King of Murder by BYARS BETSY

Author:BYARS, BETSY
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2010-02-26T05:00:00+00:00

16

THE CANDLES OF TRANQUILITY

Mathias King stood in the doorway to his Den of Iniquity. He inhaled the scent of the room with a sense of pleasure.

Rooms dedicated to murder, he felt, had their own special scent—the way a library did, or a doctor’s office, or a hair salon, or ... well he could go on and on.

He stepped inside the room. He pressed the switch that flooded the room with light. The lights were concealed above the cabinets, for Mathias King liked to admire his possessions—but he would not use those lights when Herculeah came to tea. On that special occasion, a different lighting would be called for.

He did not let his eyes linger over his weapons as he usually did. The guns that had fired fatal bullets, the knives that had ended lives were ignored. Mathias King had something else on his mind—the Candles of Tranquility.

There were thirteen of the candles, placed around the room. Some were in sconces on the wall, some grouped on tables, some in tall, wrought-iron candlesticks.

They were all blood red—“scarlet” the lady at the shop had called them, but Mathias King felt blood red was a more appropriate name in this room. The candles were the same color as the heavy draperies at the end of the room.

“These particular candles give off the scent of poppies,” the lady had told him. “Some people have said the scent makes them tranquil.”

“I am not a man who values tranquility,” he had told the woman, “but perhaps some of my visitors would enjoy the sensation.”

“I’ll light one for you.”

She had produced a match and lit the candle.

Mathias King breathed in the scent of poppies, smiled, and said, “As I suspected, I am a man who is immune to tranquility.”

Mathias King cast his eyes over the entire room for one final time. Everything was in place. Everything was festive and inviting. He smiled, showing his pointed teeth.

The Den of Iniquity was ready for a tea party.

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