"That's a little bit better."
* * *
"You're off the hook," Lt. Bolger said as he sat down next to Arlene in the reading room below the antiques store.
"I beg your pardon. Off the hook?"
"For the murder of Meredith Blakely."
"I never knew I was on the hook."
"Never in my mind. But the sheriff seemed to have his heart set on naming you the killer. As you're probably aware now that you've moved back into the house, the forensics people found that the rear door had been forcibly opened, probably by a powerful person kicking the door just to the right of the handle."
"Yes, we became aware of that after we moved back in. We didn't know if it had been done by the killer or someone else. Betty has already had a carpenter come and repair the damage."
"We've also found the killer. And I believe we have enough evidence to get a conviction. He claims he has no memory of killing Blakely, but we have his blood-covered clothes. He tried to bury them in the woods, but a fox apparently smelled the blood and dug them up. A conservation officer came across the scene while the fox was trying to pull the plastic bag containing the clothes out of the burial location."
"He says he has no memory of committing the murder?"
"Yeah. He says he just woke up in his hotel room to find his clothes and hands covered in dried blood. I've heard some lame defenses in my time, but that's about the lamest, unless he's laying a foundation for an insanity defense."
"It seems I've heard about that defense being used in this area before."
"Okay, where are you going with this, Madam Arlene?"
"We know there's been a significant spike in homicides in this county over the past eleven years or so."
"Yes. That's true."
"In how many homicide cases during that time has the suspect claimed not to remember doing the deed?"
"I don't know. Maybe one or two."
"Would it be easy to find out?"
"I guess. I'd have to run a search of the computer records."
"Will you do that?"
"Tell me why."
"I can't. Not just yet. But I promise to tell you as soon as I can."
"Are you suggesting there might be some truth in what Macrone is saying?"
"Is that the suspect's name?"
"Yes. William Macrone."
"I promise to tell you as soon as I can, if you perform the search. I'm pretty sure what the results will be."
"Okay, I give up. What will the results be?"
"I'm going to let you tell me when you know them."
Lt. Bolger looked at her intently. He knew she wasn't going to tell him unless he performed the search. With anyone else, he probably would have forgotten about the request before he returned to his office, but Madam Arlene was a breed apart from other twenty-one-year-olds. She didn't seem the type that made frivolous requests. And she had piqued his curiosity. He nodded and stood up, then left without another word.
After Bolger had gone, Renee said, "Kamet?"
"It sounds like it."
"Was he after you?"
"I don't know. He's had plenty of opportunities to come at me if he wanted to. My only defense is that I'll definitely know it's him when he comes. I'm reasonably certain he can't both manipulate the host and hide his aura."
"What are we going to do?" Madam Elana asked. "We can't let another innocent person be punished for something they had no control over."
"That's what I was thinking when I asked Richard to perform that search. I'm hoping the number of people who claimed not to be aware of what happened will be significant enough to raise concerns and possible doubts about the convicted people's guilt. We'll just have to wait and see. I wonder if Erin and Megan have found Nancy Talburt yet. Shouldn't they have called by now?"
"It's three hours earlier there," Renee said. "They're probably just leaving the motel about now."
"Well, at least we know they're safe from Kamet," Madam Elana said.
"I hope so," Arlene said.
"They have to be," Madam Elana said. "They're twenty-five hundred miles from here."
"I hope that's enough."
* * *
Chapter Twelve
"Have you figured out where we are yet?" Erin asked.
"We're in San Jose," Megan replied.
"We knew that already. But where in San Jose are we?"
"We're in the area bounded by Routes 880, 101, 280, and 87. And we just passed a sign that read East Santa Claus Street, but I don't see that on the map. What a minute, there's an East Santa Clara street on the map. Maybe that's what they meant. The GPS feature on my phone says keep going straight for three intersections and turn left."
"Okay," Megan said a minute or so later after they had turned left, "Now turn right at the second intersection."
After Erin had made the turn, Megan said, "It should be on the left side somewhere along here."
Erin slowed the car so they could read the street numbers.
"There it is!" Megan said excitedly. "There it is."
"Okay, now let's find a parking spot."
Having arrived quite late in San Jose the previous day, the two women hadn't wanted to call on the Talburts, so they had found a nice motel and then gone out for a late dinner, leaving this chore until morning. It was now just after ten a.m.
"This is a nice house," Megan said as they approached the front door. "A little small maybe but nice."
"The houses are small around here because the prices are astronomical. When you add in the fact that the taxes in this state are already the highest of all the states in the entire country, it's amazing anyone still lives here at all. I've read that a great many of the largest companies have already moved their plants out of the state. One company even moved their corporate headquarters to Canada, and a number of other companies are building plants elsewhere with plans to move away as soon as the new plants are built. The legislators in this state are taxing themselves and the citizens into oblivion."
"But they do have nice weather," Megan said.
"Yes, they do have nice weather. That's about the only attraction these days."
As Megan pressed the doorbell, the door opened wide, and a woman of about thirty-five looked at them for a couple of seconds before saying, "Erin and Megan?"
