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I nodded. “Full onExorcistLinda Blair style. I’m worried about his family, to be honest. I’d better call them soon and see how last night went.” I waited, but he showed no signs of getting ready to leave. “Well…is there anything else?”
Faron stared at me for a moment, then it seemed to register. “Oh! No. Please contact me when you’ve talked to the sheriff. Even if she isn’t interested in hunting down the ghosts, I could hire you to do so. Maybe ifweknow who committed the murders, then we can find a way to convince her that Elroy is innocent.” He sounded so hopeful that I caved.
“All right, hold on. Before you go, I’ll call the sheriff and see what she has to say.” I retrieved my phone and called Daisy. I wasn’t fond of dealing with the authorities, but Faron seemed so positive, and I didn’t want to see anybody railroaded for a crime they didn’t commit.
Daisy answered after the third ring. “Sheriff Parker here.”
She was abrupt and to the point, but I figured niceties were a luxury, especially since she was dealing with a couple murders.
“Hi, this is Elphyra,” I said, not sure how to begin.
“Oh, hey. If you’re calling about Kevin—”
“I’m not, actually. Though I’d be interested in what’s going on. I haven’t heard from Darla today.” Once we disturbed those skeletons, there had to be some sort of repercussion.
“We had to turn him over to the psychiatric ward at the Peninsula Hospital. During the night, he had what looks like a psychotic break. The guards had to call in the medics and they decided to take him to the hospital psych ward. They’re holding him until they can figure out what’s going on, and he’ll be remanded to us once he’s…back to himself.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I knewexactlywhat was wrong with Kevin—he was possessed. But while some medical centers recognized that as a legitimate condition, not all did. Especially those who were human-focused rather than Otherkin-focused.
“Well, I can tell them what’s wrong, though I don’t know if they’d believe me.” I paused, then added, “But that’s not why I called. I’m calling with a question about the murder cases you’re working on. With Olivia and…what’s the other guy’s name?”
“Lucius Jackaberry. He was a witch. What do you want to know?”
I sighed, glancing over at Faron. “Have you by any chance asked a witch to see whether they can find the ghosts of Olivia and Lucius? If you can talk to them—if they’re still around—maybe that would give you a leg up on the killer.” I wanted to tread carefully, so that she didn’t kick me out of the loop for being too nosy. At least not until I knew what was going on.
“We have a suspect, but in answer to your question: no, we haven’t. I don’t know that it’s necessary. The suspect has no alibi for either murder, he fits the profile, and we’ve uncovered evidence pointing to him having a beef with one of the murder victims.” She hesitated, then said, “Collinsworth asked you to look into this, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah,” I said. I wasn’t going to lie. “He did. He seems so positive—”
On one side, Faron suddenly was trying to shush me, he was frantically waving his finger in front of his lips, and on the other side, Daisy laughed. It was a rough laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.
“I thought so. He’s been calling me every hour, trying anything he can think of to shake me off his friend’s tail.” The irritation shone through Daisy’s voice.
I cleared my throat. “But doesn’t he have a point? If the ghosts are still hanging around and they corroborate your theory, then that’s just extra evidence. And if they have a different story…well, the last thing you want is to jail an innocent man, isn’t it?”
She was silent for a moment, then sighed. “All right. If you’re volunteering. I can’t pay you. However, you need to take one of my men along with you to verify that you actually went to those areas. You know that we can’t use a spirit’s testimony in court—obviously there’s no good way to validate what you say you heard, and it would be hearsay anyway. But wecanuse it in our investigation. Are you free at four o’clock today?”
“Yeah,” I said, suddenly realizing that I had landed myself in the thick of it.
“I’ll have Arnie Fryer pick you up and take you to the murder scenes. I also don’t want you going alone while the killer is still out there.” She added, “If that’s all, I’m swamped. I’ll talk to you later.” And just like that, she disconnected.
I stared at the phone for a moment, then turned to Faron. “Well, it looks like I’m going to check out the murder scenes later today. I’ll let you know what I find out, if anything.”
He stared at me for a moment, and I wasn’t sure what he was thinking.
Then, he said, “Would you go out to dinner with me tonight? We can talk over what you found and…I owe you one since I was so rude to you, and now here you are, helping me.”
His dark eyes flashed with a dangerous flare, and I caught my breath, my stomach fluttering. We had somehow just fallen into dangerous territory.
“Thank you, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I said.
“Oh, come on,” he said, grinning. “What can it hurt?”
I could think of a lot of reasonsnotto go out with Faron Collinsworth, but inside, that voice I listened to all too often whispered,Go. And so, with a feeling that I was getting myself in deeper than I wanted to, I agreed to go out to dinner with him.
“I’ll pick you up at eight,” he said, as he strode toward the door. “I’ll see you tonight.”
I closed the door behind him, and my thoughts derailed on me.
