She turned slowly to look at him, the shock still reverberating through her heart. “Why would she do that?” she asked curiously.
He shrugged. “That’s the question I would ask you.”
“Because she’s a very generous and caring friend,” she said, opening her arms wide. “And she has no family to speak of.”
“I understand she has a father in Switzerland, who we have yet to run down.”
“Stepfather. Good luck with that,” she said. “You might want to check the criminal system first. If he’s not in jail, he needs to be. She was a foster kid.”
“Interesting,” he murmured.
She watched as he wrote something in his notebook.
“So can you tell me why Elena left you the money?”
“Obviously because she wanted to,” she said, looking at him in surprise.
“Obviously,” he said, his tone turning sarcastic. “What about these people? Do you know them?” And he went on with five other names.
She nodded. “I’ve heard about all of them. Are they in the will too?”
He watched her closely as he nodded. “The five of them share the other half.”
“Well, that’s interesting,” she said. “She should have updated her will.”
“Why is that?”
“Because two of them are dead for sure.”
He stared at her in surprise.
She gave him a wan smile. “Lanen and Arnold were in a terrible car accident, and neither of them survived. Are you sure you even have her current will?” she asked. “Her lawyer should have that stuff.”
“That’s what we’re trying to confirm,” he said. “Maybe, maybe not.”
Almost a sense of relief flowed through her at that. She nodded. “Well, maybe check that out before you try to contact everybody first.”
“I do know how to do my job,” he said in a mild tone.
She smiled, nodded, and said, “Of course you do,” but she kept the rest to herself.
He asked her a few more questions that she had no trouble answering, then he asked one more zinger. “So, what was that about, with your assistant, when I came in?”
She looked at him in surprise, then shrugged. “At one of my art showings,” she said, “we had some guy come up and made some comments that were a little unsettling.”
“What kind?”
“It was nothing,” she said with a shake of her head.
“I want to hear. Especially if this was connected.”
She stared at him in frustration. “It was obviously somebody who wasn’t well,” she said. “He just kept talking about how I was stealing souls.”
“What kind of souls?”
She glared at him. “He said that, by painting over the body models, I was stealing their souls, and I should be setting them free instead.”
*
He paused as he considered her words. He knew a little about energy and souls. What were the chances she did too? And was hiding it? Then why wouldn’t she? Most people considered the entire topic nuts. He was no pro on this stuff, but he wasn’t comfortable discussing it either.
Richard studied her carefully. “Can you describe him?”
She stared at him in surprise. “Are you taking him serious?”
“No, but how do I not investigate him when it might be pertinent to the case.”
Shocked, her eyes wide, she shook her head. “He’s a panhandler. We see him around every once in a while. He carries religious texts and wears dozens of crosses. But I haven’t spoken to him again.”
He nodded, looking for deception, but couldn’t see any. “Any truth to his words?”
Her jaw dropped. “I can’t imagine,” she finally whispered. “He was obviously struggling with mental issues.”
He nodded. “I’ll track him down and see what he’s about. If he comes back, let me know.”
And, with that, and a final glance around the cluttered space, he headed outside to the fresh air.
The street was busy, being the middle of a business day. He didn’t see the man she’d mentioned, and the pretzel seller at the next intersection hadn’t seen him either.
Neither had the hot dog vendor.
Nor the burrito vendor.
But the coffee vendor had.
She looked at him and smiled. “That’s old Halo. We call him that as he’s always trying to save souls.”
“Ah, so that’s normal for him?”
Her smile was bright and yet wry. “For him, on his good days, yes. On his bad days it’s way worse.” She leaned over the counter. “He’s harmless though. Doesn’t weigh ninety pounds. Is all about saving a world that’s dying to kill itself off with greed.” Her smile dimmed. “On his good days he’s as normal as you and me. But he’s had more bad days than good lately. You can find him over there …” And she pointed in the direction of a small park. “It’s an old favorite haunt.”
On that note he thanked her and headed in that direction.
“I doubt he’ll be there,” she called out, after he’d gone a few feet.
“Why is that?”
“He moves around all the time. He’s likely miles away from here. Haven’t seen him in a week at least. He said something about an artist last time, and he wanted to get away from her. Said she was dangerous. And would bring devastation down on us.”
He froze at the word artist. He turned around. “Do you think he intended to harm the artist before she could do that?”
The woman looked at him in surprise. “Oh, no. He was planning on leaving before it got any worse.”
*
Halo heard his name from the other side of the coffee truck. He froze, then slowly sidled backward. He could taste the brew in his mouth. Hildie was always good for one cup. Especially if he timed it right.
His hand clutched the cross hanging close to his heart. Evil was everywhere. He could see it in people. All kinds of people.
Nowhere was safe in this world. He watched a woman with a small child stroll down the sidewalk, giving him the stink eye. But he wasn’t the one she should be worried about. It’s the other one of him who was dangerous.
Keeping the world safe was impossible.
Not when evil lived everywhere. Especially inside.
Chapter 6
Anita walked into Cayce’s office, leaving invoices for her to review
