He tossed something on her lap. It was a book about New England funerary art, the same book she owned and hadn’t been able to find. She looked at him in shock. Was this in fact her copy? If so, why would someone take it from her house and leave it on Doc MacElroy’s desk?
Or was the book Mary Johnstone’s? Had Doc MacElroy really had it in his own possession, or was someone out there trying to frame both Adam and the doctor?
19
Leaving Joe and the hospital behind, Jeremy was just about to call Zach when his phone rang.
He didn’t know the number, but he recognized the area code. Southern California.
“Eric Rolfe?” he asked as he flipped the phone open.
“Yeah,” Eric said in surprise. “Uh, yeah…Listen,” he said bluntly, “can you meet me? Now. Right away? It’s urgent.”
“Where are you?”
“Meet me at the shop—Adam and Eve’s shop.”
“The cops locked it up last night.”
“No, you have to come to the back. Through the alley by the movie theater.”
Since he was personally convinced that Adam was innocent, and since Eric Rolfe was high on his list of suspects, Jeremy decided meeting the man made sense. But he intended to be careful. Very careful.
He followed Eric’s directions. He had never realized just how many crevices and hidey-holes there were in the area. When he reached the back of what he was certain had to be the right shop, there was no one there. But then the back door opened.
Eric Rolfe popped his head out. “Come in,” he said in a whisper. “Quick.”
His gun was holstered beneath his jacket, so, alert and ready for anything, Jeremy went in.
They were in a storeroom. Boxes were everywhere, along with an old Victorian sofa and a tiny refrigerator. Suddenly someone started to emerge from a curtained dressing room, and Jeremy nearly reached for his gun, then stopped in shock.
It was Eve.
“Eve, what the hell are you doing here?” Jeremy asked her softy. “The cops are looking for you everywhere.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. But…this is all my fault. I have to clear my husband. Somehow.”
He looked at her, waiting for her to explain.
“I told Rowenna that I thought that he might be…Oh, God, how horrible of me. And then she told you, and you told the cops, and…” She trailed off on a wail.
“No, Eve. We found your store card—with what look likes gum on it—by the remains of another dead woman,” Jeremy told her. “What suddenly changed your mind about Adam—and why are you hiding?”
“Before Adam went to see Rowenna, we’d had another fight. He told me that even though he’d been reading up on Satanism and thought we should carry books about it, he didn’t know where that spell book had come from—he’d never seen it before. And I didn’t believe him at first, but then when Rowenna came and said Adam should be there, and she left…and he still didn’t come back, and I was worried, so I went out to look for him myself, only I guess I was so upset I forgot to lock the door…and then I came back, but there were cops everywhere, so I got scared and hid. And then this morning I was going to keep looking for him, but I saw in the paper that they found him. But he’s not guilty. Jeremy, you have to prove that he’s not guilty. And you have to keep looking for that woman, for your friend’s wife.”
“I read the spell book, too,” Eric said, clearing his throat. “Eve called me this morning. Sorry. I told her she should call you. You have to read it yourself, though. It’s all about sacrificing seven women and becoming Satan. And there are spells for illusion and hypnotism, so you can put the woman under your power.” Eric handed him the book.
“There’s a secret page,” he said. “At the back.”
Jeremy found the page. It showed an artist’s rendering of the devil, with six dead woman staked up in front of him. They were decked in leaves, and their necks were broken. Behind the devil stood a woman who appeared to be his handmaiden. Half her face was old and decrepit; half seemed to be regaining youth and beauty as the devil came into his power.
Another woman stood before the devil, wearing a crown and a cloak of leaves, and looking toward heaven, as if for salvation.
But the devil was reaching for her.
“I’m not sure what it means,” Eric said, “Except that once again there are seven victims.”
The seventh victim was beautiful. There was something especially innocent and pure about her as she looked skyward.
She was decked in leaves and wearing a crown.
She was the harvest queen.
Terrified, Jeremy reached for his phone.
Zach’s phone was ringing. He glanced at it.
“Jeremy?” Rowenna asked.
“No, our older brother, Aidan,” Zach said. “I’ll take it out here. You go on in, I’ll be right with you. I’ll give Jeremy a call, too, let him know where we are, what we’re up to.”
She nodded and headed into the museum.
June Eagle was at the desk. “A friend of mine is right behind me. Send him on back, will you, please?” Rowenna asked as June handed her the key.