the elevator today. She left something in the elevator, and I'm calling 
to tell her I have it."

     /One moment please./

     Ten seconds later, Ti picked up the phone, and I can hear power cracking through the 
line. /All right, Asshole,/ she snarls. /What the hell happened in that alley? Rei's got 
people scouring the city for you, and unless you have a hell of a good answer, I'll make sure 
she knows everything that happen this afternoon, including this phone call./

     "Nice to hear from you too, Kid," I replied in my normal voice. "Now, are you going to 
accept Rei's story, or are you going to listen to mine first?"

     She's calmer now, but there's still plenty of anger there. /Go ahead./

     I tell her everything that happened from the time I left her to right now, leaving out 
only my small snack of Krikor's life force. She wouldn't understand, and I've got enough 
problems right now without having my only ally gunning for me. There's nothing worse then a 
Youma with a strong sense of morality....

     Ti said nothing until I finished. /I see./ she said. /It makes more sense then Rei's 
report./

     "Rei can be inventive at times. Did you get the autopsy report on Kallion?"

     /I did. You were right, there were two different sets of claw marks on the body. One 
set's definitely Margrave's, but the other..../

     "No identification, right?"

     /Right. And Margrave said she hasn't used the `Prim school teacher' image in months./

     "That's how the murderer walked out of the building."

     /Huh?/

     "We're dealing with a Class A telepath. I've got a theory to run past you. A theory on 
what really happen in Margrave's rooms this morning." I outlined my theory, including the 
setup against me, taking time to point out where it fit the few facts I did know. 

     After I finished, she said grudgingly, /Makes sense, Too much sense for my taste. Now 
what? You're up to your eyebrows in trouble. Rei wants your head on a platter./

     "That's nothing new. Rei has always wanted my head on a platter."

     /Be serious. If you're in jail, Margrave's chances of getting out of this take a 
nosedive./

     "I know. Listen, I need you to do some things for me."

     She sounded exasperated. /If I can fit them in my very busy schedule, and doesn't violate 
the law./

     "Relax Doll, violating the law's my department. I need you to check on the names and 
whereabouts of all class A and B telepaths currently in the city, especially anyone named 
Winter."

     /Can you tell me why?/

     "Because if my theory is right, and those two new additions to CT's morgue died of 
induced cerebral hemorrhaging. It would take at least a strong class B telepath to effect such 
an event twice within seconds. And people that strong are few and far between."

     /I can do that. Why are you looking for someone named Winter?/

     "Because that's the only name Krikor managed to spit out before his brain developed a 
continual leak."

     /Any idea what this Winter person looks like?/

     "I spotted a guy hanging around that alley that could be a good candidate. Reminded me of 
a younger Kunzite, but without the ego." 

     There's silence on the other end. I sighed and shook my head slowly. Still haunting 
nightmares despite being dead and dust for nearly a thousand years. "Relax, Kunzite's deader 
then last week's news. I said the guy reminded me of him. I didn't say it was him, OK?"

     /OK,/ she replies tightly. It's strange that a guy who's been dead for nearly a thousand 
years still has the power to make people quake. Hell, I was him for a time, long ago, and I'm 
still not sure what the secret of his power was. I kinda wish I had that power, but with the 
way I am today, I doubt that anyone a thousand years down the road from now is going to 
fearfully twitch at the name of Magnesite. Laugh themselves silly maybe, but cause people to
become silent and fearful? No.

     While I'm pondering, she regained her complete self control. /I can get that list of 
telepaths. What else?/

     "The autopsy report on the two stiffs in the alley. I'm betting two bottles of CT's 
finest Scotch that they each died of a cerebral hemorrhage."

     /I'm not betting with you on anything, but I should be able to get ahold of the report./

     "Fine. I still need to get inside KallionCo. That's where the mastermind of this plot 
works."

     /Assuming that you're right about the theory of yours. You have little proof, and a lot 
of speculation right now./

     "I know, I know. But it's the only thing that fits the few facts we do have. Unless, you 
think Margrave actually did it."

     /You know I don't./ She managed to sound insulted. From the rustle of papers, she sorting 
through a stack of them for something. /I think I've found a way to get you inside KallionCo. 
Is tomorrow morning too late?/

     "Perfect." That gave me time to do some serious reading of the stuff Comyn gave me. "How 
are you going to get me in?"

     /There's a group of overseas investors due in late tonight. They're supposed to tour 
KallionCo tomorrow. I've been tapped to be their tour leader. I'm sure I can slip you in with 
them./

     "Where overseas?"

     /All over. With the right look, you'll pass as a businessman./   

     I liked her thinking. "Look, I'd better go. When and where should we meet tomorrow 
morning?"

     /My office, nine O'clock. And don't you dare show up in a trenchcoat and Fedora./

     "Sounds like a plan. Until then, Dollface."

     /I'm not Dollface!/

     "You are in my book. Bye." I hung up before she could reply, and strolled off into the 
cheerful sunny afternoon.



     The next morning, I arrived at Titanite's office ten minutes before 9AM, using my Sydney 
Greenstreet form to get into the building. As before, I was ignored by the scurrying packs of 
bureaucrats all around me. But when I reached the elevators, the first hint that this wasn't 
going to be a good day when I felt the familiar presence of an oncoming Senshi. 

     "Not now," I muttered, glancing up at the floor indicator above the elevator's doors. 
Only one was descending, and that one just starting down from the tenth floor. I jabbed the up 
button harder then I had to, and hoped my Senshi sense was wrong for once. Something told me I 
wasn't going to be that lucky. My mental money was on Rei being her usual grouchy self. 
Knowing her, she found out about Ti's little trip to Margrave's place yesterday. 

     One thing about Rei that makes her charming is her determination to nail me to the wall 
for something, no matter how small. She's gone so far as to watch every Bogie movie she could 
find, just so she knew the appearance of every actor and character I could disguise myself as. 
While nearly everyone else, with the exception of the few real Bogart fans that do survive in 
this merry megalopolis, wouldn't know Sydney Greenstreet from Mary Astor, Rei could ID me 
easily.

     The doors opened on another car across the hallway from where I was standing. Moving as 
quickly as I could, I plowed into the elevator car, finding myself with several other 
passengers who were surprised as how fast I could move my bulk. Muttering a few apologies, I 
moved all the way to the back of the car, and pulled my hat low over my eyes.

     Just as the doors started to closed on this car, the car across the hall opened its 
doors, and Rei popped out, followed by two uniformed goons. Her eyes gleamed dangerously, a 
sure sign she was in her usual unpleasant mood. I just managed to see her made a hard right 
turn and stalk away, before the doors closed completely. She never looked in my direction. I 
patted my forehead with what appeared to be a silk handkerchief, and made a remark about
the weather. The other people gave reserved, but friendly replies, and that exhausted all 
conversation for the few seconds we were onboard.

     Because I had company, I had to stay as Sydney for the entire ride up. Because I'd seen 
Rei, I decided to get off on the ninth floor. After exiting the elevator, I causally walked 
down the corridor, found the stairwell, reformed myself into Caesar Romero (Let's see Rei try 
to ID me now), and climbed the stairs to the tenth.

     The stacked redhead was behind her desk again, but there were a pair of suits quietly 
sitting in the corners of the room, trying to look like they were reading, and doing a poor 
job of it. The only thing these two were missing was PROPERTY OF REI HINO stamped on their 
foreheads. They gave me the once over, but since Caesar never did a film with Saint Humphry, I 
doubted they would recognize me.

     I strolled over to the desk, smiled at the redhead, and said, "Excuse me Miss," I said in 
a fair imitation of Caesar's voice. "My name is Luis Samuel Falcone. Could I please speak with 
Lady Polaris?"

     I must have caught her flat footed, because she actually giggled. "One moment please," 
she replied huskily, and dialed into Ti's office. The two flatfeet not hiding their suspicions 
as they glare at me, either because they think I'm a threat, or because I was making more 
headway with the redhead then they had.

     Ten seconds after the redhead hung up the phone, Ti came stalking out of the office, a 
look of curiosity on her face. Her eyes widen slightly as she saw me, but she recovered 
quickly. "Mr. Falcone," she said pleasantly, stretching out a hand to greet me.

     On a flash of inspiration, I took Ti's offered hand and kissed it. I felt her hand and 
her arm tightened, and waited for a second to see if she'd blast me. She didn't, and I 
released the hand. I stepped back, and winked at her. 

     "I must apologize for this intrusion," I said smoothly. "But my transport was late 
getting me here to this wonderful city. Not knowing your schedule for the day, I needed to see 
you on an important matter."

