by Raven Snow
“I’m not going there to work,” she said. “Well, not on the Inquirer, anyway.”
“What, then?” asked Eric.
Norman picked that moment to approach. “You ready to go?” he asked.
“We’re going to do a little bit of witchcraft,” Rowen explained. “I’m going to crack this Jeana thing if it’s the last thing I do… You’re welcome to come with if you want.”
“Tempting,” said Eric, not sounding like he meant it. “But I promised my family I would see them off today, so…”
“Oh.” Rowen had forgotten that his family had to have stuck around after the wedding. “How did they handle coming all this way for nothing?”
“I’m not going to lie,” said Eric. “They’re not thrilled. It’s not like they think it’s our fault, though. It’s just a bad situation. My parents actually wanted me to invite you to come have lunch with them before they left, but I’m not going to hold you to that. You had a rough day yesterday, and it seems like you’ve got plans, so…”
“I appreciate that.” Rowen smirked and stood up on her toes to press a kiss to Eric’s cheek. “See you tonight?”
“Count on it.” With that, Eric saw her to the car.
___
The office was empty. Rowen had told her cousins not to worry about coming in today. After what had happened yesterday, they all deserved a day off. Granted, no one but Rose did a whole lot to take a break from but still.
“So, how do you want to do this?” asked Norman, scanning the office wearily once they were inside.
“I don’t know,” Rowen admitted. She hadn’t planned out too many of the details. She had only known that it would be a good idea to include Norman in this given his connection to Jeana. “What do you suggest?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Norman with a dramatic sigh. “It’s been so long since I bothered with this sort of thing.”
“With magic?” Rowen asked.
Norman waved a hand as if to dismiss the term entirely. “I never had much luck with magic. It never seemed to impress people.”
Rowen thought back to her childhood and what a show-off Norman had been. He was always pulling quarters from ears and doing card tricks. He had had a certain level of showmanship that had probably made him a very successful motivational speaker. “It’s all about impressing people with you, huh?”
Norman gave a shrug. “People just aren’t impressed by real magic.”
“So, what you’re saying is you’ve forgotten how to do anything useful.”
Norman made a sound in the back of his throat like he was offended that she would assume such a thing. “Forgotten?” he scoffed. “Watch and learn. Where do you keep your candles?”
Rowen was a bit ashamed to admit that there was a whole cabinet full of candles and incense and sage and the like. They always kept séance equipment handy just in case. It came in useful more than it probably should have in any other office.
“We already tried using the Ouija board to contact her,” said Rowen, watching as Norman set up a circle of candles in the storage closet.
“I’m not setting up for a séance,” said Norman, throwing her an annoyed look. “A séance is too limiting. We want to explore all the possibilities open to us.”
“Like the possibility that she’s not dead?” asked Rowen.
“Like that, yes,” said Norman.
“Where else do you think she could be?” Rowen didn’t doubt that Jeana not being dead was a possibility. She just hadn’t sorted out another likely reason for her to be missing yet.
“Let’s find out, shall we?” Norman motioned for Rowen to join him in the closet.
They sat down across from each other in the dark. Candles flickered around and between them. The candles weren’t necessary, but they did provide a certain ambiance. If there was anything her aunts had taught her, it was that a good ambiance was important to magic.
“Clear your mind,” said Norman. “Clear it completely.”
That was easier said than done. Rowen had a lot on her mind right now. Still, she did her best.
“Now,” said Norman, speaking slowly “picture Jeana.”
There had been a lot of pictures of Jeana in papers and on the local news. She did her best to see her now in her mind’s eye. She saw Jeana standing there and smiling with her slender frame and graying blonde hair. She was dressed in a long skirt and a blouse appropriate for her job at the library.
“Now, think back to the night she went missing,” said Norman. “Think back to the storm. Think back to what you were doing shortly before Tina came pounding on your door. Look through your own eyes, see what you were doing at that moment.”
Rowen was looking through her own eyes. She could hear the rain outside. She could see the word document pulled up on her computer. Her cousins were around her, hurrying to get work done so that they could go home.
“Leave your body,” Norman instructed. “Let your consciousness travel outward. Let it move from this office. Let it go down the street, toward the library.”
This proved a bit more difficult but Rowen managed. She moved outside and through the rain. She traveled the several blocks to the library. The streets were empty this late at night. It made it easier to concentrate on her destination.
“You’re in the library now,” said Norman. “Look around. What do you see?”
Everything was getting a bit fuzzy. Rowen was very far from where she had actually been that night. She had never done anything like this before. Rowen tried to concentrate. Things flickered in and out when she found herself growing uncertain.
