I indicated the grave, where the man fiddled with a machine as if he were dealing with a recalcitrant child. I even heard the distant sound of his voice, cajoling, praising. He started the engine, then patted the metal monstrosity gratefully.
“He’s going to dig up the vault, remove the top, then leave it to us to open the casket.” Doc cast me a sidelong glance. “In case the thing’s empty.”
Which would be a little hard to explain.
“I doubt that’ll happen,” I said.
“No?”
“I’ve been interviewing the relatives.”
“Do tell.”
I motioned for Doc to follow me farther away from the gravesite, since talking for any length of time where we stood would have necessitated shouting over the sound of the machinery.
I told him everything. When I was through, Doc asked, “Conclusions?”
I pulled out the notebook I’d been scribbling in when I ran into Katrine. “The deceased were either old or ill. They were expected to die, though, in most cases, not quite yet. They all passed on in the night, seeming to gasp for breath in their last moments.”
“But none of them died from asphyxiation. Or with any signs that they’d been deprived of oxygen or any bruises that would match strangulation.”
He’d answered my next question before I’d even voiced it. I liked that in a doctor.
“Those who could speak,” I continued, “and had a nurse or family member present to hear them, believed there was someone or something in the room, though no one else saw or heard anything.”
“Could easily have been the presence of a loved one who’d gone before.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “Seriously?”
“You think only evil entities come back from beyond?”
“I hadn’t thought of anything coming back from beyond. But now I will. Thanks.”
He shrugged in lieu of apology. “I’ve been in attendance at enough deaths to know that there’s something waiting on the other side. Sometimes, the other side comes over and gets us.”
His face took on an appearance of rapture at odds with the slightly cranky Doc Bill I knew and loved. I wasn’t sure how to deal with him, except to move on.
“Since all of our victims died with an expression of surprise, perhaps shock, or even fear on their faces, maybe every one of them was visited by a loved one they’d hoped never to see again.”
“Everyone I’ve ever observed in that situation dies at peace. It’s made me believe in the afterlife along with the ghosts and goblins, witches, warlocks, and werewolves.”
Since I knew he wasn’t kidding about the werewolves, I had to figure he wasn’t kidding about the other entities, either, but right now I really didn’t want to know.
“You think our victims aren’t getting a glimpse of the great beyond, they’re getting a glimpse of their killer—invisible as he or she might be?”
“Perhaps,” Doc said. “Don’t forget, the lack of a heart has made us conclude that the victims themselves could be supernatural.”
“That doesn’t preclude them being frightened of whatever’s killing them.”
Doc frowned.
“What?”
“I was just imagining what might frighten a being that has no heart. I don’t think I want to meet it.”
I didn’t, either, but I had a hunch I was going to.
The sudden cessation of sound had us both glancing toward the gravesite. A coffin-shaped vault now rested aboveground rather than below. The worker indicated with a wave of one gloved hand that Doc and I could return.