     "Of course," replied Ti, just as smoothly, but I could see she was slightly annoyed. "I 
can spare you a few minutes." She turned and walked back into her office, with me trailing 
behind her.

     She waited until she'd closed the door before she turned and looked at me. "You idiot!" 
she said in a low voice. "Those are Rei's men out there!"

     I went back to my normal form. "I know. I spotted Rei on the way up."

     "She doesn't know you and I are working together - yet. But she did find out about our 
little trip to Margrave's penthouse yesterday, as well as my interest in Kallion's autopsy 
report." She gave me a half frown. "She's also looking for `Peter,' so I'd advised you not to 
use that form for a century or two."

     I nodded. "Rei may be in a constant state of PMS, but she is smart and efficient at her 
job - just don't tell her I said that, OK?" I occupied one of Ti's chairs. "What did she talk 
to you about?"

     "She said I was interfering with her investigation of Kallion's murder. I told her she 
wasn't investigating, she was railroading Margrave." She stopped for a second. "It got abusive 
after that."

     "Wish I'd been here to see that." I would have PAID to see two Senshis get into a good 
old argument. That's something that would warm my...well, you know.

     She gave me a glare that was on a par with one of Rei's better glowers. I didn't know if 
it was because it was the crack about missing the argument, or I was narrating out loud again. 
After several seconds of basking in that glare, Ti stalked over to her desk, and sat behind 
it. "What happened to you after our conversation yesterday?"

     "I spent the rest of the afternoon on the move, switching forms ever so often to confuse 
any possible tails. Being my old self was out. By now, Rei probably had my description out to 
every doughnut eating member of CT's finest, down to the individual hairs of my five O'clock 
shadow."

     "You're right." She picked up a sheaf of paper off her desk, and gave it to me. I glanced 
at them. Yep, every actor or character I'd used over the last several decades was there, as 
well as several that I hadn't used yet. Caesar wasn't among them.

     I looked up at Ti. "How did you know that was me out there?"

     She gave me a long suffering look. "Your not the only one who's watched black and white 
movies before. I recognized you as Caesar Romero as soon as I saw you."

     Made sense. Ti had spent some time watching other things on TV besides Anime. Never 
thought of her as an old time movie buff.

     "I'm not," she said suddenly, and I shook my head. Thinking out loud again. "Where did 
you spend the night?" 

     I smirked. "The last place Rei would look for me, but that's need to know, and you don't 
need to know."

     Her eyes narrowed. "You don't trust me, do you?"

     "As much as you trust me, sweetheart." That made her flinch. "Which means if you put all 
that trust between us into a thimble, you'd still have room left over for the thumb."

     She was silent for a moment, with gave me time to think. As long as I could help 
Margrave, Ti would work with me. The second I couldn't, Rei would sweep down on me like a 
vulture wearing red high heels. So, I wasn't about to tell an old enemy where I'd spent the 
night.

     The floor below Margrave's penthouse was a nice place to hold up for several hours. 
Margrave had told me once that the entire floor was empty because everyone had moved out 
within six months after she'd set up her new business. Seems the people working on that floor 
became more concerned about listening to her and her clients testing the mattress upstairs 
then they were putting into work. After a couple of weeks of intense discussion (read much
yelling and screaming on everyone's part), Margrave agreed to pay the rent on the entire floor 
below hers, and the companies who were there agreed to move. 

      The result was there was an empty floor with plenty of furnished offices I could hide in 
until the morning. Building security doesn't bother patrolling this floor, and the cleaning 
crew comes in only once a week, so I figured I was safe for a while. I spent most of the night 
reading over the large amount of information Comyn had put together.

     Ti shrugged and looked at me again. "You mentioned yesterday that you had gone to see 
your snitch. Did he give you anything useful?" 

     "Plenty. I just don't know how useful it'll be."

     She glanced at her watch. "You have fifteen minutes before the rest of the tour group 
arrives. Start talking."

     I pulled out the package of cigarettes I'd picked up earlier, but a stern glare from Ti 
forced me to put them away again. I started with a financial report Comyn had somehow 
obtained, showing that Kallion was in sound shape in the area of money. And considering the 
size of the outfit, a well-run operation. There were several large sums of money put into 
special projects that were nothing more then codenames, but it all seemed to be above board 
and straight forward. 

     Next was a summary of Quinton Kallion's contacts with the two Class B telepaths he wanted 
to hire. Ti nodded. "Another reason why you wanted the list of class A and B telepaths in the 
city."

     "In part. What did you turn up?"

     "There are four Class A and seven Class B telepaths registered in Crystal Tokyo that are 
currently in the city. None of them match the description of the white haired guy you saw 
yesterday, and all eleven had perfect, air tight alibis. None were within five kilometers of 
the alley during the time you were playing Dracula."

     "I doubted our boy would send up a flag reading Here I am - murdering telepath." I 
thought for a minute. "Speaking of which, what about any telepaths with the name Winter?"

     Ti gave me a small smile. "On that, you may have something."

     "Oh?" I tossed the papers back onto her desk. I got up, went over to the small liquor 
cabinet on across the office from Ti, and pour myself a drink. "Spit it out."

     "I checked with CT's Intelligence Division. They have a file on a telepath called Winter. 
And he's a bad boy."

     "You have contacts within ID?" I asked surprised. CT's Intelligence Division is the ones 
tasked with spying on everyone outside the city. Unlike Rei, the head of that outfit keeps a 
low profile, and his people take the cue. Officially, ID doesn't exist, but there are stories 
and rumors floating around that if half of them were true, they could have work for Beryl with 
no problems, and done a better job of invading the Earth then the Four Horsemen of the 
Incompetent did. 

     She ignored my question, so I returned to my seat, glass in hand, and slouched into it. 
"I'll bite. How bad a boy is this guy Winter?"

     "Depends how you define bad." Ti flipped through a folder on her desk. "Let's see...
multiple counts each of Industrial espionage, sabotage, murder...." She paused, and without 
looking up, passed over another folder to me. "Speaking of which, that's the autopsy report on 
your playmates from the alley. You were right on the money with the cause of death - both died 
of a massive cerebral hemorrhage."

     I glanced over the report, confirming Ti's words. "Rei's seen this?"

     "She has. But it hasn't changed her opinion of you. She thinks you're guilty of some-
thing."   

     "She thinks that every time I exhale, I should be cited for air pollution. And I don't 
even breathe."

     "Poor guy," replied Ti, with no trace of sympathy. She went back to her papers. "Where 
was I? Ah, here we go...forcible removal of confidential information by telepathy, and those 
are the crimes he's known to have committed. He's on the top ten most wanted list in eight 
countries, and has been sentenced to death in abstaintia in four others. Even the StarHunters 
are looking for him."

     I took a swallow from my drink. This had the makings of being a classic needle in a 
haystack. "Any pictures?"

     "Nope. He's also camera shy."

     "Known associates?"

     "Two. Both telepaths. And yes, these two have pictures to go along with the name." She 
passed over some more papers, and I glanced over them.

     The first was Modron Anderson. The picture showed a striking blonde with green eyes and a 
dazzling smile. She looked like the type of dame that attracted danger like a magnet. I 
glanced at the rest of the file, and she definitely attracted trouble. Her list of crimes was 
nearly as long as Winter's. "Nice girl," was my only comment.

     I looked at the second folder. Josep Herwin was the exact opposite of Modron in looks. 
His picture showed an ugly puss that looked like twenty miles of bad roads. His record was 
even worse than Winter's - this goon liked to inflict pain. From what was there, Winter used 
this guy as his muscle. Talk about beauty and the beast.

     I tossed the files back onto Ti's table. "Who do they work for?"

     "Anyone who can afford them. Winter's a freelancer industrial spy, one of the best in the 
world."

     "That sure adds weight to my theory about a telepath working inside KallionCo."

     "But not enough to convince Rei." 

     I took another sip from my drink. "Most of the products KallionCo makes might interest a 
rival, but not to the point of hiring this guy Winter. He's expensive, right?"

     "Very."

     "Not worth the time and effort to hire for a simple case of industrial espionage." I 
finished the drink and looked at Ti. "But those several defense related projects KallionCo was 
doing for the Queen...." I let it hang for several seconds.

     Ti looked grim. "That has to be the reason for all this." 

     "But why?" I asked. "Serenity isn't an aggressive type of leader. Those defense related 
projects would really be defensive in nature, plus anything like that would probably be geared 
to be used in conjunction with the Senshi's powers."

