“Together?” Caleb asked.
“No. No, the guy was alone—we got talking about our favorite local restaurants. And the girl…she came in alone, too, I think, but she was the friendly type, talked to a lot of people. She looked pretty blitzed when she left, too. This guy, he left right after her, said he was going to get her into a cab.”
Caleb thanked him, and they moved on to the Mainmast, but they didn’t find out anything else of interest, so they headed back to the house. He was quiet as they walked.
“Well?” Sarah asked softly at last.
He studied her, touched her hair gently. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?” he asked, his expression intent.
She shook her head.
“Are you afraid of…my ancestor’s ghost?”
She shook her head again, and smiled. “No, though for the first time in my life I believe there really is a ghost. He’s trying to help us. He did help us. He wanted us to find Eleanora and made sure we did.”
He nodded. “Okay, so let’s look at what we know. Martha Tyler—the original Martha Tyler—had a book, and she and Brennan used it as part of their MO when they were killing girls back in the day. Now someone’s found that book, and they’re using it and killing people, too—killing them just like Martha and Brennan did. I’d lay money that Jennie Lawson is dead. She was drinking at the Dirty Duck, and someone spiked her drink. She looked so blitzed because she’d been drugged. Frederick Russell tried to help her and was killed for his pains. I’m assuming they drugged him, too, and decided to make his death appear to be an accident, in case he was ever found. Six months later, the killer took Jane Doe, but for some reason, he, she or they dug up her body, then threw it in the bay. My guess is they intended to do the same with Winona Hart’s body, except that you found it first. Last night, one of two things happened. Either Renee just got shit-faced and fell, and some Good Samaritan found her and dropped her off at the hospital, or else someone drugged her but didn’t get a chance to snatch her because that Good Samaritan—who for all we know was Cato’s ghost—came by and messed up the killer’s plans.”
“So how do we figure out which it was?”
“That part will be easy,” Caleb said.
“Oh?”
“The doctors are testing Renee’s blood for drugs—including yaupon holly, which undoubtedly would have been in Martha’s black drink and which our current killer seems to be relying on, too. As soon as they have answers, we’ll have answers. At least on that score.”
“What do we do until then?” Sarah asked.
“Well, it’s nearly one a.m., and not only don’t I believe your house is evil, I think your bedroom is quite extraordinary.”
“So we’re going to sleep?” she asked teasingly.
“Well, yes, eventually.”
“And until then?”
He drew her close as they walked. “I have few ideas,” he promised.
16
Sarah woke early, feeling as if she had enjoyed the sweetest night of sleep imaginable.
If ghosts had been prowling the house that night, they were kindly spirits, tiptoeing past and happy to let the house’s owner savor a night in her lover’s arms.
When she opened her eyes, Caleb was already up, showered and dressed, and looking down at her intently.
“What’s up?” she asked him.
“I have several things I need to do this morning,” he told her. “So why don’t you get up and get dressed, and then I’ll drop you at the museum and get started.”
“If you need to go now, it’s okay. You don’t have to wait for me. It’s broad daylight.”
He shook his head. “I don’t trust anyone or anything right now. The victims were really all just young women. Please, Sarah? At first, I thought it was a serial killer who chose a type, but now we know the victims are young woman, not necessarily a physical type.”
“All right,” she told him.
“Then…hop to it,” he said, grinning.
Something trembled deep in her belly. It was crazy, but despite everything going on, she was falling head over heels for him. A killer was stalking the city and she should be afraid, but she wasn’t. She was, despite everything, almost unbearably happy to be falling in love.
She hurried into the shower, then dressed quickly and found him downstairs. He’d made coffee, and she drank a cup quickly before being ushered out the door.
“Sarah!” Caroline said happily when she let herself into the employee lounge. “You decided to work today after all, huh? Great. Now the whole gang’s here.”
Renee and Barry walked in just then, already in costume. Renee had arranged a lock of hair to cover the bandage on her forehead, and Barry looked elegant. Not like Cato, but with his costume and from a distance…
He might have been a ghost.
“It’s going to be a great day,” Caroline said cheerfully. “And tomorrow, I’m taking a day off.”