Cemetery Dance

Chapter 55

As the morning sun gilded the cream — colored walls and soaring terra — cotta spandrels of the Dakota, a curious processional played itself out before the building's 72nd Street entrance. Two valets emerged from between the black wrought — iron gates, each holding three suitcases. They were followed by a woman in a white nurse's uniform, who stepped out from the gloom of the courtyard tunnel and took up a position beside the doorman's pillbox. Next came Proctor, who walked to the Rolls — Royce waiting at the curb, opened the rear door, and stood beside it expectantly. After a long moment, another figure emerged from the gate: a rather small figure, reclining in a wheelchair being pushed by a second nurse. Despite the warmth of the Indian summer day, the figure was so heavily wrapped in blankets, muffs, and scarves that its features and indeed its very sex were hard to discern. The face was obscured by a large and floppy white hat. A mother — of — pearl cigarette holder jutted out from beneath a pair of dark glasses.

The nurse wheeled the invalid up to the waiting Proctor. As she did so, Pendergast emerged from the entranceway and ambled over to the Rolls, hands in pockets.

"I can't persuade you to stay a little longer, maître?" he asked.

The person in the wheelchair sneezed explosively. "I wouldn't stay here a minute longer even if Saint Christopher himself asked me!" came the petulant response.

"Let me help you in, Mr. Bertin," said Proctor.

"One minute." A pale hand, holding a bottle of nasal spray, emerged from beneath the blanket. The bottle was applied to one quivering nostril, squeezed, then tucked away again beneath the blanket. The dark glasses were removed and slipped into the BOAC flight bag that never seemed to leave the little man's side. "You may proceed.Doucement, pour l'amour du ciel — doucement! "

With some effort Proctor and the nurse managed to shift Bertin from the wheelchair and — under a stream of imprecations — slide him into the rear of the vehicle. Pendergast came forward and leaned into the window.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked.

"No, and I won't until I have returned to the back bayou — if then." Bertin peered out from between his wraps, clutching his huge cudgel — cane, his black eyes glistening like beads. "And you need to have a care, Aloysius — the death conjuring of that hungan is strong: old and strong."

"Indeed."

"How do you feel?"

"Not bad."

"You see!" Bertin declared with something like triumph. The hand reappeared again, rummaged in the battered bag, produced a tiny sealed envelope. "Dissolve this in six ounces of sarsaparilla and add a little flaxseed oil. Twice a day."

Pendergast pocketed the envelope. "Thank you, maître. I'm sorry to have caused you such trouble."

For a moment, the glittering black eyes softened. "Pah! It was good to see you after so many years. Next time we meet, however, it will be in New Orleans — I will not return to this place of darkness again!" He shuddered. "I wish you best of luck. ThisLoa of the Ville — it is truly evil. Evil."

"Is there anything more you should tell me before you leave?"

"No. Yes!" The little man coughed, sneezed again. "I almost forgot amid all my sufferings. That tiny coffin you showed me — the one in the evidence room — it is strange."

"The one from Colin Fearing's crypt? The one you, ah, damaged?"

Bertin nodded. "It took me some time to realize it. But the arrangement of skulls and bones on the lid…" He shook his head. "The ratio is unusual, self — conflicting. It should follow the True Pattern: two to five. A subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless. It doesn't match the rest." He gave a disdainful flick of his fingers. "It is crude, strange."

"I analyzed the grayish powder that was inside of it. It appears to be simple wood ash."

Another disdainful flick. "You see? It does not match the other Obeah of Charrière and the Ville. Those are infinitely worse. Why this one item doesn't match the pattern is a mystery."

"Thank you, maître." And Pendergast straightened up, a thoughtful look settling onto his face.

"Not at all. And now adieu, my dear Aloysius—adieu!Remember: dissolve in six ounces of sarsaparilla, twice a day." Bertin tapped the roof of the car with the head of his cane. "You may drive on, my good sir! And don't spare the horses, I beg you!"