     "Which wouldn't make them too useful to those power mad types outside the city," remarked 
Ti dryly. 

     Several thoughts suddenly reformed into a theory, and I voiced it. "But suppose Winter 
was stealing the data from the projects because someone wants to duplicate the work. Not for 
their own use, but to study and figure out a way to neutralize these new defenses?"
 
     Ti closed her eyes for a minute, and she looked troubled. "You know what you're 
suggesting?"

     "A future invasion by someone whose decided CT will look good with their flag flying over 
the Crystal Palace." That was a scary thought to the CT citizens, one they lived with every 
day. There were too many countries, large and small, near and far, who would love to claim CT 
as their own. The only things barring them from realizing that goal was the combined firepower 
of the Senshi, that honking great crystal that turned the Dark Kingdom in memories, and 
magical defenses that could shake off 20 megaton nukes like a dog shaking off water. The city 
may be soft in the middle, but that's a very hard shell surrounding it.

     I stood up. I was wandering too far from my main purpose now, namely getting Margrave out 
of the slammer, and back to her nypho self. "Leave politics to those who enjoy them, I have a 
client to rescue."

     She looked up me. "Wrong, Psychoplasmic breath. WE have a friend to rescue."

     I sighed. This was defiently going to be a long day....

     By the time the tour group showed up, Ti and I had hammered together a plan of sorts 
about our trip to KallionCo. We decided that I'd go as Caesar, go in with the tour group, then 
slip away at the right time and look around. Ti was prepared for this part of the operation. 
She passed over several pictures to me.

     I looked over them slowly. They looked like a hardened band of thieves. "Who are these 
clowns?"

     The smile on her face was almost gleeful. "Trusted employees of KallionCo. I figured that 
you might want a face less obvious there your own mug when you go wandering around the 
building." She glanced down at her watch. "Time to leave, Mags. Change back to Caesar and 
let's go."



     The bus trip out to this place was like most things in CT - quick, clean and efficient. I 
sat all the way in the back and waited for the bus to have a flat tire, run out of gas, have 
an accident, or SOMETHING unpleasant to happen. The rest of our merry little group of corpo-
rate sharks talked amongst themselves, oblivious to the rest of the world around them. Ti 
sat all the way in front with a couple of fresh faced kids from Public Relations who'd been
dragooned into the role of chaperons. At least they didn't play Barry Manlow on the radio on 
the way there....

     Forty minutes later, we pulled up to a ten story tall building was part of an enormous 
business complex in a suburb of the city. To me, the building itself looked like a clash of 
old world charm and modern design in which both sides had lost. A large sign in front of the 
building stated in big bold words: KALLIONCO. HELPING PEOPLE BY BRING MAGITECH TO THEIR LIVES. 
I think we found the right place. 

     I was the last one out of the bus. Ti stood by the door with an honest to Metallia 
clipboard in her hands. She glanced at her two aides who had the task of keeping the group 
together going up to the front door before she looked at me.

     "Nice place," I remarked to Ti as I walked by her. "Where's the rest of the company?"

     "This entire complex IS the rest of the company," she replied tartly.

     "Oh," I shot back. "How are we going to play this, sweet-cheeks?"

     I saw her jaw tighten, the steel clipboard began to buckle in her hands, and her face 
became red. "One more remark like that," she said in a low voice, "and Margrave or no 
Margrave, I will use the biggest mallet I can create to squash you, then take your liquefied 
remains and fabricate as many teddy bears as I can out of them. I will then mail most of them 
to every corner of the earth, plus shoot a couple into space just for the hell of it. Do I 
make myself clear?"  

     I gave her a smile. "Has anyone told you you're beautiful when you're angry?"

     At that point, the clipboard crumpled in her hands like a piece of paper. I walked away 
quickly, hoping she'd control her temper before she'd carry out her threat. One of her aides 
stood by the door, looking puzzled as I approached. "Is anything wrong?" he asked.

     I gave him a smile. "She wanted to have dinner with me," I said, putting as much of 
Caesar as I could into my voice. "But I declined her invitation, and she is not pleased. I 
suggest we do not mention this small incident to anyone. It would be embarrassing to both 
myself and her."

     The kid nodded solemnly and opened the door for me. By the time Ti regained her temper, I 
was mixed in with the other suits.

     So, there I was, part of a flock of suits that came bustling through the front door of 
the KallionCo building on that Tuesday morning. Ti and her people were running around the 
suits like dogs herding sheep. The suits were talking amongst themselves in half a dozen 
languages, while Ti strode over to the front desk and quietly chatted with the security guards 
posted there. I hung around the edges and took in the lobby.

     Ti was right about me not standing out amongst the suits. There was upwards of thirty 
people in the group, with women making up a third. They were from all the world, so me as 
Caesar Romero looked like a South American. I just hoped that no one tried to have a 
conversation with me in Spanish - the only words I know of the language aren't uttered in 
polite company.

     The lobby was large and impressive, if you like your lobbies clean and sterile. The place 
was big enough to play a pro baseball game in. Besides the occasional potted tree, stiff back 
chairs here and there, and the sporadic wandering employee, this place had all the life of an 
undertaker's convention that had just been told someone had discovered the secret of eternal 
life.

     It all reminded me of the Dark Kingdom, and I felt homesick for about five seconds. Then 
reality stalked across the lobby in the form of a gorgeous brunette. Long legged and well 
proportioned, the somber business suit she wore did nothing but accentuate her figure. The 
type of girl that would move monks to question their vows and married men to question their 
commitments to their wives.

     "Yes, Yes. I agree with you," whispered a guy standing next to me. "But not so loud, the 
sounds carry in such a large lobby."

     My jaw snapped shut with an audible click. This habit of speaking my thoughts out loud 
was becoming annoying. "Sorry," I muttered. "But such beauty is hard not to commented on."

     The guy, a short rotund man with thinning hair and plump cheeks gave me a wistful smile. 
"True. But I find most women do not like being discussed like they are a slab of meat."

     I nodded absently, watching Ti and the brunette become involved in a quiet discussion. 
From the expression the brunette was giving Ti, there looked like there was a problem. She was 
frowning and her body language was all wrong. This could be trouble.

     I made a polite excuse to my fellow admirer of womanhood, and drifted close enough to 
hear the conversation between these two women. Yep, the brunette was defiantly unhappy. 

     "I'm sorry Lady Polaris," the brunette was saying on a low voice that could have raised 
the interest of a eunuch. "But, with the Mr. Kallion's death yesterday, I afraid things are a 
bit chaotic around here right now."

     "I understand," replied Ti smoothly. "But this tour took months to scheduled, and it 
maybe years before these people can assemble again. I'm sure you can see the importance of 
going through with this tour, not only to KallionCo, but to Crystal Tokyo and to the Queen herself."

     The brunette flinched at the mention of Serenity. "I-I'm not sure," she replied 
unsteadily. "Most of the senior management is in a state of shock, and I'm sure there's not 
much business being conducted today." 

     "I'm sure we can adjust our itinerary to take in account the sudden disruption that has 
occurred."

     The brunette still looked undecided. Time to cut in on this dance, for a couple of 
reasons. "Lady Polaris?" I said politely, stepping forward.

     I found two pairs of beautiful eyes, one pair soft brown, the other a brilliant blue, 
looking at me. "Yes, Mr. Falcone?" replied Ti, a hint of a very large mallet in my near future 
clear in her tone of voice.

     "Forgive my intrusion, Ladies," I said, flashing both of them a dazzling smile. "But Lady 
Polaris is right. I myself had to shuffle my schedule a great deal in order to attend this 
tour. To say that this has been an upheaval in my time and trouble is an understatement."

     The brunette stared at me like I was a talking dog. "I-I'm sorry, Mr....."

     "Falcone," I replied with an even bigger smile. "Luis Samuel Falcone, from Casablanca."

     I heard Ti suck in her breath at my introduction. If the brunette heard it, she didn't 
acknowledge it. "Lois Seiland," she replied, a slight flush coming to her cheeks. "I am - er, 
was, Mr Kallion's executive assistant."

     And Quinton was going to Margrave's when he had this woman working with him? I don't 
think I'll ever understand Humans....

     A not so polite cough snapped the mood like a dry twig. Ti looked annoyed, which didn't 
bother me any. "Mr. Falcone, please join the rest of the group while Miss Seiland and I 
continue our discussion."

