Eve nodded. “That’s all that matters.”
NINE
“I DIDN’T EXPECT YOU, EVE. It’s bad enough that I bothered Jane with it.” Patty made a face as she opened the door. “Sorry about this.”
“So am I,” Eve said. “And there’s nothing to be sorry for. We may have brought this down on you.” She turned to Caleb, who was coming up the steps. “This is Seth Caleb. He’s something of an expert on Jelak, and we thought you wouldn’t mind if we let him come.”
Patty frowned. “You mean he’s a sort of profiler?”
“Sort of.” Caleb smiled. “I won’t be long. Joe Quinn will be arriving shortly with his tech crews, and he won’t want me bothering him.”
“Great,” Patty said dryly. “Techs running all over the house. Granddad will have a cow.”
“It’s best,” Jane said. “You know that, Patty.”
“I was hoping just to fill out a report on that power line.”
Patty looked at Caleb. “But that goblet screwed me up, didn’t it? It’s the same man who killed those women?”
“It’s a very good possibility. Could I see the goblet?”
She jerked her head in the direction of the kitchen. “It’s on the counter next to the refrigerator.” She moistened her lips. “How did he get into the house? I locked the door last night.”
“Jelak was trained to get past locks.” He moved toward the kitchen. “I’m just wondering why all he did was leave the goblet.”
“You mean you’re wondering why he didn’t slit my throat?” Patty shivered. “I’ve been wondering that too.”
“Was there anything different about your routine last night?”
“I talked on the phone for quite a while before the power went off. That was a little different. Granddad didn’t like it. Then he was nervous because of the power outage and wanted me to stay with him.”
“How long?”
“All night. I slept in the chair by his bed.”
“You didn’t leave the room to get him anything?”
“No, he’d already had his medicine.” She gazed at him. “You think that murderer Jelak was in the house waiting for his chance, don’t you?”
Caleb nodded. “I think if you’d left your grandfather’s room anytime during those first few hours, you’d have been the victim and not Heather Carmello.”
“Why didn’t he come into Granddad’s bedroom and try to kill us both?”
“That’s not according to ritual. He would have considered it crude. It has to be one-on-one. He probably stayed until he thought you were in there for the night, then went after someone else.”
“What about the goblet? There was blood . . .”
“He came back, didn’t he?” Eve asked. “He took the chance of coming twice. After the kill, he wanted to show how easily it could have been Patty.”
“Dear God,” Jane murmured.
Caleb nodded. “It was a gesture of bravado. He had to make a statement this time.” He paused at the kitchen door. “And he probably wanted to check to make sure Patty was still with her grandfather. Usually, he’d limit the kill to one a night. The ingestion isn’t pure otherwise. But in this case, he wouldn’t have minded another ritual. He didn’t take Heather Carmello’s blood for himself.”
“You’re so damn casual,” Patty said. “It’s my blood you’re talking about.”
“I’m not casual,” Caleb said. “I hate the idea of what Jelak is doing. I’m just trying to answer your questions. You can’t fight him if you’re ignorant of what he is.”
“You certainly know what he is. You must have studied him for a long time,” Patty said.
“Long enough. The kitchen is that way?”
They followed him as he went into the kitchen and squatted to look at the goblet on the counter. He stared at it for a long time. “It’s Jelak. And it’s the same.”
“But you knew it probably was him,” Jane said. “And what do you mean the same? Were you expecting something different?”
“You’re very observant.” Caleb rose to his feet. “There’s a possibility that the goblet could have been different. Though I wouldn’t expect it, considering Jelak’s actions.”
“What kind of difference?”
“The number of the men at the table. The ones that represent the twelve stages that Jelak has to pass through before he reaches his final goal. That could change.”
“Patty!”
“Granddad,” Patty said wearily. “I have to go to him and explain before Joe and the forensic techs get here. Lord, I don’t want to deal with this right now.”
