the next headline, they just got careless. But I’ll admit my contempt for the Charleston Police Department may have something to do with the speeding ticket I got on my way over here. That’s why I was late.”
I squinted up at her. “And you couldn’t talk your way out of it? That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I know. I must be slipping. Old age is hell,” she said with a grimace.
“Oh, yes, you’re so decrepit.”
“Speaking of…” She cocked her head, giving me a sharp scrutiny as I straightened from the marker. “I didn’t want to say anything earlier in front of that creep, but you don’t look so good this morning.”
“Why does everyone keep telling me that?” I asked with a frown.
“Could be those dark circles under your eyes. Or those hollow cheeks. And you look like you’ve lost weight since the last time I saw you. What on earth is going on with you?”
“Nightmares about this place?” Her tone was sympathetic. “I have to admit, I was a little concerned when I heard you’d agreed to come back.”
“Why? It’s just another cemetery.”
“Your stoicism is admirable, but you don’t fool me one bit. You and I both know that Oak Grove isn’t just any cemetery. It’s a place where some very bad things happened. And some of those bad things happened to you.”
“I’d rather not think about that.”
“But you will think about it. How could you not? I saw how shaken you were by Ivers.” Her gaze traveled over the murky terrain. “Oak Grove may be small compared to contemporary cemeteries, but you still have a lot of ground to cover here. It’ll take weeks just to clear away the brush and debris. Are you prepared for all those long days when you’ll be working out here alone?”
I gave her a hard stare. “Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to scare me away?”
“I’m not at all. I’m relieved a historic cemetery will be in such capable hands. But you went through an ordeal here. It must have taken a toll. You can’t just will away those memories. Something like that can haunt you forever.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. “Or I was until you brought it all back up. Can we please change the subject?”
She gave me a benign smile. “We could talk about your love life, but I have a feeling that would be even more depressing.”
“Ha-ha, very funny. How about we just get to work?”
“You don’t want to hear about my running into Detective Devlin at dinner last night?” She gave me a sidelong glance as I pretended to study the site map. Butterflies danced in my stomach as they always did at the mention of Devlin’s name.
“He was with the most gorgeous brunette,” she added.
“Where was this?” I asked casually.
“A little Italian place I discovered on King Street. I stopped by their table to say hello. Naturally, Devlin pretended not to remember me at first. He does like to play his little games, doesn’t he?” It was unfathomable to Temple that Devlin or anyone else would ever forget her, even if only momentarily.
“That’s nice.” I turned to look out over the headstones and monuments. “The next excavation is over by the mausoleum. We should get all the photographing out of the way, and then you can tell me how you want to proceed.”
“Wait a minute. Don’t you want to know about the brunette?”
“Let me take a wild guess. Was her name Isabel?”
Temple gave me a wide-eyed look. “You know about her? Well, I guess Ethan was right, then. Things didn’t work out between you two.”
“You talked to Ethan about Devlin and me?”
“Is the subject taboo?” she asked innocently.
“It makes me a little uncomfortable,” I admitted. “I’d rather not be the subject of gossip.”
“Well, you know Ethan. He’s worse than any old woman. He was positively salivating to give me all the juicy details.”
“What on earth did he say?”
She made a face. “Not much, unfortunately. I guess Devlin isn’t the kiss-and-tell type.”
I shrugged, but the nerves in my stomach were still bunched. “There’s really nothing to tell, but I don’t know why that should surprise you. You’re the one who warned me about him, remember?”
“Did I?”
“Yes. I believe the implication was that I could never live up to Mariama.”
“No one can ever live up to the dead wife,” she said dryly. “But Mariama was…”
“Yes, I know.”
Temple shivered as we headed toward the mausoleum. I kept my eyes on the ground because those gothic spires invoked a very different kind of chill in me.
“She really was something,” Temple said on a blissful sigh. “I’ve never met anyone quite like her. She was so extraordinarily beautiful and so blatantly self-indulgent.”
I turned in surprise. “You talk as if you knew her, but you only saw her that one time, right? At a crime scene, I think you said.”
She looked a little flustered and fanned herself. “Well, yes, but that one time made an impression.”
“Because of the argument?”
Confusion flashed in her eyes, and then she said quickly, “Oh, right. The argument between her and Devlin. Heated and very passionate. The whole blowup was extremely titillating.”
My gaze strayed to those spires in spite of myself. “Did Ethan ever mention why his father brought Mariama to Emerson?”
“I’m sure he saw potential in her. As I said, she was extraordinary, and Rupert used to be quite the philanthropist before he got so caught up in the occult. Then all his time and energy and, I would assume, money went into the Institute.”
“When’s the last time you saw him?” I asked.
“Rupert? A day or so ago. Why?”
“I went by the Institute yesterday. He was acting very strangely.”
“How could you tell?” she asked dryly.
I folded the site map and tucked it away. “I know he’s always been eccentric, but this was different. And he has a new assistant.”
“Layla?”
“So you’ve met her, too.”
“Beautiful woman,” Temple murmured. “I found her quite fetching.”
“Really? Because I found her a little strange. I got the impression she’s definitely taken charge of the office. She gives off this sort of territorial vibe that’s extremely unsettling.”
“I didn’t notice anything strange about her,” Temple said.
“No, you wouldn’t,” I grumbled. “Maybe territorial is the wrong word. She’s more like Dr. Shaw’s caretaker.”
“He’s always needed someone to look after him, if you ask me,” Temple said. “I’m as fond of him as you are, but I’ve always been concerned about his stability, particularly after his wife died. That’s when his interest in the afterlife became an obsession.”
“He seemed perfectly fine when I first arrived. Then Layla brought him tea and he stirred something into it. An herb of some kind, I think. That’s when he started zoning out.”
“How do you mean, zoning out?”
“He just drifted off in the middle of our conversation. Then later, he had a dizzy spell. If I hadn’t been there, I think he might have collapsed.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Temple mused. “At his age, one worries about strokes and heart attacks. Have you talked to Ethan about it?”
“No, I thought I might mention it at dinner tonight. Dr. Shaw asked me not to say anything, but I’m really worried about him. I’ve never seen him like that.”
