Alexandra Sokoloff - Book of Shadows

She bit her lip. “It’s an early sign of demon infestation.”

“Possession?” he asked, incredulous. “You’ve got to be—”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been thinking?” she asked quietly.

“No,” Garrett exploded. “What I see is a disturbed young man with a history of antisocial behavior and what looks like a hell of an obsession with this—Choronzon. Whose ‘sigil’ just happened to end up carved in Erin Carmody’s chest. All the evidence points to Moncrief, Ms. Cabarrus—”

“Then why are you here?”

The truth of that froze him. Then he reached out and grabbed her wrist and it was like an electric shock between them, a shock he felt through his entire body. “All right. All right. Then give me something,” he said, and his voice was harsh.

She wrenched her arm away. “I did. The dates. There are three dead. Two other people have been killed on those dates I gave you—”

“There are no missing persons on the dates you gave me. Don’t you think I’ve checked?”

“Then you’re not looking in the right place.” She slammed her hands on the table, startling him. “He’s killing on the holy days. And while Jason Moncrief sits in jail—you have less than a month until Samhain.”

“Until the demon strikes again,” he mocked her, to make it less real.

“Until someone does.” Her eyes lasered into his. “Unless you do something about it, Detective. ”

Garrett woke to the sound of rumbling and a dismal day outside his window: thick black clouds threatening a downpour. And an even more dismal task in front of him.

It was the day of Erin Carmody’s funeral.

The last thing Garrett wanted to do was spend the day in a church with a dead girl, but he and Landauer would be there early, suited and shaved. It was standard operating procedure in a murder case; killers were often perversely moved to attend the funerals of their victims, and even when— if —the killer was locked securely away, mourners had been known to say things in the throes of grief that they might not ordinarily say, things that could make a case.

And Kevin Teague would be there. Alibi or not, Garrett wanted another look at him.

Garrett was not admitting aloud that he was troubled by Tanith’s insistence that there were multiple victims, and he certainly hadn’t told Land about his little trip up to Salem—not until he could make some sense of it himself.

But Teague was a loose end Garrett didn’t like.

The church was typical New England, a nineteenth-century stone structure on the outskirts of Boston, nestled in the middle of a thick grove of trees; the gravestones of the cemetery scattered over gently rolling hills. Inside the church, massive flower arrangements were everywhere; the scent was overpowering. The coffin, of course, was closed. The service was standing room only, the church overflowing with mourners, students rubbing shoulders with the crème of Boston society, come to pay respects to the Carmody dynasty.

Even in his best suit, Garrett felt painfully underdressed. Then he felt shame at the thought. You think the Carmodys give a good goddamn about clothes, today?

He forced himself to the task at hand, and scanned the crowd from his vantage at the end of a back pew.

Landauer sat on the other side of the chapel, looking as impassively uncomfortable as Garrett felt, and Carolyn was toward the front; not observing, as the detectives were, but present simply because this was her own social circle. By mutual agreement she and Garrett were not communicating while he worked the funeral, which was a relief; he was distracted enough already.

His pulse suddenly spiked as he spotted Shelley Forbes and Kevin Teague taking seats together in the Carmody’s pew, up-front.

Okay, then, jocko. We’re going to have a little talk, you and me.

Garrett settled back into the pew to wait out the service. These days he felt out of place in any church, but today it was particularly painful. The funeral seemed to him a total lie, the body within the coffin incomplete, missing the part that makes human beings most human.

Erin’s life had ended in a dark ritual, and the one going on before him seemed a flimsy and inadequate attempt to counteract the damage done. Whatever God there was had some explaining to do.

Garrett looked up at the stained-glass panels in the slanted ceiling to distract himself… only to find himself staring at a pane depicting winged Lucifer tempting a gaunt Christ in the wilderness.

He had a sudden clear image of the reptilian things that Tanith had shown him the night before. “Choronzon in particular is said to cause madness, chaos, and decay.”

Garrett’s stomach twisted. What century are we in? How can civilized people believe these things? He looked quickly away from the colored glass, letting the hymn block out his thoughts.

As the service concluded, Garrett caught Land’s eye across the chapel and nodded slightly toward Teague. Landauer nodded back and started out the door with the flow of mourners.

Outside the church the day was still dark, with scudding clouds and the threat of rain, a heavy feeling in the air to match the somber proceedings.

Mortuary attendants discreetly herded the funeral party out onto a winding path toward the grove that encircled the graveyard. Garrett walked at the edges of the crowd, following Teague, and when the young man drifted behind the Carmodys, Garrett stepped in front of him, cutting him off from the others.

Teague recognized him instantly; his eyes turned hooded and wary. Garrett indicated a side path with a jerk of his head. Teague glowered under those dark, full eyebrows, but stepped onto the path with him.

“So you’ve never been to Cauldron,” Garrett said flatly, as soon as they were out of earshot of the other mourners.

“No, I haven’t,” Teague snapped back, hostility seething in his voice.

“So I guess you didn’t attack Jason Moncrief in the parking lot there on September seventh.”

Teague’s lip twisted. “Who says so?”

Garrett paused. The only real witness was Jason; the bass player’s story was hearsay.

A smug look crossed Teague’s features. “You better watch those unfounded allegations, Detective.”

Garrett took an abrupt step toward the young man and the smirk disappeared from his face. “You better watch that mouth, Teague. I have witnesses who place you at Cauldron.”

“The night she died?” Teague demanded. Garrett didn’t answer and Teague shook his head, disgusted. “You’re tripping. If you think I killed Erin you’re as crazy as Moncrief.” He stepped back from Garrett, clearly knowing that he could. “Like I said. From now on talk to my lawyer.”

He strode off down the path, toward the graves.

Garrett felt a surge of anger and had to stand for a few minutes in the quiet circle of trees to compose himself. The wind whispered through the leaves above him.

When he was calm enough to rejoin the funeral party, the mourners were filing past the grave site, putting flowers and gifts—notes, stuffed animals, trinkets—on top of the coffin. A good number of the procession broke down in tears.

Garrett felt a tightness in his chest, a new fury—for Erin’s wasted life.

And then his pulse suddenly spiked as he caught sight of a familiar figure, unmistakable: a slim young man with heavy dark glasses who towered a full head over everyone else around him.

The bass player from Jason’s band, Danny Coyle.

He paused beside the coffin and lay a white, square envelope on the gleaming surface with the other gifts.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the musician, Garrett stepped into the line of mourners filing by the coffin. When his turn came he stopped on the fresh earth beside the bier and lay one hand gently on the surface of the casket as if in tribute, while he snagged the white envelope with his other hand and slid it into his coat pocket. He bowed his head for a moment longer, then turned and walked quickly away from the grave, following the bassist at a distance, weaving through the headstones and monuments. It was an easy tail, given the dispersing crowd and the height of his target.