Read Online See Also Murder by Larry D. Sweazy - Free Book Online

aware of that?”
    â€œI’m sure that he is. Has he seen the amulet?” Raymond squinted his eyes, staring at me warily and clutching the book in his hands as if it were a weapon.
    I wasn’t going to answer Raymond, but I was miffed that Hilo hadn’t told me about the theft, left me uninformed so that I looked like an idiot. I was miffed—the sin of omission was the same as a lie as far as I was concerned. It would be the first thing I asked Hilo the next time I saw him.
    â€œDo you need money, Marjorie?” Raymond asked before I could answer his question about the amulet.
    â€œHeavens, no. That’s not why I’m here.”
    â€œI just thought, given your current situation, that times might be, um, desperate.”
    I curled my toes in my Sunday shoes so much that they hurt. I wasn’t about to allow Raymond to see my anger. “If I were a thief, Raymond, would I come to you?”
    â€œI wasn’t suggesting that you were a thief, Marjorie.”
    â€œBull crap, Raymond, that’s exactly what you’re suggesting, and you know it.” The words popped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
    Raymond flipped open the book, escaping my glare, ignoring my outburst. It was not the first time that he had been at the receiving end of the sharp end of my tongue. A distant smile flittered across his face. He loved getting under my skin. “I think you’re absolutely right about Loki’s children,” he said.
    â€œI can’t find anything to decipher the writing on the edges,” I said, reeling in my tone, glad the topic of Hilo’s knowledge of the amulet had receded. Sometimes, it was just best to give Raymond a win and move on.
    â€œI think you should talk to Professor Phineas Strand,” he said, flipping through the pages. The amulet was tucked underneath the book, secure in his grasp. “He will be most interested in seeing this, especially if it is from the collection that was stolen.”
    â€œDoes he live on campus?”
    â€œJust around the corner.”
    â€œAre you friends?”
    â€œAh,” Raymond said, ignoring my question about his relationship with the professor. He stared at a page in his book without a flinch of any kind. “It looks like it is for protection. Much like a St. Christopher’s medal. Thor is the key to that. The chaining that weaves in and out of the runes was a common protective design.”
    â€œProtection from what?”
    â€œEvil, of course.”
    I nodded. It didn’t work , I thought. But I didn’t think it had been in Erik Knudsen’s possession for protection. At least, I hoped not.
    â€œThe Scandinavians brought this kind of thing with them when they immigrated,” Raymond continued. “By then Christianity had pushed the myths into a category of sin. Believing in anything other than the word of God was heresy, but there were always those who were hesitant to rid themselves of the old stories, of the old ways of their ancestors, even if those beliefs and trinkets were held in secret.
    â€œProtection amulets were plentiful in the early eighteen hundreds according to this text. Almost all of them featured Thor as a centerpiece. There is much debate about the writing. Several scholars have tried to interpret amulets like this, but they all come up with something different. Unfortunately, many of the old traditions were passed on orally, leaving a lot of room for conjecture.”
    I could see my father’s profile in Raymond’s face, softened by the diffused light of the room. I knew curiosity when I saw it, but there was something else, an expression bound by a tightness of the lips and a spark in the eyes.
    â€œIs that all you can tell me?” I asked.
    â€œYes, other than I will tell you that once you leave, I will be straight on the phone to Professor Strand.”
    I stood up and extended my hand. “I would do the same thing if I were in