HOLY SMOKE (An Andi Comstock Supernatural Mystery, Book 1)

by Ann Simas

  The priest grinned at her. “True. Let’s go hear what he has to say.”

  Inside, Phil waited in the foyer. He lead them back to his office, where Jack stood next to the wall unit that was half-bookcase, half-cabinets. Today, he wore black trousers with a white shirt and a red-and-black striped tie. Either he hadn’t worn a suit coat, or that was it, hanging on the hook near the door. Casually dressed or suited up, he was hot.

  “Thanks for coming,” Jack said, nodding at each of them. “I want to let you know upfront that I don’t normally provide information about cases to people outside the investigation circle.” He paused a moment, as if trying to find the right words. “I’m making an exception this time for a couple of reasons. One is because, at the moment, I’m looking into this matter off the record. Second, I realize that the three of you are tied inexorably to this…case. In the event that it goes forward into a full-blown investigation, which I now believe it may, we will have to discuss how best to present it so that we—and I mean all of us—don’t come across as freaking lunatics.”

  Stunned silence met his short declaration.

  “Please, take a seat,” he added, as if just remembering his manners.

  They sat and Jack began to pace from one end of the wall unit to the other. Finally, he stopped and propped his butt against the bottom shelf where it met the cabinets.

  “I met with the ME today,” he began. “Dr. Avery Dodge. Just to give you some background, he performed the autopsy because Oregon law requires it for any unattended death of a person not under the care of a physician. At thirty, Sherry would have been autopsied because of her age, regardless. By all accounts, she was in excellent health, and other than her recent complaints of headaches and gastrointestinal ailments, for which she had not sought treatment, her only doctor visits in recent years involved her OB/GYN for two pregnancies.” Jack drummed his fingers on the wooden shelf. “Dr. Dodge is still awaiting toxicology reports on some of the samples he sent to the Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division.”

  “Isn’t that the crime lab?” Andi asked. “Did he suspect foul play?”

  The detective stayed her questions with a raised hand. “Yes, it is the crime lab, and no, he didn’t suspect foul play, but his job is to find out what killed her, so he had to look at every possibility. He indicated that Sherry’s kidneys and liver showed some abnormalities, as did her brain. In addition to those and her blood, he also submitted tissue for testing.”

  “No results at all yet?” Phil asked.

  “None, but he’s going to follow-up with the lab and see if he can hurry along the process.” Jack took a deep breath. “The ME apparently was bothered by the condition of the organs in such a young woman, so he requested more lab and tissue tests than he might have for an older woman. He also retained some samples in storage, just in case.”

  “He had a hunch?” Father Riley asked.

  “Something like that.”

  “Do MEs usually operate on hunches?” Andi asked.

  Jack pushed away from the shelf and began pacing again. “You have to understand that anyone in law enforcement who succeeds is operating on a multi-tiered level. We deal in facts, evidence, opportunity, motive…and sometimes we get gut feelings.”

  “So, Dr. Dodge has a gut feeling?” Andi persisted, then added, “And so do you?”

  Jack stopped in front of her, staring down at her. He opened his mouth, snapped it shut, then opened it again and said, his voice almost strangled with his frustration. “Yes, okay. Sometimes I do.”

  Instead of feeling relief that she might be right about Sherry’s death, she felt sympathy for Jack Harmon, who seemed to be agonizing over the fact that he was letting his gut lead him on this “case,” rather than rational thought. How could she offer him comfort when nothing about any of this was rational? Some days, though she’d learned to live with the voices she heard, she still felt anxiety—what if someone else came to her with a claim similar to Sherry’s? Was she destined to live the remainder of her life solving murders that might be unsolvable?

  Andi bit her lip, holding back a sob. There! She’d finally admitted what had been percolating at the edge of her subconscious, and it scared the hell out of her. Living forever with the pleas of the dead who had been murdered and then cremated weighed on her shoulders—she almost couldn’t face it.

