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“Fine, I’ll get this set up for you to hear.”
While Millie fiddled with what looked like a digital recorder, I finished the last couple bites of my sandwich, swallowing it with a swig of my iced mocha. Finally, I wiped my hands on a napkin and then pulled my chair up to Millie’s desk.
“What have you got here?”
“A puzzle,” she said. “I’m not sure what to make of this. But maybe you’ll know when you hear it. Remember, we taped last night’s interaction of you with Sirus Barker?”
“Yeah, and I have to tell you, I don’t think he did anything to Janet. And I don’t think Candy did, either.”
“I concur, actually. This isn’t about what he had to say—we’re still checking on timelines and so forth, but I think he’s being honest with us. No, I want you to listen to this. Not him, but the sounds between when you and he are talking. You’ll see what I mean.” She turned up the volume and I leaned in to listen. My voice came spilling out of the recorder.
“How did Candy die? You said you think she killed herself?”
No, I killed her, you fool. I killed them all. And I’ll keep killing them.
Startled, I pulled back. “What the hell? I didn’t hear that last night.”
“Neither did we,” Millie said. “Not when we listened to you through the wire. But when I was listening to the replay this morning, I heard it loud and clear. Was there anybody else there?”
“Only the waitress, but that’s not her voice.” Frowning, I asked, “Is there any more?”
“Yes, actually. Let me find the next recording.” She fiddled for a moment, then turned it on again. Sure enough, the same raspy, masculine voice echoed out.
“So either it was affecting her behavior, or she couldn’t face the future and deliberately killed herself. I couldn’t take it. Everything felt so bleak so I left. I moved to France for a while, went to the Cordon Bleu. I dated but never let myself fall in love. Eventually, I realized I was homesick and I returned twenty years to the day after I left.”
“And you met Violet…”
And she’s next. You wait, loverboy. You’re going to lose everyone you’ve ever loved in life. They’re all going to die, die, die…
“What the hell? Are there any more recordings on there like that?” I stared at the recorder. “It must be acting like an EVP machine, like we use at the office.”
“There are a few, pretty much saying the same sort of thing. What do you think it is?” Millie was pale, a look of concern filling her eyes.
“I think…I’m not sure. I didn’t sense any ghosts while I was down there, but seriously, this sounds like a ghost. Or…I wonder…” I thought about the curse I was fighting. “I wonder if Sirus is under a hex? Maybe that everyone he loves, dies?” I caught my breath. “That would mean that his current wife is in danger!”
“If somethingdiddo away with Janet, and then his first wife Candy, then whoever’s behind it is a murderer,” Millie said. “We need to find out if there’s anybody out to harm Sirus. All this time, I’ve been thinking that someone had it out for Janet, and while they did, since she’s the one who’s dead, my guess is it was a way to get to Sirus.”
“Old girlfriends, anybody who was jealous of him…it could be so many people.”
“No, because we need to narrow it down to someone he met when he knew Janet, which cuts out a lot of his modern-day acquaintances.” Millie motioned to me. “Can you call him and ask him to come in?”
“Of course.” I paused, then said, “Do you want me to stay? I can ask the staff at my office to come in. This is right up our alley. We might be able to help.”
“I’d appreciate it. You have a lot more experience with things like this than I do. I have no idea if whoever said those things is a ghost or a…whatever.” Millie frowned. “I did not need this today, but if it closes a cold case and wraps up another death, then all the better.”
I glanced at the clock. It was barely seven-twenty, so I put in a call to Hank at home and explained the situation. He volunteered Caitlin and himself to meet me at the tea shop. Wren would watch the desk while the rest of us checked out the recordings. Hank could tell if somehow they had been rigged, or if we’d managed to pick up something from outside the building.
While waiting for them, I ordered breakfast for all of us, including Millie.
She had one of the officers set us up in one of the conference rooms, along with the digital recorder, so Hank and Caitlin had room to work. By the time they arrived, I’d gotten over my shock, but I was still unnerved. Why hadn’t I sensed whatever was behind that voice? Wasn’t it my job to notice when there were entities around?
By the time everyone had helped themselves to the continental breakfast—a fancy name for pastries, coffee, fruit, and I’d also ordered a cheese plate to give us some protein—I had forced myself to calm down. I didn’t know why I hadn’t noticed it, but we knew about it now.
Millie and I explained to Hank and Caitlin what we had heard, and Hank set up our own equipment, feeding Millie’s recording through our analyzer. Then we sat, silent, as Millie turned on the recorder.
When the first instance of the voice rang out, I immediately reacted. The first time, I’d been so surprised that I hadn’t noticed how tense I got. But now, I could feel it. The hairs on my arms stood up, and a shiver raced down my back. There were four instances of the voice during our conversation, and each time, the threats felt palpable.
When Millie turned off the recording, Hank—who had been monitoring the readings on his laptop—looked up.