     I smiled at her, turned, and went back to the group. Several of the men in the group gave 
me the "ataboy" smile, while I got some really vicious glares from several of the women in the 
group. I didn't care either way. Despite my drooling reflex, I had a real reason to get close 
to Miss Lois Seiland.

     I still had a few aces up my sleeves, which I kept secret from Ti just on general 
purposes. One of the papers I'd gotten in Comyn's envelope of KallionCo goodies was a complete 
list of everyone who was in daily contact with Kallion and the rest of the upper management. 
I'd just gotten a good look at one of the few people who was close enough to Quinton and the 
others to read their mind on a regular basis. The fact she was a looker only made my decision 
to get close easier. At least, that was what I would tell Ti later on....

     I went back to stand next to my comrade in the art of watching womankind. His smile was 
friendly, if a little wistful. "Amazing, sir," he murmured. "Another ten seconds, and you 
would have her phone number and an open invitation to visit her anytime."

     "It's a family curse," I replied smoothly. "Beautiful women have always flocked to the 
Falcone men."

     He sighed. "I wish I had your curse."

     Just then, Ti turned around and said in a loud voice. "Ladies and Gentlemen. We will be 
able to tour KallionCo today as planned." This caused a polite round of clapping until Ti held 
up her hand for silence. "However, due to the sudden death of Quinton Kallion yesterday, I 
afraid the extended meetings with senior management will not take place as planned."

     I didn't expect a reaction from that statement from the suits, and I got exactly what I 
expected. You would have to be blind, deaf, dumb as a post, and living in a cave in Freezone 
in order not to know what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. The press of Crystal 
Tokyo, in all it's forms, was having a field day with the story, and they even got some of the 
story right. Some newspaper writer had even come up with a headline that read, "MADAM MARGRAVE 
MESSILY MANGLES MILLIONAIRE!". Try saying that three times fast....

     Ti gave the suits a minute to accept the fact they weren't going to get their extended 
meetings before she continued. "However, we will be able to arrange a short meeting with 
several of KallionCo's Board of Directors later in the day."

     That cheered up some of the more glum looking suits. With Ti and Miss Seiland leading the 
way, we started our tour.

     It was an hour and forty minutes before I could slip away from the tour. The two sheep-
dogs in suits Ti had brought along were well versed in keeping the group together. Every 
time I drifted close to slipping away, either one or the other was there to prevent me. I 
caught Ti's eye a couple of times in attempt to get these two called off, but each time she 
shook her head slightly and turned away.

     During the time I was waiting for my chance to break loose from Farmer Ti's flock, the 
tour passed through a gaggle of departments. Product Design, Research and Development, 
Advertising, and Human Relations, and several others that made no sense to me. Leave it to 
humans to create something so complex. I think maybe Beryl would have been better off using a 
pack of lawyers to spearhead her takeover bid of the Earth than Kunzite and the Generals.

      Throughout this, I tried to keep the same glazed look of fascination all the others had. 
I followed the tour spiel Lois was giving the entire group, more because I liked the sound of 
her voice than any interest in business. I avoided her glances though. The last thing I needed 
was her to realize I'd slipped away from the tour until I had a chance to change forms and get 
out of the area.  

     My chance finally came when we entered one of the assembly areas of the complex. There 
were a dozen workers in the area, mostly supervising the robotic assembly stations. Lois 
stopped the group and began a long winded explanation of what exactly was being made. I 
started looking around for a way to sneak away, but sure enough, one of Ti's people was 
standing several meters away.

     Damn. This was beginning to get ridiculous. I glanced over at Ti, and caught her eye. I 
motioned to the nearby chaperon with my eyes, as if to say `Can you do something about him?'

     She gave me a slight nod, and motioned to the guy to come over to her. He gave her a 
puzzled look, but he strolled over like an obedient lapdog. As soon as he reached Ti and they 
started talking, I quietly stepped into the shadow of a nearby support beam and became a shadow. 

     Three minutes later, the tour continued without me. No big loss to me - I had enough of 
corporate life anyway. Once the voices had faded, I became a squat, hard faced man by the name 
of Phil Fiong, KallionCo's Senior Janitorial Supervisor. I then went back the way I came. My 
target was the offices of Quinton Kallion, and several of the suspects on Comyn's list.
     
     My plan was simple. I would search the suspect's office's for clues that they were 
involved in spying, and they were doing it for Winter. Other than that, I would be playing it 
by ear. I didn't bother telling Ti this part of my plan - she already thinks I'm a lousy 
planner.

     My first stop was Lois Seiland's office, as I knew she wasn't going to be in it. A handy 
directory pointed me in the right direction. I waited until I was in the elevator on the way 
up to her office before I took Lois's form.

     I strode purposely into the office. A hatchet faced woman manning the desk looked up in 
surprise. "You're back early," she said. "I thought you'd be tied up with that tour group for 
the rest of the afternoon."

     "I forgot some papers," I replied matter of factly, using Lois's voice. "Lady Polaris 
wanted a few items to give our guests, and with everything going on...."

     She nodded in an understanding way. "I quite understand." She stood up. "I'd better get 
these items over to Mr. Katsuke before the board meeting this afternoon. Be back in a couple 
of minutes." 

     I didn't watch her leave, but strode into Lois's office like it was mine, and closed the 
door. I waited a few seconds, then open the door slowly, and looked out. The outer office was 
empty. I closed the office door and started searching.

     I will say this for Lois Seiland's office - it fitted the lady perfectly. Perfectly 
decorated and tastily furnished, it made my own office look twice as worse as it actually is. 
Expensive rug, wood paneled walls, a desk big enough to sit two people behind, and a magnifi-
cent view of downtown Crystal Tokyo really impressed me.

     It took three seconds to get over being impressed, and start getting down to business. I 
started searching, looking for anything that might be useful to me - say, a written confession 
in Lois's Seiland's own hand that she committed the murder of Quinton Kallion.

     After ten minutes, I found nothing of use in her desk, or on her computer. It took me 
five more minutes to check out the rest of the office. Nothing, nada, zilch, zero. Either Lois 
wasn't a spy, or she was a real good spy.

     Time to move on.

     I walked out of the office, still looking like Lois. The Battle Ax hadn't made it back 
yet, but I decided not to hang around and wait for her. I walked out, turned left, and walked 
down the hall. I looked up and down the hall quickly to make sure I was alone, then changed my 
form back to Phil Fiong.

     My changing back to Fiong's form wasn't by accident. He was another name on my list of 
possible suspects, and the next office on my list to search. I just hoped he wasn't in his 
office when I showed up.

     It was about this time Dame Fortune decided she needed a good laugh at my expense. So, 
when I turn into the hall that had Fiong's office in it, I found the next to last thing I 
expected to find....

     The hall was empty, with the exception of some guy mopping the floor. He looked up as I 
came into view, and I found myself looking at the ugly mug of Winter's male henchman, Josep 
Herwin. The photos didn't do him justice - He had the type of face that mothers got slapped 
for.

     At the same time the recognition dawned on me, he realized I wasn't Phil Fiong, though if 
it was by mind reading, or me narrating out loud again, I wasn't sure. With a snarl that would 
have done a grizzly bear proud, he threw the mop at me, followed by the mop bucket, then took 
off running in the opposite direction.

     I dodged the mop with no problem, but the bucket caught me shin high, and I hit the floor 
with my kisser leading the way. I hauled myself to my feet, slipped on the soapy water, and 
went down again. I climbed to my feet more carefully the second time, made sure I was clear of 
the soapy water, and charged off after Herwin, changing back into my own form on the fly.

     I've been involved in the occasional chase over the years, so I had some idea of what to 
do. He had the advantage of a lead, and knowledge of the layout. All I had was a body that 
didn't need air, or get tired. So all I had to do was run our friendly Telepathic spy into the 
ground, and pick him up after he collapsed, right?

     Wrong.

     For someone that ugly, he sure could run. By the time I started in pursuit, he'd managed 
to get a twenty meter lead on me. He turned right at the next intersection, plowed into a guy 
carrying a load of papers, and kept going. I made the turn in time to charge through the man 
made blizzard, and knock the poor guy down again. After that, everyone who saw us coming
prudently stepped aside to let us pass.

     As Herwin charged down the halls, people stuck their heads out of the office to see what 
all the ruckus was about. They saw Herwin fly by, a space of five seconds, then me charging 
after him. Several were dumb enough to step all the way out of the offices and try and stop 
me, no doubt in an attempt to find out what was going on. A shoulder block or two was 
sufficient to knock them out of the way.

