The Witch is Dead (25 page)

Her head turned to the right, then the left, looking for a parking space.

“One’s open next to the SUV,” I pointed out.

“Duh, we can’t park there. He might see us. We need a spot where we can see the building and not be noticed.”

“To your left, child,” Aunt Dot said from the backseat.

A big smile crossed Darci’s face. “Perfect,” she replied, smoothly turning into the spot.

It was perfect. From that location we could see the office door yet not be obvious.

Still, I couldn’t see the point of it. “This is a waste of time,” I groused. “He’s obviously not meeting Mrs. Buchanan. I can’t imagine a biotech office would be a good place for a romantic rendezvous.”

Leaning my head against the seat, I closed my eyes. “How long are you planning on sitting here? I do need to get home, call Bill, see if I can reach Walks Quietly…” My voice trailed away as I thought of all the things I could be doing to find Tink instead of following Dr. Christopher Mason around.

A jab in the ribs made me raise my head.

Darci jerked her head toward the SUV. “Look, a car’s parking next to Mason’s.”

Maybe Aunt Dot and Darci were right and Christopher did have a meeting with Mrs. Buchanan.

Only it wasn’t a woman who exited the late model car. A man, his face shadowed by the hood of a sleeveless sweatshirt, got out and walked to the rear of the car. With his back to us, he opened the trunk and removed two Styrofoam coolers by their handles. Setting them on the ground next to him,
he closed the lid of the trunk. Then he picked up the coolers and walked to Christopher’s office.

Pausing at the door, he turned and looked furtively around the parking lot.

I gasped.

It was Silas Green, making a delivery.

Once we arrived home, Aunt Dot steamrolled up the sidewalk and into the house, letting the screen door slam behind her. Darci and I hurried after her.

We entered the house in time to see her rounding the corner into the kitchen. In her wake, Queenie, Lady, and T.P. scattered to avoid getting their tails smashed by her cane smacking the hardwood floor with each step.

Darci and I skidded to a halt as we heard the words pouring out of Aunt Dot’s mouth.

“…And then we ran a red light. You should have heard the tires squeal. We were almost hit.”

With each word, Abby’s eyes grew rounder with fear. They flew from Aunt Dot to Darci and then to me.

“Hey, I wasn’t the one driving,” I said, crossing to the counter, where I picked up a bag of chips.

Abby zeroed in on Darci. “What have you girls been doing? I thought you were only going to look around Dr. Mason’s office.”

Darci pulled out a chair and plopped down. “I didn’t find anything, so we decided to follow him.”

Abby glanced at me for affirmation.

I shrugged and popped a chip in my mouth.

“That junk’s not good for you,” she said.

“Honestly, Abby, Aunt Dot’s exaggerating a little,” Darci said. “That car missed us by this much,” she added, holding her hands far apart.

Abby fisted a hand on a hip. “What did happen?”

Munching on the chips, I let Darci do the explaining. For once, it was nice for someone else to be in the hot seat.

When she’d finished, I closed the bag of chips and leaned against the cabinet. “Did Bill call?”

“No, but that nice young man Ethan stopped in.” Abby shook her head. “I can’t imagine how you ever suspected him of being a murderer.”

Oh, maybe it was the tattoos, or the fact that he appeared to be a member of a drug-running biker gang, or because he threatened me whenever I ran into him? I kept my thoughts to myself.

“Abby you’ve lived in Summerset for a long time. Surely you knew Silas Green’s family?”

Her brow wrinkled. “Not really. His mother, when she was alive, bought bedding plants occasionally. I think she mentioned Silas worked up north one time—”

“At a crematorium?” I interrupted.

“No, I don’t think so, but right now I can’t recall what his occupation was. I do know he came home when his father had his heart attack.”

“He took over the business?”

“Yes, I believe so.” She tapped her chin. “There was a rumor going around a couple of years ago that he might have to close the crematorium.”

“Bill mentioned that. I wonder how long he’s been providing Christopher with body parts?”

Darci sat up in her chair. “Do you think that’s how he saved his business? Selling tissues from cadavers?”

I pulled a hand through my hair. “Could be, but as you pointed out at lunch, if he is receiving a fee from Christopher, it’s not illegal.”

“No, as long as he’s following the rules,” she said thoughtfully.

Pacing the room, I tried to shove all the pieces of the puzzle together. “Even if what they’re doing is illegal, how does that connect with Tink?” I stopped in the middle of the room. “If there’s as much money as you said, Darci, I can see how illegal tissue harvesting might have led to Buchanan’s death. Maybe he was involved, or maybe he discovered what Silas was doing and threatened to go to the sheriff.” I shook my head. “But do you think he snatched Tink?”

“If he heard the rumors,” she suggested.

“He thought Tink was a loose end?”

“Possibly. You said Tink had dreamed of corpses missing body parts.” She spread her hands wide. “That ties into what Silas Green is doing.”

“Wouldn’t he have to show Christopher the family consent forms and the death certificates?”

Darci nodded. “Yes.”

“I don’t think Silas Green is smart enough,” Aunt Dot interjected.

“But, Aunt Dot, how do you know?” I asked. “Today was the first time you’ve ever seen him.”

“The fairies mentioned it.”

My eyes met Abby’s from across the room. She gave her head a slight shake.

Aunt Dot picked up on our disbelief. “Well, they did,” she replied defensively as her bottom lip came out in a pout.

“She has a point—” Darci began, then paused, catching the look on my face. “Maybe not about the fairies…sorry, Aunt Dot, I don’t know much about them. You’ll have to explain them to me sometime,” she said, trying to placate her. “But she is right about Silas. I don’t know him well, but he’s always seemed a little odd, and it’s hard for me to imagine he’d be clever enough to carry out this scheme.”

