I wrapped an arm around Boone’s shoulders, pulling him closer and pressing my lips to the crown of his messy hair.
“Oh.” Dr. Stowe’s eyes widened before she gave a single nod. “Okay, then. Where would you like to get started?”
Pulling on his bottom lip, Boone looked around the room before heading to the oldest set of remains. “She’s different,” Boone said. “Right or wrong, I’d like to start with her. We’ll save Anna for last since we at least have an ID on her.”
“Makes sense,” Captain Cicely agreed. “Let me get my phone out, and we’ll start recording. I charged it last night so we should be good to go.” Captain Cicely’s ringed fingers danced along the edge of her phone. The newly installed LED lights glinted against the metal and stones. “Anytime you’re ready.”
Boone inhaled, eyes slipping closed and shoulders relaxing. I knew this pose well. Boone told me it helped him block out any other competing souls, allowing him to focus on the one he wanted to connect with. In a room full of presumably murdered women, centering himself was probably more important than usual.
“Gotcha,” Boone whispered before his eyes opened, revealing stunning emerald-green irises that were seemingly lit from within. “Gladys Eugenia Clark, I call your soul to return.”
I’d seen Boone summon souls back with little more than a handful of charred bits of bone. I’d also seen him use nothing more than an urn of ashes. I had no idea what to expect from full, skeletal remains. Would the skeleton sit up like I’d seen other intact corpses do? Would there be macabre skeletons dancing and slipping on the linoleum floor? Would their jaw try and move in an effort to produce sound they no longer needed lungs or vocal cords to produce?
The reality was far tamer. Just like the bits of bones left of Thomas Martin Speedler, the remains rattled, shifting around on their blanket-covered steel table, settling right before Gladys’s soft voice drifted through the air. A heavy sigh filled the air, and I could almost swear I felt a breeze with it.
“Necromancer,” Gladys accused, but it was done in a gentle tone. “Why have you brought me back?”
I’d seen this song and dance enough to understand that many souls were very well aware of why they’d been returned. Although many were understandably upset by the circumstances of their demise, most were more than happy to regale Boone with how they’d died. They were eager for justice. This soul seemed different. I was reminded of something Boone said last night while we stood over Gladys’s undisturbed grave.This one is different. This one is sad.
Boone shifted closer to the remains, speaking toward them. While I couldn’t see exactly where Gladys’s soul coalesced, it did sound like it was coming from the vicinity of her remains.
“Your body was found in an…unusual location. Detective O’Hare would like to ask you some questions. Is that okay?” Boone rarely pushed a soul, especially one that was considered a victim. Boone had informed me more than once that he would not victimize a soul twice. Once was more than enough. There were a multitude of reasons why I not only loved Erasmus Boone but respected him as well. I didn’t think I was capable of having one without the other. I simply wasn’t wired that way.
There was a pause before Gladys answered. “If he must.” It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but I’d take it.
Clearing my throat and settling my mind, I asked, “Gladys, do you remember how you died?”
Another pause before she answered, “I couldn’t breathe.” Her answer was given with little emotion attached. There was no panic at the thought of not being able to draw breath.
I shared a knowing look with Captain Cicely. “Was there pressure on your neck?”
“No.”
“Were you in the water? Did you drown?”
“No.”
My eyebrows rose. “Were your mouth and nose covered?” Perhaps she’d been suffocated by a pillow or bag. I felt Boone shiver beside me. The question was most likely triggering for him considering what he’d been through a few months ago. The bruises were gone, but one didn’t simply forget attempted murder, especially when you were the victim and someone had cinched a bag over your head with the intention of suffocating you to death.
“Perhaps,” came the lackadaisical response.
“Perhaps.” Boone echoed my disbelief. “Gladys, could you explain why it was you couldn’t breathe?”
“I am uncertain.”
That wasn’t terribly helpful, and yet it seemed to be all we were going to get. I decided to change tactics. “Do you believe it was intentional?” There was always the remote chance that Gladys hadn’t been murdered. Perhaps she’d died accidentally, and someone had panicked and buried her. Of course, that didn’t explain the other five victims…
“Most likely.” Those two words carried more emotion.
“She’s incredibly sad,” Boone supported my earlier thoughts. “Whoever she thinks did this, it’s heartbreaking to her.”
“Do you have any idea who might have done this? Did you see them?” It was worth an ask.
“I did not see them, but…”
The glow coming from Boone’s eyes intensified. “Gladys, I will know if you are lying, and you will not like the results. I can force you to answer Detective O’Hare’s question.”
“You would do that?” Gladys’s soul sounded genuinely shocked and dismayed.