     Three hallways, four flights of stairs down, two intersections, and a pair of skybridges 
later, I realized I was slowly closing the distance between us. He realized it too, and 
stopped long enough to pull a small red lever located on the wall. A bell started ringing 
rapidly, and the hall began to fill with people.

     Fire alarm. Crude, but effective, as the sudden influx of people slowed me down. In 
seconds, I was buffeted by the morass of people who were calmly and quietly trying to get out 
of the building. I was, in effect, trying to swim upstream against a river of humanity. I 
spotted Herwin scrambling up a flight of stairs, making good on his escape.

     Okay, desperate measures. My mind raced to figure out a way to get these people out of my 
way, and I needed it now. Something that would clear the way, something more fearful then a 
possible fire...wait, that could work.... 

     I transformed myself into Mr. Vampire from the day before and bellowed in a graveyard 
voice, "OUT OF THE WAY!"

     Now, Crystal Tokyo is a modern city. These people live with science and magic, and are 
highly educated. Inside this city, they live in a cocoon that protects them from the reality 
outside the city. In short, they wouldn't know a real Youma if one came up and bit them.

     Yet, the sudden appearance of a creature among them had the effect I wanted - everyone 
scattered to the four winds as fast as they could run. No matter that it was midday on a 
bright sunny day, vampires aren't real, and this was the `age of reason', to quote Serenity. 
They disappeared quicker then a bunch of snowmen  in a blast furnace. I found out later that 
KallionCo's staff shrink was booked solid for six months after my little trick. Served
them right.

     Now that the way was clear again, I again roared off in pursuit of Herwin. I didn't 
bother to change back to normal, as I found the sight of a six foot tall, fanged nightmare was 
a great way to keep the hallway clear.

     Herwin flung himself through an emergency exit door, and  I followed. We were outside 
now, running through a small park that some yahoo thought would go perfect here. It did allow 
me to keep the guy in sight though. Now that there wasn't any obstacles between him and me, I 
was gaining ground fast.

     Herwin shot around the corner of a building, with me right at his heels. I heard shouts 
and screams as my quarry crashed on through a group of people who made the mistake of being in 
our path at the wrong time. I turned the corner and plowed right into the group after him.  

     Several of the women in the group fainted at the sight of me, while several of the men 
looked ready to join them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Ti and Lois standing there, 
a look of stunned disbelief on their faces. Dame Fortune, not satisfied to simple have a 
simple laugh at my expense, decided to bring Ti and her tour group in on the joke.

     While I was taking in the view, Herwin grabbed a random body and flung them at me. The 
poor slob plowed into me knee high, and I took another header into the concrete. Unlike last 
time, I shot to my feet, shifting back into my own persona in the process. I ignored the gasps 
from the audience as I made a grab for short and ugly.

     Herwin slithered out of my grasp, and broke clear of the gaggle of suits. I glared at Ti 
for a full second before I continued after my only lead, who was putting as much distance as 
he could between him and me. As I dashed away, I heard Ti shout "James, Kiko, get these people 
out of here! I'll handle this! Polaris Power, Make up!"

     I didn't bother to turn around and watch her transform, but continued to race after the 
telepathic troll while thinking nasty thoughts. Great, just great. Ti had decided to give me a 
hand. And knowing her, she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

     "You're damm right!" said a voice at my elbow. I glanced over, and found Ti - in full 
Sailor Polaris get-up - keeping pace with me, a look of determination on her face. "I didn't 
get a look at him when he blew by," she continued. "Who is he?"

     "Winter's man, Herwin," I replied, watching the object of our pursuit duck into a door 
leading into a warehouse.

     "Are you sure?" she asked archly. She wasn't even breathing hard, despite the fact we 
were probably breaking several world records at the speed we were covering these distances. 
Senshi powers take most of the fun out of competing. "Looking the way you did several seconds 
ago, anyone with half a brain would head for the hills."

     I didn't bother answering her barb, but continued to cover the distance to the warehouse 
as fast as I could. I reached the door and darted through, Ti at my heels.

     Inside it was what you would expect to find in a warehouse - crates and crates of stuff 
piled almost to the ceiling, with dark and narrow lanes between the pallets. The lighting 
consisted of small islands of light surrounded by a sea of darkness. No one was in sight, and 
I didn't hear any convenient footsteps to give me a direction. I strained my hearing for any
sound that might give me a hand.

     "Now what, Sherlock?" Ti asks me in a loud voice.

     I jumped three feet in the air, as that was the last thing I was expecting, especially 
from her. I glared at her, but as Sailor Polaris, she's immune to it. "The first thing, 
Polaris," I said in a low snarl, "is drop the noise level. In case you've forgotten, noise 
carries."

     "Oh."

     I continued to glare at her. Of course, it never occurred to her that Senshi might need 
to subtle at times. Most Senshi, including Ti, was about a subtle as an avalanche. After all, 
wearing an outfit like that, blending into the background is not high on the list of things 
Senshi does well. Of course, that outfit is a hella distraction at times....

     "Stop drooling, Spade," said Ti in a low hiss, "and start walking." 

     I pointed down one of the narrow aisles. "Take that one," I said in a whisper. "I'll take 
this one. If you see him, call out."

     "Right." 

     We split up, and started down the aisles. I moved quickly and carefully down the passage, 
looking and listening for signs of the mind reading moron. But there was an oppressive silence 
throughout that warehouse, so silent you could have heard a pin drop into a pillow. After a 
while, it became down right annoying.

     Ti and I emerged into a cross aisle at the same time. Both of us had the same look on our 
faces, which could be quickly summed up as `No Luck'. I pointed down the next aisle, Ti 
nodded, and we continued to search.

     Fifteen minutes later, Ti and I met up again, and each had the same thing to tell the 
other: nothing. Of course, Herwin was probably halfway out of the country by now.

     "Hello!" someone yelled from behind us. "Anyone here?" Despite the echo, I recognized the 
liquid tones of Lois Seiland.

	I sighed. We had a desperate criminal loose somewhere in this warehouse, and now we had 
a civilian who might as well hold up a sign reading 'Possible Hostiage - Please Accost'. If 
Herwin was still hanging around, he didn't need a helpless bargining chip.

     I looked at Ti. "Just what we needed. Do you want to escort her out of her, or shall I?"

     Ti looked irritated. "I'll do it. You do...whatever." She stalked off in the direction 
we'd come, leaving me standing in the middle of the aisle.

     My mind whirled as it tried to fit the pieces together. Herwin's job as the janitor gave 
him access to most of the offices. That allowed him to pick up and replace the important data 
left out for him. But where was Modron Anderson? If Herwin was the bagman, she had to be the 
one who planted the suggestions in the employee's minds. Which meant someone who had access to 
a large part of the KallionCo management....

     My mind drifted back to the picture of Modron Anderson. A striking blonde with green eyes 
and a dazzling smile. But suppose you replaced the long blonde hair with short brunette hair, 
and the green eyes with soft brown....

     As soon as the new image took hold, I heard Ti yell, "Polaris Miss-". The cry was cut off 
by a solid thud, the type that indicates someone got thumped on the head, followed by 
something hitting the floor not far away.

     "Magnesite!" yelled Seiland, or more accurately, Modron Anderson. "We have your partner!"

     Well, I now found two out of the three. They had Ti. And they knew who I was. Now what?

     Anderson yelled again. "You've got to the count of ten to surrender, or she dies!"

     At one time, I would have turned and walked away. I didn't like Ti, and she hated me. 

     "One!"

     I had no affection for Calcite or any of the others Renegades.

     "Two!"

     It was Ti's fault she'd gotten involved with chasing Herwin. I hadn't asked her to give 
me a hand.

     "Three!"  

     Ti was a big girl, she knew what she was getting into.

     "Four!"

     But, Margrave would never forgive if anything happened to Ti.

     "Five!"

     I remembered what Calcite did to the Youma boss who'd murdered his mother. And it wasn't 
pretty....

     "Six!"

     And both Pyrite and Azurite would be there to cheer on Calcite.

     "Seven!"

     Of course, Rei and the rest of the Senshi would react the same way as the Renegades. They 
would be standing in line, ready to pick up where Calcite left off.

     "Eight!"

     Besides, invited or not, wanted or not, Ti was my partner on this case. 

     "Nine!"

     And if a man can't count on his partner, who can he count on?

     "Ten!" 

     I put my hands in the air. "All right!" I shouted. "I give up!" 

     There was silence for a minute, then Anderson yelled, "Walk towards the sound of my 
voice. You try anything, and your partner is dead!"

