by Wendy Wang
“Wish I could go with you, but I’ve got two back-to-back readings this morning. I just wanted to drop that off.”
“So, you’re doing readings now?”
“Just a couple a week. I’ve been picky up till now, but if I’m gonna fight Scott in court, I need to make as much money as I can.”
“I told you he’ll take your case pro bono.”
“I know.” Charlie bit her lip and shifted in her chair. “I just worry is all.”
Jason studied her face. Two dark circles punctuated her eyes, even with her futile attempt at concealing them with makeup. “You doing all right? You look a little tired.”
Charlie scowled. “Never tell a woman she looks tired. It’s just a nice way of saying you look like crap.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he grumbled. “You just look like you haven’t slept well, that’s all. Maybe having you work on two cases is too much.”
“No—it’s not that, it’s just Evan stuff. That’s all. Sorry I snapped.”
“You want to talk about it”?”
“Nope, no point. Nothing I can do about it. But thank you. You’re a good friend.” She glanced at the clock on the wall and stood up abruptly. “I gotta go. Text me if you get anything new.”
“I will.” He watched her turn and walk away. Something was on her mind but until she was ready to share he couldn't do much to help her. He picked up his notebook and looked at the words he’d scrawled at the top of the page.
“Legacy - Brianna,” he muttered.
Jason sidled up to the information desk at Charleston College Library and flashed a smile at the pretty young librarian. She adjusted her wire-rimmed glasses up higher on her nose and smiled. “Hi, how can I help you?”
“Hi,” he met her gaze and leaned forward on the desk. He pulled the piece of paper Charlie had given him from his pocket, unfolded it, and pushed it across the counter. “Any chance you could tell me what this means? Or point me in the right direction?”
The girl pressed the paper flat with her long thin fingers. She clucked her tongue and looked up at him. “That’s Mu Theta Chi. It's a sorority.”
“Are they active on campus?” He asked.
She tugged her pale blue cardigan closed, and her gaze flitted over his badge, then to his face. “Are they in trouble?”
“Oh no,” Jason said in his most soothing reassuring voice. “I just need to find some information about an alumnus. There was an accident and we’re having trouble finding family to notify.”
“Oh my god,” she put her hand over her mouth. “That's terrible. Do you know what year she graduated?”
“She’s thirty-ish, thirty-one. So maybe nine years ago?”
“I can pull yearbooks for you. There'll be pictures of the alumni—and if she sat for a picture then her affiliations would be listed too. If she was in a sorority, it would there.”
“That’d be great. Thanks.” He smiled wide.
The apples of her cheeks filled with color. She smiled and adjusted her glasses again. “No problem.” She took a slip of paper and stub of pencil with no eraser and pushed them across the desk toward him. “I just need you to fill out a request.”
“Great.”
Twenty minutes later the librarian handed him three yearbooks and pointed him to one of the open tables nearby.
He flipped through the pages looking at the seniors under M. His finger traced through each name until finally it came to Haley Miller.
In her picture, she looked happy and young. Hopeful. In tiny print beneath her photo were the words Mu Theta Chi – secretary. He flipped to the back of the book, glancing through the index. He traced his finger through all the sororities until he came to Mu Theta Chi. His heartbeat quickened, and he quickly flipped to page 280. A photo of fifty young women posed in front of one of the old restored mansions not far from campus. He scanned through the list of alphabetical names. There were three Emmas, but no Brianna. He scribbled down the names of the girls named Emma and looked up their photos. One was a sophomore and the two others were seniors. Jason took out his phone and snapped pictures of the girl’s photos and the group shot of the Mu Theta Chi sorority. He attached the images to a text to Charlie.
Which Emma?
A moment later, his phone vibrated in his hand.
Emma Winston.
Chapter 10
Marshall Beck sat on the corner of Jason’s desk watching as Jason searched for Emma Winston in the DMV database. The side of Beck's thigh brushed against Jason's elbow and he scowled.
“Can't you use the chair?” Jason snapped.
Beck smirked and folded his arms across his chest. He didn’t move.
“Dude, seriously you're in my space.” Jason held up his hands and glared at his partner.
“Fine.” Beck shifted to the chair next to Jason’s desk. “What are you working on?”
“I'm following up on a lead in the Miller case.”
“You’re wasting your time. The ME is going to rule this is either an accident or suicide. Trust me.”
“Maybe so, but until she does, I'm gonna do my damn job.”
Beck shrugged. “What have you found so far?”
“She was a party girl and she had lots of friends.” Jason stopped himself from telling Beck anything about Charlie’s dreams. He didn’t need the hassle today.
“Even more evidence pointing to accident if you ask me. Fifty bucks says that’s the final COD.”
“Don’t you have other cases to follow up on?”
Beck sighed and got to his feet. “Fine.”
Jason didn’t look up to watch his partner walk back to his own desk. Instead, he focused on his computer screen. He made a printout of Emma Winston’s license. Before he set off to pay her home a visit, he checked Haley’s Facebook page one more time. He glanced through her photos again, looking specifically for Emma’s face. The third picture with Haley and Emma in it, Emma was tagged. Jason clicked on the link and it took him to Emma’s page. Most of her privacy settings were in place, and all he could see were profile pictures, but she did list her place of work. Jason quickly found the address for Danang and Winston orthodontics, scribbled it down and headed out. He dialed Charlie’s number as he walked to his car.
