Then she was out into the night, scurrying off to meet Mitchell. Perhaps Goldstein would recognize this worm that she was carrying and would have advice on how to proceed from here.
Though she was loath to admit it, she was going to need his help on this one.
Chapter V: Death Moves Quickly
Gravedigger and Mitchell knew that something was wrong as soon as they reached the front door. It was partially open, something that Goldstein never would have allowed.
“Miss Grace, let me enter first.” Mitchell drew a pearl-handled pistol, his dark face lined with concern.
Charity had changed out of her uniform in the backseat of the car, shoving the weapons and garish clothing into a large bag that was now slung over her shoulder. “I’m not some helpless little girl,” she pointed out, setting her bag down and fishing out a curved blade. “You move around back and make sure that no one gets out that way. I’ll go through the front.”
Mitchell nodded and vanished into the gloom.
Gravedigger swung open the door, slowly creeping inside. It was quiet inside, save for the ticking of the large grandfather clock in the hall. She resisted the urge to call out Goldstein’s name, fearful that the old man might not be alone.
She found herself in the study soon enough, having noted that everything appeared to still be in place. If there was theft involved in this, whatever had been taken wasn’t immediately evident.
Catching sight of Goldstein’s feet, she dropped her weapon and sprinted to his side. He was sitting on the floor, his head tilted downward and his back against the bottom of the window. His face was a dripping mess and Charity fought against the revulsion that suddenly washed over her.
Checking for a pulse, Charity noticed something peculiar. His ruby ring, which had always shined so brightly, was missing.
“How is he?” Mitchell asked. The big man had entered the building and made his own way to the study. When Charity shook her head, he turned away and sighed. “Bloody old fool,” he said at last. “I told him that he should always carry a gun but he’d say to me, ‘I’m a former Gravedigger, my boy — the day I can’t take care of myself is the day I need to die.’ I guess he had to be right, didn’t he?”
Charity stood up. “His ring is gone.”
Mitchell grunted. “Mr. Goldstein told me that it was very old, dating back at least to the Middle Ages. He took it from a black magician in Germany during The Great War.”
“Looks like it was the only thing taken so I think whoever did this came here just for that.”
“Do you think it was Meeks?” Mitchell asked. He’d listened to Charity’s description of the villain’s home and remembered how dangerous Goldstein had considered him.
“If it is, then I feel even more terrible. I should have listened to Josef and gone off to kill this guy!”
“You never know how things will go,” Mitchell counseled. “I’ll be right back.” The big man left the room and returned with a sheet. He spread it out on the floor and then lifted Goldstein’s corpse, setting it in the center of the sheet.
“We shouldn’t move him,” Charity pointed out.
“Why not?”
“The police….”
Mitchell looked up at her and smiled, despite the grimness of the situation. “You really think we should call the cops in on this? I imagine they’d ask a few questions about Mr. Goldstein’s past… and mine. Not to mention yours. Then you have all the weapons and weird books that are lying around here. Trust me,” he added, beginning to wrap his employer’s body. “This is what Mr. Goldstein would have wanted.”
“What are you going to do with him?”
“I’m going to put him in the car and then I’m going to drive out to the cemetery. I’ll bury him in your grave.”
Charity nodded. It made sense, though it still seemed wrong not to have a ceremony of some kind for Goldstein. Yes, he’d been annoying, and she couldn’t forget that he had shot her and buried her in a coffin — but at his core, he’d been a good man. “I’ll come with you.”
“You sure?”
“I’m a Gravedigger, right?”
“Yeah, I guess you are.” Mitchell stood up, lifting the corpse over his shoulder. Charity noticed that the sheet was already beginning to stain with blood. “Listen, luv, I’ll make the same offer to you that I did old Goldstein: I’ll work for you and with you, doing the best that I can to assist. But I can’t be the man that he was. I don’t have his knowledge or his skills.”
“That makes two of us.” Charity put a hand on Mitchell’s arm. “I appreciate that. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”
“The house is bought and paid for. Goldstein also told me all the pertinent information about his bank accounts and I know that he put your name on them, as well.”
Charity couldn’t quite hide her surprise. She hadn’t even been sure how much Goldstein liked her, but apparently he’d been making preparations to leave his fortune in her name.
“You’re going to do fine, luv,” Mitchell said, as if sensing her thoughts. “You and me, we’re going to make the next three years count.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you work for him? Why are you offering to work for me? Were you ever a Gravedigger?”
Mitchell shook his head. Up close, he was a handsome man, Charity realized. “No, can’t say that honor ever belonged to me. I met Mr. Goldstein in England. Like you, I didn’t have much growing up and I fell in with a bad crowd. One day, we were roughing up a shopkeeper, taking protection money… and then there he was: dressed up like a Halloween spook and swinging a blade like nobody’s business. That was one terrifying bloke! He killed my friends and then chased me down an alley. I turned to face him, half hoping that he did kill me. I was sick of living like that. To this day, I’m not sure what he saw in me but whatever it was, he held his killing stroke and told me that I could live, as long as I swore myself to his service.”
Charity could tell from the emotion in his voice that Mitchell held a tremendous respect for Josef. It made her feel somewhat guilty for her treatment of the old man, though the memory of him shooting her brought up feelings of confusion.
“Let’s go, Mitchell. We have a long night ahead of us — and in the morning, I think we should get started finding out if Meeks is our murderer.”
The Sovereign Museum of Natural History was a sprawling structure. It stood in the heart of the downtown area, and was comprised of twelve interconnected buildings. The Museum housed well over a million specimens, only a relative few of which were on active display. With a scientific staff of over a hundred, the Museum funded nearly four-dozen scientific expeditions each year, sending explorers out all over the globe. The Museum was divided up into numerous displays but the most popular was the ever-present Start of Sovereign Hall, where the origins of the city were examined. To access this, visitors had to stride through the huge entranceway, where they could stare up at a full-size model of a Blue Whale, which hung from the ceiling.
Meeks stood directly under it, staring up at the model, which was built from papier-mâché, iron and basswood. It had been damaged about a year previous but the repairs were such that no one could spot the difference[1].
“I could get into a lot of trouble for this, Mr. Meeks.” The security guard said. He was a portly retired police officer named Dinkins. He stood off to the side, shifting his bulk uneasily.