Page 48 of Master A-0011
“It’s more than that!” He went back, jerking Quincy forward. “Confirm what I already know. Say it! Who’s the woman with the red hair? Pearl said…Pearl…the woman.” His head gave a hardjerk, only for it to happen again. Elec blinked rapidly, and the words that left him were not of our language. I’d heard it before, but never like this. It was a joining in sounds. Words slurring and almost…looping. His tone went dead to a level that made my hands fly up to my ears. It sounded…wrong. Terrifying. It went for a minute. Two. Longer and longer.
My eyes rolled as I pushed against my ears. It felt hard to breathe. Harder to focus. I began humming out loud, doing what I could to drown him out. It wasn’t until I managed to open my eyes that I realized the Main Master was standing.
“What color is the sky?”
“Blue.”
“What is your name?”
“Quincy Mallory.”
“You will tell me who this woman is with red hair.”
“Woman. Hair.”
Elec held his face, squeezing as he made Quincy meet his eyes.
“A name.Quincy Mallory, you will tell me who this woman is with red hair.”
“Red. Claudia.”
“Yes. She wanted you to kill Claudia.”
“Yes.”
I let my hands fall the rest of the way as I slowly walked closer to the men. Quincy was staring at Elec. He appeared to be in a daze, not crying anymore.
“Why did this woman want you to kill Claudia?”
“She…No. Didn’t say.”
Elec appeared to squeeze tighter.
“Did you kill Vivia too?”
“Viv…no.”
“Take me back to the day you heard she died. You were in your study?—”
“No.”
Elec crouched, getting inches from his face.
“What do you mean, no? You were in your study with Pearl when Carmela showed up hysterical.”
“No. I was on my boat.”
Elec’s head shook.
“That can’t be right. Tell me about the woman with red hair. I know who she is. Pearl said something about her voice.A voice like mine.That can only be one person. Why did she want you to kill Claudia?”
“Affair.”
“No. That’s not true. Claudia was not having an affair with my father.”
“No. She was having one with me.”
For a moment Elec didn’t talk.