* * *
"Madam Arlene," Oculara said from the doorway of the reading room, "Lieutenant Bolger from the sheriff's office is here to see you. Shall I allow him access to the library?"
"Yes, Oculara. Thank you." Arlene closed the book she was reading, after marking her place with a slip of archival paper, and stood up to stretch her legs. Although the new information from Prague confirmed the account of the exorcism in Italy during the second century, they were continuing their research in the hope of finding additional supporting information while they prepared for the exorcism attempt to banish Kamet.
"Still hard at work I see," Bolger said as he entered the reading room and sat down. Arlene was the only one there at the moment.
"Yes. What can I do for you, Richard? More threats from the sheriff that I'd better get out of town before sunset or meet him for a shootout on the main street at high noon tomorrow?"
Bolger chuckled. "No threats. I wanted to let you know that you can move back into the house you rented from Betty Cuzen. The forensic people have completed their investigation."
"It took long enough."
"Well, I heard that the sheriff told them to stay with it until they found evidence pointing to you as the killer."
"And did they find this imaginary evidence?"
"No. And they finally had to terminate their efforts because there were other investigations that needed their attention."
"So you don't have a clue who actually killed her?"
"Not yet, but we're still working some leads. We have learned one interesting fact. Meredith Blakely wasn't her real name. A search of the DNA files across the country turned up a missing person's report. Blakely's DNA was a match for a woman named Virginia Reffer who disappeared the evening her husband, Keith Reffer, was shot and killed just outside Provo, Utah about fifteen years ago. Blood believed to be hers was found on his clothes. The police there suspected she might also have been killed and her body dumped somewhere else, but it never turned up. The date of her disappearance is consistent with the time she arrived here in Lake Georgina."
"So her husband was killed and she disappeared. That works."
"What works?"
"We've wondered why her spirit didn't hang around like Simona's to get justice. She knew I was here, and she could have contacted me easily enough."
"I'm not following you. What did you mean when you said, 'That works?'"
"Remember our conversation in New Bedford about your background and whether or not you'll be able to cross over to the immortal world?"
"Ah, gotcha. You think she killed her husband and that as soon as she died, her soul was dragged down to the Underworld."
"Exactly."
"Well, as you said— that works."
"It's not proof positive that she killed her husband, but if she did…"
"Yes," Bolger said, putting all the pieces together in his mind. "She might have been injured while killing her husband, and that's where the blood sample came from. He might have tried to stop her or kill her after she shot him, and that's how her blood wound up on his clothes."
"Or, she might have even planted it to make the police in Provo believe she had also been a victim. The sharing of DNA information across the country following crimes wasn't widespread fifteen years ago."
* * *
Chapter Eleven
"Mrs. Dolores Mendez?" Erin said as a woman with the appearance of Mexican heritage opened the door.
"Yes," the woman replied. "Can I help you ladies?"
"We hope so. Are you the same Delores Mendez who once lived in Lake Georgina in New York State?"
"Uh, yes. I lived there once. That was a number of years ago."
"We're pleased to meet you, Mrs. Mendez. I'm Erin McDonald and this is my good friend, Megan Kearney-Heston. We've had quite a job tracking you down."
"Why have you been tracking me down?" Mrs. Mendez asked with suspicion evident in her voice and concern reflected on her face.
"Uh, we've just come from Lake Georgina."
"I'm sorry," Mrs. Mendez said curtly, then added as she started to close the door, "I have nothing to say to reporters about Lake Georgina."
"We're not reporters, Mrs. Mendez." Erin said quickly. "We're working with Madam Elana."
Mrs. Mendez stopped closing the door and said, "How is Madam Elana? Is her hair still a vibrant red?"
"No, I'm afraid it's turned completely white."
Mrs. Mendez opened the door fully again. "That was the correct answer. What do you mean when you said you're working with Madam Elana?"
"One of my very good friends is a spiritualist. She was contacted by Simona, who wanted her help."
"Your friend lives in Lake Georgina?"
"No, we're all from New Bedford, Massachusetts. Simona somehow learned about our friend and located her, then managed to get her involved in the investigation."
"I don't understand. Simona, um, disappeared— many years ago."
"Yes, but with the help of Simona's spirit, my friend was able to tell the police exactly where Kamet had hidden the body after he killed her."
At the mention of Kamet's name, a frightened look came over Mrs. Mendez's face. "That's a name I hoped never to hear again."
"Unfortunately, Kamet is still murdering people throughout the county on a regular basis. We have to stop him."
"We tried to stop him, and Simona was killed as a result."
"Gisela says that my friend, Arlene Watson, is far more powerful than Simona was. Gisela says Arlene's past lives extend back at least four millennia, and possibly five, which is why she's able to see spirits as well as I can see you right now."
"Five millennia? No, that's incorrect," Delores said shaking her head. "No one's past lives go back that far."
"Gisela says she saw an Egyptian pyramid under construction with thousands of workers when she shook hands with Arlene. Since the earliest pyramids were started around 2600 B.C. and most were completed by about 2400 B.C., we're guessing between four and five millennia. "
"Gisela said that?"
Erin nodded.
