A Grave Situation, page 5
part #2 of The Infernal Artefacts Trilogy Series
‘All right then.’ Finn sighed and propped himself up against the counter. ‘Pauline, I’d like to know what healer signed your husband’s death certificate.’
‘What? Why would you need to know that?’ she questioned.
‘Because,’ said the captain, scrutinizing her every expression, ‘we’re going to need to contact that healer and take a look at the death cert if we’re going to establish a cause of death.’
Pauline struggled out of the beanbag and stood up. ‘It was a heart attack. What more do you need to know?’
‘I’ll still need those details,’ Finn insisted. ‘I’ll also need the details of any insurance policies in your husband’s name, and the beneficiaries of those policies.’
Since Pauline seemed too shocked to question him any further, I asked, ‘Why?’
‘If you could just get those details for me, Pauline,’ he said, ignoring me, ‘I would greatly appreciate it.’
Flustered-looking, Pauling began to pace the floor, pulling at the ribbon on her wrist. ‘Healer Croak hasn’t issued a death cert yet. I went to see him today because I haven’t been sleeping, and he said it’ll take a couple of days to go through the official channels before he can give it to me. You should know that, shouldn’t you? And what has a death cert got to do with my husband’s grave being robbed?’
‘Well, now that you mention it …’ Finn gritted his teeth. ‘It’s rather interesting that you didn’t report that to us, don’t you think? Considering you stumbled upon those grave robbers in the wee hours, when it was still dark.’
While Pauline was becoming increasingly shaken and upset, Finn pulled out his phone. ‘And one more thing, before you go and get your insurance details. Could you look at this footage, please? It was filmed at nine this morning at the vegetable market on Madra Lane. Who is this man here, queuing up at this stall? Do you recognise him?’
I stood looking over Pauline’s shoulder as the footage played. Two people stood together, both with dark-coloured cloaks, and hoods covering their faces. They reached the top of the queue, made their purchases – baskets filled with turnips, swedes, and pumpkins. The man’s face became visible as his hood fell down.
‘That’s … that’s my husband!’ gasped Pauline.
‘It certainly seems that way, doesn’t it?’ The captain returned his phone to his pocket. ‘And even though you haven’t yet provided me with the details, I do know exactly how much money your husband was insured for. Quite a bit, as it happens. But you already know that. Oh, and there was a closed coffin at the funeral, wasn’t there? The funeral that happened incredibly soon after his death.’
‘It’s traditional in Samhain Street to have a quick funeral when it’s this close to Halloween,’ I informed the captain. ‘There’s nothing unusual about it. It’s just so that the bereaved can be sure their dead will be buried and ready to come back for a visit on Halloween.’
‘Mm hm.’ Finn’s face wore a grim expression. ‘Convenient Samhain Street customs aside, why was the coffin covered, Pauline? Was there actually a body in there?’
‘What?’ Hands on my hips, I glared at him. ‘Of course Tom was in that coffin. Otherwise, why would someone go and dig it up? You don’t dig up an empty coffin, do you?’
The captain remained focused on Pauline. ‘You do if you’ve been tipped off that the Wayfarers are suspicious about certain goings-on, and you want to destroy the evidence of your crime. You were there before Dolly arrived, we know that much. Now, I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just telling you how it might look. Maybe you were making it look like the grave had been robbed to hide the fact that there was never any body to begin with. You are currently making arrangements on a lovely house by the sea in sunny Spain, are you not? A very expensive house, I might add. Certainly big enough for two.’
‘No! We were buying that house before Tom died. He … I …’
‘Lost for words, Pauline? Well, don’t worry about that. We can have a break now, and then we can continue this down at the …’
Whatever annoying smartarse comment Finn had been about to utter, it faded away into nothingness as Pauline clutched her chest and fell to the floor.
9. Snake in the Grass
I tried everything I could to revive Pauline, but she was gone. As other Wayfarers appeared in the shop, I kept my eyes on the captain. ‘You did this, Finn. You badgered a grieving woman, and now she’s dead.’
