The Scarlet Thread (A Gaslamp Gothic Paranormal Mystery) by Kat Ross

Author:Kat Ross [Ross, Kat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781957358017
Publisher: Kat Ross
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I banged on the locked doors of the Avalon until one of the sheriffs opened up. His boys knew me by now and the man led me upstairs to Moran’s office on the second floor, across from a room containing keno tables and a flaking mural of King Arthur cavorting with his knights. Old boxing posters covered the walls of the office, most featuring the nominal owner of the club, John Morrissey.

James was poring over a stack of books at his desk. He looked up and for once actually seemed glad to see me. There was a bit of plaster on one cheek, but he appeared otherwise unscathed after yesterday’s brawl. Moran nodded at the hulking, scarred man who’d escorted me in as if he were an English butler. “That’ll be all, Squab.”

Squab retreated and Moran rose to shut the door behind him.

“Mary’s coffin was empty,” I said without preamble. “We dug her up last night. So I hope you found something useful.”

He absorbed this in silence.

“John said it was the only way to settle her ghost,” I explained. “Apparently, one must wrap them in iron chains. But someone beat us to it.”

“You have been busy,” he said dryly. “Well, as it happens, I did find out a few things.” He sat on the edge of the desk. Like magic, one of his ring puzzles appeared, rolling across his knuckles and into his palm. “First off, the police had it wrong from the start. Opinion in the neighborhood is that it wasn’t murder, it was suicide.”

“A suicide?” I echoed. The idea hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“She had a harelip. Mary was ruthlessly tormented by a bunch of other girls.”

The rings broke apart, then joined again, too fast for me to see how he did it.

“They were at the Five Points Mission together,” I said softly.

“How’d you know?”

I watched the rings merge and pull apart. “Lucky guess.”

“That’s hardly fair play, Pell,” he said with a frown.

My cheeks flushed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” I told him what John and I had learned at Miss Gibson’s. “It seems that there is a common link after all. A ghost who hates bullies. Yet I can’t help but feel sorry for Mary.”

Moran gave me a cold smile. “Oh, she got her revenge.”

I frowned. “The other stabbing deaths, you mean?”

“Rumor has it they were all found with a red thread tied around the finger. People say it was Mary’s signature.”

This was rather dire news. It meant our last hope of stopping her had just evaporated. “So her tormenters are all dead?”

“All but one. My boys are looking for her right now.”

I stared at him, pulse quickening. Mary might have been a suicide, but from her perspective, the girls had driven her to take her own life. They were murderers.

”You have to find that woman, James.”

“If she’s in this city,” he said grimly, “there isn’t a hole deep or dark enough.”

I nodded, but I felt a bit queasy. “Something is off. If it really is Mary, why

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