"I'll put in a call to the state medical examiner at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Decatur," Casper told her. "She's the one who'll have to sign off on it, but considering the gravity of the situation, that shouldn't be a problem."

"How long will it take?"

"I'm guessing one or two days. Sometimes we run into people who don't want their loved one disturbed. That's understandable. If that happens, then we have to petition the court for disinterment, which could take a whole lot longer."

"Let's just hope the family complies," Elise said. She thanked him and disconnected.

In her room above Black Tupelo, Flora assembled all of the items Strata Luna had told her she would need for a love-drawing spell: High John the Conqueror root and goofer dust, along with a piece of brown paper torn from a bag. Waterproof red and black pens, a new spool of red thread, a small red flannel bag, and a sharp knife.

From the other side of the wall, in the room adjacent to hers, came sounds of sex.

Hushed voices. Laughter. The frantic squeaking of a mattress.

Flora should be working too, but she had more important things to do.

On the brown paper, she wrote the name David Gould seven times in black ink. She rotated the paper a quarter of a turn and printed LOVE ME OR DIE over his name seven times in red ink.

She immersed the name paper in a bowl of her own urine, then wrapped and shaped the soaked paper around the root. That was followed by the goofer dust and red thread.

She wound it round and round until the paper was entirely covered, then tied it off with several large knots, leaving a length of thread for hanging.

Strata Luna had told her the secret was to store the root in the red flannel and keep it wet with urine.

With her finger wedged between two knots, Flora swung the covered root back and forth.

"David Gould, love me or die. David Gould, love me or die."