Page 154 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

“Scared?” Angela said softly.

Moore grimaced. “I guess that is the word. Anyway, I’msorry. Really. I don’t actually know anything.I just had a strange feeling, and I still feel that way when I’m at the tomb.Almost as if...”

“Yes?” Jackson pressed quietly.

“Almost as if there is something I should see but don’t,”Moore said. He appeared to give himself a mental shake and then shuddered.“Sorry. Crazy, maybe. Or just the imaginative feelings of a writer.” He checkedthe clock. “Now, I really must go—”

“One more quick question,” Jackson said. “You got thisfeeling. But was there anyone at the funeral who appeared suspicious? Behavingcuriously or just strangely?”

Moore winced. “Me, I guess. There were a lot of peoplethere. Everyone approaching him, of course—Robertson, I mean. Giving him theircondolences. As far as being in the crypt... well, it was just him and thepriest. Everyone else stood just outside. He was kind enough to let me walk inwith him when I told him that I wanted to write an article that explained whatthey did for others along with making sure that I noted the historicalsignificance of the cemetery.”

“And you’ve approached him again,” Angela noted.

Moore nodded. “What was found there... well, I want to givehim a chance to vindicate himself and clear his name. People assume he must bethe main suspect. Is he? I guess he must be. But you don’t say suspect,do you? Person of interest.”

Jackson smiled. “Everyone associated with the Robertson tombis a person of interest.”

“Oh! Oh, me because of the article. I assure you—”

“Mr. Moore, you’re not a suspect—I’ll just go ahead and usethat word,” Jackson told him. “But we would sincerely appreciate hearing aboutanything else you may think of. Maybe looking back you’ll remember someone whoseemed especially interested in the tomb or the construction of it. Don’thesitate to contact us if you think of anything at all, even just more of thosefeelings you had in any particular place. And keep inmind, we may be seeking your help again at some point.”

“Of course, of course. Feel free to call me anytime. But Ithink I am way over my ten minutes now. I really do need to go.”

“That’s fine,” Angela said, rising.

Moore and Jackson stood, as well.

Moore made a strange face. “Hey, thank Megan for me, willyou? She was trying so hard to be so perfectly fun and pleasant in order to keep me here. She was good. Really good.” Hegrinned and shrugged. “Too bad she’s married—and to an agent.”

“Ah, well, I’m glad you two had a nice conversation whilewaiting. Thanks again,” Angela said. “Come on. I’ll see you out.”

She grimaced, smiled at Jackson, and left with Moore. Whenshe was gone, Patrick walked into the room.

“We’ve got something,” he told Jackson.

“Great. What?”

“We found a connection between Jane Doe and John Doe numbertwo,” Patrick said. “Jordan got back from Boston an hour ago, came straight in,and decided she might best help down in tech, sifting through phone records.They made some discoveries. Just days before she was killed—by the ME’seducated guess on timeline, anyway—Mercy Cartwright was in touch with ArnoldKern. The team dug deeper into their past and discovered that calls between thetwo went back several months. What we need now, which is understandablydifficult for the MEs, is an identification on our first victim.”

“Right. At least we know now that those two knew each other.Any voice messages?”

“None.”

“We don’t have text messaging between them?”

“Ah, yes, I was getting to that. Just one. Mercy Cartwrighttexted Arnold Kern,” Jordan said. “The message was initiated a day or so beforeshe was killed.”

“And?” Jackson asked. “What did it say?”

“Three words,” Patrick said. “I want out.”

Angela walked back into the room then and glanced over atJackson.

“Bring her up to speed,” Jackson told Patrick.

Patrick did.

“Okay. We now know they were into something together. Andwhoever our first victim was, he might well have been in on whatever Mercywanted out of, too. We need an ID on the first person killed and left in thetomb,” Angela said.