The Evil Inside

Page 16

Sam himself had been the first to see Malachi that night. And hadn’t he at first refused to acknowledge that it was blood the boy was covered in? His first impression—his unconscious—couldn’t even be brought to think the boy a killer.
He imagined the questions he would ask if he’d put himself on the stand. Nothing in his testimony—sworn under oath—could possibly testify to Malachi’s innocence. John Alden had found the bodies of Malachi’s family; he had seen the house and the pile of Malachi’s clothing.
Everything pointed to Malachi. So the trick was to find someone else who hated the boy’s father, a case of reasonable doubt. Of course, it wasn’t going to be hard to find someone like that; everyone had hated Abraham Smith.
Except, perhaps, for the old believers who had met in Beverly, at the Old Meeting House.
Sam turned and started walking toward his car. He called his assistant, Evan Richardson, back at his offices in Boston, and asked him to do research on any legal actions against the church.
It was time to head out to see the elders.
Jenna walked back through the crowd of Halloween locals and visitors—always entertaining. In Salem, some were in business attire, some were in the more day-to-day Gothic attire chosen by many of the modern Wiccans and some were in costumes of all varieties. A giant Count Chocula was walking around with a Barbie doll. A fantastic and perfectly realistic vampire was strolling the streets with two little Toy Story 3 characters.
It was fun to walk Salem’s streets. She loved the city, especially during Haunted Happenings.
All she had to do now was forget that her uncle was probably giving himself an ulcer regarding Malachi Smith’s innocence, and that Sam Hall was a major-league ass.
She tried to remind herself that she and her group were often greeted that way. People found it hard to believe that other people had talents they did not, though she wasn’t sure why. Jake Mallory, their computer expert, played a mean guitar, and she couldn’t play to save her life. She saw ghosts. Not everyone did.
It was often difficult to believe in what couldn’t be seen. And, sometimes, it was too easy to believe in it. The “witches” of Salem had been prosecuted and condemned because of “spectral” evidence. The people of the time had believed that their friends could leave their bodies—even when they were jailed and in chains!—to pinch and torment others. Sometimes, belief could cause irreparable harm; sometimes, it was impossible to summon any at all.
Which was better?
Sam Hall was no worse than many other doubters they had come to know.
Yes, he was.
He should be getting to know her, if only a bit. There were times when they looked at each other that she was fascinated with him physically, when the light in his eyes made her think that he’d just reach out and touch her….
Frankly, that she could just about fall into his arms and explore his…mind. In all honesty, she liked his mind. He was definitely walking around with a few extra chips on his shoulders, but the concept of a pro bono case had come easily to him.
She might have been wrong to walk away in a huff. No, it had been a dignified retreat. Okay, at least a dignified huff.
She paused, wondering where Sam might be headed at that moment. She didn’t want to bump into him just yet. Up until now, she’d been out to see the site where Peter Andres had been killed, and she was certain that her postcognition had given her a good first step. Whoever had killed Peter Andres had done so in costume, playing on the area’s past fear of the devil as a horned demon. That made her think that the murderer was local; of course, someone could have come here and played off the past, but since the murders had been so brutal without being ritualistic, she didn’t think that they were random or serial-killerish. The first two had been committed to make people believe that Malachi Smith was crazy and capable of murder; only the testimony of the grocery clerk had kept the boy from arrest.
She found a little café just off Essex, sat down and ordered coffee.
Once she’d been served, she put through a call to Jake Mallory. When he began to barrage her with questions, she promised that she would call Jackson, their team head, with a full report soon—even though the team wasn’t officially on this case.
“Jake, I just need some information right now. Can you help me?” she asked.
“I’m at my keyboard.”
“A Mr. Earnest Covington of Salem was murdered last week. Some kids said that they saw Malachi running from the house. A grocer said that was impossible unless Malachi could astral-project, since he’d been in the store buying meat at the time. I need the names of the grocer and the kids.”
“Sam doesn’t have that information on hand?”
“Sam is… Sam isn’t into ghost investigations,” she said tightly.
“Most people do mock what they don’t understand—especially when we’re all taught to be brave, that ghosts don’t exist and there’s nothing hiding under the bed,” Jake reminded her.
