“I’m afraid you look like you’re about to drop,” she said. “When you’ve rested, we’ll talk again and determine which direction we’re going to take. For now, I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.” A wrinkle formed in her forehead. “Wilson Carlisle didn’t accompany Kara here. He’s still in Australia. I’ve done some more digging on the historical society that he’s a member of. I’m not saying it has anything to do with Kara or where she is, but it is intriguing. So intriguing that I can’t believe it’s been under my nose for all these years that I’ve been working as an investigator. I’ve asked a couple of history professors that I know of for some information—they’re a husband and wife who live in Athens. It appears the society has a connection with an ancient order. Well, either it’s connected or the society is the order but doesn’t want it known. I don’t know which.”
“What kind of ancient order?”
“I’m uncertain. The name I’ve sourced is Yeqon’s Saviours.”
“Yeqon? Sounds Arabic?” I said politely, wondering where she was going with this.
“It’s from the Bible. As the Bible tells it, a number of angels were sent down from heaven to watch over humans. They were called watchers or Grigori. A ringleader named Yeqon led them into temptation, and they became fallen angels. This order appears to be using Yeqon’s name. Which is a somewhat unusual choice.”
My eyes darted about the café. This wasn’t the usual cake-and-coffee conversation. No one could hear us, but still, it made me uncomfortable. This wasn’t what we were supposed to be talking about. Was Rosemary slightly crazy? Or did she purposely invent wild stories for every client instead of actually working on the case, just to use up more hours and make more money?
“That’s all interesting,” I said. “But if it’s unlikely to involve Kara, then do we need to pursue this?”
“I pursue every avenue in a case, Constance. Turn over every stone. It’s why I’ve been successful. I used to take on infidelity cases. Cheating husbands and wives. There was only one case in which the person was mistaken about their spouse. In all the hundreds of other cases, I confirmed the person’s fears and found out all the awful details. And the way I did it was to look into all the things that you mightn’t think important. Things that other investigators had overlooked.” She sighed. “At times, I think my client wanted affirmation that their wife or husband wasn’t cheating. But then I had to tell them that their initial suspicions were right. I decided I no longer wanted to take on those cases.”
“I couldn’t even imagine giving someone that kind of news.” I thought of James and how I’d never once suspected he was doing anything like that. “If it’s okay, I’d rather just concentrate on where Kara might have gone. Sorry if I’m being blunt. This ancient order thing sounds very off-beat. I’m sorry if I sound anxious. I just—I am anxious.”
“Of course you’re anxious. Okay then. I’ve been running my usual skip-tracing process on Kara, but I will let you know that it’s not the easiest thing to trace someone who’s travelling through countries.”
“Skip tracing?”
“That’s just what investigators call the tracing of a missing person that’s done over the internet and telephone. People very often leave a digital footprint that you can follow if you know where to look.” Her forehead dented into a deep, triangular frown. “It does make it difficult if the person doesn’t wish to be found. Kara doesn’t appear to have used her social media accounts in many weeks. I’ve checked a number of escort websites, but I can’t find Kara on any of them. Perhaps escort work is not among her reasons for coming here. Is there anything else at all that I can go on? What about Kara’s university roommate—Paige?”
“The police tracked down Paige. Paige says she doesn’t know anything about where Kara went. There’s just one other person. A woman named Evie Harlow. It was Evie’s husband who found Kara on that companions website. Evie knew Kara.” I explained in detail about Gray and Evie.
“Would I be able to contact Gray myself?”
“I’m not sure. It was pretty awful last time I spoke with him. He was in the hospital with his very sick little girl.”
“That’s not good about his daughter. But the best chance we have of finding Kara is to move quickly. Would you mind trying him again? To see if he’s heard from his wife yet?”