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Faith frowned slightly. As far as she knew, the details of the case hadn’t been released to the public. “How did you know that?”
“I deduced it, dear!” Nina said cheerily. “The news reports were very clear. Three women found in different poses with different colors of powder on their naked bodies. I, of course, am very familiar with the tenets of alchemy and the formula for the Magnum Opus.” She straightened in a manner that reminded Faith of a peacock ruffling its feathers. “It was obvious to me right away that the victims were dealt with as sacrifices to create the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“Let’s start there,” Faith said. “What specifically does the killer expect to happen? He’ll take his fourth victim and then a glowing rock will descend from the sky and grant him eternal life?”
Nina laughed. “I doubt that. Well, he might expect that, I suppose, but more than likely, he doesn’t knowwhatto expect. The literature really isn’t clear on how the Philosopher’s Stone manifests itself. In early records, the Magnum Opus wasseemingly believed to be exactly what it appears to be on the surface, a way to turn lead into gold. In fact, it was the Chinese who first suspected that the Magnum Opus could be a tool to gain eternal life.”
Faith raised an eyebrow. “The Chinese?”
Nina smiled. The toothy grin reminded Faith rather disturbingly of a shark. “This is a little-known fact that I will be exposing to the general public when I release my book, but yes. In nearly every aspect, the true power of alchemy was discovered first by the Chinese. The West didn’t arrive at the same conclusions for hundreds of years in most cases.”
“You sound like you believe in this,” Michael said, semi-seriously.
Nina sipped her tea and gave him a conspiratorial look. “Let’s just say I think the universe hides secrets not easily explained by science.”
Michael and Faith exchanged a look. Faith wasn’t sure that they’d be content to leave it at that. Something was poking around in the back of Faith’s mind about Nina. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she was beginning to feel suspicion that went beyond simple wariness.
“Is our killer following a Chinese tradition?” Faith asked.
"Oh no. Goodness no. No, he is Western all the way. I'm simply pointing out that the Western understanding of alchemy is limited. The Chinese are the ones who truly understand the secrets. At least, they were the first to learn the secrets. The West lagged behind, and I'm convinced I learned the truth only by accident."
She sipped her tea and said, “For example, the alchemical formula to produceaqua vitae, the healing serum that can mend even fatal wounds with only a sip, was initially created by Western alchemists to get themselves drunk without waiting for alcohol to ferment. Imagine their shock when they drank itand found their wounds closing and their aches and pains fading from their bodies!”
“Youreallysound like you believe this,” Michael said.
Nina sighed. “I suppose since you press me, I can’t say that I believe a simple ritual will grant one eternal life. But Idobelieve that the spiritual traditions of the ancients had some tangible benefit to their lives. Else why would so many have believed in them for so long? You're talking about traditions that were a central part of cultures ranging from Britain to Japan for several times longer than the United States has existed as a nation, traditions that survived the rise and fall of multiple empires and remained relatively unchanged in practice. The earliest Western texts on turning lead into gold are nearly identical to the most recent texts detailing how to find eternal life. It's fascinating. The result changes, but the method of achieving that result stays the same. It's one of very few cases in history where the reverse isn't the case."
“So back to the killer,” Faith said. “Why is he killing people? Do all alchemical traditions call for victims to be sacrificed?”
Nina sipped more of her tea and shook her head. “No. Some require animal sacrifices. Many call for the summoner to spill his own blood. A few even call for the alchemist to prepare all four humors, then stab himself through the heart so that he dies on top of the prepared symbols. Then he will awaken as an eternal spirit. Much like the ancient tradition of vampirism. In fact, there are some scholars who believe that vampirism is the result of an ancient ritual designed to create demons while the Magnum Opus is an ancient ritual designed to create angels.”
“But the tradition our killer is following,” Faith said, trying once more to bring the conversation back into focus. “Is one that requires human sacrifice.”
“Now that is interesting,” Nina said, wagging a finger as though instructing a student. “There are no traditions thatexplicitly call for sacrifice of the human variety. However, the traditions of the Early Renaissance hint strongly that the humors must be attached to thevita vi. The life force. This led many practitioners of the art to assume that sacrifice was required. And, as is so often typical of human societies, the sacrifices preferred were virgin girls.”
“Are there records of the sacrifices being posed naked in the shapes of the symbols?”
“Not posed, but always naked. In Western tradition—in fact, in many traditions—the naked form of a young female is considered the pinnacle of beauty. This really isn’t surprising when one considers how patriarchal most human cultures are. What do men value more than the female form?”
Nina was clearly more interested in talking to someone about alchemy than she was in helping them catch the killer. Faith was beginning to wonder if they were wasting their time. She would try a little longer to coax some useful information out of her, but if Nina kept insisting on following rabbit trails, Faith might cut her losses.
“Our victims weren’t virgins, though,” Faith said. “So what criteria might he be following?”
“Specifically,” Michael asked, “what will he look for in his next victim?”
“And what kind of person is he in general? Who should we be looking for?”
"Well," Nina said, sipping her tea. "The next victim will be a woman like the other women. Probably of similar age and attractive in appearance. And as for the kind of person?" Her eyes grew almost dreamy. "They will be brilliant, inquisitive, curious. They will eschew blunt mathematical knowledge and concern themselves with the hidden truths of the world. And, of course,hemight be ashe. I find that the female mind is often more open to the hidden truths than the male mind.”
The alarm in Faith’s head rang again, a little louder this time. She looked at Michael and saw the same question on his face.
But surely, they couldn’t have found their killer by accident like this, could they?
Turk got to his feet suddenly. He stared at the winding staircase that led to the second floor of Nina’s house.
“Got something, boy?” Faith asked.
Turk trotted to the foot of the stairs. He sniffed at the bottom step, then bounded up to the second floor.
