An Apple for Zoe: Book One ~ The Forsaken

a book on the doorstep outside the store with a note on the inside cover.'

'What did the note say?' asked James as Summers removed a clear plastic evidence bag containing a monogrammed embossed note. Gently he took it from her hands. The moniker bore the initials, M.N. The paper was old and the ink faded. James looked at Summers with a questioned expression.

'Mabel Normand,' she said.

The name meant nothing to him as he examined the contents of the note.

To My Dearest Sweet William,

If only we had shared the night.

                               Mabel

James felt even more confused. 'How does this connect to Julie in any...' James suddenly felt a chill in his heart as he read the name Mabel. His memory flashed to Fatty Arbuckle in the hotel.

'How am I doin Mabel?' James remembered the dark haired girl kneeling down next to him. 'You're doing just fine Fatty, just fine.'

Summers could tell James was remembering something important.

'What is it Tom?'

'Do you have a photograph of Mabel Normand?'

Aware that James was on to something, Summers said, 'It's there in the file.' James flipped through the folder and found a studio photograph of Mabel Normand. His blood ran cold. It was her.

'Taylor? Is he in here too?' asked James knowingly as Summers nodded quickly. James flipped through more pages until he came across the photo of William Desmond Taylor wearing the diamond studded lapel pin. His knees left him as James slowly slid down to the ground with his back against the car. Summers knelt down next to him. 'Tom!'

'Holy Jesus Christ, Ashton. They were all there.'

'Who?'

'I saw them.'

'Saw who, Tom? You're not making sense.'

'Yesterday when I was in room 1219 I saw this man, William Desmond Taylor.'

'You saw him? How?'

'I don't know how, but he was there with her, Mabel Normand.'

'Tom, that's not possible! Unless you're telling me you had some kind of experience up there.'

'What are you saying? You think I saw ghosts?'

'You have to admit whatever is going on here isn't natural.'

'I'm really having a hard time accepting that. But I also can't deny something happened to me in that hotel and whatever it is, it's personal for both of us.'

'Tom we need a plan.'

James suddenly remembered. 'Wait, you said there was a book.'

'Book?' quizzed Summers.

'Yes, with the note from Mabel inside it.'

Summers responded nodding yes.

'What was the book? I mean the title?'

Summers retrieved a leather briefcase from the car. Slowly she opened it and removed the book that was sealed in a clear plastic evidence bag. She handed it to James. The book was old and worn, same as the note. It showed considerable wear on its black hard covers as James held it in his hands. The front was embossed with gold stamp printing and showed Egyptian pillars, a great winged seal with hieroglyphs. The title gave James an involuntary shiver as he read it. It was called The Book of Lies.

Chapter Twenty-Three The Book Of Lies

As James examined the book his mind wandered back to Julie.

'Why weren't you supposed to tell me our cases were linked?' asked James.

'Honestly, we thought you were a suspect. I don't mean for that to sound offensive Tom. It's just that ... I know you were close to Julie at one time,' said Summers as she collected the crime scene photos and replaced them in the file.

'She was my first,' said James as he stared blankly away from her. His expression then quickly changed to one of question. 'Wait, how do you know that Julie and I were close?'

'From the items we collected from her home in Los Angeles.'

James' detective mode took over as he tried to push away his emotions from being the victim. Losing a teenage crush was one thing, but losing your first love was another. He had to force himself to take control and not lose sight of the fact there was a serial killer walking the streets of San Francisco.

'What sort of things?' James inquired.

'You name it and it pertained to you,' said Summers as she located a list of items from the file on Julie Jackson.

'Can you be a little more specific?'

Glancing at the list, Summers began to rattle off several of the items, none in any particular order. 'I wouldn't know where to begin, but she had photos, newspaper clippings about cases you worked on. Oh and the diaries she had written about you, they go back as far as 1969.'

James was stunned. He was astonished that Julie had been so interested in him that she would follow his life and career. 'Anything else?'

'Anything else? Isn't it clear she worshipped you? Under different circumstances I would say this borders on stalking.'

'There has to be a reason, Agent Summers. Yes I admit we were in love at one time, but that was a very long time ago. And if she truly was interested in me, why didn't she attempt to contact me? It's not like she didn't know where look.'

Summers nodded in agreement. 'That's true, but perhaps she had a reason for keeping her distance.'

'What possible reason would she have? I'm not married, I've got no kids. It's not like there was anyone in the way.'

'Yes for you, there was nothing in the way, but maybe she felt there was something or someone keeping her from you.'

The comment caused James to seriously pause. He wondered if someone had been keeping her from contacting him, who could it be? And why? James felt for a moment he had the answer, then it slipped away from him as Summers broke his concentration with her next question.

'Just exactly when was the last time you can absolutely say you saw Julie Jackson, Inspector James?'

'That sounds like the kind of question you ask a suspect, Special Agent Summers,' said James with an indignant tone.

'It's the same question you would be asking me if the situation were reversed.'

'It was at her mother's funeral,' said James.

'You were still in a relationship then?'

'No, we had broken up long before then. Her mom and dad divorced around the time we were both 17. Her mother had become a drunk and her dad just couldn't put up with it anymore, so he moved away to Hollywood. Julie, felt obligated to stay and look after her mom.'

'What happened?'

'Her mother's drinking had become all consuming and Julie had to drop out of school. She worked two jobs just to pay her mother's bills. We began to see each other less and less. She really didn't have anytime for a boyfriend anymore and I understood, but I still couldn't help but feel abandoned. I made several attempts to do things for Julie that would help her stay positive. In the end it only seemed to annoy her. Eventually she got sick of her mother's constant abuse and moved to Hollywood to be with her dad.'