"Extremely. Can you control your own subconscious?"

"Extremely. Can you control your own subconscious?"

"That would be a good way of putting it, yes."

"And he'd have to be unusually strong in order to control it, because he'd be trying to control a part of

himself that most people don't have any control over at all?"

Ramirez nodded. "Correct. It would take not only enormous skill in order to effect the spell, but

enormous discipline, as well. A demon, even though it's a part of you, your subconscious, could easily

destroy you. Just as anyone's subconscious can, under the proper circumstances."

"Sounds pretty scary," Loomis said.

"It is that."

"You ever try it?"

"Conjuring up a demon is against the law, Lieutenant. I wouldn't dare."

"Why? Because it's against the law? Or because you'd be afraid to?"

"Frankly, both."

"But you have the skill. That is, youcould do it."

"Yes, I suppose I could. And now your next question will be to ask me where I was last night."

"You had a small social gathering of people from the university at your home," Loomis said. "The party

didn't break up until almost four in the morning, by which time the victim was already dead. And if you

were casting a spell while you were there, I imagine someone would have noticed."

Ramirez stopped and stared at him. "You've already checked me out? I must say, I'm impressed,

Lieutenant. You're very thorough."

"Let's get back to this demon thing. You're saying that the girl could have been killed by a demon, but

that the necromancer wouldn't actually have had to be physically present? I mean, he could have

animated his subconscious and sent it out to do the job?"

"Yes, it's possible."

"Which means the killer could have been somewhere else at the time of the murder? That he could have

an alibi?"

"He could have been somewhere else, yes," Ramirez said, "but he would have been unable to cast the

spell or direct the entity with any witnesses present. Unless, of course, they were in collusion with him.

Such a spell would be very dangerous and complicated, to say nothing of being rather dramatic. It would

require a great deal of concentration. The demon would initially appear wherever the necromancer was,

and it would have to be contained within a warding pentagram before it could be directed. Not exactly