Our Lady of the Ice Read Online Free PDF Page B

parlor with a mirrored chandelier and a series of closed doors. Above one of the doors hung a cross wrapped in red lace; Eliana blinked, not expecting something like that in such a wealthy house.
    The library was almost all window. Hardly any books, just a table looking out over the ocean of grass. The safe was set into the lone non-windowed wall, its door hanging open at an angle.
    “I didn’t touch anything.”
    Lady Luna’s voice was like a wind chime. Eliana turned around. Lady Luna stood in the doorway, her hair falling around her shoulders.
    “That helps. Thanks.”
    “This is Luciano,” she said, walking forward. “You said you might want to talk to him.”
    Eliana looked at the andie, unsure of how to act around him. It?
    “It would be my pleasure,” the andie said. “Although I don’t think I know anything of value.”
    “You’d be surprised,” Eliana said.
    Lady Luna and the andie stood side by side, watching her.
    “If you give me a minute,” she said, “I’m just gonna poke around here, and then I’ll talk to—to him.”
    Lady Luna nodded. She put her hand on the andie’s arm, and they both turned away. It was a small gesture, an intimate one, and it made Eliana uncomfortable.
    Lady Luna dropped her hand to her side as if she knew what Eliana was thinking.
    Eliana turned back to the safe. She reminded herself of the stack of money she’d locked away in her own safe back at the office; then she knelt down on the carpet, moving slowly, her eyes scanning the room. Everything seemed in its place except for the safe, but Eliana had already learned that sometimes you had to look beyond the surface of things. She didn’t have the equipment to dust for fingerprints, but something told her she wouldn’t find any anyway. She had to look close .
    She felt around on the carpet in front of the safe. Nothing. The fuzzy artificial light made it difficult to see, so she straightened up and walked over to a nearby lamp. Lady Luna was sitting in a chair, her arm draped over the side. The andie was gone.
    “I’m going to borrow this,” Eliana said, and before Lady Luna could answer, she yanked the cord out of the wall and dragged the lamp across the room. She plugged it in closer to the safe and shone the light on the floor, where she uncovered a solar system of dust and flakes of grass. Nothing of interest. She directed the light into the safe. Nothing there, either.
    Eliana sat back on her heels. “I’d like to talk to the andie now, if you don’t mind.” She glanced over her shoulder at Lady Luna, who stared at her from across the room.
    “Yes, of course.” Lady Luna leaned forward toward the coffee table and rested her fingers on top of a brass paperweight in the shape of a shell. It didn’t fit in with the rest of the library. Too old-fashioned. It made a loud clicking noise when she pressed on it.
    A few moments later, the andie appeared in the doorway.
    Eliana hesitated. He looked so much like a person. But she still found him unnerving—the placid dark eyes, the inexpressive mouth. He didn’t move the way a person would, didn’t shift his weight, didn’t tap his fingers against his thigh.
    She took a deep breath.
    “What exactly did you hear last night?”
    The andie glanced at Lady Luna, machine-quick.
    “Nothing,” he said.
    “Nothing at all?”
    “Nothing unusual.”
    “What’s usual?”
    The andie took on a blank expression. His eyes went slack. Eliana was aware of Lady Luna standing up, her arms wrapped around her chest like she was cold.
    “Wind,” the andie said. “The maintenance drones increase it at night. The grass, of course. A handful of animals.”
    “Animals?”
    “Yes, field mice. Owls.”
    “You have owls out here?” The city dome had rats and spiders. Eliana’d seen pictures of an owl once and hadn’t realized they’d been imported into Antarctica.
    “Of course.”
    “So are you sure you didn’t hear anything that you mistook to be an animal?”
    Lady