“This is Ephraim, from Internal Affairs.” The demon’s voice was clipped and hurried, giving the impression that I was the one who’d called him and interrupted something. I found it amusing that he’d called me rather than speak in person. More efficient, I guessed.

I sat down at a picnic table. “What can I do for you?”

“Nothing, I’m sure. But I’ve been instructed to interview all lesser immortals in the area about The Jerome Situation.” I could hear the capitalized letters in his voice, kind of like The Manhattan Project. “First, I’d like to know where you were when Jerome disappeared.”

“On my way to Canada. Jerome had been lending me out to help Cedric.”

There was a moment’s pause. “My records say that Cedric was in Seattle when Jerome disappeared.”

“Well, when I left, Cedric was still up there, yeah. But then when the Army of Darkness did their thing on the Space Needle, I called Cedric because I figured he’d want to know. I thought that was when he came down here.”

“Did you say Army of Darkness?”

“Um, yeah. It’s this cult in Vancouver that was doing embarrassing things.”

“Ah. The ones with the spray paint.”

“Yup. I’d been helping Cedric with them, and when he heard they were down here, I guess he came to talk to Jerome and do some damage control so Jerome wouldn’t think he’d sent them.”

“Your information’s incorrect. Cedric never met with Jerome.”

“What?” I frowned, thinking back to my conversation with Kristin. I’d asked if Cedric had come to talk to Jerome, and while she’d confirmed that he’d been down here, she hadn’t mentioned them actually speaking.

“When Cedric came, Jerome was already missing. He and Mei attempted to find him, and when the lesser immortals began showing the effects of the summoning, we knew what had happened.” Ephraim’s words were still brisk. Clearly, he had no interest in discussing what he already knew.

I was close to something here—so, so close. Had Jerome been summoned before Cedric arrived? That would rule him out as the summoner. Of course, if Ephraim had received his information from Cedric, then it could have been a lie. Maybe Cedric was being framed. Maybe he’d actually been here the exact moment Jerome was summoned. Mentioning Mei meant that she had probably corroborated Cedric’s story. Which meant what, exactly? Was she in on this too? I knew Grace was involved already. It was possible Mei and Cedric were working with her, but that meant three demons were in the conspiracy now. There was only one reward in Seattle, and I couldn’t see how they’d all benefit. Getting a large group of demons to organize was hard. Getting them to do it when it offered no advantage for all of them? Impossible.