if we offered you the name of someone who could vouch for us and the veracity of the story behind the dagger?â Heath said.
I stiffened and put a hand on his arm. The person I was protecting was an inspector on the San Francisco police force. Heâd risked his jobâhell, heâd risked getting charged with obstructionâto get us the dagger, because he knew that we were the
only
people itâd be safe with. âHoney,â I whispered. âDonât.â
Heath looked meaningfully at me. âI talked to
our friend
a couple of months ago, Em. He saw our show and called. He left his job last Decemberâtook early retirement. He told me that ever since the thing in San Franciscoâever since Oruç got inside his headâheâs been suffering from panic attacks. He says he has nightmares all the time and he canât shake âem. He swears that thereâs still a little bit of Oruç left in his mind, toying with him. I told him that was unlikely, but now Iâm not so sure. Maybe thereâs something to it.â
I put a hand to my mouth. âI had no idea.â
âI know,â Heath said. âI didnât want to tell you because I knew youâd feel bad, but I think itâs important to loop him in on this. For a number of reasons.â
I bit my lip. Could it be true? Could the last person Oruç had tried to possess really have a bit of that vile spook still roaming around inside his mind? Turning to Olivera, I said, âWhat Iâm about to tell you is off the record.â
Olivera frowned and tapped her finger on the table like I had to be kidding.
âIâm serious,â I said.
âIâm not a reporter,â she said flatly.
âNo, but the information Iâd be giving to you could be used to prosecute.â
âProsecute?â she said. âFor what?â
âTampering with evidence,â I said. âAnd probably obstruction.â
Oliveraâs left eyebrow arched. âIf you two tampered with any evidence at my crime scene, Iâll have the DA prosecute the hell out of you,â she warned.
âIt wasnât your crime scene, and we werenât the ones who tampered with the evidence. Well, at least not directly. And the crime scene was from several years ago and well outside your jurisdiction.â
âThen why would you be worried Iâd have the DA prosecute you for obstruction?â
âIâm not,â I told her. âIâm worried that youâll make a few calls and have someone important to us prosecuted when all he was trying to do was protect the public.â
âExplain,â she said.
âFirst, your word, Detective. And you too, Lieutenant.â
Olivera and Wilgus exchanged a look. They seemed to consider my offer a trap, but Wilgus finally shrugged and Olivera said, âOkay, Mrs. Whitefeather. We wonât pursue an obstruction or evidence-tampering charge with you, your husband, Mr. Gillespie, or whomever else youâre protecting, as long as what youâre tellingme about this crime scene being outside of our jurisdiction is true.â
I let out a breath of relief and said, âThe footage we showed you on Gilleyâs iPad was taken at a historic hotel in California. While we were there filming for a show called
Haunted Possessions
, there were a series of murders and this dagger was at the center of them. In the end, Heath, Gilley, and I helped solve the case and we were entrusted with the dagger for safekeeping.
âAnyway, the evil spook housed inside that dagger likes to take over the minds of anyone within range of the weapon. You donât necessarily even need to be holding it to be taken over.â
âHow exactly is this ghost âhousedâ inside the dagger?â Olivera asked, using air quotes.
âWell . . . ,â I said, pausing for a moment to think about it. âThe dagger is basically a hole in