“Hi,” Harper said, pushing off the fence she’d been leaning on.
Emerson frowned. “I thought I told you not to come back here.”
“This is important. Have you seen Jenny Enos?”
“Who?
“She’s a student here. You haven’t seen a young woman anywhere in the abandoned buildings, by chance? She might have hurt herself.”
Both men shook their heads. “We’ll keep an eye out.”
“May I have a moment more of your time, Sergeant?”
“Concerning?”
“A finger bone. A phalanx, to be technical. Sound familiar?”
Emerson turned to his partner. “Clear the building. I’ll be there in a minute.”
The young soldier nodded and hurried off.
“You want your money back?” Emerson asked. “Is that it?”
“I don’t care about that.”
“Look, ma’am—”
“Did you find the finger bone at the Perles Mansion?”
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because there were bones there. Human bones. And I know you went there to take photographs for Highbaugh.”
“Are you accusing me of stealing?”
If the shoe fits.
“Maybe Delilah Mason gave them to you, or maybe youtwo were splitting the proceeds from your sales. I’m not here to judge.”
Emerson was silent. It occurred to Harper that part of his military training might have involved withstanding interrogation. If so, this would be difficult. She thought of Ellen dancing on the lawn in the rain, poisoned and hallucinating, and steeled her resolve.
“Listen, Sergeant. I don’t care what you and Delilah Mason may or may not have been up to. Not my business, and as far as I’m concerned, once this conversation ends, it never happened. But if you try to stonewall me or blow me off, my next call is to Detective Serrano. An official homicide investigation into your part in a well-known murder won’t do wonders for your military career.”
Harper had no idea if anything she was saying was even remotely likely, but figured she had nothing to lose by bluffing.
“I had nothing to do with what happened to Delilah Mason!” Emerson protested.
“It won’t matter, Sergeant. Being investigated for a crime like homicide is all it will take to ruin your career. You know that as well as I. So: Ready to answer a few questions?”
Emerson glared at her. “What do you want to know?”
“Were you and Delilah Mason partners of some sort?”
“Not hardly,” he scoffed.
“Did you find the finger bone you sold me at the Perles Mansion?”
He nodded. “That old place is full of bones. They’re in the floor of the basement, and even in the walls. I guess from the doctor that lived there a long time ago. There are a lot of rumors about him.”
