Dead Ringers; Chapter 12

As I walk to the stairs to the Night Division entrance, I curse myself for not getting Miles's number. I'm fairly certain I saw his car though, so with luck, he wasn't occupied.

As I walk in, the redhead behind the receptionist's desk looks up at me. Her eyes flick over me as she smiles questioningly. "Are you looking for Day Division, hun?" Her southern drawl is surprising for a city like Copultin City.

I pull out my badge as I walk toward her. "I'm from Day Division."

Her smile becomes a thin line. "How many times do I have to tell y'all, without the pre-given authority from my chief, I cannot and will not grant y'all access to records."

"Well, Officer LeClair," I read off her name tag, "I'm actually here to meet with one of the Night Division detectives. He's expecting me."

"If you say so, hun, but I can't just let you walk back there." She picks up a small notepad and a pen. "Who are you here to meet and who should I tell them is here to see them?"

"I'm here to meet with Detective Elijah Miles. I am Detective Winter Fullin. Would you like to see a photo ID as well?" I ask as thinly as the smile I give her.

Her green eyes slowly rise from the pad to look at me. "You're Detective Fullin?"

I nod slowly. "Yes."

Her face fills with delight. "You are better than what I expected based off what Elijah would tell me."

"Um, thanks, I guess."

"Millie, come man the main desk for a minute, will ya, doll?" Officer LeClair calls over her shoulder. Then just like that, she shrinks down to be no bigger than my palm, now hovering where her head had been, supported by green wings that match her new skin tone. Flying to be in front of me on my side of the desk she grows back to her original size, wing disappearing, fading out with the green skin tone. "I'll walk you back."

I stare at her. "You. . . You just- just. . . What?"

She gives me a sympathetic look. "Elijah wasn't kidding when he said you still have a lot to learn." She hooks her arm in mine, leading me to the door that leads out of the office area. "I'm Bellatrix, but you can call me Trix, and I'm a pixie. We pixies can alternate between our pixie and human form. Human form allows us to blend in better, but I don't think I need to explain that, right, hun?" She stops us in front of two desks set up back-to-back. One is unoccupied at the moment, but the other is.

A sense of unease creeps down my spine.

The man doesn't even glance up at us as Officer LeClair stops us by the desks. "What do you want, Trix?"

"Where is Elijah?"

"How should I know? He hardly even tells me where he is going when we are working together." He looks up. It's probably a good thing he's focused on Officer LeClair as I'm sure I do a poor job of hiding my shock at his pure black eyes. "If you cannot wait for him to return from where ever it is he went, leave a message and I will give it to him."

"This here is Detective Fullin of Day Division, the one working with him on the case." His eyes come to examine me, accompanying a sense of slight dread. "She's here to meet with Elijah. I'm going to leave her in your capable hands until he gets back from where ever it is he wandered off to."

His eyes flick over me. "She is human and much too large to fit in my hands." His eyes move to Officer LeClair. "Not to mention, it would be a hindrance to my work were I to hold her in my hands until Elijah returns."

"Noted," Officer LeClair says with a nod of her head, "I'll just have her sit at Elijah's desk and you can keep an eye on her."

"Metaphorically speaking?"

"Exactly."

The man nods and goes back to his work.

Officer LeClair releases my arm and turns to me. "Well, Detective Fullin, welcome to Night Division."

I nod. "Thank you, Officer LeClair." I hold out a hand.

She takes my hand in both of hers. "Oh, hun, there's no need to be so formal with little ol' me. We pixies don't bother with formalities. Just call me Trix, everyone here does."

Without another word she turns and walks off. I simply nod as she walks off. Was the whole day going to be like this?

"The expression 'sit at' is used to state informally that you may sit in a chair at a certain location. The location in this situation is Elijah's desk. Or you may also choose to occupy the extra chair provided for the purpose of seating guests." I look to find the black-eyed man looking at me, expression blank.

