14. Fourteen #2
I glanced between them. They both seemed thrown by what had happened, and I didn’t know what to make of it. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“What do you think?” Lex barked. He was rubbing his arms with his palms, as if trying to warm himself up. “Don’t ever do that again.”
I didn’t point out that he’d done it to himself. I’d warned him about the Knox jokes. This was completely on him. His reaction had me curious. “What did it feel like?”
“What?” Lex’s eyes were icy orbs of annoyance.
“What did it feel like?” I repeated. “When you fell through her, did you feel anything?”
Lex was incredulous. “I felt as if I was falling through a ghost. Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m deadly serious. If what we theorize about the Axeman is true, there would be a physical response, right?”
Realization dawned on Lex, and he tilted his head to the side. “I guess I get what you’re saying. Um … it felt cold. It didn’t feel like falling through the air. There was a barrier, but not anything that could have stopped the fall.”
He took a deep breath, his forehead wrinkling with concentration. “You know how there’s sometimes a thin film on top of milk when it sits out too long?”
That was gross to think about in this context, but I nodded.
“It was sort of like that.”
I turned to Marie. “And you?”
She shrugged. “It was like falling through something warm. He was solid, but I was not, so I only registered the warmth. It was quite nice, actually.” Her smile lasted only a moment. “Are you here because of Heloise?”
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “She’s … gone.”
“Yes.” Marie looked momentarily sad. “I feel an emptiness in my heart where she used to be.”
That was a bit theatrical. Marie hadn’t exactly been close to her sister. She’d told me so herself. She hadn’t seen Heloise in a long time when her misdeeds had caught up with her. Perhaps Marie missed the idea of her. I could see that. Heck, I could understand it.
When I looked back at Holly now, I didn’t remember who she’d been. I missed what she could have become. It was a sobering reality, but one I’d come to terms with. “I have a question for you. Are you familiar with the Axeman?”
Marie blinked, a holdover from when she’d been alive, because she certainly didn’t need to blink now. “The killer?”
I nodded.
“I died long before he came on the scene.”
“But you never left.” I gestured around the cemetery. “You’ve always been here, so you would have been around when he was on the scene.”
She bobbed her head. She was wearing a bright red scarf with orange markings today to cover her hair.
I’d noticed, unlike other ghosts, that she could go through regular costume changes.
I didn’t know if it was because of her personality or the fact that she’d been a powerful voodoo queen.
She had more control over her death than most ghosts.
“I need to know what you remember about that time,” I prodded. “It could be important.”
“Not much. The people were frightened.” Her eyes looked through me as she recalled. “I died almost 40 years before he came on the scene.”
“Did you know who he was?”
“No, but I remember the palpable fear in the city. I also remember the excitement.”
“People were excited that he was killing in their neighborhoods?”
“Everyone assumed they wouldn’t be targeted. It’s exciting to be around death as long as you’re not the one dying.”
“It’s like a train wreck,” I mused. “It’s horrible, but you can’t look away.”
“Essentially, yes.”
“Did you ever hear whispers about who it was?”
“Oh, there were all sorts of theories. I never paid them much mind. Most were nonsense.” She waved her hand as if swatting at a gnat. “Now, tell me what this is about.”
I did just that, filling her in on everything, including what Alice had said about another round of murders fifty years ago.
“I never heard that,” Marie said. “That the Axeman came back. It’s possible. You have to remember that the times were different. You are used to walking around with those contraptions you always have in your hands.”
She pointed to the phone Lex was gripping. “You have the world at your fingertips. When we got news back then, it was from the actual newspapers, which sometimes took days to get the important things out. Otherwise, it was all word of mouth. And you know how that goes.”
“Yeah. Word of mouth can’t be taken as gospel. It’s not as if people mean to lie; they just get ahead of themselves.”
“Yes.” She was grim. “The thing your witch friends told you about possession is true. It sounds right. If this killer had a strong will to live, or felt as if he hadn’t finished what he set out to do, he probably would not have meekly crossed over when death claimed him.”
“So he could still be out there.” I pressed my lips together. “Would you know if you crossed paths with him? Could you identify him?”
Marie regarded me with sad eyes. “Can all humans recognize each other for what they are?”
I didn’t answer. There was no need to.
“It’s the same with ghosts,” she said. “I could try — and I will — but don’t rely on me for this one. I don’t believe I can help you.”
I appreciated her honesty. “Do you need anything? Regarding Heloise, I mean.”
“No.” Her eyes clouded over with sadness. “It’s ridiculous to miss someone you never really knew. She hadn’t been a part of my life for how long? Still, knowing she’s gone now and what she went through, well, it’s given me a new perspective.”
“What do you believe now?”
“That not everything works out the way you want. You can only control your own destiny. Others have to control theirs.”
And that was that. Marie believed we were onto something with the possession theory. She could offer nothing else.