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"You’ve seen hih "Hell, yeah Of course, I watched it before I went in I watched hi it before I went in with Gary!"

"You’re telling me that you think that Jonas Weston did in Gary White--over the Merlin house?" Liaed "What? You think Gary walked there to drop dead? No, I’ve seen that guy staring at the place, like he coveted it or so And not just him Oh, man There’s the lawyer"

"Richter? Joe Richter?" Lia around Driving out… Iout to kind of case the place, too, you know?"

"No, I don’t know Not really"

"Ask hias said Tears welled into his eyes "Gary Gary’s dead Maybe there is a curse on that house"

"You believe in curses, Vargas? You don’t seem the type," Liam told him

"There’s one as said

"Oh? And who is that?" Liauy who is such a genius and such an expert on old stuff Yeah, you ought to be talking to hi to you?" Liam asked "You ith Gary--the two of you broke into the house together"

Vargas shook his head "That’s the ticket, sir That’s the ticket Gary and I were in that house together You need to check out all these people that you didn’t catch in it I’ to get their hands on the things that are in it Mr Joseph Richter, fine attorney, Mr Jonas Weston--and Ted and his girl, Jaden They’re the ones you ought to be grilling, Officer! Oh, yeah Those folks" He paused, shaking his head Tears welled in his eyes again "Gary Oh, Lord, poor, poor Gary"

He shivered ferociously

"That house! That wretched Merlin house There’s so in the brick, the concrete, the wood" He looked up at Lia about it It’s the house The house is evil Merlin was up to so Devil worship, had to be And because of what he did…sothat is pure evil"

9

It was five o’clock when they finally left O’Hara’s Kelsey felt exceptionally brave due to Avery’s presence and several pints of Guinness When Katie expressed concern and said that she and David and their iroup would happily return to the house with her, she told Katie that she was going to be fine

"There’s crime-scene tape all over your property," Katie reo horove swamp," Kelsey assured her She kissed her friend, who looked exhausted as well, and assured the to take a nap, and she’d see everyone the following day Clarinda needed to get to work, Jonas had to act as host at his B and B, and Jaden adet back to the little box and the research she was doing David, Sean and Vanessa had their oork to return to as well Kelsey really was fine--and tired Tomorroith Cutter now restfully buried, she would start reading the book he had been holding, In Defense froht when Kelsey and Avery returned to her house

They walked back to the funeral-ho lot where Avery had left his rental car and drove the few blocks down Front Street to the little road that led out to the house

The driveway and the house were free of crime scene tape It still stretched from the far left of the house to the end of the land, enco all but the immediate front and back yards of the house and the house itself

"Creepy," Avery announced

"It’s not creepy--it’s a house Cutter was a collector, that’s all," Kelsey said

"Creepy I’ain va, the place is da gray paint Those s that look like eyes" He shuddered "And a dead body to boot!"

She turned to hi here? Jonas Weston owns the place right across the water He turned his faet you a room over there if you’d prefer"

"Don’t be ridiculous I’ out that the house is--creepy"

"Okay Fine It’s creepy," she said

She exited the passenger side of the car She was feeling a little tipsy The "celebration of life," or reception, or whatever they had hosted at O’Hara’s, had lasted all day It had included a few too many beers Luckily, Avery had been determined not to have more than one or two drinks, and then switched to diet soda and coffee She was feeling a little unbalanced--and a little defensive and belligerent, as well

"I suppose that ‘creepy’ is good for the artist’s soul," Avery said

"Yes, and it’s really a beautiful house, and Cutter was a fascinating man He wanted to preserve artifacts and cultures He always said that it was both good and bad that the world was honize cultures and beliefs" She headed for the house, dug in her purse and finally found her keys By then, Avery had taken his suitcase from the car and joined her on the porch

"Need help?" he asked

"Funny, funny," she said

"No, I’et that key in the door?"