Last to Die: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

target, because she was in the car, too.”
    “Then why is the girl still alive?” said Jane.
    Dr. Welliver shrugged. “Divine intervention.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Ask Claire, and she’ll tell you that’s exactly what happened. She was trapped inside the car. Heard the gunshots. Actually saw the killer standing
right there
. And then someone else showed up on the scene.
An angel
is how Claire described her. A woman who helped her out of the vehicle and stayed with her.”
    “Did the police interview this woman? Did
she
see the killer?”
    “Unfortunately, the woman vanished just as the police arrived. No one but Claire ever saw her.”
    “Maybe she didn’t exist,” suggested Maura. “Maybe Claire imagined her.”
    Dr. Welliver nodded. “The police did have doubts about this mysterious woman. But they certainly had no doubt that this was an execution. Which is why Claire was brought to Evensong.”
    Jane closed the file and looked at the psychologist. “That raises another question. How, exactly, did that happen?”
    “She was referred to us.”
    “I’m sure the state of New York can look after its own kids. Why send her to Evensong? And how did Will Yablonski end up here, from New Hampshire?”
    Dr. Welliver didn’t look at Jane; instead she focused on one of the crystals that dangled in the window. On a sunny day, that bit of quartz would scatter rainbows around the room, but on this gray morning, it hung inert, offering no light-bending magic. “Evensong has a reputation,” she said. “For many of these children, we offer tuition, room and board, at no cost to the states. Law enforcement agencies all around the country know about the work we do here.”
    “Because the Mephisto Society is everywhere,” said Jane. “And so are your spies.”
    Welliver’s eyes met Jane’s. “You and I are on the same side, Detective,” she said quietly. “Never doubt that.”
    “It’s the conspiracy theories that bother me.”
    “Can we agree, at least, that the innocent need protection? That victims need to be healed? At Evensong, we do both. Yes, we track crimes around the world. Like any scientists, we search for patterns. Because we’re victims, too, and we’ve chosen to fight back.”
    Someone knocked on the door and they all turned as an Asian boy, small and wiry, popped into the room.
    Dr. Welliver greeted him with a motherly smile. “Hello, Bruno. Do you need something?”
    “We found something in the woods. On a tree,” the boy blurted out.
    “The woods are full of trees. What’s special about this one?”
    “We’re not sure what it means, and the girls, they’re all screaming …” Bruno took a deep breath to calm himself, and Jane suddenly noticed that the boy was shaking. “Mr. Roman says you need to come
right now
.”
    Dr. Welliver rose to her feet in alarm. “Show us.”

FOURTEEN
 
    T HEY FOLLOWED THE BOY DOWN THREE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS IN A NOISY parade of footsteps. Outside the wind whipped Jane’s hair, and she regretted not bringing her jacket. The distant dark clouds that she had seen from the turret were now almost upon them, and she heard the creak and groan of the trees, smelled impending rain in the air. They tramped into the woods, led by the boy who did not seem to be following any obvious trail. With so many feet snapping twigs and crunching over dead leaves, the birds had gone silent. There was only the sound of their passage and the wind in the branches.
    “Are we lost?” asked Jane.
    “No, it’s just a shortcut,” Dr. Welliver answered. Despite her tent-like dress, she managed to move steadily through the woods, lumbering heavily behind the Puck-like boy who scampered ahead of them.
    The trees grew denser, the branches blotting out her view of the sky. Though it was only midmorning, here in the forest the day had darkened to a twilight gloom.
    “Does this kid actually know where he’s going?”
    “Bruno knows exactly where he’s going.” Dr. Welliver pointed at a broken branch just above their heads.
    “He marked a trail?”
    The psychologist glanced back at her. “Don’t underestimate our students.”
    They’d lost sight of the castle. Now all Jane saw, in every direction, were trees. How far had they walked, half a mile, more? And this was supposed to be a shortcut? Her shoelace came loose and she crouched down to tie it again. When she straightened, she saw that the others were already a dozen paces ahead of her and almost out of sight. Left