When we arrived at the Kirkwood mausoleum, a giant stone structure with a facade as elaborately engraved as an ancient Roman temple, there was no sign of Paul.
“I knew it,” Eli said, leaning against a gravestone.
“He’ll be here.” I glanced at the shadows moving around us as a breeze rustled the trees and bushes.
“I am here,” a voice called from somewhere near the mausoleum.
I squinted at the doorway. In the dim light and deep overhang, it was a big black hole. But a distinctive shape moved out from the shadows, slowly transforming into Paul.
“We talk in here.” He waved us forward.
I wrinkled my nose, my stomach churning at the idea of entering the mausoleum. Unlike the crypt we’d broken into last year during our investigation of Mr. Culpepper, I was certain this one actually contained dead bodies. I’d done enough dwelling on dead people for one day, thank you very much.
But I didn’t have much choice as Selene strode forward and disappeared into the open doorway with no hesitation at all. I moved to follow her, but Eli stepped in front of me, ensuring I entered last. I rolled my eyes at his backside. Like that would help if Paul had some deadly trap waiting for us. I noticed that Eli didn’t even bother to draw his wand.
Damp, musty air moved over me as I stepped in. It held an odd, slightly sweet stench that made the back of my throat burn as I took my first full breath. The taste of dead people.
Great.
A single lit torch hung from a holder beside the door, casting weak, flickering light into the burial vault. More than a dozen stone tombs sat in ordered fashion across the floor. They were as elaborately engraved as the outside of the mausoleum. It seemed the Kirkwoods didn’t care much for stark simplicity. Other tombs were stacked inside deep shelves running from the floor to ceiling along the perimeter of the vault.
As soon as we were all inside, Paul pulled the door closed, the ancient wood groaning in protest. Then he faced us. The light from the torch cast long shadows across his face, giving him a sinister look.
“What’s this all about, Kirkwood,” Eli said at once.
Paul didn’t look at him, but kept his gaze fixed on me as if I were the only person present. “I know who attacked Britney Shell.”
Eli folded his arms across his chest, the gesture emphasizing the breadth of his shoulders. “So we guessed.”
Again, Paul ignored him.
Selene let out an annoyed sigh. She waved at Eli and then Paul. “Would you two like to just have it out right now and get it over with? Because I’m not going to sit here and watch you stomp around each other like a couple of gorillas. So either put up or shut up. Which will it be?”
I held back a smile, enjoying the way both boys squirmed at Selene’s scolding. When neither of them said anything, she sighed again. “Thank you.” Then she turned her gaze back to Paul. “So who was it?”
For the first time since I’d stepped inside the burial vault, Paul looked away from me. Then with absolute certainty in his voice, he said, “My uncle, Titus Kirkwood.”
Nobody spoke for several seconds. My first reaction was to believe him. I’d seen enough evidence in the past to know that at a minimum Magistrate Kirkwood was physically abusive. He’d once put his nephew in the hospital with a broken cheekbone and ankle after a punch to the face and a push down the stairs.
Except … Paul was the source of that evidence. Paul who had lied to me, who had been working with Marrow all along.
“Is that so,” Eli said. “Now, why would he?”
Paul took a deep breath, turning to Eli. “I’m not sure why. At least not yet.”
“Of course.” A smirk spread across Eli’s face.
Selene leveled her fiercest glare at him. “Drop the attitude. It’s not going to help us get anywhere.”
“Selene’s right.” I said.
I faced Paul, trying to make my expression as neutral as possible while inside me a private battle ensued. On the one hand, I knew not to trust him, that everything he said could be a lie, but on the other, my gut instinct—the same one that Mr. Deverell had been so insistent we follow—was telling me that Paul wasn’t lying this time. That he would never lie when it came to his uncle. He hated the man far too much for that. Even more, his uncle hated him. “Why do you think he’s behind it?”
Paul visibly relaxed. He turned, walked to the nearest tomb, and then hopped on top of it. “It’s probably best if I start at the beginning.”
“Novel idea,” Eli said. Then he too turned and climbed up onto one of the tombs. Selene and I exchanged a look. Neither of us would be jumping on that bandwagon. Ew.
“It actually starts back on the night that you defeated Marrow,” Paul began. “Do you remember when we found Mr. Culpepper’s client files where he kept records of all purchases?”
“Yes,” Selene, Eli, and I said almost in unison. There’d been a file on my mother and more than half of the faculty at Arkwell in there.
Then I remembered. “There was a file on your uncle.”
Paul nodded. “Believe me, it was a shock to find out that someone as hard-nosed about rules and traditions as my uncle would purchase black market items from someone like Culpepper.”
“What was in it?” Selene asked.
Paul started to swing his legs back and forth as they dangled over the side of the tomb. “Not much. Made it easy for me to get through it all before Culpepper chased us out. The only significant item was a chain made from the scales of a Leviathan.”