“I’d ask you the same question,” she says, “but I think we already know. Where’s Cyndi?”
Before I can decide whether to sayWho?, orMind your own business, Simone stamps on my foot. “Letgo!” she spits. It doesn’t hurt, but it surprises me enough that I let out an exclamation and relax my grasp, and Simone wrenches herself free and scrambles to the one room of the suite she hasn’t yet investigated, the bathroom. Whereupon I curse myself again for being so slow-moving, so taken by surprise, so susceptible to Simone that I was too weak to stop her, for the next thing I hear is her scream, not a piercing one but the kind of high wheezy noise a person makes when she’s so startled and scared she can’t take a full breath, and all I can do is think if only I had held on to her, for now she will never unsee, and I, joining her, will never unsee, and indeed there is no way to ever unsee, or undo the trauma of seeing, a woman dead in a bathtub full of her own blood.
Part III
Sam (and the Rabbit)
Chapter 26
Notes
The Eve of All Hallow’s Eve
Hawthorne Hotel
To Whom It May Concern (and to William C., who probably found me, sorry!),
I, Cyndi Pietorowski, am going to join my great-x-9-grandmother Margaret Scott, who was falsely accused, condemned, and executed for witchcraft not far from this site in 1692. Margaret appeared to me here as I was setting up for a séance to reach her. I guess she couldn’t wait to summon me!!!! (PS, fellow Wiccans, there is DEFINITELY a portal in this hotel.) Margaret said that my time here is complete, and my parents, as well as my gram and all my great-aunties and uncles, await me on the other side.
This life has been interesting but not very kind to me, so I am not afraid to go. I am happy!!!! I will leave signs for anyone who wants to contact me via ritual.
The only concern I have about leaving this realm is my cats. My last Will and Testament is in my home at 327 Hill Street in Salem, in my bedside table drawer. It is recent, signed, and notarized. My Executrix, Heather Yountz of Gomez and Yountz, my former place of employment, has a copy. Whoever finds this, please direct her to immediately put my house on the market and use the proceeds to relocate my cats to the Popoki CatSanctuary in Hawai’i. My savings should be enough to hire a sitter while these arrangements are being made and to pay for their transport as well as lifelong care. Please give my furbabies kisses from me and tell them I will see them on the other side.
With appreciation for the gifts of this dimension, looking forward to the next,
Cyndi Pietorowski. XOXO
Salem Police Department
Transcript: interview with William Corwyn, Hawthorne Hotel Skylark Conference Room, Oct. 30, 3:26 p.m.
Recording officer: Joseph Moldover, Badge No. 1923
Thank you, I’m comfortable enough. Yes. I consent to being recorded. I’m going to record on my phone as well. So we’re clear, this is an informal interview, correct? Not an official witness statement? Let the record show you have not read me my Mirandas.
Very good. If there’s evidence of foul play, I’ll provide a follow-up interview. With my attorney present.
All right. [Sighs.] Ms. Pietorowski. Poor girl. I didn’t know her very well. She was a new friend, you could say. I was trying to help her with her book. She’s writing—was writing... [inaudible] Thank you. I’d love some water.
She was writing a novel based on her ancestress Margaret Scott, who was hanged here in Salem. She wasn’t yet published, so I reached out to see if I could be of assistance—
Yes, itisunusual for an author of my stature to help a newbie. But I believe in, what’s the phrase? Paying it forward. I’ve been very fortunate with my career, so I try to help however I can. I run a writers’ support group called The Darlings, and Cyndi came to one of our meetings. That’s how we connected. I realized from her feedbackform that she had unusually scant resources. So I offered a helping hand.
I wouldn’t describe it asdating, exactly, but yes,herinterest was romantic. It was a very recent development, I’d say only a couple of weeks, and I was uneasy about it because although she seemed so sweet, she was such a lost soul. I have a bit of a Pygmalion complex; that’s a—oh, you know what it is? Really? Very good! I don’t think of most police officers having English degrees. Yes,Pygmalion, the Shaw play about the professor rescuing the flower girl. It’s not a popular thing to admit now, but I tend toward partners who are not quite... of my standing. I suppose it’s that giving proclivity again. [Clears throat.] More water, please. Thanks.
Today? I arrived at the hotel around 1:30. The front desk clerk should have a record. I met Cyndi here. It was difficult to even access the lobby because—well, you know what it’s like outside. It’s a melee, to put it politely. I don’t know how you cope with this insanity year after year.
We checked in—yes, I rented the suite. The poor girl couldn’t afford it, and she had always wanted to come here. She said the Hawthorne had a portal and she wanted to channel Margaret. [Sighs.] I have to admit I agreed partly because I didn’t want to meet at Cyndi’s house. She has nineteen cats. No exaggeration. So I humored her. I said let’s have a séance at the Hawthorne. If only I hadn’t encouraged her fantasies, maybe... I knew she was unstable, I saw signs, but—
Specifically? The best way I can describe it is that her energy seemed variable. She boomeranged from quiet and calm to amped up and lascivious. I found medication at her house, antianxiety pills, and lithium, and antipsychotics—yes, like the ones by the tub. She didn’t talk to me about her condition or conditions—as I said, we didn’t know each other that well. But she never mentioned suicide.
Today she seemed rather frenzied. I attributed it to her being excited that she was at her so-called portal—and also, if I may be candid, to mycompany. We met in the lobby, got the room keys, and were en route to the suite when I realized I’d left my briefcase in my car. I’m never without it, not just because it has my WIP in it—that’s my work-in-progress—but because of my own medication. Well. You’re a young man, but you can guess what I mean. [Lowers voice, inaudible.] Yes . . . that, and beta-blockers, which I take for my heart. I have a condition—A-fib, atrial defibrillation—that I need prescriptions for, and it’s not wise for me to be without them.
It was a real job to reach my car. The streets are jammed with so-called witches. Some madwoman elbowed me in the thorax, and another one nearly stuck me in the eye with a broom handle. Again, hats off to you for handling this annual madness.
When I returned to the hotel, I got my parking validated, spoke with the desk clerk, and went to the suite. I’m not sure how long I’d been gone, maybe... a half hour? Forty-five minutes? Long enough for... [inaudible]
Thank you. Please excuse my distress. This is just such a shame. I wish I could have done—something. Even if I didn’t know Cyndi very well, I wish I had seen... I lost a fiancée many years ago to the same illness, so this cuts me to the quick.