"Gisela has a rare gift." Stepping out of the way so Erin and Megan could enter, she said, "Uh, please come in, ladies, so we can discuss this. I'm sorry to have kept you standing on the doorstep. And I'd love to hear how everyone is faring back in Lake Georgina."
Erin and Megan smiled and entered the home, their spirits buoyed by this first real display of benevolence.
As she closed the door, Mrs. Mendez said, "I was just about to make a pot of tea. Will you join me? Or perhaps you'd like coffee or a soft drink?"
"Tea is fine for me," Erin said.
"Same here," Megan said with a smile.
"Shall we sit in the kitchen?"
"That's fine," Erin said. She and Megan followed Mrs. Mendez towards the rear of the house.
"So how is everyone in Lake Georgina?" Mrs. Mendez asked as she put the teakettle on the stove and turned on the gas.
"All the members of the coven, with the exception of you, Nancy Whittaker, and Simona, are still there and get together on a frequent basis either in the antiques store or at the property just outside of town. Uh, do you happen to know where Nancy Whittaker moved to?"
"The last time I spoke to Nancy, she was engaged to be married to a man named Lawrence Talburt. So she might be Nancy Talburt now. I understood at the time that he had been offered a job in Silicon Valley up in Northern California."
"Thank you for that lead. We haven't been able to find any trace of her."
"Why exactly have you been looking for us?"
"We need you to come back to Lake Georgina for a visit."
"Oh, absolutely not. I'm living here in San Diego County because it's the farthest I could get from New York and still be in the contiguous U.S. I'm never going back to Lake Georgina or even anywhere near the county where it's located. Out here I've been safe from Kamet."
"But the people back home are not safe. You were one of the original coven th
at freed Kamet from the Underworld. You have a responsibility to help send him back."
"He's far too powerful for us to handle."
"Simona was one of the three coven members who had the most power. By killing her, Kamet weakened himself considerably. He learned his lesson that night, and we believe that's why he hasn't attacked any other coven members in all these years. My three friends and I have no such protection, but we're willing to risk our mortal existence to send Kamet back down where he belongs. Madam Arlene is most at risk, since she's the only truly powerful one in our quartet, and Kamet will not be weakened further by killing her. The danger to you is minimal. Since killing Simona, Kamet has only been capable of killing one person before he has to rest. That one person would most certainly be Madam Arlene. One of the spirits from the immortal world warned her of the danger."
"A spirit from the immortal world?"
"Madam Arlene can not only see the spirits who have chosen to reside on this plane of existence. She has the ability to summon spirits who have crossed over."
"She's told you this?"
"We've witnessed it in person, a number of times."
"Except me," Megan said. "The spirits always use me as their medium, so I've never heard a thing. The others tell me what happened after the spirit has left. Spirits from the immortal world weaken quickly when trying to manipulate bodies on this plane, so they never stay long and must rest for quite a while before they attempt it again."
"This is all so incredible. We tried contacting spirits, really tried, but it never worked. Until Kamet, that is. And we were only trying to contact someone from the other side. We never meant to free him from the Underworld. We had no idea he was a demon."
"Madam Elana has explained how it happened. And we understand why you're so frightened. But we need you. All living members of the coven that freed him must be present if we're to have the best chance of sending him back to the Underworld. If we can't do it, he'll go right on killing innocent people in and near Lake Georgina until every member of the original coven is dead."
"Dead?" Delores said with horror written on her face.
"Not at the hands of Kamet. I meant of old age, illness or accident. Certainly not because he killed them. As I've said, each death of an original coven member weakens him. He learned that with Simona, so you're in little danger. And— although he's on this plane of existence, he can only kill once before he has to rest. So, at most, just one of us will die. To stop Kamet's killing spree, I will gladly endanger my mortal existence, as will Madam Arlene, Megan, Renee, and Oculara."
"Renee?"
"She's the fourth member of our little band from New Bedford. She and Madam Elana just returned from Prague, where they visited a museum to view a manuscript. The hope was that it would tell us how to finally send Kamet down, and we believe we now have the right chant and procedure. But the manuscript indicated that we must have all living members of the original coven present, or the chances for success are greatly lessened."
"I never had any real power. As you said, it was with Madam Elana, Simona, and Gisela that the power resided."
"But Madam Elana and Renee learned while in Prague that the spell that freed Kamet bonded the coven members in a unique way, so we must have every one of you present at the ceremony. If not for that new information, we wouldn't be here now, and our chances of sending Kamet back to Hell wouldn't be nearly as good as they are."
"I want to help, but I'm afraid. I have to think about this."
"I understand completely. Megan and I will stay in town until tomorrow, and you can give us your answer then."
"You'll stay for dinner, won't you?" Delores asked.
"We'd love to stay and have dinner with you. We'll have time to bring you up to date with everything we know about your friends in the coven."
* * *
"Richard, we've got the DNA results on the bloody clothing found in the woods," the forensic specialist said when Lt. Bolger answered his phone.
"Wow, that was fast! I remember when it took six weeks."
"Yeah. Some of the bigger crime units around the country can do it in just twenty-four hours now. For us, a turnaround of three days is a new record since we don't actually perform the work here."
