Mary's Bones

THIRTY-SEVEN

Archaeologists were as human, and as capable, as anyone else. Their profession, their personality, their skills. None of it excused them from the ability to murder.

That was why I couldn't bring myself to knock on Evelyn's door. If, just if, Evelyn's grandmother was involved in this case, that was going to be one hell of a mess to pick up after. I didn't think I'd be able to look Evelyn in the eyes ever again. It made me feel so guilty.

That was her grandmother. Not some stranger that ties could have easily been broken with.

"Just knock on the door, Angie." I breathed in and out.

No matter how many times I told myself I had a reason to be here, I couldn't do it. All I needed to do was drop off her ID. I hadn't noticed she left it in my car. If I could get in and out, it'd help me refrain from prying too much.

Approaching the situation was hard enough already. It was even harder having to think about how she'd react. Would she be able to face the truth that her grandmother was possibly a stalker? That was one of many questions on my mind. Could her grandmother have been a murderer too? Maybe. Maybe not. That was a reach.

The only connection her grandmothers had to this case so far was her car. Everything else drew a complete blank for me. There were no traces of Evelyn's grandmother in Cory's notes. She wasn't even listed under his witnesses. Cory hadn't known any of this. And if he didn't know, I was officially stumped.

"Just do it already! Casually bring it up, then leave." I inched closer to the door.

I'd barely gotten an ounce of sleep in the past three days. So, the two cups of sugary iced coffee I drank this morning, drove me awake to the fullest. At the cost of making my nerves jumpy. That sucked. I probably shouldn't have had any coffee at all, with Rosemary.

My knuckles hovered the apartment door. The peephole embedded into the beige frame mocked me. It felt as if someone had already spotted me and was peeking through, waiting for my knuckles to touch it.

I said to myself, "Okay, that creepy thought was enough to motivate me to knock." I shivered and gave the wood two soft taps.

The first thing I noticed when the door swung open were short black twists—a head full of them. They complimented his dark skin littered with freckles around the cheekbones. My eyes then fell to the pair of glistening brown eyes lighting me on fire. They glared behind a pair of glasses that were cropped on his wide nose.

"Can I help you?" He spoke fast and clearly. I hadn't missed the lick of attitude attached to his voice.

"Um, hello. Is Evelyn here?"

"No. Who's asking?" His hand tightened around the brass knob, half of his body leaning out the apartment.

"Angie, her painting instructor, and friend. I have something of hers."

"Oh." He snapped his fingers. "You! I know you. Well, I don't know you. But I know about you." He laughed. All instances of sass were gone. He sent me a heart-warming smile and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Ivan?" I trailed off, unsure.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We get some weirdos and scammers around here sometimes. Didn't know if you were one of them. Come in. Don't you want you standing out in the open like that. We've got some nosy neighbors." Ivan laughed and stepped back, allowing me access inside.

I kindly accepted and walked in. The first thing I noticed was their apartment's size. It was pretty big for just two people to share. Almost as big as John and I's house. Which was a reasonable size for an extremely small family. It was probably possible for up to five people to live here.