“Hey,” he said, “you finished with your readings?”
“Yep, just doing some laundry. What’s up?”
“Wanna go play human lie detector?”
“Sure, for who?”
“Emma Winston.”
He could almost hear her grin as she said, “What’s the address?”
Jason flashed his badge at the young woman sitting behind the reception desk. Her dark eyes scanned the badge and widened. She bit her lower lip and got up from her seat.
“Wait here just a minute,” she said softly.
A moment later a short, stout woman wearing purple scrubs and thick glasses greeted them. Her long hair was pulled into a messy bun. “Can I help you?”
“I need to see Dr. Emma Winston.” His tone was stern, authoritative. What Charlie thought of as his cop voice.
“What's this about?” the woman asked.
“I'm afraid I can't discuss that with you. Now would you please tell Dr. Winston that we are here to see her?”
A line appeared between her brows, and her lips pursed together but she didn't argue. Instead she turned abruptly and disappeared behind the door with a placard that said staff only. It warned of places that he was not allowed. He tapped his toe against the faux wood grain of the wood receptionist desk and glanced at Charlie.
Charlie frowned at him and opened her mouth to tell him to just be patient, but a shadow from the corner of her eye caught her attention. A blast of cold air blew across the back of her neck, and her body broke into goose bumps. Charlie looked toward the source, and her gaze trained on the mirror hanging behind the receptionist's desk. A young woman stood in the middle of the waiting room. Her pale skin was almost translucent, and sticks and dirt smudged her face. She
wore a pair of pink plaid pajama bottoms and a white-t-shirt that was soaked in blood. Charlie’s breath was harsh in her ears as she slowly glanced over her shoulder to the waiting room. All she saw was a mother and child. The woman sat against the wall, flipping through an ancient magazine and the child sat next to her, playing on the tablet in his hands. Charlie shifted her gaze back to the mirror, and the young woman was now standing directly behind her. Charlie’s heart slammed into the back of her throat.
“Charlie? Charlie!”
Charlie blinked hard and shook her head. “What?”
“You okay? You look like you saw a ghost or something.” Jason’s tone was light, but his eyes flitted to the mirror and back to her.
Charlie let out nervous laugh. “Maybe I did.”
Jason scowled and his gaze shifted back to the mirror. “I don’t see anything.”
Slowly Charlie turned her head. The only thing reflected in the mirror now was the woman with her child in the waiting room. She blew out a heavy breath.
The door opened and the short, stout woman returned wearing a sour look on her face. She motioned for them to come behind the desk. Jason put on his game face —neutral but authoritative. Charlie and Jason followed the woman into the private office area. It was a short hallway with three offices on either side. One was a bookkeeper’s office filled with filing cabinets and a desk with a computer and piled high with file folders. The door to the second office was closed, but the plaque read Dr. Katherine Danang. Dr. Emma Winston’s office was next to it. The office manager knocked on the door and entered once she heard a woman's voice say to come in. She opened the door and motioned for Charlie and Jason to enter and pulled the door shut behind them.
Charlie glanced around the room quickly. One wall of the room was dominated by windows; another had floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with a smattering of books here and there and mostly collectibles gathering dust. A decorator had artfully arranged a long overstuffed couch in a soft gray fabric against the third wall while a fat white cat wearing a shiny rhinestone collar lounged across the top. As an eyecatcher, however, a fine mahogany desk with curved legs and carved gold accents stood in the center of the room.
“Hello.” Emma stood up behind the desk and walked around to greet them. She extended her hand to Jason and shook it. Charlie spied a suitcase jutting out from between the wall and one side of the sofa. A blue piece of fabric hung loosely across it, and it appeared the suitcase had been hastily zipped up. At the base of the sofa a large plastic cat carrier sat with its metal grate door ajar. Next to it was a litter box.
Emma shoved her hands into the white coat she wore over rumpled clothes. The circles beneath her eyes were so dark they looked almost like bruises. She guided them to the sofa. “Please have a seat.”
Emma sat on the couch and Jason sat in the armchair and pivoted so he could look directly at her. Charlie took a seat next to Emma.
“So, how can I help you today?” Emma said, wearing a forced smile.
“We’re just conducting a routine investigation. Did you know Haley Miller, Ms. Winston?”
Charlie glanced at Jason. He was focused intently on Emma, studying her.
“It’s doctor. Haley and I went to college together. She’s one of my best friends.”
“Doctor, yes.” A strange smile played at the corners of Jason’s mouth. What was he up to? “When was the last time you spoke to Haley?”
“Um . . . I don’t remember exactly. Is Haley in some sort of trouble?”
“I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Dr. Winston, but Haley’s dead.”
Emma’s pleasant demeanor melted away. She shook her head as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly “That’s. . . that’s not possible.” She pressed a hand to her forehead and tapped it lightly with one finger. She squeezed her eyes shut and sniffled. When she looked back up her green eyes swam behind a heavy wave of tears threatening to fall. Her voice cracked as she spoke. “Are you sure?”