  “All right,” Father Riley said, rising from his chair, “everyone calm down. Jack, why is Avery concerned about the state of Sherry’s organs?”

  “He said it was obvious the kidneys weren’t filtering properly, the liver was also failing, and the brain tissue just didn’t look right to him. She had some swelling in her ex­tremities that he attributed to pulmonary hypertension.”

  “Pulmonary hypertension means your body isn’t draining fluids like they should,” Phil said, nodding. “My mom had diabetes and she had some awful swelling in her hands and feet, arms and legs, along with neuropathy. Did Sherry’s parents mention anything about her feeling a tingling in her extremities?” he asked Andi.

  She shook her head. “But perhaps they just didn’t think to mention it to me.”

  “I don’t know if it’s relevant, anyway,” Jack said. “Sherry didn’t have diabetes. The ME checked for it specifically because of the swelling. It just wasn’t there.”

  Phil shrugged. “Just a thought. I’m no doctor, obviously.” He got up and began to pace, as well.

  “There’s one other thing that bothered the ME,” Jack said.

  “What?” Father Riley asked.

  “Sherry was pregnant, but just before she died, she had begun to spontaneously abort.”

  Andi stared at him wide-eyed. “With twins?”

  “No, a single fetus, but given everything else he found, the ME thinks it’s somehow all interrelated.”

  “I don’t think the family knows about the pregnancy,” she said.

  Jack shook his head. “The ME hasn’t released that information to them yet and he says they never mentioned it to him.”

  “Sherry said she thought she was pregnant again, but she never got around to using a home-pregnancy test to confirm it.” Andi’s eyes watered. “How sad for all of them.”

  “How far along?” Father Riley asked.

  “Approximately twelve weeks,” Jack replied.

  “Will you take the box with Sherry’s remains over to the ME?” Andi asked.

  “Yes, I explained to him what had happened in the cremation process and he agreed to have a look. Chances are, if anything is viable, which he says is highly unlikely, he’ll have to send samples out for testing. He’s not equipped to do much in his lab at the morgue.”

  A belated though occurred to Andi. To Phil, she said, “Hasn’t anyone been around asking for Sherry’s remains?”

  “No, they haven’t. I checked the file notes and apparently, they’re considering what to do with them. No one wanted to take her home in an urn, and the general consensus is that she wanted to be scattered somewhere, but the family is in such a state over her death, no one seemed to be able to remember where. Until they figure that out, the remains remain here.”

  “So, they don’t know that the cremation was never completed?” Jack asked.

  Phil shook his head morosely.

  Father Riley laid a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. If it’s proven that Sherry was murdered, they’ll thank God for the breakdown of your equipment.”

  “I can’t even imagine losing one of my kids at such a young age,” Phil said. “It’s beyond comprehension, but I would want to know what killed them, that’s for sure.”

  “And who,” Andi added, empathizing even more with the Spence and Hemmer families for the new trauma they would soon be facing. Would knowing Sherry had been murdered amplify their grief, ease it, or simply channel it in a new direction? Finding out who had murdered their daughter, and how, would surely be their main goal, but dealing with the loss of a loved one still had to take its natural course of grieving. />
  “I’m going to make an official report on this now,” Jack said, “though it’s beyond me how I can keep you all out of it.”

  Phil sank back down in his chair, but the priest remained still where he stood. He bowed his head for several moments, then murmured, “Amen,” and crossed himself. He looked at each of them in turn then said, “I know Avery Dodge. We went to school together, played football in high school, had the same girlfriend” —his eyes twinkled briefly— “whom I gave up willingly and to whom he is still married. What if I have a talk with him, Jack, before you open a file on this case? See if he’s amenable to being the hero?”

  Andi immediately got what he was saying and breathed a sigh of relief. She could still be a guide through this process, but she wouldn’t have to openly state how she knew what she knew.

  Phil also breathed a sigh of relief.