“What about that young man, Kevin?” Aunt Dot asked.
“Might he be involved?” She clearly didn’t suspect Silas.

“He’s just a kid—only a few years older than Tink.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “With Buchanan’s murder, he might be out of a job soon. From what Christopher said, that would put him in a financial bind.”

“All right,” Aunt Dot said, smacking the table. “It’s the doctor and the widow. Dr. Mason’s smart enough. And onLaw and Order , it’s always the wife and the boyfriend.”

I rolled my eyes. I swear…that show must have been all she ever watched. Taking my hands out of my pockets, I paced the room again. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t make sense of what was happening. At every turn, all I found were more questions—not answers.

“We’re no closer to finding Tink than we were yesterday.” I hugged myself. “Every day that goes by, the chances get less and less. We need answers.”

“We need to take a peek at Silas Green’s records,” Darci pointed out with a sly expression.

I halted my steps and gave an exasperated sigh. “You know, your mind definitely has a criminal bent, Darci. I’ve got a feeling you’d make a great second story man.”

She tossed her head. “Do we need answers or not?”

“Yes.”

“Does Silas Green keep popping up, in your visions and in real life?”

“Yes.”

She crossed her legs and leaned back. “Then I say we do a little more snooping and check out the crematorium.”

Aunt Dot’s pout faded and she watched us with bright eyes. “Can I go?”

“No,” Darci and I said simultaneously.

Twenty-Six

It wouldn’t do to leave Darci’s car along the gravel road, where passing vehicles would be bound to notice it. We parked it at an abandoned farmstead near the road leading into Green’s Crematorium instead and hiked the rest of the way.

We were dressed in black sweatpants and sweatshirts, and Darci wore her hood pulled closely over her blond hair, which would’ve shone like a beacon in the night if left uncovered. She’d wanted to camouflage our faces, too, but I’d drawn the line at rubbing dirt across my cheeks and forehead.

As we walked down the road leading to the crematorium, the beams from our flashlights danced over the gravel at our feet. The heat and humidity made the dark fleece cling to my arms and legs, and I felt perspiration run down my spine, dampening the waistband of my sweatpants. It felt like walking through a sauna.

Nerves fluttered in my stomach. Would we be able to find an unlocked door or window? Or would we truly have to bust a window to get inside the crematorium? Darci and I had done a lot of snooping in the past, but we’d never actually broken into a building. This would be a first.

We had no choice. I knew Silas Green was the key to find
ing Tink, but Bill couldn’t execute a search warrant based on my hunch. We had to find proof first, then we could go to Bill. I snorted softly. That would be a fun conversation—I knew he’d object to our methods. Oh well, I’d worry about talking to Bill once we had something more concrete than just my feelings.

Darci and I rounded a corner and saw a low brick building ahead. Its smokestack loomed high in the night sky. The path we’d traveled widened and led around to the side of the building. Stopping, I took a deep breath of the heavy air and exhaled slowly.

We’d lucked out. We were alone.

“Okay, what’s next?” My voice seemed to echo in the still night.

Darci pointed to her left. “Let’s see if there’s a door,” she said as she made her way closer to the crematorium.

I followed in her footsteps until we reached the side of the building. Two large bay doors faced us, each wide enough for a hearse to enter. An entrance door was to the right. Silently, I motioned to it with my flashlight.

Darci crept over to the door and slowly turned the knob. It was unlocked. She smiled at me over her shoulder and disappeared through the dark doorway. I hurried after her.

Inside, we stood in a large room with concrete floors. To our right was a door leading to the rest of the facility. Opening it, we found ourselves in a hallway with another door to our left and one at the end. We picked the first door.

As I shone my flashlight around the room, my beam bounced back and hit me in the eyes.

“What’s that?” I asked, keeping the light pointed down.

A huge metal box with stainless steel doors sat in the middle of the room. Attached to its side appeared to be some kind of control panel.

“It’s the oven.” The whites of Darci’s eyes shone in the darkness. “I think they call it an oven…I don’t know…I’ve never thought about it…”

I clasped my hand over her mouth. “Shh, you’re babbling.”

She blinked twice and nodded. I moved my hand away.

Shining my light around the room, I spotted another door. “Let’s see what’s in there.”

Our tennis shoes squeaked on the concrete floor as we made our way to the door. It was unlocked, too.

“Silas isn’t real big on security, is he?” I said as I swung the door open.

Our flashlights played around the room, revealing a stainless steel table along one wall. Next to the table, laid out with precision, were various instruments such as saws, knives, and forceps.

My stomach pitched. It was obvious the room was used for harvesting body parts. Yuck.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said, turning to Darci, to discover that she wasn’t there. She was standing in front of two large upright freezers.

“What’s in here?” she asked, grasping one of the handles.

“No!” I exclaimed rushing to her. “Don’t open—”

Too late. Her scream reverberated off the walls of the cavernous room.

Her knees started to bend as she made a retching sound deep in her throat.

I grabbed her around the waist with one arm. “Don’t you dare faint, and don’t you dare puke.”

“There’s…there’s…” She pointed a shaking hand at the opened freezer.

On the shelf, neatly wrapped in a plastic bag, were two severed hands and a detached foot.

“I know, body parts,” I said, firmly shutting the door with my other hand. “Now snap out of it.” I gave her body a quick shake. “We knew what Silas was doing.”

“But…but…I didn’t expect to see them.” Her voice quivered.

“Me, either, but finding them is proof of Tink’s dreams and my vision. In both cases, the spirits were missing parts of their bodies. It shows we must be on the right track.” I pulled her away from the freezer. “Come on, we need to find Silas’s office.”

Holding fast to Darci’s hand, I led her back to the hallway and down to the last door. Behind the door was a large waiting room, and to our left a room markedPRIVATE .