“Yes ma'am, very sure,” Jason said.
“What happened?”
“We’re still trying to determine that, which is why I’m here. Can you tell us if Haley had any enemies?”
Emma sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Enemies. No, of course not. Haley was—well she was a Mu Theta. We don’t have enemies, we have admirers.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed, and Charlie could almost see the gears of his mind whirring, taking in every twitch of her face. “So these admirers couldn’t have been jealous or wanted to hurt her then?”
Emma hesitated for a second before answering emphatically. “No. Everybody loved her.” Emma glanced toward the large window. Her voice sounded shaky when she spoke. “Was she murdered? Is that why you're asking about enemies?”
“We have a witness who says that they saw someone push her off the roof of her house.”
“Oh my god.” Emma sat up straight, horror marring her fine features. “What the hell was she doing on the roof?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” Jason pulled his notebook from his chest pocket and flipped it open. “So, in going through Haley’s communications, in one of her texts to you she said, and I quote,” and he read from the note. “‘It happened again.’ Can you tell me what she meant by that? What happened again?”
Emma’s gaze flitted from Jason to Charlie, and understanding dawned in her wide green eyes. “Haley was convinced that someone was stalking her.”
“Stalking her?” Jason said, emphasizing the word stalking. “So, she does have at least one enemy then.”
Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think she was her own worst enemy.”
“How do you mean?” Jason asked.
“Haley was a party girl.”
“You mean in college?” Jason asked.
“I mean. She liked to drink and to have good time. In college and now. She brought home plenty of losers.”
“Are you saying one of these losers could have been responsible?” Jason asked.
Emma pursed her lips and shrugged.
“Do you know if she ever reported the stalking?”
“No, not that I'm aware of. I don't think it was like that exactly.”
Jason tipped his head to the right and tapped the point of his pen against his notebook. “What do you think it was like exactly?”
Emma took a deep breath and her gaze shifted down to her hands. “I think Haley may have had some mental problems.”
“Why do you say that?” Jason asked.
“Because she was convinced that she was being stalked by a ghost.”
“So, she was being haunted?” Charlie leaned forward and put her elbows on the table. “Do you know by who?”
Emma glanced up and her green eyes locked on to Charlie's. “Well, since ghosts don’t actually exist I can’t say she was being haunted.”
“So, you’re not being haunted either then?” Charlie challenged.
“No,” Emma brushed her off, chuckling. “Because that would be crazy.”
“Right, crazy.” Charlie echoed. “Is that why you’re not sleeping? Because you think some of Haley’s crazy has infected you?”
Jason’s brow crinkled as he shot her a what-the-hell glance. His lips twisted into a scowl.
Emma’s eyes widened and her voice shook as she spoke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do. I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. Are you seeing her? Or just feeling her? Maybe she's making the lights flicker or playing around with the radio or the TV. I know she was waking Haley up in the middle of the night. Jerking her leg. Pulling off her covers.”
All the color drained from Emma’s face.
“Is that what's causing those dark circles beneath your eyes?” Charlie asked.
“You sound as crazy as Haley. Are you an alcoholic too?” Emma scowled and gave Charlie a pointed look.
Charlie's lips twitched into a smirk. This girl was good.
“Are there any other questions that you have for me?” Emma shifted her attention back to Jason.
“Just a couple more.” Jason pulled a photo from the pocket of his uniform shirt and handed it to Emma. “You were sorority sisters, right? Did Haley have any other sisters like you in the area?”
Emma picked up the photo, her gaze fixing on it.
“Where did you get this?” Emma asked softly.
“That was on the mirror in Haley’s bathroom. Does it mean anything to you?”
“It’s just something we always say when there’s a group of Mu Theta’s together.”
“Was Haley still close with any of the other members?”
“Not really. Most moved on to graduate school or jobs or got married. There’s a reunion every couple of years, but Haley hasn’t gone in a while.”
“Do you know why?”
“She said she didn’t have time. Her job kept her pretty busy. She traveled a lot.”
“Right,” Jason took back the picture. He pulled out one of his cards from his breast pocket and handed it to her. “Well, we appreciate your time. If you can think of anything, please call me.”
“Of course,” Emma said wearing a cordial smile. She took the card and tucked it into the pocket of her white coat. Jason rose from the couch, and Charlie followed him. They headed to the door, but Charlie hesitated. She reached inside her tote bag and pulled out a small plastic business card folio. She opened it and pulled out one of the cards and held it out toward Emma. “Call me if things get worse. I'd really like to help you before things get as bad as they did for Haley.”
Emma took the card and scoffed. “A psychic medium? Seriously?”
Charlie met Emma's gaze. “Seriously. Call me if you ever want to talk about it. I'll be happy to listen. And if you need help getting rid of the spirit I’d be happy to do that too.”
Emma paused and for a moment Charlie thought for sure she was going to throw the card back in her face instead Emma tucked it inside her pocket along with Jason’s.
Jason didn’t speak to her until they were at their cars.
“Well, that was interesting.” Jason sighed. “Do you think she'll call you?”