     I did as she said, and after about a minute of walking, I found myself facing Herwin and 
Anderson.

     They were standing in a middle of empty patch of real estate, looking like a couple of 
tomcats that had just swallowed a five kilogram canary each. Anderson was standing off to one 
side, A large and ugly looking pistol in her right hand. Herwin was in front of me, holding an 
unconscious Ti in front of him like a shield with one burly arm. He was waving around a long 
and ugly looking blade in the other hand like a mad conductor.

     "Stop right there, Mags," Anderson said sharply. "And keep your hands up."

     I did as she said, looking at both of them. "Modron Anderson and Josep Herwin, I 
presume?"

     "Right first time, gumshoe," replied Anderson. "And I presume you're Magnesite, this 
city's only Private Investigator."

     "You got that right Doll-face." I gauged the distance between them and me, and realized 
that they were out of my reach by a good two meters.

     Anderson gave me a lazy smile. "Of course you're too far away to jump us. I'm not a 
fool."

     I looked at her. "Was I narrating out loud again?"

     She gave me a puzzled look. "No, genius, I read your mind. I am a telepath, after all." 
She gave me another lazy smile that would have sent my heart into overdrive, if I had one. 
"And those thoughts about your partner here. I'd keep them buried if I was you."

     With my hands still in the air, I pointed at Herwin with one finger. "Speaking of buried. 
Where did you dig up short, dark, and repulsive there?"

     Herwin pointed the knife at me. "Very funny, freak. You're next!"

     "Put a sock in it you missing link."

     "Cut it out, Josep," Anderson said sharply. "Magnesite's only delaying the end as long as 
he can." She looked at Ti. "Careful, she's coming around now." 

     Ti opened her eyes slowly. Before she could move, Herwin placed the edge of the blade 
against her throat. "Don't move, Missy," the toad faced telepath said in a low voice. "Or the 
Senshi are going to be one Sailor short - A head short." He chuckled at his own joke.

     "So glad you could join us, Sailor Polaris," Anderson purred, pointing the pistol at me. 
"Though my friend does so want to play with your partner here."

     I shrugged. "What's the matter? This the only way Ugly there can get a date?"

     Herwin hissed at me like a tire going flat. "Modron, let me cut him up a bit before you 
kill him, Please?"

     Anderson shook her head. "We don't have time for this, Josep. Slit her throat, and I'll 
take care of Mags here. We'll make it look like they had a falling out, and killed each other. 
Winter said he'll meet us outside in ten minutes."

     "Now I know why Quinton went to Margrave for relaxation," I said, the glimmering of a 
plan forming deep in my mind. "You really are a cold-hearted bitch, aren't you?"

     Anderson's face clouded up in anger. "I did everything but strip in front of that 
bastard! And instead of coming to me, he goes to that - that...."

     "Youma?" I supplied.

     "Creature!" She tightened her grip on the pistol. "I never knew what he saw in her."

     I shrugged. "Margrave may have her faults, but she comes by them honestly, and she makes 
no effort to hide them. On the other hand, you and Igor there aren't as lucky."

     The missing link started making noises again, and he continued the maestro act with the 
blade. Ti was still glassy eyed, looking at me like I was declaring my undying love for Queen 
Serenity and Rei, in that order. Anderson was looking really angry. Perfect.

     "Could I put my hands down, please?" I asked, trying to look innocent. "I would like a 
last cigarette before you plug me."

     "I don't trust him!" shouted Herwin, the knife hovering around Ti's face like an 
interested bee. "It's a trick of some type!"

     I had to act now. Not for me, because Anderson couldn't kill me with that weapon of hers. 
But it would slow me down long enough for Herwin to finish off Ti. That pigsticker could open 
Titanite's veins and arteries just as easily as a human's, and Ti was too foggy right then to 
throw up her force shield. Neither she or I had time for her brian cells to sort themselves 
out. Which meant trying something that was dangerous, foolhardy, and risky. Which meant it was 
right up my alley.

     One of the abilities I have that I don't use much is my energy blast. Because it takes a 
lot of my precious energy to use, I only use it in emergencies. In the current situation, I 
decided this qualified as an emergency.

     I started gathering energy in my hands. Over a period of several seconds, I had managed 
this little trick without Beauty and the Beast noticing. I adjusted my hands slightly so each 
one was angled towards the target.

     Anderson placed her other hand on the pistol. "No dice, Magnesite," she said angrily. 
"You and the Senshi die right here, right now." She cocked the pistol's hammer. "I'm going to 
enjoy this so much -"

     My first blast shot over Ti's shoulder, and caught Ugly right in the face. While it 
didn't have the full power of the old days, it had more then enough punch to knock Herwin off 
his feet, and out for the count. At almost the same instant, the second blast caught Anderson 
in the midsection, and she folded over like a wet cardboard.

     I did my own collapsing then. I felt weak and dizzy, and a glance at my hand told me I 
was a bit on the faded side. After several seconds, I managed to stabilize myself.

     While I was recovering, Ti, still a bit loopy from the conk on the noggin she'd taken, 
somehown managed to finished the job I started. By the time I looked up, both Herwin and 
Anderson were trussed up like Christmas Turkeys. She managed to look over at me, her 
expression somewhere between netural and strained. "W-why  didn't they see th-that coming?" 
she asked, her voice sluring slightly. "Couldn't th-they read what passes for yo-your mind?"

     I looked up at her. "You don't hang around telepaths alot, do you?"

     "No. Why?"

     "Because the easiest was to screw up a telepath's ability to read your mind is to provoke 
a strong emotion in them." I waved a hand in the direction of the Ice Queen and Igor. "In 
their case, they were so angry at me, they couldn't read my mind clearly.
     
     "I see," she replied, she voice becoming steadier. "Are you going to be OK?" 

     "Kid," I said slowly. "I haven't been OK since Serenity sprung me from the crystal." I 
stood up and nodded in approval at Ti's handy work. "Good going. All we need is the headman 
himself."

     Just then, I heard someone slowly clap their hands together. "Very nice," said a strong, 
clear voice from the darkness off to my left. "An excellent performance."

     Ti spun to face the darkness. "Who's th-"

     I figured she must have been still suffering some from the crack on the head, or maybe 
because she's not the combat vetrean her brother or Azurite is. Anyhow, she'd forgotten her 
force shield, and it cost her.

     She staggered as something struck her hard and fast in the head. The inert body of Herwin 
was in the perfect place to trip Ti, and she fell back. There was a solid crack as the back of 
her head struck the concrete. I looked at her for several seconds, then quickly moved over to 
where she laid.  

     It wasn't good. Her eyes had gone out of focus, and her jaw hung slightly open. If she
had been a nomal human, she'd probably be well on her way to a coma. But she's not human, and 
she would recover a lot faster then any human would. Right now, however, she couldn't even 
remembered her name, let alone face a very smart Class A telepath.

     "Is that the best your partner can do?" said the mocking voice from the darkness.

     I didn't bother to look. I pulled out a cigarette. "Unless I miss my guess, the elusive 
Mr. Winter has arrived."

     "Very good guess, Magnesite," replied the voice. "I may have underestimated the 
opposition in this city."

     I lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply, then blew a smoke ring. "Don't feel bad," I said, 
watching the smoke dissipate. "You've joined a long list of people who've made the exact same 
mistake."

      "Indeed?"

     I turned to look at the direction the voice was coming from, the cigarette still dangling 
from my mouth. I couldn't take him alone. I needed Ti's help, but she was still in ga-ga land. 
She needed time to recover, and I was the only one who could give that time. "Come out into 
the light, Winter," I said in my best sneer, moving away from Ti, who was trying to sit up. 
"I've never met a man who's on the most wanted list in eight countries, and has been sentenced 
to death in abstaintia in four others."

     Someone stepped out of the shadows. He was the guy I'd seen at the alley yesterday. Tall 
and lean, his face had more angles then the late lamented Kunzite, but he didn't have the 
General's swagger.

     Winter's face looked puzzled. "Who's Kunzite? Wait a second...." He stared at me for 
several seconds before he smiled again. "Of course, one of Queen Beryl's generals. You didn't 
have a high opinion of him, did you?"

     I don't know which made me angrier, the fact I'd narrated out loud again, or Winter 
reading my mind so easily. "He's dead, and I'm alive. You tell me who came out ahead."

     "O-okay, Mags," said Ti angrily. She managed to get on her feet and was swaying there, 
hands on hips, looking like a Senshi recruiting poster caught in a high wind. Why couldn't she 
just blast him without the speechmaking? "Enough with the small talk. W-W-Winter, anything to 
say before I arrest you?"

