Chapter 9
NINE
I felt the flaws gave it personality, charm, and sparkle.
The Diamond Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
Six ghosts of five men and one woman waited for me in the conference room, seated near the Scrabble board I had left out during my days off. At Erik’s recommendation, I carried my pink beryl in my pocket, as he viewed the stone as good fortune.
We’d taken our finds to the rock store, and the owner had confirmed I’d found a rather valuable jewel, offering a thousand dollars for it with no questions asked.
He’d been honest and suggested I might be able to find a buyer for up to two thousand for the piece due to its unusual coloration and rarity.
Every now and then, Casper Mountain produced a pink beryl, and it had been over a decade since the last find.
Without the flaws, I might have gotten upwards of five thousand for it.
I felt the flaws gave it personality, charm, and sparkle.
The pink beryl had won me the wager, and we’d called it a draw on volume due to having been outclassed by our kittens.
Dipping my hand into my pocket, I rubbed the stone, breathed until my nerves settled, and then greeted the spirits, setting my briefcase onto the tabletop. “I apologize for leaving you waiting.”
One of the purple dragons who’d helped detox me at the commissioner’s home had recommended against using the more common request for forgiveness for leaving them waiting for long; reminders of the passage of time sometimes agitated a spirit into attempting a haunting.
The last thing I needed was for six ghosts to haunt me at the same time.
While the ghosts observed me, they remained still.
I dug out my work laptop, my tablet, and everything else needed to begin investigating, and once I was set up, I checked the Scrabble board to make certain everything was set up for us to communicate, already dreading the process of learning their names and their final requests.
“Anyone wish to go first?” I asked, waving my hand at the Scrabble board.
Without hesitation, the sole woman raised her hand.
Interesting. I sat on the table, which offered me the best view of the board. “Please spell your name and tell me your age.”
The woman did as told, informing me her name was Lisa Daniella Sauls, and she had been twenty-seven years old. Then, without prompting, she spelled out a date: July 15, 2096.
“Is that your date of death?” I asked, careful to keep my tone as pleasant as possible despite wanting to dig up Madam Merorie’s remains and reduce them to dust.
She nodded.
To help simplify the situation for me, Captain Andretti had found and provided a variety of photographs of Madam Merorie, showcasing every stage of her decline.
The photos lacked dates, but we held hope we might be able to learn more about what had happened since the death of her son and her demise at my father’s claws.
I laid out the photographs. “Was this woman your killer?”
All six ghosts rose from their seats and crowded around me, their presences a faint chill in the air. One by one, they pointed at one version of Madam Merorie or another. Lisa gestured to the mercury dragon in her lab coat and wearing her fluid-filled horns.
“Her name was Madam Merorie, and she led a clan of mercury dragons, all deceased as far as we know.” Lisa seemed resigned to the news while the men were more inclined to display disappointment there wasn’t someone to seek revenge against. “We are offering final rites and burials for all her victims, paid out through the liquidation of her estate. Surviving family of her victims are also receiving compensation.”
As I refused to lie to the dead and I also refused to show even an iota of greed, I held the documents with the city’s latest offer, unsigned but under consideration.
I would accept the land and the mansion, completely emptied of anything of value, as compensation for being kidnapped and injured. Erik would receive a flat sum of three hundred thousand for his premature transformation into a hatchling.
A hundred and fifty thousand dollars would go to every family of the clan’s victims. As the earnings were compensation for a lethal crime committed, they would be untaxed although reported to the government upon acceptance.
Everything leftover would be split three ways, a small share to me, a slightly larger share to Erik, and the rest to a charity of our choice.
I had wanted to refuse the share altogether, but the law was clear: those in our position were to be given monetary compensation.
As I couldn’t dodge the compensation completely, I’d accepted the lowest allowed by law.
Erik had opted to accept a percentage in the middle of the range, and we’d both been pleased a charity or two would benefit from the woman’s crimes.
