Jupiter’s Bones. Faye Kellerman

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      “Recently?”

      “Three, four days ago.”

      “Ah,” Marge said. That explained the needle marks. At least, that was her explanation. She said, “What can you tell me about the bottle of vodka—”

      “Ordinarily, Jupiter did not drink. So if he drank himself … himself comatose … or … or dead …” She gulped air. “It could have only been for the purpose of transporting himself to a higher level of faith.”

      Transporting himself. Marge would have to get back to that one. “Did you see the bottle in view when you went to wake him up?”

      Venus shook her head.

      Marge said, “Let me review for a moment. Just see if I have it right. You went into Jupiter’s bedroom around five in the morning to wake him for prayers. He was sitting upright—”

      “Semiupright.”

      “Semiupright,” Marge corrected herself. “You called out to him and he didn’t answer. You went to shake him awake, and he slumped over, head over the edge of the mattress. At that point, you screamed, and Pluto came in. Is that accurate so far?”

      “Yes.”

      “Did Pluto come in alone?”

      “I believe so. But within seconds, there was a crowd. It was horrible.” Her eyes welled up with tears. “Just … dreadful.”

      “Then someone brought you back here, to your bedroom, correct?”

      “One of my attendants—Alpha-two, if I’m not mistaken.”

      “Alpha-two is your attendant’s name?”

      “All my attendants are Alphas.”

      “Do they wear vests and robes like Jupiter’s attendants?”

      A slight smile. It gave light to her face. Venus said, “Someone explained the color-coding to you. No. My attendants wear white robes with pink collars. They are privileged among the women, but none of them are as privileged as Jupiter’s attendants. This is a male-dominated society. You are told that upfront. Besides, it doesn’t affect me. As Jupiter’s chosen mother, I’m second in command … well, I guess at the moment, I’m officially in command although temporarily Pluto is handling things. Until I can compose myself. But that’s only temporary. I have no intention of letting Pluto step into Jupiter’s shoes. I don’t believe that even Pluto wants that onerous responsibility.”

      Marge nodded, scribbling down the cult’s pecking order. “Who will succeed Jupiter?”

      “I don’t know who could possibly succeed him. As far as I know, Father Jupiter did not leave any line of succession. And with his sudden death …” Venus’s eyes darted from side to side. “It will have to be worked out. But I assure you the Order of the Rings of God will remain intact. We owe it to Father Jupiter to further his ideals of love, charity and spirituality.”

      “Lofty goals.”

      “From a lofty man.”

      “One more thing,” Marge said. “Pluto came back to your room to tell you the news.”

      “Correct.”

      “Do you recall the time?”

      “Around a half hour later. So maybe it was five-thirty. But I wasn’t clocking him.”

      “Of course. So as best as you can remember, Pluto came to your room and told you the news about five-thirty?”

      “I suppose.” She buried her face in her hands, then looked up. “It all happened very quickly … very surreal. I still can’t believe … I knew he hadn’t been himself, but …”

      “Hadn’t been himself in what way?” Marge asked.

      “He wasn’t exactly ill, but he seemed … drained. He hadn’t been in his ordinarily high spirits for least six months. And he often held his head—like he had a bad headache. I was concerned. But when I asked him about it, he shrugged me off and assured me it was all very normal. That it was part of the process.”

      “What process?”

      Venus eyed Marge. “If I told you, you’d scoff. All the violators scoff.”

      “Try me.”

      Again Venus hesitated. “Part of the communication process with the beyond. Father Jupiter knew that his body was being tapped of its life energies because he had begun to make serious contact with the forces.”

      Again, the room fell silent.

      Venus said, “You wouldn’t understand. You couldn’t understand.”

      Marge tried to keep skepticism out of her voice. “What kind of forces?”

      Venus waved her off.

      “Please. I want to understand, Venus. Who had Jupiter contacted?” Maybe someone was threatening him. “Tell me.” Keep the voice even, Dunn. “Were they humans? Were they aliens?”

      To Marge, it appeared that Venus was appraising her sincerity. Finally, the alluring woman said, “Not aliens as you perceive them—little beeping things with five eyes and antennas.”

      Her voice became intense.

      “For about six months, Jupiter had been receiving signals … electromagnetic waves that he felt were coming from an alternative universe. He was particularly excited because these signals were not classic Big Bang background radiation. You know … stuff given off when the universe was created. They seemed to be organized signals. How he could tell, I don’t know. But that’s why Jupiter was Jupiter. Only a man of his scope could interpret such things.”

      Marge tapped her pad. “He was a brilliant man.”

      Venus’s expression took on a slight sneer—the upward curve of her lips, the roll of her eyes. “An understatement, Detective.”

      Marge ignored the condescension. “Tell me about these signals, Venus.”

      The young woman’s smile was patient. All in all, Venus appeared cooperative.

      “Jupiter said these were far-away stellar signals—many, many light-years away. So distant that they may have come from the original creation of matter. When the universe was still in ten dimensions instead of four. You know about the four dimensions, don’t you—length, width, depth and time as a function of space. Space time. Einsteinian time. Do you know about Einstein’s special theory of relativity? E equals MC squared?”

      “I wasn’t great in science,” Marge said. “Maybe you could skip the equations and just tell me in layman’s terms about the signals?”

      The female guru seemed relieved and went on. “According to Jupiter, there are other universes that parallel our own. You get to them through the СКАЧАТЬ