"Yes," Erin said. "How did you know?"
"Delores Mendez called me last night. It was the first time in years I'd heard from her. She said you were on your way up here."
"And your answer is?"
Stepping back out of the way, she said, "Please, come in."
As Erin and Megan entered the house, Nancy Talburt said, "The living room is on the left. Please make yourselves comfortable. I'll be with you in just a minute."
Meg and Erin sat down to await the reappearance of Mrs. Talburt. It seemed a long wait, but when she returned she was carrying a tray with cups, creamer, sugar, and a teapot with steam rising from its spout.
"Would you ladies care for some tea?"
"Yes, thank you," both said almost in unison.
An awkward silence ensued after the women fixed their tea. It lasted almost a full minute until Nancy Talburt said, "I lay awake almost all night thinking about Lake Georgina and the terrible curse we called forth. I'm sure that by now, many people have died at the hands of Kamet."
"And they continue to die," Erin said. "A female reporter was killed just recently. We learned last night that the killer claims to have no memory of the event. He says he awoke with blood-stained hands, his clothes saturated with her blood."
"My God, will it never end?"
"Not unless we make it end. Did Delores fill you in on current events?"
"She told me you intend to send Kamet back to Hell. She said you believe you have the right chant, know the correct procedure, and that your friend Madam Arlene is a powerful spiritualist."
"All true. Did she also tell you that we need you to come back?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"I can't adequately describe how much the thought of returning to face Kamet terrifies me. Simona was a powerful presence in the coven, and yet we never saw her again after our attempt to banish Kamet. I know that thanks to your friend, her remains have been located and laid to rest. But I can't return to Lake Georgina. I swore I would never go back when I left ten years ago. I believe I'm safe out here. I'm married now and I have a little girl who just turned seven. If I were to return to Lake Georgina and I died, she'd be left motherless. I couldn't do that to her."
"Oculara has been raised without a mother," Erin said. "I can't help but wonder how many other children have lost their parents to Kamet since you helped free him and loosed him on the innocent people of Lake Georgina— and how many more will lose their parents in the future. If we don't stop him, Kamet will continue to kill and kill and kill until all of the original coven members have died of old age. Do you want all the orphaned children who are the real victims of Kamet's violence on your conscience for the next fifty or sixty years?"
Nancy Talburt put down her cup and began crying into her hands. Erin and Megan, although wishing they could rush over to her and try to comfort her, just sat and watched. They had endeavored to make her feel guilty and knew that to offer solace now might undo the somber mood Erin's words had created. Arlene and Madam Elana had emphasized how important the presence of Delores Mendez and Nancy Whittaker was at the ceremony. They had been unsuccessful with Delores Mendez, so they desperately needed Nancy Whittaker-Talburt's return to Lake Georgina for the exorcism.
"If it's any comfort, Nancy," Erin said, "It's unlikely in the extreme that Kamet would attempt to take your life."
Mrs. Talburt lifted her head, used a napkin to dab at her eyes, and said, "What do you mean?"
"Kamet draws his power in the form of ethereal energy from the combined energy of the coven members who freed him from the Underworld. When he killed Simona, he was weakened irreparably. He learned that if he kills any of the coven, his powers will be weakened still further, so he won't do that again if he can avoid it. Instead, he'll probably come after Megan, myself, Madam Arlene, our friend Renee, or Oculara. We're all willing to sacrifice our mortal lives to send Kamet back where he came from."
"Are you serious? You had nothing to do with releasing Kamet. Why should you risk your lives in this?"
"Because it has to be done. Kamet's killing spree has to end. We believe we are capable of doing that, and we will make the effort, with or without you. But the chances will be better with you there."
"You make me feel so ashamed for only thinking of my own life and how my death would affect my family."
"We understand. None of us want to do this. We must do this."
Mrs. Talburt sniffled and nodded. "I'll come."
* * *
"One hundred twenty-seven," Lt. Bolger said as he entered the reading room below the antiques store after Oculara had opened the door for him. He plopped down into a chair across from Arlene.
Renee and Madam Elana were at the table as well. All had been reading when he entered.
"One hundred twenty-seven convicted killers stated they had no memory of committing the crime?" Arlene asked.
"No, that's the number of paces from here to the Courthouse."
Arlene just stared at him without smiling.
"Yes," he finally said, regretting his attempt at humor. "That's how many convicted killers in this county during the past eleven years stated they had no recollection of the event. But the preponderance of evidence was enough to establish their guilt."
"And you don't think one hundred twenty-seven such declarations are unusual?"
"On the contrary, I find it highly unusual. How did you know about them?"
"A question first. If you subtract one hundred twenty-seven from the total number of homicides committed during the past eleven years, plus subtract the number of people who committed suicide right after the deed and further subtract the number of horrendous murder cases where you had no suspects, what does that do to your homicide rate average for the past eleven years when compared to previous years?"
Bolger thought for a moment before saying, "Without the one hundred twenty-seven and the other two groups, the homicide rate would be very close to that of previous decades. Again, how did you know?"
