All morning the shop had been busier than usual, people who’d heard about Julie but not able to make yesterday’s wake paying their condolences and leaving cards. And then there was the phone practically ringing off the hook ever since news of Julie’s death got out, including calls from the media, Julie’s friends, a couple of hate calls from evangelical nutjobs who thought they were cat-sacrificing Satanists, and a spate of hang-up calls reported by the staff.
Mandaline thought she might have to escape to the sanctuary of the apartment, but every time she glanced at Julie’s urn she felt calm settle over her again.
Mandaline greeted Sami and Matt with hugs before leading them back to the smaller reading room where she’d talked to Ellis and Bradley the day before.
Sami never released Matt’s hand, even as they took their seats. She looked drawn, aged.
Hollow.
He looked more concerned about Sami than he did consumed by the grief she knew he felt.
Mandaline had gone through Julie’s notes about the case. She’d also played the EVPs they’d picked up at the Corey house.
Julie’s notes ended the night before she died, but it gave Mandaline enough of an insight about what Julie had been dealing with to feel even better about what she wanted to do.
Mandaline wasn’t sure where to start except to dive right in.
“I know this is very difficult,” she quietly said, “but I need to know what happened that day.”
Matt started to speak, but Sami squeezed his hand. “No,” she softly said. “It’s okay.” Sami took a moment to compose herself before, in almost-whispered tones, she related what she could of that day. Matt filled in only a little, the parts he’d experienced firsthand, toward the end.
When Sami finished retelling the events, she took a deep, hitching breath. “It wasn’t Steve,” she said. “I know what the police report reads. I know what my own damning witness statement says. I also know you are one of the very few people who can absolutely believe the truth. George Simpson killed Julie and attacked me and Matt. He was using my husband’s body, but it wasn’t my husband who committed those crimes.”
Mandaline nodded. “Julie believed George Simpson was possessing your husband the way he’d possessed her great-grandfather.” She pulled her iPhone from her pocket and brought up the camera roll. Quickly scrolling, she handed the phone over to Sami. “That appeared in the little zen garden we keep on the counter. It appeared…that afternoon. Around…” She took a deep breath. “Around that time. And I also saw a vision or premonition or whatever you want to call it of Julie. This is why I really need to finish what she started.”
Sami returned the phone to her. “We’re going to completely gut the house,” she said. “Strip it down to the studs and renovate it.”
“That’s good,” Mandaline said. “It’s probably better for your peace of mind. Why don’t we hold off on doing the cleansing ritual until the demolition is complete? That way if any energies are stirred up, we can take care of them then. Although I do want to do a walk-through when I’m out there, just to make sure you both are safe.”
“Whatever you think is best.”
“I’ll do another house cleansing for you once construction’s finished, before you move in. Do you have a preference for when we perform the ceremony for your husband?”
She shook her head. “I’m just really grateful you want to do it. I felt bad about not doing anything, but the thought of holding any kind of public ceremony for him feels…wrong.”
Mandaline reached across the table and gently squeezed Sami’s free hand. “It’s all right. I understand. Then if you’re okay with it, let’s wait and do it next Thursday. Hopefully the media frenzy will have died down by then and we won’t have to worry about someone stumbling across us while we’re doing it. Okay?”
Sami nodded. “That sounds good. Thank you again.”
“I meant it when I said I hope we see you both around here after all this is over.”
Matt spoke up. “We’re going up to Ohio in a couple of weeks. After we…this. She wants to empty the other house. I’m in the process of making some arrangements to get that handled as quickly as possible.”
“You’re not staying in the house here, are you?”
“Hell no,” he said. “Not until we get it…until it’s ready. Sami bought a travel trailer. We were at the hotel there by the park for a couple of days. No privacy. At least in the park we can kick people off the property. No one waiting outside our hotel room to take pictures.”
“Are we doing the right thing?” Sami asked. “By moving here. Do you think…do you think she’d be okay with it? With us living there after what happened to her?”
Mandaline smiled kindly. “I think Julie would be pleased to know you’re moving forward. That house was part of her history. Now it will have a happy future for a change. I think she’d like that a lot.”
Sami nodded as another round of tears robbed her of speech.
By the time Mandaline walked them out nearly an hour after they arrived, she’d finally gotten a tentative smile from Sami. She hugged the woman, pouring as much light and energy into her as she could. She knew from what Julie had told her and from her own observations that something else was troubling Sami.
“He would want you to be happy, too,” Mandaline whispered in her ear. “He loved you. He loved both of you. Be happy together. That’s the best way to honor the man whose heart you truly knew. He’s finally at peace and would want you both to be, too.”
Sami nodded as she stepped away. Mandaline watched as Matt rested his hand in the small of Sami’s back as he walked her toward their car.
Sachi joined her by the door and leaned in. “You know, I thought you were the bad kind of nuts at first. But I watched you with them just now. Their auras looked different when you three came out. I don’t say this often, but I was wrong and you were right…boss.”
Mandaline smiled and looked up at Sachi. In bare feet, Sachi was only an inch taller than her, but she loved wearing high heels and wedges. “Boss” had been her playful nickname for Julie.
“Why, Sachi Wolowitz. I think my feet just got frostbite.”
She grinned. “Yeah, hell just froze over. So sue me.”
Mandaline hugged Sachi. Yes, they would all be okay, in time. In their own ways.
They just had to hold on while they worked their way through their grief.
Grover had changed into a suit for their hearing. He’d pulled strings and called in favors somehow to get them an emergency hearing with a probate judge in his chambers.
The judge shook hands with both of them before indicating they should take a seat in front of his desk. “This isn’t your usual bailiwick, Grover,” Judge Carter said as he sat. “We always tangled in criminal court, didn’t we?”
“Favor for a friend, Tom.” He handed him the emergency order he’d prepared. While the paperwork Julie had left helped make some things immediately available to Mandaline, the long probate process could cause problems other ways. “Decedent had no family, no next of kin. Properly signed, witnessed, and notarized will, powers of attorney, and bank signature cards. She left everything to Mandaline. We need a blanket emergency order from the court filling in the gaps until all the probate paperwork goes through. She’s got a business to run and employees depending on her.”
The judge looked it over before turning his attention to Mandaline. “I liked Julie,” he said. “Knew her from when she was a little girl. Her father and I were drinking buddies years ago.” He looked at the paperwork again. “I’m real sorry we lost her. Especially so young and so tragically.”