‘I’m so close and so far.’
Erin could see Carla’s rage and upset threatening to spill over after a couple of drinks with Jack Caron. Erin wasn’t sure that she approved of that friendship, but Carla, she suspected, wasn’t a woman to take advice on relationships. In professional matters, she was a little more relaxed and Erin liked to think she’d been open enough to admit that initial conclusions might have erred. Erin didn’t like where things were at all. She was beginning to view the killer as a shapeshifter, hiding in plain sight. Carla had done a pretty good job of convincing her that there was a lone person at work in Jericho, even if Viv and her team of detectives remained hostile.
They were sitting in one of the booths at Morrell’s but were sticking to coffee. Carla was a bit tipsy and needed to let off steam after her conversation with Jack. Erin’s opinion of Viv had taken a dip and it wasn’t just because she was making life difficult for Carla. She had invited the archaeologist in to advise on the case, expecting miracles, and Carla had initially brought nothing to her. So, Viv had ploughed on, listening to the half-baked theories of Baros and Perez. Carla had been expected to get back in her box and continue with her job as if she hadn’t seen the body of a woman burnt alive. If that had been it, Carla would have plenty to grumble about, but she hadn’t complained. Instead, that curious mind had picked over the items and found a pattern of sorts that she’d been able to apply to other victims. For that, she deserved a medal, not Viv’s disgust.
‘You know, and I’m talking as your mentor here, there are processes in place to protect you from harassment. Albert has no right reprimanding you based on Viv’s attitude. If a student or member of faculty has complained, then there are due processes to work through. Albert can’t hide behind the Kantz name forever.’
Carla took a gulp of her coffee. She was trying to sober up and the lipstick she’d put on made her look younger than her years.
‘Don’t rock the boat, Erin. Albert is keeping it informal because, first of all, I’m new, and secondly, I don’t think going down to Silent Brook was exactly part of my job description. As you say, there are plenty of complaints I could make too.’
‘And you’re pretty sure that there’s a fingerprint next to the hexafoil carved into the window.’
‘It’s smudged and, even if I could get Baros and Perez down to take an imprint of it, I doubt it would identify the killer. What’s infuriating is I don’t even think they’ve been asked to do that. I’m completely discredited and I don’t like the feeling at all.’
‘Why don’t you just get your head down until the end of term. You’ve just arrived and no one would think any less of you if you concentrated on your job for the next six weeks. Then have a think about how much Jericho suits your career plans. I’m talking to you as your mentor here, Carla.’
Carla shook her head. ‘I can’t. The fingerprint shows the killer is not infallible and it’s that weakness that I intend to exploit.’
‘Not giving up then?’
‘Not a chance.’
Morrell’s was heaving as usual. Erin kept an eye open for any cops she might know, although really she was just anxious about Baros and Perez putting in an appearance. Carla was looking well. She was wearing a dress Erin hadn’t seen before and she’d put on weight, which suited her. There was a flush to her cheeks and Erin wondered if it was simply down to the excitement of her discovery.
‘The thing is,’ said Erin. ‘When you’re in a bind, you need to look for your allies. They’re not always who you might think of immediately. Who have you clicked with at college? You sat next to Max at the fundraiser. Could you count on his support?’
‘I suppose so. He plays his cards close to his chest, but I think he’s a fundamentally decent man.’
‘What does he think of your theory? Have you talked about it at all?’
‘A little. It’s not his specialism. Most of his research has been on Roman Britain, so he’s not able to add much to what I’ve discovered.’
‘They didn’t believe in all that then? That’s gratifying. You know, I’ve always approved of the Romans.’
Erin caught Carla’s eye and grinned, but Carla didn’t return the smile.
‘I also get on OK with Jack Caron,’ she said. ‘Do you know him at all?’
‘The Byronic Jack. I wonder how his looks go down with the students.’
‘Too well. They don’t stop talking about him when they get to my class.’
Erin wondered if she’d imagined the flash of jealousy. It must be galling to an attractive and engaging woman like Carla to have to seize the impetus as students reeled from Jack’s class.
‘You know, he and Anna have recently separated.’ Carla lifted her cup, assuming an air of nonchalance.
‘You are kidding me.’ Erin leant across the table, shocked. ‘I hadn’t heard that. What happened?’
