My phone buzzed from atop the bar.
“Edwin?” I said as I answered.
“Lass, where are you?”
“At Tom’s pub.”
“Birk rang me in a full-on panic. He said you’ve not returned his call and he needs tae see us right away. May I pick you up in front of the bookshop in about fifteen minutes?”
“Oh shoot,” I said. “He’s right. I haven’t returned the call. What’s going on?”
“He’s acquired something he wants us tae see. He heard about the jawbone and now he really wants us tae see what he has.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. Be in front of the bookshop in fifteen if you can.”
“I can.” I ended the call. “Edwin’s picking me up at the bookshop. I’m sorry.” I looked at Tom, hoping to relay with my eyes that we needed some time with just us soon. He relayed that he agreed.
“I shall escort ye tae the shop,” Elias said.
Sometimes Elias stopped by the pub and visited Tom without me. I wondered what they talked about. Aggie thought it was probably football and whisky.
With a brisk pace, the walk to the shop would take about two minutes. Since we weren’t in any hurry, Elias and I took it slow, and talked about football and whisky. I’d come to like football, but still couldn’t acquire a taste for whisky. I thought this was a big disappointment in my landlord’s eyes, but he pretended it was no big deal.
Edwin’s Citroën was there when he said it would be, and I told Elias I’d see him later.
“What do you think it is?” I asked Edwin as I belted in.
“We’ll see,” he said as he steered the car deftly and with too much speed to Birk’s house.
* * *
I knew the way to Birk’s house, though I’d only been there once before. I liked Birk, and had come to know him better when I’d helped him validate a letter he had from the real Rob Roy MacGregor. Before we’d worked together one-on-one, I’d thought he was somewhat phony. But I’d come to realize that Birk was a different person when Edwin was around. He’d make his personality bigger, which was something I didn’t understand, but I’d become fairly certain that he didn’t even know he was doing it.
His neighborhood was filled with big houses and big yards and gardens. A long, curving driveway led up to Birk’s place, and to surprisingly welcoming, but ostentatious, gold double doors.
Edwin and I didn’t have to knock; Birk opened with a flourish. “Thanks for coming so quickly. Come in, come in. I didn’t know if I should call the police today. I didn’t want tae earlier, until I talked tae Delaney, but you didn’t call.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“Anyway, after I heard on the telly about the jawbone, well … I wondered.”
Edwin and I shared a look.
The last time I’d been to his house, Birk had been in a robe. Today, he was dressed as if he was heading out for a golf game: green golf shirt, with pink and green plaid pants.
“I didn’t know what I was buying exactly,” he said as he turned and started walking toward his golden sitting room.
“Here. Look in here.” He pointed to a large box that was propped on a coffee table.
Edwin and I hesitated, but only for a moment. We each moved to one side of the box and peered in.
A skull peered up at us.
“Oh boy,” I said.
“Dastardly-looking thing,” Edwin said.
“But there’s so much more,” Birk said.
We looked at him.
He bit his lip a good long moment, but then continued, “To begin with, I acquired it from someone who said it was a lost victim of Burke and Hare.”
“No!” I said. “That’s too much of a coincidence.”
“Too much of a coincidence? I don’t understand,” Birk said.
“Burke and Hare have come up a lot lately. Something’s going on.”
“Well,” Birk waved away anything that might not have anything to do with his current problem.
“Birk and Burke,” I muttered.
“I do think the name thing is a true coincidence,” Birk said. “But, yes, something is definitely going on. I thought it was a joke—a box of bones from ‘Burke and Hare days,’” Birk said, laughing once nervously as he made quote marks in the air with his fingers. “I was contacted, and I was curious enough tae make the purchase. Then I received this box. The skull made it much less a joke and much more real. I wanted Delaney tae see it tae tell me if it was from someone recently deceased. I should have called the police.”
“I don’t know how to assess the age of bones,” I said. I left out the part about yes, he should have called the police, but he should have.
The angle at which it sat made it so we couldn’t see the entire skull. I tipped up one side of the box so the skull plunked over and we could get a full side view.
“Missing a part of a jawbone,” I said to Edwin. Though he hadn’t seen the item at the bookshop the day before, he’d heard all about it.
“A match to yours, you think? I saw the report on the telly,” Birk said.
“I do,” I said.
“What’s going on?” Birk asked.
“We need to call the police,” I said.
“Oh, how terribly disappointing,” Birk said. “So, do you know what this is? Is it really from a Burke and Hare victim?”
“Not sure of that, but…” I began. “Who contacted you?”
Birk looked momentarily ashamed. “An email.”
I knew by now that emails and Internet communication for the types of items Edwin and Birk acquired was risky at best, criminal at worst. If you didn’t know who you were dealing with, in-person meetings were necessary.
“Birk,” Edwin admonished.
“I know.” Birk waved it away. He sighed dramatically and then sat on a couch. He rubbed his hand over his chin, where there was no sign of a beard. “And they haven’t responded tae my most recent emails. They told me they mailed the box last week, and I’ve been asking for a tracking number ever
