The Sinner. Amanda Stevens

she was possessed?”

      “Apparently.”

      According to Darius’s simplistic and disturbing explanation, possession was like a hostile takeover, but transference was a peaceful merger between the living and the dead. Had Mary been willing?

      “What happened to her?”

      “Her husband murdered her in her sleep and buried the body in an unknown location. Or so the story goes. But that’s mostly an assumption because all that was ever found of the woman, apart from the blood-soaked bedclothing, was a hank of her hair clutched in George’s hand. The police discovered him in the shed behind the orchard where he’d gone after he disposed of her body. He’d put the barrel of the shotgun in his mouth and used his toe to pull the trigger.”

      “That’s quite a gruesome tale,” I said with a shiver.

      “How much of it’s true is anyone’s guess. We’ll probably never know what really happened.” A shadow flickered in Kendrick’s eyes. “You said you haven’t seen or heard anything out of the ordinary in the house, but I would think that if any place is haunted, it would be that shed.”

      “Do you really believe a place can be haunted?” I tried to keep any telltale inflection or inference from my voice, but it wasn’t easy. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

      He didn’t scoff at the question as I’d come to expect, but instead he took a long moment to consider his answer. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my lifetime. Unexplainable things. I learned a long time ago that it’s best to keep an open mind.”

      How different he was from Devlin, who seemed to have an almost pathological need to disavow the supernatural.

      “What about you?” he asked.

      “Me?” I smiled. “Like you, I try to keep an open mind.”

      Our gazes held for a moment, and I had the strangest notion that if I told Kendrick about my gift, he wouldn’t bat an eye.

      The prospect was at once exhilarating and terrifying, and I reminded myself that I knew nothing about him. He was a perfect stranger. For all I knew, a man as dangerously sly and powerful as Darius Goodwine.

      “I’ve often wondered about that old shed,” Kendrick said. “And whether or not there’s anything still to be found there. Especially when I drive by the Willoughby place at dawn and see patches of the roof peeking through the treetops.”

      “You’ve never stopped to explore?” I asked.

      “That would be trespassing.”

      “Just as well. There’s a padlock on the door and you can’t see much through the windows.”

      “You’ve tried, I take it.”

      “Once or twice. You mentioned a daughter.” Very deliberately, I steered the conversation back to the story. “Where was she when all this happened?”

      “The police found her huddled on the porch. They figured she must have heard the shotgun blast, got up from bed and went out to the shed to investigate. She may even have tried to resuscitate her father because the police said she was covered in blood. So much so that she looked as if she’d been rolling around in a puddle of gore.”

      “That poor child. How old was she when it happened?”

      “Around ten, I think. As I said, a lot of this is assumption and guesswork. The girl was the only witness and she’d fallen into some sort of catatonic trance or fugue state. She couldn’t tell the authorities her name let alone what had transpired between her parents.”

      “What became of her?”

      “She was in a psychiatric hospital for a long time. Then one day she came out of her trance and decided to carry on with her life as though nothing had happened. She claimed to have no memory of that night.”

      “I suppose that’s possible. Trauma-induced amnesia isn’t all that rare.”

      “Anything’s possible,” he said in a strange tone. “She married and moved away when she was still very young, but after her husband died a few years ago, she came back here. As a matter of fact, you know her. Annalee Nash.”

      I stared up at him in shock. “Annalee? But she seems so...”

      “Normal?” he supplied with a sardonic lift of one brow. “That’s a relative term.”

      Didn’t I know it?

      “It’s just that, on the few occasions we’ve spoken, I would never have guessed she’d gone through something so harrowing,” I tried to explain.

      “It’s been my experience that people only let you see what they want you to see.” He shot me another knowing look and I returned his shrewd appraisal.

      “Yes, I’m sure that’s true,” I said slowly, meaningfully.

      He glanced away. “It’s also been my experience that the people you would least expect of guile and subterfuge are the most adept at hiding their true nature—at least for a while. But it almost always surfaces sooner or later, sometimes violently.”

      “I’ve never sensed anything remotely violent in Annalee Nash. She seems quite gentle.”

      “I wasn’t talking about her specifically. We’re all capable of violence under the right circumstances.” Kendrick’s voice hardened ever so slightly. “Even you, I would imagine.”

      “Perhaps so.” But I didn’t like to think about my capabilities in that regard. “They never found Mary’s body?”

      “Not a trace.”

      “Where was her husband buried?”

      “Here in this cemetery. They put him over by the back gate, facing north.”

      Kendrick’s specificity in the location seemed to suggest that he knew the significance of such an arrangement. Most bodies were laid to rest from east to west, facing sunrise and the Second Coming. But not those who were compromised.

      “At least they allowed him to be buried in the churchyard. There was a time when suicides were treated as outcasts,” I told him.

      “As you can see, the church has been in ruins for decades and the cemetery has been closed to the public for at least twenty years. So I guess, in a way, George Willoughby was cast out. People tend to hold a lot of superstitions when it comes to old graveyards, but you would know that better than me.”

      He seemed to know plenty, and at that, he was only letting me see what he wanted me to see. “Thank you for telling me about the house,” I said. “It’s a fascinating if gruesome story.”

      “You aren’t afraid to stay there now that you know?”

      “No, why would I be?”

      “Some people would turn tail and run after what I just told you.”

      “If ghost stories frightened me, would I have chosen my current profession?”

      “A good point,” he allowed.

      “Besides, it all happened a long time ago and the house seems perfectly at peace.” Which made me wonder if the key I wore around my neck had chased away the spirits, evil and otherwise. It seemed strange that for all my supposed powers and heightened senses, I hadn’t picked up a single discordant vibe from that house. “Anyway, I appreciate your taking the time to tell me about it. But now,” I said briskly, eager to leave behind the disturbing plight of George and Mary Willoughby, “we should probably get back to the business at hand. Wasn’t there something you wanted to talk to me about?”

      “A couple of things,” Kendrick said, seamlessly switching back to his detective persona as if he were as willing as I for a change of subject. “First, I thought you’d be interested to know that I was able to get in touch with your friend at the state archaeologist’s office. She’s