She paused again. "You must understand, Lieutenant. In my business-"
"Please, Ms. Cassiday"-he spoke clearly so that his tape recorder would pick up all his words-"don't tell me anything about your business. If you do I'll have to cut this short."
She gazed at him. "You want to ask specific questions?"
"That would make things easier."
She considered the proposal, then shook her head. "We'll do it my way.
I'll tell you a story. You can take it as a parable… or any way you like."
"Fine, we'll try that." He thought: With this woman, everything's a power play.
She puffed again, then began. Her phrasing was elegant, her voice subdued:
"About two and a half years ago an attractive young woman came to see me. A talented artist, she'd been referred by one of my employees.
This girl told me she wanted to learn the game. That's what we call what we do." Diana paused. "Well, I looked her over, asked her some questions, decided I liked her and agreed to break her in. As it turned out, she trained nicely. She had talent. I'd say she was a natural, if it's possible to use a tenn like that to describe somebody with a genius for our particular line of work. To make a long story short, within a few weeks she became my top producer. She seemed to know just what to do and her timing was always impeccable. It was as if she harbored a lot of anger, mostly hidden from view, but apparent when she let down her guard. Later, when I saw one of her sketches, I felt that anger again. I believe she used it to fuel herself. I asked her about that once. ' do you happen to be so good at the game?" She thought a bit before she answered. ' think it's because it's dangerous,' she replied."
Diana turned to Janek. "Finding this interesting, Lieutenant?"
"Fascinating." Diana purred, then continued with her story:
"After a few months I began to notice something else about this girl.
For us, you see, the game is a business, a way to make a living. But for her it was clearly more. She got something special out of it.
Exactly what, I'm not quite sure, but I think I'd be safe if I called it … pleasure. You see, Lieutenant, she genuinely liked the work, liked every single aspect of it. The power to seduce, the power to control.
She even enjoyed writing on their skins." Diana looked knowingly at Janek. "I assume you know what I'm talking about?"
"I do. But we won't discuss it."
Diana grinned. "Of course not!" She settled back. "This girl also had a special way of writing. She could write in mirror-reverse as quickly as any of the others could write in normal script. Amazing when you think about it." Diana paused. "She's the one you're looking for."
Janek nodded. "Where do I find her?"
"I don't know. She left me, set up shop for herself."
As Diana spoke, her manner changed. Whatever grace she'd displayed before gave way to a deeply felt fury. It was as if, Janek thought, a terrible blizzard had begun to blow in the middle of a summer day. He had no difficulty imagining Diana smiling as she raised a razor to punish one of her girls for recalcitrance.
"You resented that, of course," he said.
"She became a competitor. How would you have felt?"
"Probably the same."
"Disloyalty's disloyalty." Diana bit off the word. "Once she'd sucked me dry, she left without a fare-thee-well."
It was such a quaint expression, Janek could only smile. But Diana didn't notice; she was reliving Gelsey's betrayal.
"At first I was glad to be rid of the bitch. I like a girl with a good professional attitude. This one was just too passionate-if you know what I mean."
"Could you mean… too smart?"
She hummed. "Perhaps that, too."
"Look, Ms. Cassiday, it's urgent I talk to her. Why don't you just tell me where she lives?"
"You don't believe me, Lieutenant? The truth is I really don't know.
She was secretive about almost everything, especially her address. She even refused to give me her telephone number. I told her that wouldn't do, that she couldn't work for me unless she was reachable day or night.
But in the end it worked out. If I asked her to call and confirm an appointment, she never let me down." Diana shook her head. "A strange girl. Unique. She's obsessed with mirrors. That's where all that mirror writing comes from. She can't pass a mirror without gazing into it. But, funny thing, when she does, I don't think she looks at herself. "
"What does she look at?"
"The rest of us. I think she likes to look at us in mirrors rather than deal with us as we are." "And how are we?" Janek asked.
Diana laughed. "You're asking how I view my fellow man? This interview is turning out to be more interesting than I expected."
"So, what's your answer?"
Diana pondered. As she did, her eyes, it seemed to him, enlarged. "I suppose I see the world as a fairly pitiless place," she said carefully,
"where, in any encounter, one must move quickly for advantage knowing the other person most likely is doing the same. I admit it's not a pleasant vision, but I believe it's accurate. The will to power-or should I say overpower?-is, in my view, the most potent drive we have."
She paused. "Now that I've answered, do you mind if I ask a question of my own?"
"Go ahead." She paused. "There're rumors about this man who was killed downtown.
What was his name?"
"Dietz."
"Yes, Dietz. There's a rumor."
Janek went on guard. "What rumor?"
"That he was carrying something… valuable. Is it true?"
Janek shrugged. He decided to annoy her. "Where did you hear that?"
"It's all over town." Oh, you're slick. "What is?"
"The rumor."