Page 65 of Immortal Unveiled

The man cleared his throat. “I really can’t talk to a stranger about work I did for another client. Confidentiality, you understand.”

“Nancy Britton was my mother,” Kim said, stepping closer. “And you were the last person to see her on the day of her murder.”

Kilgore sat up straight, a look of outrage spreading over his face. “You’re not suggesting that I had anything to do with—”

“Nobody is suggesting that,” Manus interrupted quickly. “But since you were her last appointment that day, we’re trying to get a sense of what her business was that day.”

Kilgore seemed to relax a little. “Well, I mean, since she’s dead”—he cast a quick look at Kim—“my condolences… I guess it doesn’t hurt anybody to tell you what I did for her.” He tossed a glance at his computer, then seemed to think of it otherwise. “She had sent me a copy of a short text she wanted me to review. It was in Celtic but a very old form of it. I gave her a brief overview over the content of the text, and she paid me for my time.”

“That’s all?” Manus asked.

Kilgore shrugged. “Pretty much.”

“What was it about?”

“It was hard to make heads or tails of it. It started in the middle of something and then ended abruptly. Hard to really know what it was other than that it was some sort of fairytale or old myth.”

Manus hummed to himself. Their history books could read like fairytales for anybody who didn’t know what they were looking at. “You said a copy. Was it just one page?”

“Yes.”

“But it seemed to be taken out of context? Perhaps a page out of a book?”

Kilgore looked away for a brief second, but Manus caught the action. The translator was trying to hide what he knew. And he knew more than what he was willing to tell. “Sure, yeah,” he said non-committal. “But she never showed me a book or contracted me to translate one. Sorry.” He stood up, a sure sign that he wanted to end the conversation. “I wish I could help you, but I don’t know anything else.”

Manus hesitated. He had to use other methods to find out what he needed to know. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Kilgore. We appreciate it.” He turned to Kim. “Let’s go.”

He ushered Kim out of the office and down the hall.

“He was clearly lying,” Kim said at the top of the stairs.

“Not here,” Manus warned and took her hand to lead her down the stairs and out of the building.

Only when they were back inside the car did he speak again. “I know he was lying. He knows what was written on the page he saw. Even if it was an old form of Celtic.”

“What do you think it was?” Kim asked curiously.

“I don’t want to speculate.”

“But then, what are we gonna do? We can’t just give up.”

“We’re not giving up.” Manus started the engine. “Did you see all the files and stacks of papers in his office?”

Kim nodded. “So?”

“He makes notes about everything. Which means there would be notes on that page that your mother gave him to review. Maybe even a full translation. We’ll have to find it.”

“You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you?”

“What do you think I’m suggesting?”

“To break in.”

“You’re learning fast. I don’t know whether I should be proud of you or embarrassed that I’m corrupting you.” Or turned on about the fact that Kim didn’t seem to be scared of committing a crime to get to the truth.