I nod, his undivided attention stirs the unease I'm feeling. "Right." I suppose it would be more logical to take the extra chair, but just the thought of being closer to this black-eyed man sends panicked alarms through my mind. I smile politely at him as I sit in Miles's chair. "What's your name? Either Off- Trix didn't say it or I didn't catch it."

The man blinks, tilting his head to the side. "Catch? How does one catch a name?"

It's my turn to blink. I open my mouth to respond but instead jump as a file drops to the desk through my field of vision.

"It's a metaphor, Max," Miles says from behind me, moving to perch lightly on the edge of his desk. "Sorry for not being here when you arrived. I was getting you a copy of the Double Doctor case."

I pick up the file. "It's not very big."

Miles shrugs. "We didn't have much to work with."

"Go figure. Are the bodies being moved here from Day Division?"

"Well, the paperwork has been started."

"Good. Will the same M.E. be handling them?"

"Yes."

I flip through the file. For this case, there were five doubles found dead over the course of seven months. All the doubles had been found by their living counterparts with the exception of the last one. From the report, I gather that the four that found their doubles experienced the same headache I had, though with varying degrees. The first had wound up dead, the second reported a very mild headache that didn't last very long, and the last two experienced the same headache I had. As for the dead doubles, the case had been the same as with mine: normal one day, a mummy the next.

"You're sure this was done by the same person?" I ask.

"Do you have a better explanation for why the scenarios would be practically exactly the same?" Miles asks.

I look up at him, his desk partner is walking off. "But why just stop? Why stop for a year then come back swinging with what so far seems like directed targets?"

"That's what we need to figure out."

"You referred to whoever was behind this as the Double Doctor. That name was never given to him by the press."

"It's what they called themselves."

"What?"

"With the second double, we found a note from whoever was doing it. They called them-self the Double Doctor. Back of the file."

I flip to the back where the photocopy of the note is. It's very short, handwritten in an elegant script.

Detectives Miles and Ericsson,

I do look forward to our game.

-The Double Doctor

"This was the only communication that they left?" I look up at Miles again.

Miles nods. "We never heard from him again."

I look back to the file, flipping through the reports again. "And all four of those that found their doubles looked into the eyes?"

"Not intentionally, like you did, but yes." I look at him quizzically. "All the doubles were found with their eyes open, with the exception of the last one."

"I'll have to get the reports on that from Day Division for the last two. Did your M.E. run any of the tests that Jeb ran?"

"Yes. All had the same results, and I assume that the DNA test will also show the same results."

"Which was?"

"Nothing."

"Are you saying the doubles had no DNA?"

"Yes."

"What?"

Miles shrugs.

"Okay, so case parallels: doubles are found dead, living counterpart looks in eyes and gets a massive headache. Case differences: random targets, select targets."

Miles nods. "That's about it."

"What about each specific double case?"

"What?"

"The devil is in the details." I grab a piece of paper from his desk and a pen. I begin writing as I talk. "Double one found: . . ." I open the file-

"On a bench in the counterpart's apartment complex. The one closest to the apartment she was in," Miles fills in.

I quickly scratch it down. "Found by?"

"The counterpart?"

I look up, annoyed. "Was she alone?"

"No, she was leaving with her roommate. They carpooled to and from university."

"And her headache?"

"Just like yours, but it came on much quicker and she died, as a result, all in that first day."

"Double two."

"Alley out back of the counterpart's work. Found by her and a shift partner taking out the trash. No resulting headache."

"Double three."

"Dumped outside the hospital counterpart was working at. Found by him and his EMT partner upon leaving at the end of their shift. Resulting headache came on like yours a day later but not as intense. Madam LeVou tried a few different treatments before finding the one that worked."

"Double four."

"Middle of an obscure jogging trail counterpart was fond of. Found by counterpart and his girlfriend who decided to join him for his morning jog. Resulting headache exactly like yours."

