Killing Pretty by Richard Kadrey

top and the cover pops open. The watch shines, but it’s just cheap plastic in a metallic coating.
    Julie holds it up.
    â€œThere’s something stamped on the cover, but I can’t make it out.”
    She hands me the watch.
    I study it while Candy looks over my shoulder.
    On the inside of the cover is a skull with candles in the eye sockets and an open book in its mouth.
    â€œIt’s a necromancer’s mark,” I say.
    â€œThen maybe the kids weren’t partying,” says Candy. “Maybe they were part of the resurrection.”
    â€œMaybe, but this thing is a piece of shit. No professional Dead Head would carry something like this.”
    I hand Julie the watch. She looks it over.
    â€œThey sell things like this at flea markets and goth shops, don’t they?”
    â€œYou can buy them all over Hollywood Boulevard. Good luck tracking it down,” I say.
    â€œMaybe they weren’t professionals, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t necromancers,” says Candy.
    â€œIt’s possible,” says Julie. “May I keep this?”
    â€œOf course,” says Death.
    â€œMaybe I can pull some prints or DNA off it.”
    She puts it in a small container and places it in her bag.
    â€œI’m wondering something,” says Candy. “Could we use a spell to track where Death walked from? Maria, who gets the store videos, is a witch. She might be able to help us.”
    â€œThat’s not a bad idea,” says Julie.
    â€œYeah, it is,” I say. “If you backtrack Death, then you’re backtracking the knife, and I’ve seen what happens when you aim hoodoo at that thing. Let’s see what Julie comes up with before we get too Tinker Bell.”
    Julie arranges things in her bag.
    â€œAll right. I have plenty to work with right now. We’ll hold off on any spell work until I see what the physical evidence shows us. Do you have the knife with you?”
    â€œYou sure you want to take it?”
    â€œI’d like to examine it myself.”
    â€œBut no hoodoo and no Vigil?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œI’ll get it.”
    I go upstairs, dig the knife out of my coat, and bring it back down. Julie slips it in an evidence bag.
    â€œJust be careful,” I say.
    â€œI always am,” she says. There’s a note of irritation in her voice. I shut up.
    Julie puts the knife in her bag and takes out a plain white business envelope.
    Handing it to me, she says, “Here’s the five-­hundred-­dollar advance I promised you.”
    I open the envelope and look inside. It’s full of crisp, new twenties.
    â€œThanks,” I say, then to Candy, “It’s lobsters and Twinkies tonight, baby.”
    She takes the envelope and riffles through the bills.
    â€œMay I say something?” Death asks.
    â€œShoot,” Candy says, rolling up one of the bills like she’s smoking a cigar.
    â€œThere’s something else to consider. Trapped in this body, I can’t do my job of escorting souls from Earth. Essentially, I am no longer Death. But there must be a Death. It’s one of the fundamental laws of the universe.”
    â€œBut no one is dying,” says Julie.
    Death nods.
    â€œExactly. And yet there must be a Death. This leaves the question: Who has usurped my role and why isn’t he or she taking souls?”
    I think back to Marlowe and his bogeyman for a second, but let the thought drop.
    I give Death a look.
    â€œYou had to wait till now to bring this up. You just took a massive shit all over our feel-­good moment.”
    â€œI know,” says Death. “I’m somewhat famous for that.”
    â€œYou can fucking say that again,” yells Kasabian through the storage room wall. “Now, will you ­people fuck off so I can get some sleep?”
    J ULIE GOES HOME soon after the interview, but calls back a few hours later. She needs Candy and me on a quick