Witchcraft Page 2

  Professor Nelson picked up some papers and glanced through them. “The parents reported that all of her personal belongs, except for the electronics, were accounted for, including jewelry. The earrings were still on her body when they found her. Apparently they were a college graduation present so her mother specifically noted them.”

  Emilia spoke up. “It could be that diamonds that expensive have individual numbers engraved on them for tracking. It makes them harder to sell on the black market because they are easier to track for insurance purposes. My mother had some jewels stolen years back and the officials in Portugal were able to retrieve all of them because of that safety feature.”

  I nodded to acknowledge that. “True but I still don’t think that’s why they took the electronics. I wonder if the killer is someone she was corresponding with. Maybe by text or email. My iPhone, laptop, and iPad all track my text messages. Plus the Cloud backs them up. Same with my photos. Maybe the killer was afraid they couldn’t scrub her electronics like they did the apartment and there could be something on the electronics that could track them.”

  David smiled. “We need to ask her parents what electronics she had and see if we can find a Cloud account for her. Maybe it backed up a text message or photo that would identify the killer.”

  Professor Nelson nodded. “Great idea.” She looked up at the clock. “And I think that’s a great stopping place for today. I’ll reach out to the family and see what I can find out. Keep thinking of ideas in the meantime.”

  Everyone got up and packed away their notes and laptops while chatting among themselves. I was busy talking to David when I suddenly realized that Professor Nelson was standing next to me.

  “That was great thinking, Madison. Work like that will get you far in this career.”

  My mouth was too busy hanging open for me to respond as I watched her walk away.

  Six

  The purple robe that I was wearing was warm but it was catching as we walked through the forest. We were almost to the Circle. I squeezed my eyes tight as I tried to remember if this was real life or a dream. As I did so, I must have tightened my hands as well and I yelled out as something stabbed my left palm. I looked down to see twenty-one roses in my hands. Of course. They were my offering for the Circle.

  But this was a dream. Right? It had to be a dream. This was the same dream I kept having and I just needed to wake up from it. Didn’t I read an article somewhere that said in order to wake yourself up from a recurring dream all you had to do was change the course of the dream? Well, then I would stop walking. If I never made it to the Circle, the dream would stop.

  Suddenly the blonde leader in the white robe appeared in front of me and placed her hands over mine, careful not to crush the roses. “You can’t change the course of fate, young one. The Circle will happen. We will find you. Until then, rest well.” She blew gently into my face and it became hard to catch my breath.

  I sat up quickly in my bed, wide awake. I looked at the clock but I already knew what time it was. It was always 3:00 AM when I woke up like this. It was a pattern in my brain by now. I went to reach for my water that I kept on my bedside table and realized that I had forgotten it before I went to bed.

  With a sigh, I got out of bed and headed to the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and held it under the sink until it was full. I took a sip and then was surprised to find that it tasted bitter and sweet at the same time and spit it out. I looked at the glass to find rose petals floating in it. I put the glass down and closed my eyes tight.

  Clearly I was still stuck in my dream. I opened my eyes and the rose petals were gone. I picked up the glass and carefully inspected it. I even sniffed it before taking another sip. This time it tasted like plain, regular tap water. I swallowed it down with relief. I was even more relieved when I looked at the glass again as I pulled it away from my lips and it remained normal.

  As I walked back to my bedroom, I shook my head at my own exhaustion induced insanity. Maybe David had been right when he said that the mocha had been a bad idea. Perhaps this crazy dream I kept having was just my brain’s way of telling me that my caffeine intake had reached maximum overload lately and it was time to consider an investment in decaf.

  I put the water down in its usual spot next to my alarm clock and crawled back into bed. As I went to pull the covers back over my shoulder, a sharp pain in my left palm made me sit back up. I felt for the cause in dark and was surprised to find a slick wetness in the middle of my hand. I reached over to turn on the lamp and was shocked to find blood coming out of palm.

  I looked over and saw that the blood was not just in my hand. It had dripped all over my comforter and the sheets as well. There was no pretending this was part of a dream. This was definitely real. I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. The first aid kit was on the top of my medicine cabinet. I pulled it down and started to rinse off the blood under the water from the faucet.

  As the blood disappeared, I looked closer at the wound. There appeared to be something inside of it. I pulled out a pair of tweezers from the first aid kit and got close to the light. I used the tweezers to remove the object while trying not to squeal from the pain. The last thing I needed was for my neighbors to complain about noise and prevent any opportunity for me to return to sleep.