‘What?’ He looked genuinely upset. ‘Ned, I’m so sorry that this happened, but you can not blame me for the fact that Pauline has been lying through her teeth. Turnip Tom is not dead. Tom’s healer is already a suspect, too – I just wanted to see Pauline’s expression when I asked her about him. Healer Croak might be connected to more than one fake death case. And as for Pauline and Tom, these people were not saints. They drove every other turnip and pumpkin seller out of business.’
‘No, they did not!’ I exclaimed. ‘Every other seller in this enclave went out of business because they overpriced and sold crappy stock. You have these ideas of how things go in this enclave. You think you’re good and we’re bad, and that everything we do is bad. We’re not. Tom and Pauline were not! They were good people.’
‘Ned …’ Finn’s voice softened somewhat. ‘I know this is your enclave. I know you care about everyone here.’
‘Yes, I do!’ I was surprising even myself with my vehemence. I might not like my job. I might dream of a career as a healer instead of a necromancer, and of living somewhere with fresher air, but one thing I didn’t want to escape was the people. Some of them, maybe, but not all of them.
‘But I know you can see what I see,’ the captain continued, still speaking softly. ‘Something’s not right here, Ned. Tom was seen this morning. People have been dying and reappearing. You can’t expect me to overlook something like that just because you happen to like the people involved.’
‘Who?’ I frowned. ‘Who else besides Tom has died and reappeared?’
Finn opened his notebook. ‘Sheila Reid and Filipe Wannamaker. They weren’t long in the enclave. Not in your circle. But still … those two have been seen as well, even though they’re supposedly dead. Just like Tom. And there are possibly other grave robberies too, if what our witness says is correct. But we’ll soon find out for sure. Of course, it would have been nice if you came to me when you heard about it first thing this morning. I guess doing things your own way and making stupid promises to Benny was more important than solving the case.’
I could feel my brow furrow as I looked in confusion at the captain. ‘How did you …?’
Shane loudly cleared his throat. ‘Well, Pauline isn’t faking being dead. There’s no doubt about that, seeing as I’ve just checked her. And considering everything that’s happened today and over the recent days, it’s probably safe to assume that the stress caused her to have a heart attack.’
As he and Sam went to move the body, something began to make sense. ‘You.’ I jabbed a finger at Sam. ‘You’re a snake. A grass. You’re a … a snake in the grass! You were listening in on my conversation with your dad.’
With a lift of his chin, Sam met my glare. ‘Look, I don’t know how things go in this enclave, but where I come from, people don’t think twice or have long discussions on whether to report things like grave robberies. And the fact is that I saw the widow and a bunch of other people at that grave in the early hours of the morning. So I reported it. Just like I reported what I heard you and my dad talking about. Yeah, I did grass on you, and I’d do it again. And you can tell my dad I grassed if you like, because I don’t care. I don’t think I like it around here much, anyway.’
‘Sam!’ Shane looked in shock at his assistant. ‘You know Ned’s one of the good ones, right? We can trust her.’
Sam scowled. ‘Number one – why won’t anyone please call me Igor? Number two – you’ve changed your tune, haven’t you? This woman is a necromancer, caught up in something that’s probably actual necromancy. You know, if it’s not insurance fraud – which I personally think isn’t quite as bad, because insurance companies are the worst criminals of all and they kind of deserve to have someone steal from them for a change. But the point is, a few days ago you couldn’t stand this woman’s guts. So what’s she done to you, eh? Has she put you under some sort of enchantment or something so that she can carry on killing locals and bringing them back from the dead? Because you don’t go from loathing to liking in so short a time without some kind of magic involved!’
Finn folded his arms, looking my way. ‘Actually, I’d be interested in your answer to that, too. You’re probably just about the only person Shane’s ever disliked, Ned – yeah, I noticed he was cold with you ever since the two of you met. And now all of a sudden he’s blushing when you’re around. Defending your honour. What gives? Because as much as I like you and your friends, I’m having serious concerns about this, and if I find out there are shenanigans afoot – love spells, proper necromancy, whatever – I will come down so hard on you and everyone in this enclave that you’ll wish you were dead.’
