looked at Robinson. “It had to be him, didn’t it? Dr. Scott-Kerr. He was in charge here all those years, so he must have been the one.”
“I knew the man. I find it very hard to believe.”
“But did you
really
know him?”
He considered this. “Now I have to wonder how well any of us knew William. How well we ever know anyone. He came off as a quiet and utterly ordinary man. Not someone you’d particularly notice.”
“Isn’t that how they usually describe the psychopath with two dozen bodies buried in his basement?
He was so quiet and ordinary.
”
“That does seem to be the universal description. But then, it could apply to almost anyone, couldn’t it?” Nicholas gave a wry shake of the head. “Including me.”
Josephine stared out the window as she rode the bus home. Didn’t they say that life was full of coincidences? Hadn’t she heard startling tales of vacationers abroad spotting their next-door neighbors on the streets of Paris? Strange convergences happened all the time, and this could simply be one of them.
But it wasn’t the first coincidence. That had been the name on the cartouche. Medea. Now there’s the
Indio Daily News.
At her stop, she stepped out of the bus into a syrupy heat thick with humidity. Black clouds threatened, and as she walked toward her building she heard thunder rumble, felt the hairs feather on her arms, as though stirred by the static of lightning-charged air. Rain pelted her head, and by the time she reached her apartment building it had become a tropical downpour. She dashed up the steps and into the foyer, where she stood dripping water as she opened her mailbox.
She’d just pulled out a bundle of envelopes when the door to Apartment 1A swung open and Mr. Goodwin said, “I thought I saw you running in. It’s pretty wet out there, isn’t it?”
“It’s a mess.” She shut the mailbox. “I’m glad I’m in for the evening.”
“He delivered another one today. Thought you’d want to take care of it.”
“Another what?”
“Another letter addressed to Josephine Sommer. The mailman asked me what you said about the last one, and I told him you took it.”
She glanced through the mail she’d just collected and spotted the envelope. It was the same handwriting. This one, too, bore a Boston postmark.
“It’s kind of confusing for the post office, you know?” said Mr. Goodwin. “You might want to tell the sender to update your name.”
“Right. Thanks.” She started up the stairs.
“Did you find your old key ring yet?” he yelled.
Without answering, she scurried into her apartment and shut the door. Dropping the rest of the mail on the couch, she quickly ripped open the envelope addressed to Josephine Sommer and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. She stared at the words BLUE HILLS RESERVATION and wondered why anyone would send her a photocopied map of nearby hiking trails. Then she turned the sheet over and saw what had been handwritten in ink on the other side:
FIND ME.
Beneath that were numbers:
42 13 06.39
71 04 06.48
She sank onto the couch, the two words staring up from her lap. Outside, the rain had intensified to a torrent. Thunder rumbled closer, and a slash of lightning lit the window.
FIND ME.
There was no threat implied in that message, nothing that made her think the sender meant any harm.
She thought of the earlier note she had received a few days ago:
The police are not your friends.
Again not a threat, but a sensible whisper of advice. The police were
not
her friends; this was something she already knew, something she’d known since she was fourteen years old.
She focused on the two numbers. It took her only seconds to recognize what they must represent.
With the lightning storm moving closer, it was not a good time to turn on her computer, but she booted it up anyway. She navigated to the site for Google Earth and used the two numbers as latitude and longitude. Magically the screen panned
“I knew the man. I find it very hard to believe.”
“But did you
really
know him?”
He considered this. “Now I have to wonder how well any of us knew William. How well we ever know anyone. He came off as a quiet and utterly ordinary man. Not someone you’d particularly notice.”
“Isn’t that how they usually describe the psychopath with two dozen bodies buried in his basement?
He was so quiet and ordinary.
”
“That does seem to be the universal description. But then, it could apply to almost anyone, couldn’t it?” Nicholas gave a wry shake of the head. “Including me.”
Josephine stared out the window as she rode the bus home. Didn’t they say that life was full of coincidences? Hadn’t she heard startling tales of vacationers abroad spotting their next-door neighbors on the streets of Paris? Strange convergences happened all the time, and this could simply be one of them.
But it wasn’t the first coincidence. That had been the name on the cartouche. Medea. Now there’s the
Indio Daily News.
At her stop, she stepped out of the bus into a syrupy heat thick with humidity. Black clouds threatened, and as she walked toward her building she heard thunder rumble, felt the hairs feather on her arms, as though stirred by the static of lightning-charged air. Rain pelted her head, and by the time she reached her apartment building it had become a tropical downpour. She dashed up the steps and into the foyer, where she stood dripping water as she opened her mailbox.
She’d just pulled out a bundle of envelopes when the door to Apartment 1A swung open and Mr. Goodwin said, “I thought I saw you running in. It’s pretty wet out there, isn’t it?”
“It’s a mess.” She shut the mailbox. “I’m glad I’m in for the evening.”
“He delivered another one today. Thought you’d want to take care of it.”
“Another what?”
“Another letter addressed to Josephine Sommer. The mailman asked me what you said about the last one, and I told him you took it.”
She glanced through the mail she’d just collected and spotted the envelope. It was the same handwriting. This one, too, bore a Boston postmark.
“It’s kind of confusing for the post office, you know?” said Mr. Goodwin. “You might want to tell the sender to update your name.”
“Right. Thanks.” She started up the stairs.
“Did you find your old key ring yet?” he yelled.
Without answering, she scurried into her apartment and shut the door. Dropping the rest of the mail on the couch, she quickly ripped open the envelope addressed to Josephine Sommer and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. She stared at the words BLUE HILLS RESERVATION and wondered why anyone would send her a photocopied map of nearby hiking trails. Then she turned the sheet over and saw what had been handwritten in ink on the other side:
FIND ME.
Beneath that were numbers:
42 13 06.39
71 04 06.48
She sank onto the couch, the two words staring up from her lap. Outside, the rain had intensified to a torrent. Thunder rumbled closer, and a slash of lightning lit the window.
FIND ME.
There was no threat implied in that message, nothing that made her think the sender meant any harm.
She thought of the earlier note she had received a few days ago:
The police are not your friends.
Again not a threat, but a sensible whisper of advice. The police were
not
her friends; this was something she already knew, something she’d known since she was fourteen years old.
She focused on the two numbers. It took her only seconds to recognize what they must represent.
With the lightning storm moving closer, it was not a good time to turn on her computer, but she booted it up anyway. She navigated to the site for Google Earth and used the two numbers as latitude and longitude. Magically the screen panned
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