The Mephisto Club

Jane said, “You haven’t told us about the suicide.”

Jurevich nodded. “It was the husband. Think about it-what he’d just suffered through. First his son drowns. Then his wife falls down the stairs. So two days later, he takes out his gun, sits here in his bedroom, and blows off his own head.” Jurevich looked at the floor. “It’s his blood on the floor. Think about it. A whole family, practically wiped out within a few weeks.”

“What happened to the daughter?” asked Jane.

“She moved in with friends. Graduated from high school a year later, and left town.”

“She’s the one who owns this house?”

“Yeah. It’s still in her name. She’s been trying to unload it all these years. Realtor says there’ve been a few lookers, but then they hear what happened, and they walk away. Would you live in this house? You couldn’t pay me enough. It’s a bad-luck place. You can almost feel it when you walk in that front door.”

Maura looked around at the walls and gave a shudder. “If there’s such a thing as a haunted house, this would be it.”

“Abyssus abyssum invocat,” said Sansone quietly. “It takes on a different meaning, now.”

They all looked at him. “What?” said Jurevich.

“That’s why he chose this for his killing place. He knew the history of this house. He knew what happened here, and he was attracted to it. You can call it a doorway to another dimension. Or a vortex. But there are dark places in this world, foul places that can only be called cursed.”

Jane gave an uneasy laugh. “You really believe that?”

“What I believe doesn’t matter. But if our killer believes it, then he chose this house because it called to him. Hell calls to Hell.”

“Oh man,” said Jurevich, “you’re giving me goose bumps.” He looked around at the blank walls and shuddered, as though feeling a chill wind. “You know what I think? They should just burn this place. Burn it right down to the ground. No one in his right mind will ever buy it.”

“You said it was a doctor’s family living here,” said Jane.

“That’s right. The Sauls.”

“And they had a nephew staying with them that summer.”

Jurevich nodded. “Fifteen-year-old kid.”

“What happened to that boy? After the tragedies?”

“The realtor says the kid left Purity a short time later. His mother came and got him.”

“Do you know anything else about him?”

“Remember, it was twelve years ago. No one knew him very well. And he was only here for that summer.” Jurevich paused. “I know what you’re thinking. The kid would be twenty-seven right now. And he’d know all about what happened here.”

“He might also have a key to the front door,” said Jane. “How can we find out more about him?”

“His cousin, I assume. The woman who owns this house, Lily Saul.”

“But you don’t know how to find her, either.”

“The realtor’s been trying.”

Jane said, “I’d like to see the police reports on the Saul family. I assume the deaths were all investigated.”

“I’ll call my office, have the files copied for you. You can pick them up on your way out of town. Are you driving back to Boston tonight?”

“We planned to, right after lunch.”

“Then I’ll try to have them ready by then. You might want to head over to Roxanne’s Cafe. Great turkey club sandwiches. And it’s right across the street from our office.”

“Will that give you enough time to copy everything?”

“There’s not much to the files beyond the autopsies and sheriff’s reports. In all three cases, the manner and cause of death were pretty apparent.”

Sansone had been standing at the window, gazing outside. Now he turned to Jurevich. “What’s the name of your local newspaper here?”

“All of Chenango County’s pretty much covered by the Evening Sun. Their office is in Norwich.” Jurevich looked at his watch. “There’s really nothing else to show you here.”

Back outside, they stood in the biting wind as Jurevich locked the front door and gave it a hard rattle to make sure it was secure. “If we make any headway on our end,” he said to Jane, “I’ll give you a call. But I think this killer’s going to be your catch.” He zipped up his jacket and pulled on his gloves. “He’s playing in your neighborhood, now.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

“He shows up in his fancy car and gets invited right into the crime scene,” said Jane, shaking a French fry at Maura. “What’s that all about? Who does Sansone know in Justice? Even Gabriel couldn’t find out.”

“They must have a reason to trust him.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jane popped the French fry into her mouth and snatched up another, agitation fueling her appetite. In a matter of minutes, she’d reduced an enormous club sandwich to a few crumbs of toast and bacon, and now she was dragging the last of her fries through a pool of ketchup. “Trust some millionaire with a crime- fighting hobby?”

“Multimillionaire.”

“Who does he think he is, Bruce Wayne? Or the guy on that old TV show. The rich man who’s a cop. My mom used to watch it.”

“I think you’re talking about Burke’s Law.”

“Yeah. How many rich cops do you know?”

Maura sighed and picked up her teacup. “Not a one.”

“Exactly. It’s a fantasy. Some bored guy with money thinks it’d be a kick to play Dirty Harry, except he doesn’t want to actually get down and dirty. He doesn’t want to walk a beat or write up incident reports. He just wants to drive up in his Mercedes and tell us idiots how it should be done. You think I haven’t dealt with people like him before? Everyone thinks they’re smarter than the police.”

“I don’t think he’s merely an amateur, Jane. I think he’s worth listening to.”

“Right. A former history professor.” Jane drained her coffee cup and craned her neck around the booth, scanning the busy cafe for the waitress. “Hey, miss? Could I have a refill over…” She paused. She said to Maura, “Look who just walked in.”

“Who?”

“Your friend and mine.”

Maura turned toward the door, gazing past the dining counter where men in billed caps sat huddled over their coffee and burgers. She spotted Sansone at the same instant he saw her. As he crossed the room, a dozen heads swiveled, gazes fixed on the striking figure with silver hair as he strode past tables and headed toward Maura’s booth.

“I’m glad you’re still in town,” he said. “May I join you?”

“We’re about to leave,” said Jane, reaching pointedly for her wallet, the coffee refill conveniently forgotten.

“This will only take a minute. Or would you rather I mail this to you, Detective?”

Maura looked at the sheaf of papers he was carrying. “What’s all that?”

“From the Evening Sun archives.” He placed the papers on the table in front of her.

She slid sideways across the bench, making room for him in the tight booth as he sat down beside her. She felt trapped in the corner by this man, whose mere presence seemed to dominate and overwhelm the small space.