     Winter looked at her. "Is she serious?" he asked in an amused tone of voice.

     I finished the cigarette. I needed to give Ti more time to recover, which meant I needed 
Winter looking at me. "Yep. Margrave's a friend of hers."

     "Of course." said Winter causally. He looked at me. "And what about you? Is the Catwomen 
a friend of yours also?"

     "It's much more than that. Margrave's my client. I know she didn't kill Quinton Kallion. 
You did."

     Winter's laugh wasn't pleasant. "I have underestimated the opposition in this city." He 
gave me a little bow. "You are right, of course. I killed Quinton Kallion."

     I heard Ti suck in a ragged breath, but I ignored her. I was playing for time. "You found 
out that Quinton Kallion was hiring two telepaths to close down your operation here. You also 
knew about Kallion's weekly little get together with Margrave. So, you decided that Margrave 
becomes the fall cat in this scheme of yours." 

     "Continue. I find this extremely interesting."

     "You get in Margrave's rooms early, blanking Veronica's memory just long enough to slip 
past her. Then, you hold up in Margrave's "prop room", and wait until Kallion and Margrave are 
engaged in business." 

     "Is that what she calls it? She looked like she was enjoying herself."

     I ignored the comment. "Then, you entered Margrave's mind at the right time, and turns 
off the mental suppresser. Margrave goes berserk, and starts slashing at Kallion. Kallion 
takes some damage, but he's not dead, and he manages to fend off Margrave. You can't allow him 
to leave the room alive."

     "Of course," replied Winter with a shrug. "If he'd had time to think, he would have taken 
precautions, which would have interfered with our activities." 

     "You had to lend Margrave a claw, so to speak."

     "Nice turn of phrase."

     This guy was beginning to irritate me. He was too calm, too controlled. There was an 
alarm bell going off in the back of my mind. I pulled out another cigarette, and lit it up. 
"It wouldn't be too hard to blank Margrave's memory for the few minutes you needed to finish 
off Kallion. But it wasn't a clean murder, was it?"

     "Kallion still had some fight left in when I used that gardening claw on him." Winter 
tilted his head to show an ugly looking scar on his neck. "As you can see, even unarmed and 
injured, Kallion put up a hell of a fight."

     "I-I don't believe this!" shouted Ti. From the look she was giving Winter and myself, she 
was ready to pound both of us into the ground. She turned and glared at me. "Y-Y-You are s-so 
right, Mags!"

     "Relax, Kid," I said, trying to ignore the fact I'd been thinking out loud again. I 
looked at Winter again. "As I was saying, killing Kallion must have left you looking like a 
butcher at a slaughterhouse. You couldn't leave the way you were, so you needed a disguise - 
In your case, a telepathic disguise. You must of gotten a chuckle out of using one of 
Margrave's own Glamour images to build your disguise around."

     "Amazing," replied Winter. "You're a regular Sherlock Holmes."

     I ignored his barb, and continued. "You waited until Margrave recovered from your little 
manipulation, and left the room. Then you left yourself, blanking Veronica's memory again on 
the way out. After that, you simply strolled out of the building, projecting the Prim school 
teacher image to anyone you met."

     Winter gave me a mocking bow. "How did you figure it out?"

     "It wasn't hard," I replied. I gave him the same set of facts I'd given Ti the day 
before.

     Winter listened calmly, and after I finished, he shrugged. "I am impressed," he said. "A 
very accurate account of what happened. I'm surprised that the CTPD fell for it so easily."

     "I'm not." I sucked on my cigarette, and blew a big cloud of smoke at him. "They're not 
used to actually having to go looking for murderers."

     "I see." He shrugged. "And Anderson and Herwin thought I was wasting my time setting you 
up for those two murders yesterday."

     "You were the one who planted the idea about the vampire in my mind, weren't you?"

     "Of course," the telepath responded modestly. "I thought you might have been trouble, and 
decided that I shouldn't take any chances. I found of couple of useless scum the world 
wouldn't miss, sent them after you, and when you tried to interrogate them, I killed them." He 
grinned at me. "And you fell right into it."

     "T-That's it!" Ti bellowed at that point. "Polaris Mis -"

     This really wasn't Ti's day. Before she could launch her attack, Winter pointed an arm at 
her. A small golden ball formed at his fingertips, then shot across the distance between 
himself and Sailor Polaris, and hit Ti hard in the stomach. She doubled over and collapsed,
trying desperately to force a breath into her lungs.

     I closed my eyes and muttered every single Dark Kingdom curse I could remember. She'd 
forgotten her stupid forcefield again! Hanging around the other Senshi must have dulled her 
sense of survival. Calcite or Azurite would not only had had their force shields up before 
saying a peep, but Winter would have been a small pile of ashes before he'd realize it. Now, I 
was stuck with coming up with a plan B, and fast. 

     And what was this thing about Senshi yelling out their attacks? So any bad guy who gets 
wacked by one can tell their doctor what exactly happen to them? Or is it in their Senshi 
contracts?

     "Pitiful," said Winter, contempt clearly in his voice. "Like the others." He looked at 
me. "A fair attempt to stall me, but doomed to failure. Your mind is like an open book to me."

     I shrugged, trying to look calm. "I hope it's a good read." 

     "Now, what am I going to do with you?"

     "I don't suppose you'd be willing to surrender peaceably?"

     He chuckled and shook his head. "I leant a lot about you yesterday when I read your mind. 
I know all about you. Your time in the crystal, your need for human energy to survive, and the 
disgusting way you are forced to get that energy."

     I blew another large smoke cloud in his direction. "Then, you know that anything you try 
won't kill me. You may slow me up, but there's no way you'll stop me from nailing you for 
Kallion's murder."

     "True. But I doubt anyone will believe anything you say, not after the CTPD find you 
leaning over the very dead body of a Senshi, feeding off her life force."

     Before I could come back with a snappy reply, he was inside my mind. I tried to fight 
him, but he was well versed in slipping past my defenses. As I felt him slither around in my 
mind, I knew the bastard was doing this on purpose - he wanted me to know what he was doing, 
and that I couldn't do anything to stop him.

     He touched a part of my mind, and I fell to my knees, the cigarette falling from my 
mouth. I could feel his smugness as he withdrew from my mind, replaced by a gnawing need for 
energy. It slowly got worse, and the hunger grew and grew. I hadn't felt this hungry since I 
was released from the crystal.

     Winter stood there, arms crossed, watching me curl up into a ball. "I've planted the 
hunger in your mind. It shouldn't take too long for it to overwhelm your other senses."

     He was right, damn it. As it was, I could barely think about anything else right now. I 
managed to get onto my feet, but I was still bent over, my mind being consumed by the hunger. 
Looking up, I saw Winter back up until he was just about in the shadows.

     "All you have to do to relieve the hunger is feed on her," he said, pointing towards Ti, 
who was still out of it. All that wonderful Senshi energy, just waiting for you...."

     I managed to let out a short laugh that sounded like a hyena with a head cold. Winter 
looked at me in puzzlement. "What's so funny?" he asked.

     "Sailor...Polaris...is a Youma. She...isn't...HUMAN!" I cried out the last word as I 
jumped at him. His eyes widen as I covered the distance between us in a single bound. I saw a 
look of horror on his face, as my words sunk in. He'd just tuned me into a starving animal, 
and left himself as the only upright food source within my sight. Not very bright of him, was 
it?

     Before he could move, I was on him. He screamed as I grabbed his head in my hands and 
began feeding. I didn't take the time to saver his life force, but drank it down like a 
thirsty man swallowing water. He struggled frantically, but I was gripped in a powerful hunger 
of his own creation.

     I looked into his terror filled eyes and said in a hissing voice, "You want me to stop? 
Turn off my hunger, bright eyes...."

     I felt him inside my mind again. Gone was the contempt and arrogance of a few seconds 
ago. Instead, I felt the desperation and panic as he tried to turn off the monster he'd 
created. He stumbled around, trying urgently to turn off my hunger before I consumed all his 
life force.

     He found the spot, and frantically shut off my hunger reflex. I felt the overwhelming 
hunger fade quickly, but I still fed on him. His eyes got as big as dinner plates as I 
continued  to drain him. "W-why?" he managed to stammer in a whisper.

     "Call it collecting with interest, Winter," I replied.