  Jack stared at the priest. “I can’t falsify a report, Father.”

  “No one’s asking you to falsify anything, Jack. Rather, you’ll be omitting only Andi’s part in all this. Isn’t that the most inexplicable piece?”

  Jack spared a glance at the woman in question. “Yes.”

  “And it’s all right with you if I speak with Avery?”

  After several agonizing minutes, Jack again said, “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  “But remember what I said, I’m not lying to protect anyone, not even myself.”

  Andi both admired and feared for his principles. On the one hand, he had proven himself beyond reproach. On the other, he might also prove himself right out of a job he obviously loved and for which he excelled, just because he allowed outsiders to become involved in the investigation. Of course, without the outsiders, there wouldn’t even be an investigation. Good God, what a conundrum!

  She began to wonder why Jack would risk it all for something he wasn’t truly convinced about. Did it have to do with his gut feelings? Andi didn’t think so. She suspected Detective Jack Harmon had experienced something in his life that inclined him to get involved with something that, frankly, could only be called supernatural.

  This is not the way it’s supposed to happen, Andi. But you have a good crew here. I feel that you’re all going to figure this out, and when you do, I can be at peace. Finally. Just make sure Jack knows that the key is in my teeth.

  Andi, choking back a sob, excused herself to leave the room.

  She heard Jack ask, “What’s wrong with her?”

  “If I had to guess,” Father Riley said, “I’d say she just heard from Sherry again.

  CHAPTER 10

  Andileft the mortuary feeling out of the loop once it had been settled that Father Riley would talk to the ME.

  Jack had marked a giant plastic evidence bag and inserted the box containing the remains of Sherry Spence Hemmer.

  Phil had made copious notes in his files as to where the box was going.

  Father Riley had gone to pray.

  Only Andi had no special assignment. Her part in this was done. She had no forensic skills, nor was she in law enforcement, so she no legitimate reason to participate any further. Her task from here on was to continue to write down everything her old friend said. To transmit those communiqués, Jack had given her his home email address. Anything sent to work, he explained, was subject to the Freedom of Information Act. He didn’t want anything coming to light about Andi’s experiences or her part in this investigation.

  “It has to be this way, Andi,” Jack had told her. “Both for your sake and ours.”

  “I understand.” And really, she did. She hadn’t completely come to terms with what was happening to her, or why, so how could she possibly expect anyone outside the small circle who knew about the Smokies to understand? She would also continue to record what every future voice said to her and when it was said, but Jack wasn’t interested in anyone other than Sherry, and neither, it seemed, was anyone else.

  Work kept Andi busy for the next week. She diligently noted all voices she heard, but not once did she hear from Sherry again. She didn’t know what to make of that. Perhaps Sherry had much more patience, being deceased, than did Andi.

  Saturday came with the first rain of autumn. Andi decided to clean her apartment from top to bottom, which took her most of the day because she got down on her hands and knees and cleaned all the baseboards with a damp cloth. When she finished, she couldn’t tell the difference, which irked her to no end. She also got her laundry caught up before she took a leisurely shower and washed her hair. Once out, she decided since the weather had turned chilly with the rain, she could have a fire. She flipped on the switch to the gas logs and sat down in front of the flames to dry her hair. Strains of easy listening music wafted soothingly through the room.

  A moment later, the doorbell startled her. Andi never had company, unless her siblings or her parents came by, which they never did unannounced. Her parents had instituted that rule early in their married life—never arrive without calling first—and they had instilled it in their offspring.

  Andi went to the door and peeked through the peep hole. Jack Harmon stood on the other side of the door. Still cautious, Andi opened the door only a few inches. She was, after all, in her robe. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” Jack said. “Sorry I stopped by without warning.”

  “Isn’t that what cops do?” she asked, opening the door all the way. “To catch people unaware?”

  He grinned at her. “I suppose that would be true if I were here to question you.”

  She tilted her head at him. “Why are you here?”

