Killer's Gambit (Psychic For Hire 3)

“And how and why am I going to do that? You’re a killer in a supermax. It seems to me that you’re exactly where you belong.”

“I am not where I belong,” he snapped. “I did not murder Leonie.”

It surprised me that he called her by her name rather than just ‘that girl’. Leonie Ashbeck was the name of his victim. She had been eighteen years old. Why did I always seem to be chasing after girls who had been targeted by monsters? Why couldn’t these goddamn monsters target their own beastly peers for once?

There had been not much else about Leonie in the file. No photos. I wondered what she had looked like. Whatever that had been, I couldn’t imagine any teenage human girl would have consorted with this cruel-faced vampire if she had really known the monster he was.

“You seriously expect me to believe that you really cared about Leonie Ashbeck?”

“I care nothing for what you think.”

“Clearly you do.”

“I didn’t murder her,” he repeated, looking me right in the eyes.

“I’ll just take your word for it, shall I?”

“You don’t need to,” he said with a smug smile. “Given that you’re a psychic.”

I frowned. How the heck did he know that? It’s not like I’d been advertising the fact. “A psychic, huh? Why would you think that?”

“My friends told me.”

I took a meaningful look around his cell. “I bet you have a lot of friends.”

“Enough to count. It’s where they are that matters.”

I wondered if this was meant to be a threat. “And where’s that?” I asked.

“Interesting places.”

“Gosh, you just love to give people the old dance-around. I bet you were fun in your day. Why did you want me to come and see you, Mr Ronin?”

“Because you can help me.”

“Why me specifically? Where did you get my name?”

“You looked me up,” he said. “On a computer.”

“So?”

“I like to keep an eye on those who are keeping an eye on me. My friends alerted me to it. You took an interest in my case. Why? Is it because you sensed I was innocent?”

“So how does that work? Do you have some sort of alert set up to ping on google every time someone types in your name?”

“Wouldn’t the world be an interesting place if it was that simple? You would know the name of every man who had a crush on you, and I bet a lot of men have crushes on you.”

“Are you flirting with me?”

“I always flirt with beautiful women.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“Can you blame a man for trying?”

“Sorry old pal. I didn’t see a thing that pointed to your innocence.”

He looked ever so slightly disappointed at this news, but he masked it quickly. “No matter. I want you to look into my case and find out who really killed Leonie.”