     Just before he was ready to pass out, I released him, and stepped back. Without me to 
hold him up, he dropped on to his face like a rock. I causally rolled him onto his back with 
my foot, and looked down at him. His eyes were closed, and I didn't have to be a Doctor to see 
that he wasn't going anywhere soon. He was still breathing, but he looked like someone dipped 
him into bleach and left him in too long.

     I heard a groan from behind me. Ti had managed to get back up, holding her stomach 
tenderly. She looked at me in confusion.  "Are you all right?"

     I pulled out another cigarette, stuck it into my mouth, lit it, and inhaled. I gave her a 
smile. "I haven't felt this good in years, Kid."

     She glanced at Winter, then at me, then back at Winter. "What happened?"

     Before I could reply, The sounds of heavy footsteps echoed throughout the building. In 
seconds we were surrounded by heavily armed Special Security types, all of them pointing their 
rifles at me. Rei and her posse, as usual - a day late, and a dollar short.

     Just then, the fire lady herself stalked out of the shadows, looking madder then a cop 
missing his doughnut break. She looked at me, then Ti, the three bodies, then glared at me. 
"Will someone explain what in the name of Serenity is going on here?"

     "It's a long story, Rei," I replied slowly. "It started yesterday when Margrave walked 
into my office...." 



     Two days later, I stood at the window of my office again, watching the rain fall softly 
against the window. Like I told Ti, I haven't felt this good in years.

     It took twelve hours, five retellings of my story to a very unhappy Rei, and a voluntary 
telepathic reading of both Ti's and my minds before our story was accepted. 

     Rei wanted to lock me up for taking Winter's life force without his permission, but Ti 
forcefully explained that it was Winter's fault that I'd had my best feeding in years. That 
set off one of most entertaining arguments I've ever watched. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe 
the Dark Kingdom didn't choose the right time to go poof. I shudder to think about how the 
place would be with Calcite and Titanite running things....

     Early the next day, Margrave was sprung from her cell, a free Youma. In her place went 
Winter and his cohorts. I heard Rei is spending most of her time these days fielding 
extradition requests from half the world's countries. I'm happy she's doing something useful 
for once.

     I turned and looked at the box sitting on my desk. Now, that was a surprise. The last 
person I expected to hear from was Calcite, but I suspect he distrusts me as much as Rei does. 
Still, he knows me better then he should.

     I went over to my desk, and opened the box again. It'd been delivered to me that morning, 
with a note from Calcite. I stared long and hard at the contents of the box, then picked up 
the note and read it again.
	  Magnesite,

		It seems I owe you my gratitude for saving Ti, and getting 
	Margrave out of a very difficult situation. I don't know why you 
	did it, and I don't care. But I always repay debts, even from 
	someone like you.

		Enclose with this note is an item I think you will treasure 
	in your own warped way. As far as I'm concerned, this squares 
	everything between us. Ti has also agreed that this is an adequate 
	repayment of the debt we owe you, so I don't want you anywhere near 
	her ever again. 

		I came across this item a while back. I have authenticated it, 
	and the paperwork is in the box with the item. It is the real thing.

		It is the actual prop gun Rick uses in Casablanca to shoot the 
	German so Ilsa can leave with another man and he'll never see her 
	again. I hope you understand the message I'm sending.     

		I have already informed Rei about it, and she told me to inform 
	you that you can't carry it under any circumstances. Just put it next 
	to the Falcon, and remember.

					Calcite

	

     I looked at the paperwork again, noting that it's all on moleculer lock paper, which is 
impossible to forge. I reached into the box and stroked the automatic pistol lying on the dark 
red satin with all the reverence I could muster. Calcite need not worry about me showing up 
anywhere near his sister anytime soon.

     I heard a knock at the door. "Come in," I said, not looking up from Calcite's gift.

     I heard the door opened, and the sound of high heels clacking across the wooden floor. I 
looked up slowly, and found myself looking at Ingrid Bergman. Not only Ingrid Bergman, but 
Ingrid Bergman dressed as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca's last scenes at the airport. The only 
things missing were the fog and the airport.

     My jaw hit the top of my desk with an audible thump. Ingrid gave me a big smile, and said 
in a very familiar voice, "Now I know how effective this glamour is."

     I grabbed my jaw, reslotted it into place, and sat down. "Very funny, Margrave."

     She slinked over to my client chair in a way poor Ingrid could never have even attempted, 
let alone copied. The way she sat down would have broken many a man's heart, and made most 
women reach for the closest sharp instrument. "I see you got Cal's little thank you gift."

     I nodded, and closed the box. "How's business the last couple of days?"

     She shrugged. "Slow, but I expected that. I expect it'll pick up once the trial is over."

     I managed to look confused. "Trial? What trial?"

     She gave me a look of distaste. "Unfortunately, with Winter and his people trying to 
steal secrets from KallionCo, it became a matter of state. And because Quinton's death is part 
of this matter, it can't be swept under the rug. There'll have to be a trial, not only to 
convict Winter and his people, but to clear me." 

     "Great," I muttered. "Will I have to testify?"

     Margrave shook her head. "Rei's got enough on them just involving the spying to lock them 
away for this lifetime and the next. Ti's releasing the official story that Winter blanked my 
mind, then killed Kallion and framed me while the two of us were in a 'Business Meeting'." 

     It made sense. The truth wasn't that far off the mark. I put the box with Cal's gift into 
a desk drawer. Later, it'll go into the safe behind the Casablanca poster. "So much for being 
able to sweep it under the rug." 

     "Can't be helped, but it's better than sitting in a jail cell."

     "That's true." I studied her for a minute. "What brings you down to these neck of the 
woods? You have another body lying around?"

     "No, dim bulb. I came down to thank you personally for what you did for me, and 
Titanite."

     I leaned back and lazily waved a hand in the air. "All the thanks I needed was the 
clearing of my debts from 2700 to 2825, which you did with great speed and efficiency."

     Margrave chuckled deeply. "You're getting soft in your old age, Magnesite. I think this 
city is finally getting to you."

     "I hope not. This place needs someone to keep it from being too squeaky clean."

     "Never the less, I'm taking you out to dinner."

     I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what place do you have lined up for the two of us, 
sweetheart?"

     "The Renegade's Haven, of course. It's about time you had some Youma style home cooking."

     I suppose I could say no. I also suppose I could tell her I was waiting for an important 
client. Then again, Margrave knows I'd have a hard time saying no to Ingrid Bergman.

     "I know, Rick," she said, a lazy smile crossing her lips. She even managed to sound like 
Ingrid. "That's why I chose this Glamour. And before you ask, you were narrating out loud 
again."

     I leaned back, and crossed my arms. "I suppose you won't take a rain check?"

     The smile got bigger. "Not unless you want to owe me another favor."

     I sighed. "You win. I'll go."

     "I knew you'd see it my way."

     "You drive a hard bargain, lady."

     She stood. "I know. Just change that trenchcoat and fedora, and we'll go."

     "I'll wait until we reach the Haven," I replied, "but will this suit your taste?" I 
stood, reformed the trenchcoat into a white tuxedo and lost the fedora. I now was dressed as 
Rick from Casablanca, red carnation in the lapel and all. 

     Margrave's eyes narrowed at my new appearance. "Very appropriate. I like it." 

     I returned to my old form. "Ready?"

     She held out an arm. "Magnesite, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

     "I think that's my line." I took her arm, and we walked out of my office.      


AUTHOR'S NOTES



Rei Hino (Sailor Mars), Queen Serenity, and other canonical Bishoujo Senshi 
Sailormoon characters are the creation of TAKEUCHI Naoko and are copyright 
jointly to her, Koudansha, Touei Animation, and either TV Asahi or Fuji TV, 
depending on which season. I hereby blame A friend of mine for force feeding 
me enough eps of Sailor Moon to overload my brain, and turn me into a fanfic 
writer. B-) 

Magnesite, Titanite, Calcite, and Margrave are the creation of Mark Latus, 
whom I now thank for allowing myself and others to write stories about one of 
the really interesting characters in the Sailor Moon Extended Universe. Mark 
also wrote part of the first scene with Margrave and Magnesite, which I have
incorporated into my story. I also thank Mark for pointing me in the right 
direction when I started to wandered off the beaten path a bit.

Now, Why did I write this? In part, for the challenge. Another reason is to 
have something else to write instead of BGC fanfics. But mostly, because I 
think Magnesite is a great character to write for. 

I can be reached at Trboturtle@aol.com. Drop me a line, and let me know how 
you liked this story.




Sailor Moon page



Last Updated: May 28, 2001
Maintained by: Craig A. Reed Jr. 

trboturtle@aol.com