The Hilton in downtown Boston, Patricia Hoagland's room.
    She sat comfortably in one of the overstuffed chairs, wearing one of her trademark outfits. The man in the facing chair, whose entire bearing screamed "important reporter," said, "I'm just so glad that I was able to get the opportunity to speak with you about your book before you had to leave, I understand you're flying out tomorrow."
    "Yes, I am. Normally I wouldn't give this sort of a private, unscheduled interview, but... I have to admit, you intrigue me," she smiled slightly.
    He smiled back. "I have that effect on a lot of women, ma'am."
    "Miss."
    "Miss. Of course. How could I have... forgotten. So why don't you tell me about yourself? Your early days, days in archaeology, the mastery that you have over a variety of different art forms? Not the writing per se, I want to get a more detailed feeling as to your origins," the reporter suggested.
    The door exploded inward.
    The reporter, showing remarkable although not quite cat-like reflexes, had already hurled himself to the floor with a chair between him and the door. Standing in the doorway were an Irish woman in a skin-tight costume and an orangutan wearing a beret.
    "Ah, Mademoiselle," Rue Morgue bared his teeth in what might have been supposed to be a smile. "I just had a brief conversation with my employer, or business partner as it were, and he wants to know why you killed our friend."
    Larry poked his head out from behind the chair with an astonished look. "She killed him?"
    Hoagland stood up, staring at her visitors as she spread her arms wide. "I am not sure how you came to that conclusion, but let me tell you that there's nothing that you're going to be able to do to me once I—aaaaugh!" It looked as if she was attempting to access some sort of mystical energy, and something had gone wrong. She fell to her knees. "The crows!! They're gathering!!"
    Ley Lady bent down and placed her hands on the floor. The wave of telekinetic force threw Hoagland across the room, through the large window; its glass shredded her outfit, revealing a pair of huge black wings which had been hidden by the voluminous cloth. She caught herself mid-fall, flapped hard a couple of times, and was gone.
    Ley Lady and Rue Morgue walked over to the window and looked out.
    "Hm. Well, I have to admit I wasn't expecting that," the ape admitted.
    "I'll be damned," Larry murmured. "She grew wings and flew away. I wonder if she knew who I was."
    "Who was that talking? There's a witness here!"
    The two spun around, to see only the reporter's jacket and false moustache on the chair.
    "Who was that man?"

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