Read A Life of Death: Episodes 9 - 12 for Free Online

are often harder to determine if the broken bones were the cause of death or happened after the person passed.”
    “So… what are you asking?”
    “I’d like you to take a look at them and see if anything comes to you. Maybe you’ll have a vision .” Her emphasis of the final word seemed like a mixture of anxious skepticism with a shot of curiosity. I didn’t care for her tone.
    I looked around the small office and the ancient artifacts. “How old did you say they were?”
    “I don’t know,” she said, glancing at Dr. Kamal. “About thirty-four hundred years… give or take a few hundred.”
    I rose from my chair and grabbed my jacket. “You know, I think I’ll pass. There’s probably nothing I can do to help you anyway. It’s just too old, and the likelihood of a murder weapon or something else connected to a murder surviving this long is slim to none.”
    “Look, Mr. Drummond,” Dr. Mayna said, rising with a hand half extended toward me, “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I just hoped you might be able to help us.”
    I paused while shrugging into my overcoat in an attempt to flee the two skeptics. “You don’t understand, and you’re not being honest. I opened up and told you everything, things I never tell anyone. You don’t really believe me, which I honestly expected, but now you want to try and test me, to try and catch me in a lie. I’m not lying.”
    Dr. Mayna gave a hesitant nod. “You’re right. I did want to test you. I should have mentioned that, but I wasn’t lying. I do hope you’re telling the truth. It’s a bit hard to believe, but if it’s true, you really can help us. You can give us an insight into a world we’ve all dreamed of.”
    Even Dr. Kamal nodded at this.
    “We study ancient Egypt because we’re fascinated by it. To be honest, I wish I’d lived in that time, in that culture. It’s just astounding what they accomplished,” she continued.
    I straightened the collar of my jacket and opened the door. “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. It’s been too long. Nothing could remain after three thousand years.” Could it? I wondered, but chose not to voice my own curiosity. I already had enough problems and didn’t need more added. Besides, I was in no mood to die again that day.
    “How do you know?” she asked. This time her tone sounded desperate. “You said you relived some people’s murders from the Civil War.”
    Maybe she does hope I’m the real deal. “Well… I don’t know for sure,” I admitted, “but the Civil War was barely a hundred-fifty years ago. You’re talking thousands of years. Besides, what do you even have that might work?”
    “Bones. We have the skeletons of the victims.”
    “Victims… plural?” I walked out the door.
    Jessie turned his attention from the enclosed artifact he was inspecting down the hall and stood watching our argument, a pleased smile on his face that silently said, “I told you so.”
    Dr. Mayna followed me with Dr. Kamal on her heels, watching as though this were a newly released soap opera.
    I spun on the tiled hallway floor. “Don’t you think I’ve tried bones, Dr. Mayna? All that’s left of some of the victims are bone fragments and ashes. On the last few victims we were able to find earlier, I tried to see what they’d gone through. Their charred skin wasn’t even able to contain the memories. Why do you think this will be any different?”
    She took a deep breath. “Because… burning changes the chemical composition of things. Our skeletons show no evidence of being burned or ritual sacrifice. These were people who may have been unjustly murdered. You said you try to bring these victims, these ghosts, some kind of satisfaction, right? Absolution?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What if these people have been stuck here as ghosts for thousands of years, left to dwell in a world they no longer understand and can’t interact with? Do they deserve your help any less? I’d think you’d want