I laid out the sheets so the spirits could view them.
“These are the compensation documents for the mercury clan responsible for your deaths. Your families will be entitled to a hundred and fifty thousand dollars each.” I took my time explaining all the clauses, my role in the location of the bodies, and an explanation of how some families would receive multiple payouts for the loss of numerous family members.
“If you do not have living family, you will be able to select where your owed funds go. You may also choose to release the funds to the general trust, to the receiving charity, or the city for use paying for public services. There is a fund separate from this to pay for your rites and burial fees.”
One of the men pointed at the charity clause with a questioning expression.
“You may donate to any charity you like. The only rule is that they are registered with the government and are in good standing as a charitable organization. If you wish to donate to a church, the church simply needs to be registered and in good standing. If you have a specific person you wish to receive funds, make a mention of it and your reasonings. We’re trying to accommodate all circumstances. ”
The man nodded his satisfaction and returned to his seat.
One by one, the other spirits joined him, sitting and waiting for their turn to give their testimonies.
“If these were normal circumstances, I would be reminding you that you have the right to a lawyer and giving you a chance to claim that right. Despite your current situation, you do still have that right, although there are currently no laws on the books giving the police an option to pursue those in your situation in court. Currently, the laws require a corporeal form.”
The woman tossed her head back. I assumed she laughed, and I found the lack of sound to be rather disconcerting. The other spirits cracked grins and relaxed.
I took that to be a good sign.
“All right, folks. Let’s see what we can do to make certain all your affairs are in order. Lisa, do you have any requests?”
She nodded, went to the Scrabble board, and began gesturing to letters, which I dutifully wrote down so I might be able to gather yet more pieces to the puzzle that was Madam Merorie’s life and death.
* * *
Friday, May 22, 2167
The Diamond Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
I could only assume that the dearly departed stuck lingering had some way of communicating with each other, as the instant I finished with the first batch of six, another set wafted through the walls, sat, and waited for their chance to identify themselves, give their last requests, and otherwise begin the process of resting in peace.
Some confessed their sins, identifying themselves along with those they had killed in life before they’d fallen prey to Madam Merorie.
Some had requests for burial. Others simply wanted their names known before they saw themselves off, afraid of being forgotten in the mass of bones the mercury dragons had left behind.
Six hours into the day, regretting the departed’s inability to remember lunch was something the living and breathing required, I clued in on what they were doing and why.
The latest batch of ghosts, all women with rap sheets that would impress even Satan, chatted among themselves in eerie silence while I stared at them.
The leader of their little group, who called herself Melissa, had killed thirty men for cheating on her. She’d even worked necromancy on them in their final moments, and it had been her that had planted the seeds of madness within Madam Merorie’s mind.
Melissa had apologized for that, the only one of her crimes she held any remorse for.
I found it odd she sought redemption for only that, and I’d been quick to bargain with her. I would, as the woman’s final victim and sole known survivor, offer her my forgiveness and truly mean it in exchange for all she knew.
I had no problems with my end of the deal. If she needed someone to absolve her of having shared information with the wrong person, for having led so many to their deaths, I could handle that. I believed her.
She despaired over what Madam Merorie had done to the rest of her victims.
“Are you trying to make certain we don’t waste our resources digging into your cases so we can look into the potential trafficking situation?”
As one, the ghosts gestured at the Scrabble board where I’d written out ‘yes.’
For a long moment, I stared at the word, a chill sweeping through me.
“If I were to give you a basic questionnaire we would need from everyone so we could do that, is that something you could coordinate?”
They nodded.
I grabbed my phone, found Captain Andretti’s contact, and pressed the icon to connect the call.
“What do you have for me, Ramons?” Andretti answered.
“Do you think you can get me a bunch of Scrabble boards and a few brave cops willing to write down answers to premade questions?”
“We have twenty boards in the station; after seeing what you’re doing with them, those who have the game brought theirs in just in case. Why?”