“Will you just get me the information?” she asked.
“Call you right back,” Jake said. “And be careful up there, young woman.”
“Hey, I’m from Massachusetts,” she told him.
“Hey, you’re from Ireland.”
“Okay!” she said, and laughed. “But the Commonwealth became my home. I’m okay.”
“You’d better give Jackson a call soon,” Jake warned her. “He tends to read the papers, you know, and he knows you’re up there with your uncle, and he knows you went because Jamie asked you to, so when he starts reading about everything that’s going on there right now—and Jamie’s name winds up in the papers since he’s the kid’s guardian—he’s not going to be happy that you haven’t yet spoken to him about the situation.”
“I’ll call him now,” she promised. “But this isn’t official. It can’t be official.”
“I know. So, if you want to be able to get in there and see what you can find out, remember to play nice and disappear when you need to.”
“Yes, sir,” she promised. “I’ll call boss man right now, while you’re looking up the stories in the newspaper and wherever else you find your computer information for me.”
When they hung up, Jenna realized that she’d been wandering down toward the museum. She applauded the Peabody Essex museum—the area was given a complete history there. Pirates had ranged the coast here, too; whalers had gone to sea. Pilgrims had fought off the Indians, and Massachusetts had given the country Thanksgiving Day. It wasn’t all witches!
But, equally, what had happened here had helped change the future of a country. While there had been a time when superstition had reigned over the rich, the poor, the noble and the castoffs of society, the tragedy of the executions here in line with the “legal” system that convicted its victims might have been the beginning of the end for judgment without due process, heralding a true legal system in which a jury would decide on the facts, and not on hearsay or passionate words. Had there been malice involved? Surely, though many of the people had not been aware of it. It was far easier to see evil in someone if you believed that they had wronged you. But then, at the time of the Salem witchcraft trials, much worse had gone on elsewhere in the “civilized” Western worlds. Thousands had been burned in a day in Germany. The Native Americans hadn’t even known that such a creature as Satan existed, but the Pilgrims’ fear of Indian attack had certainly fueled their belief in that evil. It had been a hard world, and it was easy to blame cultural differences, death, starvation and other ill fortune on the devil.
And, of course, those who consorted with him.
She put through a call to Jackson Crow just as she had promised. Jackson listened gravely, assuring her that, at the moment, nothing big was going on; he was still in NYC and a few people were just settling into their new field offices in Arlington, Virginia, but could help her out in their limited background capacity. The Krewe of Hunters would always have her back.
“Thanks, Jackson,” Jenna said. “For now, I’m just a niece visiting her uncle and serving as an ‘amateur’ assistant to the defense attorney, who does have the right to question the prosecution’s case and witnesses.”
“Well, we can always come up to enjoy Haunted Happenings. You know, if you just want to ‘show us around,’” Jackson told her.
“I’ve thought of that,” she assured him.
“Keep me posted.”
When they hung up, she drummed her fingers on the table, impatiently waiting for Jake to call her back. He did so quickly—before she had to ask for a second refill to keep her seat.
“The grocer, Milton Sedge, works at a local market, Sedge’s—do you know it?”
“Yes, thanks, it’s near the Lexington house.”
“He works from about six in the morning until closing, every day, according to the woman who answered the phone when I called. He closes at around nine. Hard worker.”
“Hey, he comes from good Puritan stock,” Jenna said casually. “Did you say that I was coming by to talk with him?”
“I mentioned that someone assisting in Smith’s defense would be by—I didn’t give your name. She was sure that Mr. Sedge would be happy to see you. I think it’s going to be dicier to talk to the boys who claimed he was seen at the cliff.”
“Who are they?”
“One was Joshua Abbott. Have you heard of him?”
“No.”
“The other is a kid named David Yates.”
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
“He’s the kid who believed that Malachi Smith gave him the evil eye,” Jenna said. “His father is Andy Yates, a councilman.”
“Good luck, kid,” Jake said. “And, hey, be careful up there.”
“People here are really good people, Jake.”
He laughed. “Oh, Jenna, no doubt. But it doesn’t matter where you are—people come in good, and in bad. You’re trying to prove that Malachi Smith didn’t commit horrible murders. If he didn’t, someone else very violent did. Be careful.”