Mo didn’t bother to respond; they’d reached the Haunted Mausoleum.
She went in to start her makeup right away. Grace joined Phil and some of the others and indulged in donuts.
Sondra stopped by the makeup chair to tell Mo she’d enjoyed meeting Aidan Mahoney. Ron pursed his lips as he worked on Mo’s face.
Mo remembered guiltily that she’d promised to ask about a job for Debbie Howell. She told Sondra about her—and about how she’d be trying to keep the orphaned son of her murdered friend.
“You know this woman well?” Sondra asked her.
“Not that well,” Mo replied honestly. “But I’ve seen the way J.J. looks at her and I believe she’s good person and deserves a chance. She also knows everything about this area.”
“Have your friend call me. We’ll arrange an interview,” Sondra assured her. “As you know, I love doing research on the area. My family goes back so far... I could use an assistant on that angle and someone from here who knows and loves the place would be perfect. I’m researching a story about Continental currency right now.”
In the mirror, Mo could see Ron raise his brows as he worked on her hair. “Continental currency?” he asked. “What’s that?”
“The paper currency issued by the Continental Congress. A lot of it supposedly disappeared from this area before the Civil War,” Sondra said.
“Was it worth anything by that time?” he asked.
“Certainly. There were collectors then, just as there are now,” Sandra explained. “And, of course, there were thieves then, too.”
“Yeah? I’d imagine they used it for kindling!” Ron said. “When the Revolution was over, wasn’t it about useless?”
“Ron, we won the Revolution,” Sondra said, smiling.
“Yeah, but—”
“New money was printed after that, yes, and quite quickly. That’s why Continental currency became so valuable to collectors. Well, that’s all just a bit of history, and as I said, I’d like to write an article on it. Anyway, back to tonight’s work. Mo, bring your agent friend by anytime,” Sondra said, and moved on through the dressing area and makeup room to return to the front office.
“Ooh,” Ron teased Mo. “The plot thickens.”
“Continental currency?” she asked.
“No! Dating the federal lawman!”
“We’re just rehashing local legends,” Mo said.
“That’s all?”
Mo lowered her head and laughed. “No, Ron, I’ve had this weird fantasy all my life—and it’s not about a knight in shining armor. It’s about an FBI man—and fooling around naked on a cold fall day in the middle of a burial ground. Oh, the decay! Wow, what a turn-on!”
Ron laughed, too, and leaned closer to her. “You own a house, my love. Use it!”
When she was ready that night and at her post, Mo didn’t expect to see Major Andre or his Lizzie. But they were both there for a moment, waving to her. Then, hand in hand, they wandered off.
She went through the motions, her mind racing.
What could Lizzie grave have had to do with Richard Highsmith’s murder? It seemed more and more evident that there was no serial killer running amok. Just someone who’d wanted both Richard and Wendy Appleby dead.
*
Aidan didn’t go back to the hotel. Instead, he called Logan.
The suspects they were watching were all in; they’d probably head out to dinner, but the members of the Krewe were ready to follow each one of them if necessary. Detective Van Camp had been interviewing more and more people on his own, while Detective Voorhaven had been working with the agents, ready to follow a suspect if needed or scrutinize the video screens if not.
Aidan told Logan what he’d learned. Logan promised to look into the Highsmith, Hampton and Bakker lineage to see if he could find any dark secrets—or get some facts about the murder of Lizzie herself—to decipher what it could mean. And whether it related to Richard’s death...and Wendy’s.
“The hospital’s alerted me that J.J.’s being released,” Logan said. “There’s an officer with him, so he’s fine, but I’m not sure he and Debbie should go back to Wendy Appleby’s home. At least, not yet.”
Aidan agreed. “Can we get another room on our floor?”
“I’m sure we can. I’ll book something with a door that connects to one of us.”
“Then I’ll drive to the hospital now to pick them up.”
Right after that, Aidan went to the hospital.
Even considering what they’d learned, he wasn’t sure why the killer would want to kill J.J.—or, at any rate, leave him to die in the vault. What would Richard Highsmith’s relationship with a long-dead woman have to do with Wendy or J.J.? But none of it made sense. What did make sense was to watch over J.J. and keep him safe.