‘He didn’t really say. They were trying for a baby and it wasn’t happening. I get the impression that they need a break from each other.’
Erin leant back. ‘Well, I can sympathise. Kids are a nightmare when you can’t have them and even worse when they come along. Well, well. Jack Caron single. That will make things very interesting.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, it’s Anna with the money and I bet there’s an iron-clad prenup in place. Jack will have to curb some of his more exuberant behaviour if they do end up getting divorced.’
‘Exuberant in what way?’
Erin shot her a glance. Carla had plenty of strengths, but playing it cool wasn’t one of them. Keep away from Jack Caron, she wanted to tell her. Even the devil is good-looking when they’re thirty.
‘There’s a college society called the Norsemen. Ever heard of it?’
Carla shook her head. ‘Should I?’
‘You will eventually. It was started by those with Nordic genes, but it’s come a long way since the 1930s. Jack was admitted and looking at him, I doubt his ancestors ever set foot in Scandinavia. There was a scandal in the middle of last year. A student was assaulted on campus.’
‘Not by Jack?’ Carla looked aghast.
‘No, but by a friend who he alibied when the police came knocking. Very convenient it was too.’ Erin reached out and clasped her friend’s arm. ‘Be careful. This town looks after its own. You’re still grieving and it’s a minefield out there. Watch your step. No one likes their competence challenged. That’s why you’ve made so many enemies.’
Erin suddenly felt weary, the exertions of the day catching up with her. She should, of course, be fuming with Carla, who was suggesting she’d missed a clear case of homicide when it came to the death of Lauren Powers. However, Erin couldn’t summon up the same outrage she’d directed towards Baros when he’d questioned the competence of her autopsy of Jessica Sherwood.
The problem was drowning was one of the hardest murders to prove. Erin often joked that if she was planning to kill, say, a spouse, she’d wait until they were in the bathtub and grab their ankles to pull them underwater. If they’d had a drink or taken a few painkillers before the act, so much the better. A sedated victim was easier to manage than an alert one. Drownings in a river were a forensic nightmare. Evidence would be washed away, bodies eaten away by water-based critters and full of contusions from slapping up against rocks and other debris.
Erin had done her job and concluded, based on the medical evidence, that Lauren had drowned. Officially, it had then been up to the police to decide on who was responsible for her death. If you’re going to assume suicide, then you’re going to look for circumstantial evidence, such as a broken relationship or financial disarray. Lauren, it seemed, was suffering from a love affair gone wrong. Erin didn’t think she’d be getting an official letter over this one. It was the police department who’d investigated the killing as suicide, not her.
Carla shrugged, her expression defiant. Erin had a fair idea the plane she’d be taking home at the end of the semester would involve a one-way ticket. She’d never known anyone to create so much upset as Carla had over the last two months.
‘The thing is, you’ve kinda gone off the whole witch bottle thing, if you don’t mind me saying. I mean it was pretty off the wall when you first mentioned it, but Viv was at least willing to give you a hearing. Now you’ve dropped it and you’re focused on these daisy wheels. It’d help your case if you at least followed an idea through.’
Carla raised her eyes, colour coming back to her face at the realisation her intellectual abilities were being challenged.
‘One of the features of ritual house protection is that there can be circles within circles. Symbols overlap, intersect. That’s what we’ve got here. The witch bottle items are a little in your face. It didn’t take me long to find them and Lauren was there before me too. It suggests that the killer was happy to play a little loose with this imagery. He’s having a bit of fun.’
‘Like “let’s just throw some things in the mix”.’
‘Exactly, and the thing is that’s actually reminiscent of anti-witchcraft symbolism around the world. It’s a sort of free for all. The same with the scorch marks. However,’ Carla paused to take a slug of her drink, ‘when it comes to the hexafoils, they’re hidden behind a curtain or in flower beds. Here, the killer is being much more circumspect about what he reveals or who he reveals it to.’
‘A pattern within a pattern.’
‘Exactly.’ Carla’s voice was too loud, which earned them a frown from a passing waiter. She lowered her voice. ‘They were in a wastepaper basket, behind a curtain. One theory is that they weren’t meant to be found, another is that the meaning is a lot more oblique.’
‘That leaves the case wide open. What are you going to do next?’
Carla dipped her finger in her drink and drew a hexafoil on the table top.
‘Concentrate on the daisy wheels.’