  “I was hoping I could take you out to dinner.”

  Slightly flummoxed, Andi squeaked, “Dinner?”

  “Yes, but I see you’re already ready for bed.”

  “Well, no, I’m not. I’ve been cleaning all day and just felt like a shower before I fixed myself something to eat.”

  He waited expectantly.

  “Would you like to come in?”

  “If it’s convenient.”

  “It is.” She stood aside so he could pass through. “Uh, about dinner….” She closed the door.

  He turned to her, a hand raised in placation. “Hey, don’t worry about it. We can do it another time when I’ve actually asked you in advance.”

  With the towel still in one hand, Andi said, “I was going to say that I’d like to have dinner with you, but I need to dry my hair and get into some clothes.”

  His eyes traveled the length of her and back up. “Great!”

  Andi was not a blusher but she felt heat in her face that had nothing to do with the fireplace. “Let me have your jacket,” she said, noticing how damp it was. She never would have imagined in a million years that she’d be excited to have Jack Harmon dripping on her new area rug. “Can I get you a beer while you’re waiting? Would you like the TV on?”

  “A beer sounds great, and if you don’t mind, I’ll just enjoy the music and the fire. It’s been a long day and I could use a few minutes of R-and-R.”

  Andi hung his jacket from the hall tree in her little dining area so it could drip to its heart’s content on the floor she’d just mopped. Then she retrieved a beer from the fridge and dumped a few peanut butter pretzels into a bowl.

  “Mac and Jack,” he said with approval as he took the beer, “and peanut butter pretzels. You are a woman with good taste.”

  “Thanks,” she said, a little flustered. “I’ll be ready in about fifteen.”

  “Don’t rush. I’m not in any hurry.”

  She hesitated. “Were you coming by to give me an update?”

  He took an appreciative swallow from his bottle. “Nope. Just for dinner, although I did just leave work.”

  “Oh.” Andi turned and went down the hall to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She didn’t know whether to be flattered that Jack wanted to take her to dinner, or offended because he hadn’t bothered to arrange it ahead of time. It would have been nice to have an opportunity to spruce herself up.

  Judgin
g from the fluttering going on inside her, she might as well just go with flattered, because she was pretty jazzed about him stopping by, announced or unannounced. Judging by his appearance, he had been at work, but he wasn’t wearing a tie. He had on brown jeans, a plaid shirt, and a sport coat, so she knew she didn’t have to dress up, not that there were that many places that would require dressing up anyway. Edgerton just wasn’t that big and being a university town, it was pretty casual.

  She resorted to the hair dryer and finally the hot-air brush to get some body into her hair, which she decided to leave down After that, she dabbed on a little makeup. Finally, she pulled a pair of black jeans from the closet and a cotton sweater that brought out the green in her hazel eyes. She put in some earrings, added her watch and a funky bracelet her sister had given her for her birthday, and slipped on some loafers, then she was ready. A quick inspection in the mirror assured her she passed muster.

  Jack stood when she came back down the hall. She read frank appreciation in his eyes and smiled, happy that he had stopped by. He picked up the beer bottle and the pretzel bowl, both empty, and rinsed them in the kitchen sink.

  “Just leave them on the counter,” Andi said. “I’ll get my jacket.”

  He helped her with the sleeves, then reached for his own jacket. “Where would you like to go?” he asked.

  Pleased that he had asked, she said, “Why don’t you surprise me? I like pretty much everything except Indian. I don’t do too well with curry.”

  “Me, either.” He zipped himself up. “Got an umbrella?”

  “Yes, and we’ll probably need it,” she said, going back to the coat closet. She turned off the gas fireplace and switched off the CD player, leaving one light on before they left the apartment. Jack was a gentleman all the way, holding doors open for her, holding the umbrella over her while she climbed into his Toyota Highlander.

  “Do you usually work on Saturday?” she asked after they were underway.

  “Only if I have to. I have a pretty active caseload right now.”