Floby nodded. “Jamison doesn’t want this information out yet.”

“Then I won’t say a word. But this has been a big help. You’ve confirmed that I’ve been heading in the right direction.”

“Oh?”

“Both Jennie Lawson and Winona Hart wanted to do things that were truly creepy, to be genuinely scared. I think they looked for—and found—someone deeply into the occult in a really sick way.”

“Mind if I suggest something?” Floby asked.

“What’s that?”

“Whatever you’re going to do, do it quickly. You’ve got to find this guy.”

Caleb found himself looking down at what remained of the face of the dead woman.

“I can swear I’ll do my best.”

I hate her, Nellie Brennan had written in her diary. She is a monster, but no one else sees it. The fools keep coming to her. All because she gave Loretta Mason a potion, and then Loretta managed to get herself a husband. He has one eye and one leg, but since the war, any husband is better than no husband at all.

Reading in the General’s Room, Sarah found herself fascinated by Nellie’s stories. She might not have been the most beautiful girl in St. Augustine, but she was accomplished with her pen.

We came here during the war, when I was fourteen, and I know why. My father. He is a monster, too, of course. He told me we came to St. Augustine so he could find work—but it wasn’t the truth at all. We came here because there was a terrible scandal about my father and Mrs. Pellingham back up North, where we used to live. The gossips said they had an affair, and then Mr. Pellingham found out about it. My father took me, and we headed south. But I know the truth because I came upon my father and that witch woman, Martha Tyler. She was telling him that he was indebted to her, that if it hadn’t been for her, he would have been ruined by the Pellingham incident, so he had to do as she told him. He told her that if she didn’t behave, he would sell her to a slaver, who would put her up for auction. That’s all I heard before they must have realized they might be overheard and closed the door. Of a house that shouldn’t be ours. Poor Mr. MacTavish, who was so dignified and kind, went broke and died while his son was away fighting. I think my father never paid him for our lodging, and that hastened his death. Before that, it was Mr. MacTavish, my father and myself—and often the young lady who was to marry Mr. MacTavish’s son Cato came by to visit and play the piano. I remember when Cato MacTavish came home on leave. He was in butternut and gray, and he wore a plumed hat. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a handsome man. I think he wanted his father to get us out of the house. I don’t know what Eleanora said to him about my father, but Cato didn’t like him. He was kind to me, though. But then the Yankees came and occupied the city, and Cato had to rejoin his unit, lest he be caught here and killed. Eleanora disappeared then, too. They say he killed her, but I don’t believe it. He loved her so much. They were so happy together. But it’s true that she disappeared, and other girls disappeared, too. But few people had time to pay attention. There was a war. Men were dying by the hundreds on a daily basis, and people had all they could do just to stay alive.

Sarah paused in her reading. What wonderful—if dark—insights into what life in St. Augustine had been like at the time. Was it skewed? Of course—everyone saw the world through their own eyes. But it was still wonderful information to add to her growing store.

She started reading again.

The authorities denied that the women were ever found, Nellie Brennan had written in her diary, but they were and are such liars. But I know the truth. Because I saw the body of Susan Madison.

10

Mindy Marshall was just getting out of a yoga class.

Caleb had found her schedule in the case file and headed to the gym, which was right on the plaza, to find her. He was waiting in the hallway, watching through the studio window as the class ended, and he knew who she was right away from her photograph.

Mindy was a pretty, slim brunette with large dark eyes, and she must have sensed that he was waiting for her, but she seemed in no hurry to come out and see what he wanted. Finally, though, as the students for the next class started arriving, with one sneaker still untied, she came out, and to her credit, she didn’t try to evade him.

“Are you another cop?” she asked him, tying the second sneaker and looking up at him.

“No.”

“But you’re here for me, right?” she asked warily.

“Yes. My name is Caleb Anderson. I’m a private investigator, and I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“You must be here about Winona,” she said miserably. “That body in the water…was it her?”

“It wasn’t Winona,” he said. “But the thing is, Mindy, something terrible does seem to be going on around here. I’m trying to find another young woman who disappeared about a year ago, as well as Winona. And the woman in the water…we need to find out what happened to her, too, and whether there’s a connection. Can you think of anything from that night that might help me out? ”

She shook her head, sad and confused. “We told the cops everything….” She hesitated, looking around. “I know Nigel told you about the booze and pot—but just pot, nothing stronger. It was a big party. Winona was there, and then she wasn’t. Where she went, if she left with somebody…I don’t know how. If I did, I swear I would tell you. She was one of my best friends.”

“Listen, there’s a coffee shop right next door. Can I get you something? I can tell you what I know already, and you can tell me anything else you remember. Even something small could end up being a big help.”

“Yeah, all right. They have herbal tea. The body is a shrine, you know.”

He smiled at her. “Herbal tea—and beer and pot?”

“Hey, pot is an herb,” she told him.

He laughed and led her next door. As soon as he opened the door for her, she headed straight for the counter and placed her order for an orange-infused chamomile tea, and then asked him if it would be all right if she got a cherry Danish, as well. He told her she was welcome to anything behind the counter and ordered coffee for himself.

The minute they were seated, she started wolfing down the Danish.

She worshipped the temple of her body in a strange way—a teenage way—he decided.

“So what else can I tell you?” she asked him, washing down the Danish with a big gulp of tea. “I have the feeling you know the story already.”

“You, Winona and Nigel got there first. You were bringing the cooler and…other things.”

She nodded. “Nigel drove. He has an old Xterra.”

“You guys built a bonfire—and then a woman came out of the woods.”

She finally smiled at him. “You’re asking about the weird old hippie? I forgot all about her ’til Nigel reminded me.”

“She was old?”

“Sure.”

“How old? Fifty? Eighty?”

“No, no, not that old. I don’t know. Thirties? Forties? She was wearing a long flowing skirt, a bandana and huge sunglasses. She looked like she walked out of that old comedy show. Laugh-In. That’s the one.”

Mindy took another bite of her Danish, then looked at him, frowning. “She was thin, too. I remember that. Trust me—Winona could have taken her. Besides, she was just a kook. She told us she was a medium and lived someplace where tons of mediums live, Castle-something.”

“Cassadaga?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s it! Cassadaga. You know it?” she asked him.

“It’s a spiritualist town. I think the people who live there are sincere, that they believe in their abilities to read palms and cards and even people.”

“Whatever,” Mindy said. “Well, Winona loved horror movies and ghost stories and stuff like that. She wanted someone to prove that stuff to her, though. Like, she thought most everyone was a fake. She wasn’t rude to the woman, really, but she kind of suggested that she was a fake, too. Then the woman said something to her, right into her ear….” She stopped speaking, frowning in concentration. “I couldn’t hear what they said, and then Nigel asked me to watch the fire and I told him he was idiot, because the fire was fine. And by then Winona and the woman seemed to be getting along okay, and the woman left right afterwards. Oh! I remember one more thing about her. She was wearing these long black lace gloves.”