  Once the small object was out, I brought it up to my face and felt the shock seep into my bones. Despite all logic, I was staring at the thorn of a rose. And I had just pried it from the palm of my hand, just like in my dream.

  Seven

  I settled into my favorite table in the quad and opened up my books. My head was still swimming from my night of restlessness and the pain in my hand kept serving as a constant distraction. I was more tempted than ever to drown myself in the world’s biggest coffee but I was determined to give the no caffeine thing a try. I couldn’t afford another night like last night. I still couldn’t figure out how I had managed to get a thorn in my hand but I felt like I was going crazy.

  A loud clamoring on the table startled me and I looked up to see David sitting down across from me with a look of excitement on his face. “Did you get the email from Professor Nelson? I just read it.”

  I shook my head. “No. I haven’t even checked my phone yet. What did it say?”

  David pulled it up on his tablet and pushed it across the table to me. “Jane’s parents didn’t know what electronics she had beside a computer and cellphone and even then they didn’t know the models of those. They said the receipts for her electronics might still be in the apartment. Did you catch that? In the apartment, Madison! They have still paid rent on her apartment ever since her death last Spring Break to preserve the crime scene in case there was some clue that the police missed. So we can go in and see everything exactly in its right place! This is amazing!”

  I couldn’t prevent my jaw from dropping as I quickly read through the email and looked up at David. “Wait. Her parents have paid the monthly rent on an apartment on Bradford Avenue in the historic district just in case someone wanted to take a second look? That’s incredible.”

  David grinned. “It’s great for us.”

  I passed the tabled back to him. “That must be insanely expensive. How rich are these people? I met a girl who lived in a studio four streets over from there once and her rent was like $1200 per month. Must be nice to have parents like that. Mine couldn’t even care for me for 24 hours outside of the hospital before giving me up.”

  David reached over and placed his hand on mine. “Hey, no sadness. Look at it this way, if you hadn’t been through all the crap that they put you through, you wouldn’t be the amazing person before me. Besides, they are the ones missing out. Not you. You don’t need people like that in your life.”

  I nodded and smiled at him. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  David grabbed his bag. “Anyway, I had a few theories about the case that I wanted to talk to you about. I was up all night thinking about it. I’m obsessed.”

  I laughed as I wiped away a tear and hoped that I had gotten it before he could see it. Family was such a touchy subject for me and I was especially sensitive after my night of nightmares. David was always the one to comfort me but I felt bad for leaning on him so much. I didn’t want him to ever feel like I was weak or that our friendship was one sided. After being in foster care, I knew the value of relationships and I wanted to treasure ours.

  I nodded along as I listened to a few of his theories of the case. Most of them were ones that I had already thought of and dismissed myself but I was happy to be his sounding board. He seemed so happy to be on the task force. I would be just as thrilled if these stupid nightmares weren’t keeping me up.

  David paused. “Anyhow, that’s all I’ve got right now. I know it isn’t much and that’s why I’m not taking it to Professor Nelson and the group. Hey, why do you look so tired? Were you up all night thinking about this stuff too? If so, you should have called me. We could have split a pint of Chunky Monkey and brainstormed together.”

  I gave him a smirk. “I thought we discussed getting our own pints after the last spoon-off. And I look this way because I am giving up caffeine. That stupid dream came back and it’s messing with my REM sleep. And I need to function on all cylinders if I am going to solve this case before you do.”

  David gave a look of mock shock. “You, give up caffeine? Does the Coffee Hut know? They need to prepare so that they don’t go out of business.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Very funny. Actually, they should probably do a campus wide bulletin because I am going to be insanely grouchy while I go through detox. This is going to suck so much. Someone needs to warn the student body that Jeckyll and Hyde is about to come to life for an ongoing performance piece in the form of my life.” My stomach growled. “Ugh. I’
m starving. I skipped breakfast because I was afraid it would be a trigger for my coffee habit.”

  David laughed at my pain. “You’re in luck. The chess club is having a cookout on the South end of the club to try to recruit some new members in time for their upcoming meet with Trinity University. Free hot dogs, hamburgers, and chips for all.”

  My stomach responded once again before I could. “Oh I can definitely talk geek for a bit in exchange for free food. Let’s go.”

