The Enchantments: Book 4 - The Key of Mulastef

Chapter 18: Aftermath

With Crabapple gone the doctor's mood changed from excited exaltation to unabbreviated anger. Fin had never seen the doctor in this state before, and he didn't like in the least. The doctor to them had been the quintessential rock in the environment they had come to count on.

Dr. Miller had picked up a chair throwing it haphazardly across the room where it struck a sofa and fell harmlessly to the floor.

"Do you do that in your house?" A soft feminine voice asked from the doorway.

Fin jumped from the suddenness getting to his feet as if it was him she had talked too. The doctor his breath still haggard from overexertion bent over and put his hand on his knees as he tried to gather his breath.

"I'm sorry," he said wearily as if the fight had suddenly left him. "My apologies madam, I had a momentary lack of reasoning."

She stood like a silhouette at the door trying to read the situation wondering if the man she was looking at was dangerous or not.

"Forgive Dr. Miller we've had a... well, a scare." Fin said as he slowly made his way over. He stopped ten yards from the woman as he could sense or apprehension.

"Did they take my husband?" She asked quietly.

"Pardon me?" The doctor asked.

The woman hesitated a moment her hand drumming softly on the trim of the door. "Don Crabapple was my husband."

Dr. Miller, his demeanor now calm and collected moved ever so much closer to the woman. "Mrs. Crabapple forgive me for not introducing myself from the beginning. My name is Doctor Luther Miller, and this is my young ward, Fin McKnight. We're sorry to have scared you, but we were here to try and get information from your husband before..."

"...The creatures of the night interrupted us." Fin said.

The doctor looked disapprovingly at Fin then back at the assistant manager's wife. "He is correct in that your husband took and I apologize for that, but it's very important we locate any information associated with your husband's employment with the bank."

She looked at the doctor wearily, and he honestly thought she was going to begin screaming at him when her demeanor changed, and she sighed heavily.

"What did he do now?" She asked dejectedly.

The doctor looked aback, and for the first time in a long time, he was speechless.

"Pardon me?" He said weakly, his voice now anxious with suspicion.

"My name is Kathy by the way, I'm sorry my manners weren't evident earlier, I apologize." The doctor detected bitterness in her wispy voice, and he knew it it was directed at him, but the man he had come to realize was deeper into this conspiracy than anyone expected.

"It's very nice to meet you, Kathy, may I call you Kathy?" He asked.

She weakly nodded as she stepped into the light giving the two of them a proper view of Kathy Crabapple.

"Please sit." She said motioning to a wing-backed chair and a small leather chair for herself.

Kathy Crabapple was a slight woman with soft dirty blond hair that hung loosely down her slim shoulders. Her face round and full was a mask of troubled concentration, her gaze sharp with large doe gray eyes that seemed to read him intently. Her hands soft and feminine grasped each other slightly but every once and a while they would tense giving the doctor the feeling she was hiding something.

"You say your husband was mixed up in something?" The doctor asked.

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you people are and why you'd be asking me questions like this." Her voice is suddenly icy.