"Double five."

"Path by a wash counterpart often used as a shortcut to get to her apartment. Found by a couple of teens. Counterpart never saw the body. Eyes reported closed upon discovery."

"Double six. Outside Day Division. Found by police officers who witnessed the van dumping the body. Resulting headache, yes. Double seven. Outside bank where counterpart was having a meeting. Counterpart never saw the body. Both bodies were discovered with their eyes open."

"First five were completely unrelated, but we have a theory that the last two are connected via the counterparts being future high-profile persons. Considering the major MO change in target, I would say the first five were trials, but there was no success on the Double Doctor's part unless there was another double between the fifth and sixth we found."

I stare at the list for a second. "Or the fifth was the success."

"What?"

"It's the only double that was found with its eyes closed."

"But it wasn't found by the counterpart."

"Neither were the last two."

"Counterpart never saw the body. Got halfway down the trail to the body and realized she dropped her keys. Went back to find them and found them. Was spotted by a friend from the apartment complex who offered her a ride the rest of the way."

"Forensics confirmed that?"

He shakes his head. "It was a rainy day. Any tracks left were gone by the time the boys found the body. And yes," he cuts off my objection, "We did question her."

"How do you know she didn't lie to you?"

"Yesterday in the car, when you were still against working with me, when I asked you those questions, why did you answer honestly?"

I open my mouth, but no words come out. I remember sitting there looking at him. I couldn't stop myself from answering. The answers had just come. Why had I answered honestly?

"So, yes, I'm sure."

"Okay, fine. Let's go with your theory. There's actually been eight double cases, the sixth was a success and the double body was never found or reported. We still have no idea what constitutes a success."

"We also don't know what their purpose is, outside of causing the counterparts headaches."

"What if the headaches are the result of failures?"

Miles tilts his head, looking at me quizzically. "How do you figure?"

"Everyone who looked at their double's eyes got a headache, but none of them were alone."

"I don't follow."

"When I looked into my double's eyes, I couldn't look away. I remember hearing Jeb or Elliot calling my name, but I couldn't look away or respond to them. It wasn't until Elliot waved his hand in front of my face to get my attention that I was able to look away."

Understanding flickers across Miles's face. "He physically broke the connection."

I nod. "I brushed off the fact that I was cold to the touch because the autopsy room is kept on the cooler side, but Jeb described how pale I got as being indicative of blood loss."

"Good thing she never reached her double's body."

"So, we have to figure out what happens if the connection isn't broken as well as figure out who got the sixth double that was a success. . . And confirm if there is a connection between double's seven and eight via the Jones' without any supporting evidence. We'd also have to find a way to connect them to the first six then."

"Not to mention find a way to question the Jones' without triggering a media frenzy or backlash," Miles adds.

We both fall silent. I stare at my list willing it to give me answers.

"Micaiah. He would be able to help, would he not? Or does he no longer practice?" Miles's desk partner asks, startling me. I hadn't noticed him return.

"Who?" I ask on impulse.

"Micaiah Cullen," he clarifies. "He has assisted Elijah and me on cases involving legal and technical matters before."

I look at Miles. "I'm sorry, the district attorney knows about the Night World?"

Miles makes a face. "We're currently not really on speaking terms."

I smirk. "Somehow, I'm not surprised to hear that." Miles shoots a glare at me. "Fine. What other lawyers know about Night World that we could talk to?"

"That's just it. Night World lawyers are Night World lawyers. Cullen is the only Night World lawyer that does both. . . at the level we need," he adds begrudgingly.

"Then let's go talk to him," I rise from the chair.

Miles shakes his head. "Absolutely not."

"Fine." I begin walking away.

"Where are you going?" Miles calls after me.

"To talk to DA Cullen. You can come with me or stay here, but I'm not letting your testosterone-fueled dominance display keep me from following leads. Honestly, it's a miracle you men get anything done without women around."