"One more question. What do you suppose would be the answer if your same search algorithm was run against the records of other counties in this part of the state?"
"I don't have to suppose. I contacted a buddy in an adjoining county and he checked. He said that only one convicted person had claimed not to have any recollection of doing the deed. So I ask again, how did you know?"
"I can't tell you— yet."
"Why not?"
"Because you're not ready to believe yet, Richard. Do you remember what I said to you in Gianni's restaurant the first day I arrived in Lake Georgina when you asked me about the specifics of the blind trust established by my great-great-great-grandmother?"
"I remember you didn't answer my question."
"What I actually said was, 'If I told you of some of the things I've experienced, you'd probably do your best to have me committed.' Well, this is another one of those things."
"Look, I admit that in the beginning I was as much an unbeliever about all this as someone could possibly be. I thought it was all phony talk, just used by con people to make a buck. But you've changed that, Madam Arlene. The things you've done make me seriously doubt my earlier beliefs that spirits were just a figment of people's imaginations. I still don't know how far I'm willing to go, but I'm ready to take the next step."
Arlene smiled. "Promise you won't try to have me or my friends committed?"
"I promise."
"Okay, Richard. Hang on to your chair. About eleven years ago, while trying to make contact with a spirit from the immortal world, Madam Elana's coven accidently released a demon from the Underworld."
Bolger sat in the chair staring at Arlene. He didn't say anything or do anything other than blink his eyes.
Finally, Arlene said, "Don't believe it, huh?"
"I'm trying. A demon, eh?"
"Yes, a particularly nasty and evil one by the name of Kamet."
"And this Kamet tells these people to commit murder. Sort of like the dog that told the serial killer Son of Sam to murder people."
"No, Kamet doesn't communicate with the people chosen to commit the murder. He simply takes full control of the victim's body and kills the intended target. The victim is never even aware of what happened."
"I think you're right."
"You do?"
"Yes. I'm not ready to believe— yet."
"Oh."
"Come on, Madam Arlene. Demons? Really."
"Why do you suppose we've been sitting down here for weeks studying musty old books written in numerous languages?"
"I admit I've wondered about that."
"We've been searching for a way to return Kamet to the Underworld."
"Why not just have Father Paul perform whatever religious ceremony is required?"
"On the topic of spirits and demons, he's quite a bit more enlightened than you, Richard, but this is a bit too far outside his erudition."
"Erudition?"
"Uh, it means 'profound scholarly knowledge.'"
"And you've read all of these books?"
"After almost two months of intense effort, we've barely made a dent. But we believe we've found what we need to know."
Lt. Bolger reached over, took the book Renee had just been reading, and opened it. After a few seconds he asked, "What language is this?"
"Italian," Renee said. "I've been reading all of the Italian books, Arlene has been reading all of the Greek books, Erin was reading all of the Latin books, and Megan was reading the French books."
"Why?"
"As Madam Arlene has told you, we've been searching for the proper way to return a demon to the underworld," Madam Elana said. "It's the reason Renee and I tra
veled to Prague a couple of weeks ago. We needed to view a second-century account of an exorcism that took place in Italy."
Looking at Arlene, Bolger said, "You're serious about this demon stuff, aren't you?"
"Deadly serious, Richard. We must banish him back to the Underworld to stop him from murdering people by using other innocent people in this county."
"The guy who killed Meredith Blakely isn't an innocent. He's a paid assassin who has gotten away with murder numerous times due to a lack of evidence. He's a very bad individual. This time he got caught."
"Really? A paid assassin? Hmmm. I'm not disputing that he killed Meredith Blakely, but what was his motive?"
"We, uh, haven't determined that— yet. But we know he did it, and we can prove it."
"You probably don't know his motive because he wasn't in control of his body," Arlene said. "Kamet was manipulating him."
"And what was Kamet's motive?"
"He's a demon from the Underworld, Richard. He probably likes to kill. It's as simple as that. Uh, what was an assassin doing in a small community like Lake Georgina? In a place like this, he would be unable to blend into the background."
"We're still trying to work that one out also. It doesn't seem logical that he would be here to kill anyone from Lake Georgina. Perhaps he was here to kill a tourist. Or perhaps four young ladies from Massachusetts."
"That's a gruesome thought," Renee said.
"It's just a remote possibility. Don't accept it as fact or even probability."
"If it does turn out to be fact, who would you say is behind it?" Arlene asked.
"I have no idea. Who wants you out of the way?"
"If I were to make out a list, it would be a very short one. In fact, there would only be one name on it."
"The sheriff's."
"Yes."
"I thought about that. It's not his MO. And I can't think of any reason why he would personally want you out of Lake Georgina. I would have to say that someone is behind him, pushing him to get you out. And that might be the same person who hired Macrone for a hit."
"And who might that be?"
"It would have to be someone with the power to manipulate a senior law enforcement officer. The bigger question is why. If we can learn that, we'll have our man."
When the Spirit Calls (When the Spirit... series - Book 2) Page 17