Shane stood tall, eyeballing his captain. ‘There’s no need for this, Finn.’ He turned to Sam. ‘You’re wrong. You’re both so, so wrong. Ned isn’t involved in any actual necromancy. And she’s not dosing me with some sort of potion or spell or anything like that, either. I … I can’t tell you why I changed my opinion of her. I can only tell you that I do trust her, one hundred percent.’
Before things took an even worse turn, I stepped between Finn and Shane. ‘I’ll tell you why Shane’s opinion of me changed. I’ll tell you everything, Finn. But can we do this in privacy – and away from the dead body, please?’
≈
Finn, Shane and I sat in the captain’s office, while Pauline lay down in the morgue. I explained everything to the captain – he already knew a little about what the artefacts could do, seeing as I’d used one of the wands to contact Alison Fouler’s dead boyfriend, and Alison had attempted to use the dagger to kill me – but I told him everything I’d discovered since then, and about Angelica removing my memories, and how I’d retrieved those memories once again. I also gave him the full details of my conversation with Benny and the ghosts this morning. I would have kept Benny’s secret until I discovered more, but now that his own son had already told on him, there was little point.
‘Huh.’ He kicked his legs up on his desk, cradling a cup of coffee in his hands. ‘Thanks for that. Everything makes a bit more sense now.’
‘You don’t look shocked, though,’ Shane pointed out.
‘Why should I be?’ The captain paused for a sip of his coffee before continuing. ‘We all know Angelica Marvin is capable of just about anything. And now that you’ve told me your version of the conversation you had with Benny, I get it. Sam made it sound like you and his dad were conspiring, but I can see that you both thought you were doing the right thing. I don’t think Sam wanted to drop you in it, Ned. Maybe he was just freaked out.’
‘Freaked out?’ Shane shook his head. ‘I don’t care if Sam was freaked out. He went behind my back to talk to you, Finn. To report my relationship with Ned, to tell you what he earwigged between her and Benny in the graveyard.’
‘Well, he couldn’t exactly come to you with those concerns, could he?’ Finn countered. ‘Not if he thought you were under Ned’s thrall.’ He sniggered. ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if Ned were just pretending to be sweet all this time, and she was actually a full-on, nefarious necromancer like Sam seems to think she is?’
He laughed away to himself for a few minutes, as though the thought of me being an actual necromancer were hilarious, before finally saying, ‘Anyway, I think you and Benny might be right about the goings-on in the cemetery, Ned. We’ve unearthed the coffins of Sheila and Filipe already – we had to, because they were spotted a few days ago, too, in the same sort of cloak as Tom was wearing when he was spotted in the market. We put it down to an overactive imagination at first – or maybe someone was seeing their ghosts. This close to Halloween, anything is possible. But we had our tech guy comb through CCTV, and we spotted them ourselves coming out of a late-night shopping centre. They were insured too, but I guess even I have to admit that there might be something weirder going on here than fraud.’
‘Thank you!’ I sat back on the captain’s couch, feeling relieved that he was beginning to see sense. There was no way Tom had faked his death. Not only was he incredibly honest (well, honest for the enclave), he also made so much money selling turnips that he didn’t need to commit fraud. ‘But you know, it’s like Benny and I were saying – you can’t mess around with a cemetery like that one. It had dark beginnings, Finn. You have to be careful. I’ve already set a spell in motion that will help us figure out what other graves might be empty. Please don’t go digging anyone else up.’
‘Ned’s right, boss,’ said Shane. ‘There’s power in the Unhallowed Ground, and you know it. Digging up all of the graves could lead to a very big mess. Especially this close to Halloween. Ned made the right call.’
