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Prologue

Then

The blue light h just beyond the doors of the lowed upon tourists and the few locals who considered early ned for effect in the hostly and suspenseful

"Blood and gory guts! Murder,cry caroup of fifteen He was dressed as a tourist, in shorts, T-shirt and baseball cap His nose still bore traces of white zinc and, as typical ofa sunburn that would soon hurt

"No, death most absurd," David Beckett corrected He had to adlad to give Danny Zigler, the weekend tour host, tiirls

David heard a sh It came from Pete Dryer, Key West policeman, who happened to be on the tour with his sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew, fa su to be dramatic, folks," Pete teased

"Our next exhibit is definitely one of our most bizarre stories-even in a place where the bizarre is quite custo at a steady but relaxed pace through the exhibits The museum was a family business, and covered all of the colorful history of Florida’s Key West Each major event was shown in an incredibly detailed and authentic tableau The tableaux were not wax Once upon a tirandfather, soenius, had avoided the constant loss of wax figurines when the heat soared in Key West, when storures in the exhibit were brilliantto David’s favorite historical exhibit He grinned and said as an introduction, "A story of true love to some-true evil and wickedness to others"

A few of the young women in the crowd of tourists sht, and had the right appearance for it He was tall, dark-haired and in damned decent shape at the moment, thanks to the navy He wore a top hat and Victorian cape, though why that was the uniforirls in the croere nervous-museums with tableaux often ures here were so realistic that it did see hi with the fa employees ti right now Finished with the military, he was headed to the University of Florida-a bit old for a fresh on the "uncle" he’d so recently served, Uncle Sa’s Breath Saloon T-shirt and short-shorts was really cute, he thought

He felt afree to flirt when he ed He’d had a fiancée he loved, that is until he’d returned ho north with a football player who’d come down to Key West from Ohio State

It hurt It still hurt But his time in the h school It had seemed like real love But it hadn’t been Not on Tanya’s part, at least

But he had been gone often, and for long periods, and maybe it was just natural that she had moved on Now, he needed to do the same

He stopped just before his favorite tableau and said, "Carl Tanzler was born in Dresden, Germany, and came to the United States via a circuitous route that took him to Cuba, Zephyrhills, Florida, and finally down to Key West Here he worked as an X-ray technician at the US Marine Hospital, while, for some reason, his wife re, so the story goes, he had visions, and his granded those visions One was a beautiful dark-haired woman ould prove to be his true love"

"Typical-his true love wasn’t his wife," the blonde woroup had called her Genevieve She looked like a Genevieve Really pretty face, beautiful eyes

"It wasn’t his wife?" Pete’s sister, Sally, said "His true love wasn’t his wife?"

Her husband, Gerry, laughed and gave her a hug

"Nope, not his wife," David agreed "One day, into the hospital walked a stunning young Cuban wo woman suffered from tuberculosis Carl-who called himself Count von Cosel-fell instantly in love with her Problems abounded He had his wife, and Elena was married, as well Ah, but that particular problem was quickly solved, because her husband left her as soon as the diagnosis was made Carl swore to her and her fah, there was nothing at all that he could do, even though he ingratiated hiuest in their home with his cures When Elena died on October twenty-fifth in nineteen thirty-one, he offered to build her a beautiful ht, playing ifts"

"That’s sad and tragic," an older woman offered She had zinc on her nose, too She seemed to be the wife of the felloith the sunburn Her shade almost matched his

"Yes, well, one day, he quit visiting Now, folks, this is Key West, Florida For the next several years, Carl Tanzler, Count von Cosel, spent his days buying perfu, and no one really seemed to notice Then one day, Nana, Elena’s sister, heard ru with her sister’s corpse She accosted Tanzler, and he was soon arrested Now, legend has it that Nana let him have three days with the body before the police came in to take him, but I’m not sure I believe that bend in the story Tanzler was taken into custody He was examined by psychiatrists Just to prove the rest of the country can be as crazy as folks in Key West, the story became romanticized in papers across America Eventually, Tanzler was released-the statute of liested that thenecrophilia for years Tanzler’s own memoirs speak of his love for Elena and his belief that they would fly to the stars together as man and wife, since he had iven a second viewing at the Dean-Lopez Funeral Home Maybe five or six hundred people attended her first, thousands attended her second Our next display is one that recalls the famous story of true love-Carl Tanzler stands by the bedside of his bride"

With those words, David strode into the next roo out dramatically

He frowned, startled by the sudden silence

Then the blonde screaic and horrible screaain in the years to come

David turned

The robotic recreation of Carl Tanzler stood just as usual, a s head at the rear of the bed, bending over Elena Milagro de Hoyos