"Okay, Jimmy, did we get a match?"
"The blood on the clothing is that of Meredith Blakely, as you thought."
"It didn't require any amazing leap of logic once you told us it was B negative, because we knew from the autopsy that Blakely's blood was B negative."
"Yeah, B negative is the second rarest blood type after AB negative. Just one person in sixty-seven has it. But now the DNA report confirms that the blood on the clothing was definitely hers, with an error margin of just one-hundredth of one percent."
"So what are we looking for in terms of a suspect?"
"The clothing is almost new. The sizes would indicate that the perp is male, between five-ten and six feet."
"We could tell the bag of clothes hadn't been in the ground very long. If they had, some other critter besides that fox would have already dug them up. We got lucky that a conservation officer happened to be walking by to witness the act before the fox ripped everything to shreds."
"Any prints?"
"Yeah, we got a few partials and one really good thumb print. We sent them to the State's Division of Criminal Justice in Albany. They say that our individual is almost definitely one Bruce Macrone. Macrone's height just happens to be five-feet-eleven. I've uploaded everything we've got to the case file and you can access it on your computer."
"Okay, Jimmy. Thanks for the fast service on this."
"Happy to oblige when we can, Rich."
After ending the call, Lt. Bolger turned to his computer and pulled up the case file. There was a reference that Macrone had had a juvenile record since the age of ten, but juvenile records were sealed, and Bolger would have to get a court order to access it. Since becoming an adult, Macrone had been arrested a dozen times for assault and battery, and he had been arrested on suspicion of murder three times. But the DA had always declared there wasn't enough evidence to convict, and Macrone and been released each time. Since then, he had been a prime suspect in more than a dozen murders, but there had never been any evidence to link him to the crime.
"We've got a real bad boy here," Bolger mumbled as he continued to read the file. When he came to a police mug shot of Macrone, he said aloud, "I've seen him! But where?" Bolger racked his brain for a minute and then said, "I know where. He was at the Gopher Hole a few weeks ago when I dropped in to have a few beers."
Ten minutes later, an APB was texted to all sheriff's units to be on the lookout for a William Macrone. The message said he had a long criminal record and was wanted for questioning in the murder investigation of Meredith Blakely. The message warned that he should be considered armed and extremely dangerous. A police mug shot of Macrone was included. All mobile units could print out the message and have a hard copy of the information and the suspect's mug shots. Two units were dispatched to visit all motels and B&Bs in the area, in addition to all local real estate offices, to see if anyone recalled seeing Macrone. Perhaps someone would know if he was still in the area or might know where he was staying.
* * *
"Good morning, Delores," Erin said as Mrs. Mendez opened the door.
"Come in, ladies."
Erin and Megan entered the house as Delores stepped to the side and then closed the door behind them.
"Come into the kitchen. Would you care for some tea?"
"Yes, thank you," Erin said.
Megan smiled and nodded.
Five minutes later, the freshly prepared tea had been poured and the women were seated at the kitchen table.
"I didn't sleep very well last night," Mrs. Mendez said. "I kept seeing the frightened face of Simona on that last night of her life as she turned and ran from the person Kamet had taken over."
"Uh, whose body did he assume?" Erin asked.
Mrs. M
endez took a sip form her teacup and put it down before saying, "I'm sorry, but we all swore never to reveal that information. That person was just an unwitting tool in Simona's death and shouldn't be punished."
"I understand. A great many people have died at the hands of a person Kamet has taken over, and in most cases the 'tool' was charged with the crime and incarcerated, all the while saying they didn't remember doing it. Several people have actually committed suicide after waking up and seeing what they had done. We have to stop Kamet. He must be returned to the Underworld, or he'll continue his reign of carnage over the citizens of Lake Georgina and the surrounding area."
"I know. I know. But just thinking about going back frightens me more than I can say. I wish I could face up to my responsibility and go back with you, but I can't. I decided last night that I will never return to Lake Georgina. I'm sorry I'm such a coward."
Standing and motioning to Megan to stand, Erin said, "I'm sorry also. It doesn't matter what your intentions were, you are still partly responsible for the deaths of a great many people. This was an opportunity to right a wrong you were a party to. I'm glad I'm not you, because you will have to live with this decision for the rest of your life. Let's go, Meg."
* *
As Erin drove to the I-5 to begin the trip north, Megan called Arlene to give her the bad news.
"Well, that's one down," Arlene said. "Hopefully you'll have better luck with Nancy Whittaker."
"It's supposed to be Nancy Talburt now," Megan said, "We got an address for a Lawrence Talburt in San Jose, so that's where we're headed."
"Good luck, and have a safe trip."
"Thanks, Ar. Bye."
"Okay, navigator," Erin said. "We just stay on I-5 for about the next six hours, right?"
"Yes, or until we get to state route 152 west near a town named Los Banos."
"Say, doesn't Los Banos mean 'the bathroom' in Spanish?"
"It could."
"Who would name their town 'the bathroom'?" Erin said before grimacing.
"Well, it can also mean 'the spa.' There are number of places in the States where the last part of the name is Spa."
When the Spirit Calls (When the Spirit... series - Book 2) Page 16