There was a shape on one of the library tables. No, it was two shapes. There was a small figure on bottom and a slightly larger one on top. It looked like a man and a woman. The man had his hands around the woman’s throat. He was pushing down with his thumb, cutting off her air. The woman was struggling. She was clawing at his arm.
The man thrashed the woman, slamming her down on the table. He sat back on his heels, and Rowen realized that she recognized him. She looked for more details, but the scene was getting harder and harder to look at. It was growing foggy and confusing. Rowen’s head ached. Unable to take much more, she opened her eyes.
Norman was watching her. Rowen wondered if he had even tried looking for her himself just now. “I know, right,” said Norman with a sympathetic grimace. “That always gives me the worst migraine.”
Rowen supposed that answered her question. He hadn’t tried it because it hurt.
“Did you see anything?” asked Norman.
Rowen nodded. “I didn’t see much in terms of details,” she said. “But I think I know who did it.”
“Did it?” Norman asked, his face twisting in concern at the implication that Jeana had actually been murdered. “You mean she…” He trailed off, not wanting to say what he feared.
“I’m sorry,” said Rowen. She knew that, despite his dismissive demeanor, Norman really did care about several people in this world. He cared about them a lot. Maybe he wasn’t the best at showing it, but Rowen didn’t doubt that he had felt strongly for Jeana in his own way. “I saw Peter strangling her.”
“Peter Jacobi?” Norman looked startled to hear that. “You’re sure?”
“Pretty sure,” said Rowen. “It was hard to tell at first, but I’m almost positive it was him.”
Norman shook his head. “That’s… Wow. That wouldn’t have been my first guess.”
“It makes sense, though,” said Rowen. “He could have been in the library after hours, and the last time I talked to him I got the impression he had a thing for Jeana. Maybe it was a crime of passion.”
Norman took a deep breath. He looked down at the floor, his brow creased. “You mean maybe he got jealous,” he said.
Rowen winced. She hadn’t realized what that would imply. With Norman coming back into town suddenly and reconnecting with Jeana, the most likely reason for a crime of passion was staring them right in the face. “We don’t know that,” Rowen said quic
kly. “There’s no evidence that he even knew about the two of you. Now, I did have a conversation with Jeana’s sister that was pretty suspicious.”
Norman perked up at that. “What’s that?” he asked, likely eager for any explanation that meant he wasn’t indirectly responsible for someone’s death.
“I think she was into Peter,” Rowen explained. “At least, that’s what it sounded like.”
“Did the two of them have something going?” asked Norman.
“Hard to say.” It could be that Rowen was grasping at straws, but tt had seemed worth mentioning.
Norman frowned, his expression growing thoughtful. “When I talked to her last, she was complaining about having to see her sister,” he said. “She was never the biggest fan of her sister. From the way she talked, Debra always got on her last nerve. This seemed like something more than that.”
Rowen nodded, still not sure what to make of that. “It’s something to keep in mind,” she said.
“What now?” asked Norman. “Do we go see this Peter guy?”
“No way,” Rowen said immediately. “Not alone anyway.”
“Eric would kill you?” Norman guessed.
“No,” Rowen said, shooting him a look. “Well, he’d be annoyed, but that’s not what I meant. We need to run this past Ben.”
“I always liked that fellow,” said Norman. “I thought for sure he would be your first husband.”
“Well, he’s not,” grumbled Rowen.
“Technically, you’re still a bachelorette,” Norman pointed out. “It could still happen.”
Rowen was about to tell her uncle to watch it when she heard the front door shut. She stood. “Who was that?” Rowen left the storage closet just in time to startle Rose.
“Oh!” Rose jumped, dropping her purse. A hand flew to her chest. “Oh my gosh. You terrified me.”
“You knew I was coming here,” Rowen pointed out.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know you were still here. The place was still dark.” Rose leaned down and grabbed up her purse.
“I didn’t want Julia Martinez snooping around,” said Rowen, switching off the hall light that Rose had turned on. There was plenty of light coming from the windows to see.
“Oh.” Rose looked a bit crestfallen. “About that…”
Rowen groaned. She looked past Rose and out the nearest window. Sure enough, there was the news van. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Rose spread her hands apologetically. “I guess they followed me from the house. I didn’t realize until I was here already. Sorry.”
Well, there was nothing to do about it now. “It must be a slow news day,” Rowen muttered.
“Not really,” said Rose. “We’re sort of big news in Lainswich at the moment. They’re really coming down hard on Ben. They’re accusing him of all sorts of things. None of it’s true, of course, but this town likes a good controversy.”
Rowen groaned. “Well, that complicates things a bit.”
“Why?” asked Rose.