‘Maybe.’ The captain sat up, staring forlornly into his now-empty cup. ‘I still think that after all we’ve been through together, Ned should have come to me and explained it all. I get frustrated with Samhain Street, I’ll admit it, but I’m not some big, bad ogre. Look, with Katy away and Hamish busy elsewhere – and Cullen flat-out refusing to work with me – I need you, Ned. Tell me what I should do. We already know that Alison wasn’t working alone, but I genuinely thought we’d arrested all of her minions. Seems I was wrong about that. And maybe she lied to you too, Ned. Maybe she’s not the Spellcaster, but a minion herself? I dunno. But she hasn’t said a word since she was imprisoned – just pled guilty and wouldn’t say anything more – so I don’t think she’ll talk to the law. You’re not due to visit your sister for a few days. What if I have a word with the warden and I can arrange for you to see her tomorrow morning? Angelica probably knows a lot more than she’s told you so far. And I can get you in to see Alison then too, to see if she’ll talk to you. So what else should I do? Should I make an appeal for witnesses? How would that go down with the people of your enclave? Would they be reluctant to come forward if they’ve spotted anything, if they know anything? Do they trust you enough to tell you?’
I thought about it for a moment. ‘No one in the enclave likes true necromancy, Finn. They could be scared that I’m involved, maybe. I’m hopeful that they’ll come to me if they know something – Dolly and Pauline certainly seemed to trust me, Benny too – but only time will tell. They definitely won’t talk to you, that much I know. Especially now you’ve gone and dug up three graves.’
‘Huh. You’re probably right. I was thinking I could go into the pubs and whatnot, talk to people one-to-one. Tell them that my door is always open, that even if they were doing something illegal when they spotted a clue, I’d overlook it.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Well, most of it. Obviously murder and that sort of thing would be off the table. But I could overlook anything petty. Thievery, pick-pocketing, cabbage kicking, pumpkin nicking … what would they do if I made an offer like that?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘You still think we’re nothing but a den of dodgy ne’er-do-wells, I see. And every one of my neighbours will see that too, if you give them the speech you just gave me. So no, don’t make an offer like that. Just … let me work on it, okay? I’ll keep asking around. I’ll keep studying the Book of Balance, and I’ll go see Alison tomorrow, if you arrange it. But you have to be patient and wait for my spell to work, Finn. I’ve sealed the cemetery with a special salt too, so if anything dark is going on in there, it won’t escape. Of course, I can’t do anything about whatever might have escaped so far.’
‘And Ned and I can work on the samples Benny gave her,’ Shane added. ‘That could help us narrow down whether he’s being drugged or bespelled while this grave robbing is going on. It might mean we have to take a closer look at Sam, though. Because if Benny is being drugged so he’ll stay asleep, Sam has the ideal opportunity to do the drugging, doesn’t he? And the ghosts Ned spoke to did mention one of the robbers looked like him so …’
‘Okay, if you two work on that, I can be patient,’ he promised. ‘Ish. All right. We’ll keep working with what we’ve found so far, and we’ll look a little deeper into Sam’s background. Professor Sweeney too, seeing as Ned thinks he’s been following her.’
‘Yeah, I really don’t like that guy,’ said Shane. ‘When I was at Wentforth’s, some cadavers went missing from the Healing class, and Sweeney’s department was investigated. Him, and a couple of his students, they were at the college after hours when the cadavers were stolen. Dean Armitage investigated and came up with nothing. It was never resolved, but–’
He broke off at the sound of a knock on the door.
‘Come in, I suppose,’ Finn called out with a grunt.
Sam stuck his head into the room. ‘Finn, Shane, I found something when I was working on Pauline. You should see this.’
Shane stood up and walked to the door. ‘I told you not to do an autopsy, Sam. As a matter of fact, I told you to go home.’
‘I know you did,’ Sam replied nervously. ‘But I was too curious to leave. I only ran bloods, and I was careful when I did it. You have to see this, though. There’s something she was dosed with. Something I’ve never seen before.’
10. Pauline on Pause
‘Why does she get to be here?’ Sam asked, as I followed Finn and Shane into the lab.
‘Because I say so,’ the captain replied. ‘So what’s the big deal, Sam? What do you have to show us? Because last I remember, Shane told you to take a break and leave the body alone.’
‘I know, but I didn’t think running bloods would do any harm. I mean, it’s kind of suspicious, right, for Pauline to die a few days after her husband? Sure, broken hearts happen, but–’
