“This is getting complicated. Bringing back more memories. My ex-wife told me.”
“How’d she know?”
“They worked together.”
“They must’ve been very good friends to confide something like that.”
“Nah,” said Nolan, shaking his head in an aw shucks manner. “Know how some people are good at pulling information out of other people? How they have a knack for getting people to open up? Say personal things? My wife was like that. Virginia Thistle poured everything out to her.”
“Did you know that Kyle Thistle lives in the area?”
“I think I heard that.
“I’m going to tell you this in confidence because it’s probably completely unfounded and I don’t want it to get out, but Kyle Thistle is a suspect in Brandy Parker’s murder.”
Nolan genuinely seemed taken aback. “Why?”
“Accused of wife murder twenty-four years ago. Released from the institution twelve years ago. Nine years ago Brandy Parker disappears. It’s a slim pattern, but… ”
Nolan smiled sympathetically. “I don’t know, Del. Doesn’t feel right.”
If he had been more supportive I would’ve told him about Alyssa and how her disappearance would enhance the idea of a pattern, but his lack of enthusiasm diminished my own.
Nolan fingered his goatee. “How come you know so much about this?”
I explained to him how I’d gotten involved because I felt sorry for Quilla.
“I can understand that, Del. The grief in that kid is frightening. I don’t know what I could contribute, but if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Meeting you was important to her. And being supportive to Viper is too. She’s somebody who hasn’t met very many adults she can trust.”
“Neither have I,” he said with a silly grin.
“She’s hell-bent on finding her Aunt’s killer.”
“How’s Perry coming along with his investigation?”
“I’m not optimistic. But I’m staying on his ass. And Quilla will be relentless.” I laughed. “She’s the person the killer should fear most.”
“Why’s that?”
“There’s nothing worse than somebody who won’t give up.”
Nolan nodded. “Oh, before I forget. Viper asked if he could watch me prepare a body. I said I’d check with you.”
“Hold off on that. Showing him the Embalming Room and the tools you use is one thing. This interest in the trade could all be a passing fancy. You said you’re giving him some material to read. Let him get through it. And if we find some part-time work for him and he shows the right attitude, maybe then we’ll let him watch.”
“You’re the boss,” said Nolan with a wink.
“Nolan, one more thing: if that memory of yours dredges up anything about Virginia Thistle’s disappearance or if something your wife might’ve said to you pops into your head, could you bounce it off me?”
“You bet.”
“Oh… ah, never mind.”
“What, Del?”
“Tell me if I’m pushing too hard, but… is it possible that I might contact your ex-wife and ask her if she remembers anything?”
Nolan stiffened up a bit. “Only way you could contact her is if you were in hell.”
“What?”
“She’s dead.” His voice was without emotion. “Haven’t see her since the day she walked out. Heard she kicked the bucket ten years ago or so ” He stretched, looked at his watch and made a move to return to the Embalming Room. “If I remember anything though, I’ll tell you right away.”
“Thanks.”
I walked up to the main floor. Clint was standing at the front door, pointing two people in the direction of Alphonse’s Viewing Room. I walked over to him.
“How’s the crowd?” I asked.
“Slow.”
“Anybody here now that I should know about?”
“Vaughn and Alton just arrived. Can you handle things for a few minutes, Del? I have to give Cookie a quick call.”
“Take your time.”
A couple of people whom I did not know came out of the Viewing Room and left. A few seconds passed, then Vaughn and Alton made their way out of the Viewing Room. Considering that Vaughn was close to ninety he moved at a clipped pace. Alton, thirty years his junior, had a hard time keeping up.
Vaughn raised his right hand in a quick wave as he walked up to me. Alton nodded, the scent of a cheap cigar arrived before he did.
“I’m gonna hit the head, then bring the car around,” said Alton. “Which way’s the can?”
“Down the hall and to the left,” I said.
“Meet you in front in five minutes, Vaughn,” said Alton as he ambled away from us.
“Perry making any headway on the murder?” said Vaughn.
“Dribs and drabs. Mainly from information he got from me. But things might be getting complicated. Remember the Kyle Thistle case twenty-four years ago?”
“Hell yes. Damn near drove Chester nuts.”
“Do you know anything about what might’ve happened?”
“Only from listening to Chester go on about it.”
“Perry said it was the one case that became an obsession with Chester.”
“True. He couldn’t shake it loose. Hell, even though the poor guy’s wasting away in that nursing home, wouldn’t surprise me if in those rare pockets of time where he thinks clearly, Kyle Thistle’s wife’s whereabouts still pops into his head and riles him up. You should have a chin session with him.”
“Perry says he’s pretty much out of it.”
Vaughn nodded. “In and out. I try to stop by and see him once a month. Sometimes he knows me. Del, what’s this chatter about Kyle Thistle’s wife have to do with the murder of that gal?”
“There’s a strong possibility that whoever killed the girl also killed Virginia Thistle and… remember Alyssa?”
Vaughn scrunched up his face again and thought hard for several seconds. “The one who sent you the Dear John note?”
“Right. It’s very possible that she was a victim too.”
Vaughn stared at me expressionless. “What are you basing something like that on?”
I filled him in on everything Quilla and I had theorized along with what Perry said about Chester Cobb’s fixation on the Thistle case.
“You telling me that Perry thinks Kyle Thistle killed all three of these women?” said Vaughn.
“He couldn’t have killed Alyssa because when she disappeared he was in the mental institution. But Perry’s not giving any credence to Alyssa being a victim. He’s giving a little to the possibility that Kyle or someone who lived here twenty-four years ago might’ve killed Virginia Thistle and the girl in the mausoleum. What do you think, Vaughn? Is this stupid? Am I grasping at straws?”
“What do you feel in your bones?”
“That Alyssa and Virginia Thistle and maybe even more women met the same fate by the same hands.”
“Do you think all these other women are stashed away in mausoleums too?”
“Quilla brought that up. Maybe. Maybe not.”
“They’d be very low risk hiding places. When I discovered the body that morning there were six other mausoleums that had been broken into? Remember?” I nodded yes. “Only bodies inside those mausoleums were the ones who were supposed to be there.”
“What are you getting at, Vaughn?”
“If there’s one of them serial killers loose around here who’s been bumping women off for twenty-four years, don’t you think he would’ve hidden the rest of his victims in the same general area?”
“Maybe. But there’s dozens of mausoleums at Elm Grove.”
“Ninety-four to be exact.”
“So he could’ve hidden bodies in any of them.”
“Not really. Most of them are impenetrable without the proper equipment. Unlike most products manufactured in this country, a mausoleum is built to last and that means once it’s sealed, getting into it isn’t an easy proposition. As for the mausoleum where the girl was found, it was one of the oldest. Built on land that’s been gradually deteriorating. Lots of tree roots in that Section have been unsettling the ground in that whole general area. And there’s the drainage problem we had about ten years back when they were tearing down trees for that housing project a mile-and-a-half away. The seepage helped to dislodge the foundation of a bunch of mausoleums. That’s how the killer was able to get in. One or two loose bricks is all it takes. When I was Head Groundskeeper I always tried to keep on the lookout for deterioration. We’d fix any problem right away. And I know for a fact that since Alton’s been running things, he’s just as conscientious as me.”