Page 26 of Psychic Obsession
Frode raised an eyebrow at him.
"Can we at least talk about it where we don't have an audience?"Nikolai gestured at a gaggle of girls who were heading their way.
"I have to get back to work."Hjalmar clapped Nikolai's shoulder."If he agrees to touch anything, you're driving him home."
They shared a look Frode did his best not to notice.Hjalmar was such a mother hen.
In the end, Nikolai nodded, and Frode wondered if someone slipped something into his beer since he followed Nikolai without further objections.Had to be drugs, right?
They walked in silence for several blocks.Nikolai kept glancing at him, and Frode kept ignoring him.
"So...Saylor?"
Frode met his gaze but said nothing.
"You...erm...have met him before."
"Since he's on the forensic team, he's touched a good portion of the things I touch for the police."
Nikolai frowned."Okay, but you've met him."
"Sure."He gestured back toward Overtime."Had lunch with him."
"You're gonna meet him again?"
"I would assume so."Not if he could avoid it.Though it was unfair to Saylor.He was a nice guy, or had appeared to be so far, at least.
"He likes you."Nikolai sidestepped a crack; his gaze fastened to the ground.
What was Frode supposed to answer?"I don't know.He's fascinated."It had little to do with Frode's personality.Saylor might like the way he looked; he wasn't sure, but he didn't know Frode.All he knew was he could touch things and see who'd touched them before him.As someone who'd dedicated their life to finding clues, it must be alluring to picture all the ways such a skill could be used.
"Fascinated?"Nikolai frowned at him.
Frode shrugged.It sounded conceited to talk about himself as something people were enthralled by, but some people got excited about psychics.
* * * *
Chapter 7
They walked up the stairs to the homicide floor.The door to Medlin's office was open, as it most often was, and Isaac was by his desk--not in the room they'd dedicated to the rug killer.
"Sunny."He shot to his feet, ignoring Nikolai as he walked toward them.Was he fascinated?Nikolai had been a little bewildered when Frode had said Saylor was fascinated.The Frode he knew wasn't full of himself, and he hadn't looked as if he took any joy in it, and yet he'd stated it so matter-of-factly.As if it were the truth.As if it happened a lot.
Looking at Isaac now, he took note of the glint in his eyes and wanted to snarl.
"Have you agreed to help us?"Isaac was bouncing around like an over-excited puppy.
"No."
Frode's brusque tone brought Isaac up short."No?"He looked between them.
"No one has explained anything to me, and I'm not agreeing to anything before I know what's going on, what it is you want me to touch, where the item has been before you got hold of it, and so on."
Isaac nodded."Yes, of course.Shall we take an empty room?"
"Unless you want to tell me here."Frode motioned around, black gloves visible for everyone to see.Maybe no one cared, but now Nikolai had noticed them, he had a hard time looking away.
Isaac shrugged."We'd like you to touch three rugs."
