Lawrence.”
Keenan stepped back out of the house.
Stacey had her weapon trained on Lawrence. He stared at her; he was dusty and dirty, and his eyes were bright, as if the very pale light there had captured the glow within them.
“No, no, no—you don’t understand! I didn’t do this—I swear to you, someone has been using my land. I’m innocent, I swear it!”
“There may be two dozen bodies—on your land—but you’re innocent?” Keenan demanded.
He saw then what had caused the thump. An angel’s head lay on the ground. He saw that Tim Dougherty’s ghost was standing behind Dr. Lawrence, and Tim was looking very proud of himself.
“I didn’t do this! I didn’t kill anyone!” Lawrence cried again.
“On your knees, hands behind your back, please,” Keenan said.
“I didn’t do this!”
“Then, why did you run?” Stacey demanded.
“Because...because I panicked. I saw you people coming back, saw that the other guy had an envelope, and I just... I panicked.”
Keenan cuffed him as he spoke and drew him back to his feet.
“I didn’t do this!”
“Dr. Lawrence, your guilt or innocence isn’t up to us,” Stacey told him. “That will all be up to a jury of your peers. I’m assuming you have a good lawyer. Make sure it’s a criminal lawyer. Let’s go!”
Keenan led Lawrence, reading him his rights as they went.
Stacey hung back a step. He heard her whisper, “Thank you!”
She was speaking to the ghost of Tim Dougherty.
The ghost replied, “No. Thank you.”
He went back across the street.
Jackson was talking with the local authorities; it was decided that it would be a federal case, and a federal arrest.
Dr. Lawrence would be held back in DC.
Keenan was glad to turn him over to Jackson.
“We can go home now,” he told Stacey.
She nodded. “We can go home,” she said.
* * *
In the car, she was silent a long time. He thought she might fall asleep again as he drove. But then she turned to him. “Keenan, it isn’t over. Not unless Lawrence talks. You don’t think he can be innocent, do you?”
“Let’s see. He was a transplant doctor. Dozens of bodies found, and it’s looking like they’ll discover that the organs were taken. Half of them were on his property—half in the forested area beyond. What do you think?”
“He didn’t do it alone.”
“We’re going to have to hope to hell that he talks, and faced with the death penalty, he may choose to do just that. Stacey, it’s after four in the morning. It will be close to six by the time we get back. We need to rest. To sleep.”
“‘Perchance to dream,’” she murmured.
“I hope that, at least tonight, you don’t dream.”
She smiled at him. “One night would be nice. And we do have Dr. Lawrence.”
“We do,” he agreed.
“But it isn’t over,” she said softly.
“No, but I do believe we’ve begun the ending,” he said, and he cast her a smile. “I wonder if anyone is going to have hitchhiking ghosts.”
“Pardon?”
“Tim, Ronnie, George, Harvey—those guys aren’t going to want to hang around where they were.”
“Do you think they’ll get to move on?” Stacey asked. “Now that Lawrence is in custody.”
“I don’t know, Stacey. I honestly don’t know.” He glanced her way with a frown. “What happened tonight? Lawrence didn’t just walk right up to you, did he?”
She shook her head. “He was carrying something...a broken piece of funerary art.”
“An angel’s head.”
“He might have meant...well, he might have meant to crown me with it, though it would have been stupid, since you were right there. Tim followed us. He may not be able to open a mailbox, but he managed to scuff some stones on the ground. I heard Lawrence coming and was spinning around. I don’t think he would have gotten me, but I know that Tim believes he was helpful. And I’m happy for him to believe that he saved me, because...he needs to believe that he mattered.”
He squeezed her hand.
“You are the best rookie. Ever,” he told her.
She smiled and leaned back. Her eyes closed. In a few minutes, she appeared to be asleep.
At this time of night, the drive back wasn’t as bad as the drive there, and he made it right before six.
Stacey seemed to have slept easily. Keenan nudged her gently to wake her.
Her eyes opened. She stared at him for a minute. Then she smiled. “Keenan, I didn’t dream!”
“No, you didn’t dream. Let’s get in for some real sleep. What do you say?”
She nodded and opened her door. They walked the path to her house, and she pulled