“We were going to see him. We have a lead I think.” Rowen couldn’t imagine showing up at Ben’s office with the local news in tow was a very good idea.
“Call him?” Rose ventured.
Rowen hated to do that. Something told her that she needed to be there for this. It was just a feeling she had, and these gut feelings of hers were usually right. “I guess.”
“You need to go,” said Norman, emerging from the storage closet. He said that with the kind of certainty that implied he had the same feeling about this. That settled it, but they still had a rather major problem.
“The news crew will follow me,” said Rowen.
“Not if they’re preoccupied with me,” said Norman. He smirked. “I’m a way more interesting story than you. Everyone thinks I’m the one who did it, after all.”
“I’m not going to let you throw yourself to the wolves,” said Rowen. This seemed like a horrible idea to her. Norman could very easily dig himself into even deeper trouble by saying the wrong thing.
“Wolves?” Norman scoffed. “Hardly. I’ve talked my way out of worse situations. I’ll charm them. You’ll see.”
“I doubt that,” said Rowen. She took a critical look at her uncle.
Norman’s bravado wavered just a bit. “Well, at the very least, I’ll distract them while you clear my name.”
Rowen supposed that was acceptable. Margo probably wouldn’t thank her for it, but it was their best option at the moment unless Rowen was wrong about this gut feeling of hers.
“I’ll come with you,” said Rose. “Rowen, I mean. Not Norman. No offense, Uncle.”
“None taken,” said Norman. With one hand, he smoothed back his hair. “I guess I should go meet my adoring fans.” He headed to the door. “You two be careful on your way out. Take the back window.”
“Why did you come here, anyway?” Rowen asked while they waited a moment for Norman to distract the news.
Rose shrugged. “I was getting restless,” she said. “I figured I would either check on you guys or get a little work done.”
“Get a little work done?” Rowen laughed. “You really would run this place better than I ever could.”
“I hope you’re not still seriously considering that,” said Rose, frowning.
Rowen had almost forgotten that she had told her about that the night before. “You didn’t tell anyone else?” she asked.
Rose actually laughed. “Of course not,” she said. “You would have found out already if I had.”
That was the truth. Rowen knew for a fact that anyone else in the family would have blabbed to the rest of the family or been absolutely beside themselves with this news. “I appreciate you keeping it to yourself.”
“Of course,” said Rose. “You can always trust me.”
Rowen smiled down at Rose, feeling a sudden swell of fondness for her adoptive cousin. Rose was such a good person. She didn’t have a deceptive or sneaky bone in her body. Speaking of which— “We should go ahead and sneak out the window in my office. Norman probably has their attention by now.”
Rowen had had to sneak out the back before. This wasn’t her first rodeo with unwanted attention. At least they had followed Rose and not her. They probably didn’t know Rowen was even here. She had made a point to park a block away just to mask that fact.
Rowen opened the window and climbed outside. She dropped to the alley and waited for Rose to do the same. Already she could hear Julia Martinez drilling Norman with questions.
“Is it true that you were in a relationship with Ms. McCormick?” she asked.
Rose dropped to the ground. Together, they hurried further down the alley and onto the next street over. They got into the car and headed straight to see Ben.
Fortunately, there wasn’t an angry mob outside of the police station. The people of Lainswich weren’t quite that quick to start a revolution. Still, Rowen made a point to park around back. She even pulled on a jacket and pulled the hood up. There was no point in drawing any extra attention.
“You know you look way more suspicious sneaking into a police station with a hood on, right?” asked Rose, raising an eyebrow at her as they walked in together.
Rowen ignored her. She did lower her hood as soon as they were inside, much to the annoyance of the receptionist. “You’re the last person we need here right now,” she said the moment she had hung up the phone. “We’ve been getting phone calls all day because of you.”
“It’s not her fault,” said Rose, taking on an usually confrontational tone. “She didn’t do anything, and some local hoodlums screwed up her wedding. Give her a break.”
The receptionist’s glare faltered. She gave a sigh. “You’re right,” she said. “That did sound horrible.”
Rowen was stunned. As long as she had been coming to this police station, the receptionist had treated her like some kind of personal nemesis.
“Ben is in his office,” said the receptionist without bothering to call back to him. “
It’s been a rough day.”
Rowen headed into the back. The officers looked at her as she passed with mixed expressions. The atmosphere was a confusing one. She knocked on Ben’s door when she got to it.
“Come in,” called Ben from inside.
Rowen opened the door. She and Rose entered, which seemed to surprise Ben a bit.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “Is everything all right? Has anyone else been bothering you?”
“Yes,” said Rowen. “I mean no, no one’s been bothering me, and yes everything is all right. More or less.”