Page 40 of No Surrender
“Stu’s staying in touch with the hospital,” Vic answered. “All we know is that he’s not in danger, and they don’t want visitors yet.”
“What do you need me to look at?” Simon followed Vic and Ross to Hargrove’s office. Envelopes littered the floor, sealed except for one small padded mailer which had been torn open.
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that might be the one with the cursed object.” Simon bent over the mailer, careful not to touch. He frowned, looking at the item that lay half out of the envelope. “Looks like a bass lure. Does Hargrove fish?”
“Yeah, whenever he gets the chance,” Ross replied. “I think he’s even entered a few fly fishing competitions.”
Vic swore under his breath. “It’s bad enough that someone’s mailing cursed items, but picking things that tie into a favorite hobby is a level of creepy stalker.”
Ross nodded. “It’s intentionally invasive, like saying ‘I know all kinds of things about you.’”
“It’s the same resonance as with the card, ticket, and—I’d bet—the poker chip. Want to bet there’s a fishing pro who lost a competition because he went into anaphylactic shock?”
Simon ran his hand above the other mail and pronounced it harmless. He squatted by the lure, staring intently at the neatly typed address label. “Whoever’s behind this has enough skill to make a highly personalized curse. An amateur would have used a general hex that affected every postal worker who touched the envelope. But we haven’t heard of that happening with any of the incidents.”
“Does that mean it’s safe for anyone but Hargrove to touch it?” Ross asked, sidling up behind Simon for a better look.
“I’d rather err on the side of caution. Too many people have a little psychic ability that they don’t realize or acknowledge, and we have no idea how the curse would affect them,” Simon replied. “I wouldn’t want someone like Cassidy to touch it, that’s for sure.”
Simon’s cousin, Cassidy Kincaide, was a psychometric who could read the history and magic of an object by touching it. Vic shuddered, thinking what effect the curse would have on a person with that kind of ability.
“I’ve been using wooden tongs to get our mail out of the box and then dumping it into a warded circle on the deck before I go through it,” Simon added. “Nothing’s turned up yet, but given how prominent a role Vic and I played—thanks to the media—I can’t imagine the fanboy won’t want to warn us both off.”
Ross turned to Vic. “We need to get the word out to the jurors and other essential team members for the prosecution to have someone else handle all the mail and not to let them touch any unexpected objects.”
“And how, exactly, do you plan to explain that?” Vic challenged.
Ross shrugged. “Just like Stu said—blame it on anthrax, or ricin, or cooties. As long as no one else goes to the hospital. Then we collect the items and keep building that database of people from their hobby groups.”
“Want to bet we find Bert Judd in all the groups under different aliases?” Vic countered.
“That wouldn’t surprise me at all,” Ross replied.
While they waited for someone from the evidence locker to collect the lure and envelope, Vic and Ross filled Simon in on what they had learned from Gordon.
“While we wait for your warrant, I’ll see what I can pick up from the ghosts. Maybe Dante can scout the Vampire Castle building for us. That could be helpful,” Simon mused.
“Talk to the dead people all you want, but please, Simon, stay away from the building until we all go together. Judd’s out there, and even if you don’t know who he is, I guarantee he knows who you are,” Vic said. “Don’t take chances—he’s nuts and definitely dangerous.”
“Agreed,” Simon replied. “I won’t go looking for trouble.”
Vic believed his fiancé. He just hoped trouble didn’t go looking for them.
6
SIMON
Vic and Ross headed to work early, intending to check on Captain Hargrove. Simon made them promise to let him know how Hargrove was doing. Simon finished his coffee before heading over to The Golden Strand to talk with Leanne, Michelle’s friend who remembered Lisa Murdock, one of the girls who vanished.
On the way to the hotel, Simon pondered what Vic and Ross had learned from John Gordon. Ross had warned that they might not get the warrant to explore the old Vampire Castle until tomorrow since a forty-year-old case didn’t qualify as urgent. Still, the reasoning that pointed to Thompson as the long-ago killer and the fake caves of the old haunted attraction as their final resting place seemed solid.
Simon wasn’t sure what he hoped to find out from Leanne or Ed Gallagher, the retired reporter he and Walt planned to visit that afternoon. But he had learned to trust his instinct, and his gut reminded him that suspicions alone didn’t mean a case was solved. If the interviews didn’t shed new light on the murders, at least Simon could tell himself that he’d been thorough.
“Hiya, Simon.” Michelle wasn’t on duty, but she had promised to meet Simon to make introductions.
“Sorry to make you come in on your day off,” he said. Simon had a tray with three large lattes from Le Miz since Michelle had clued him in that a good java was the key to Leanne’s heart.
“Not like I’m working a shift,” Michelle replied with a shrug. “I’m going to run errands after this and then go home and binge-watch my favorite shows.” Simon passed her the cup with the sugar-free vanilla syrup she preferred.