  Eight

  David pulled up in front of the apartment on Bradford Avenue and I looked up at the historic building as I stepped out of his car. After schmoozing with the chess club in pursuit of free grub, Professor Nelson had called us to say that she had gotten the keys to Jane’s apartment and to meet her there in an hour.

  David was ready to burst with excitement but I felt nervous. A home was something I had always longed for as a foster kid. I dreamed of the day when I was old enough to sign the lease on my crappy off campus apartment so that I could call it mine and no one could take it away from me. It was something private and personal.

  Now I was about to tramp through someone else’s. I was about to tear through everything that Jane had held private, everything that was once special to her in order to try to piece together the last part of her life to try to make sense of her death. It seemed incredibly unfair. She had everything that I had ever wanted - a happy life with a loving family, a dream apartment, and a solid job - only to end up brutally murdered without justice.

  I couldn’t stop the chills that made their way down my spine as I followed David up the steps to meet the rest of the group. This building was from the fifties or maybe even older. It had been painted but none of the cosmetic restorations had included an elevator so we had to make our way up the stairs to her third floor apartment. I tried to picture Jane walking up that same stairway every single day as she came home from work with her daily groceries. Would she let her hand graze the banister the same way that mine did?

  We reached the third floor and saw Emilia, Scott, and Reese standing at the end of the hallway to the left with Professor Nelson. The group was standing in front of a door that had large strips of crime scene tape stretched in front of it. Professor Nelson saw us first and nodded.

  She stepped forward to greet us. “Hello, David and Madison. We wanted to wait for you to join us before we went inside. I thought it was important for everyone to see the apartment as it was sealed by the police to get their own first impressions.”

  I gave a weak smile. “I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

  Reese smiled back. “Not at all. We all just got here too.”

  I appreciated her effort but Emilia’s face behind her betrayed Reece’s lie with the annoyance on her face. I thought it was strange that the girl known for her ability to master any disguise was unable to mask her feelings. Or was it that she wanted me to know that we had kept her waiting?

  Professor Nelson removed a key from her bag and unlocked the door to her apartment before quickly removing the crime scene tape from the edges of the door in a way that would allow her to replace it after we left. She turned back to face us. “Alright, everyone. I know you have cellphones so if you see something strange, use the cameras to document the evidence. The police have photographed everything inside but if it is something that we will want to go over as a group, get a picture from your perspective as well. If there is anything that you think would be important to remove for further examination, let me know and I will check it into our own special evidence locker. The room that we first met in has been designated as for our use only and you will each be provided with a key in case. Let’s begin.”

  She opened the door and stood aside so that we could make our way into the apartment. Emilia and David fought to be the first ones in and Reese and I were both content to hang back from the fight. Scott seemed to be indifferent either way. I rolled my eyes at Reese as we waited our turn to head inside and she returned the gesture with a small laugh. The personalities of the group were quickly becoming apparent.

  Nine

  When it was my turn to step into the apartment, the first thing I noticed was that it felt like a home. It reminded me of all the pretty pictures I had seen on sites like Pinterest that had suggestions on how to make the most of your space so that every inch of your apartment would be perfectly cozy. Jane had painted accent walls and crafted bookends and mason jar vases so that the apartment was all her own from top to bottom.

  The front door of the apartment opened up into the living room with the kitchen and laundry room to the right and a hallway to the bathroom and bedroom to the left. The group either went to the left or the right. Instead I opted to walk straight forward to the floor to ceiling windows in the middle of the living room and gently moved the curtain to the side. I stared out at the view of tall pine trees from the forest and tried to imagine Jane standing at the same window with a cup of coffee, taking in the view as part of her morning routine.

  “What a beautiful view. It’s hard to believe that sometimes such horrible things happen in such pretty places.”

  I turned around to find Professor Nelson standing behind me. I had been so wrapped up in taking everything in that I hadn’t heard her walk up. “Actually, would you mind walking over one more time? Just like you did before?”

  She gave me a weird look but walked back to the front door. Once she reached it, I closed my eyes. This time I put all of my focus on trying to hear her walk towards me. I still heard nothing and only knew she had reached me when I felt her breath on my face.

  I opened my eyes and smiled. “You know, in such an old building, you would expect to hear the floorboards creak when someone walks over them. But I couldn’t hear you walking on them at all, even when I knew you were coming and focused on listening for you specifically. And this is a historic building, which means they are required to do their best to maintain the original wood floors.”

  I watched as Professor Nelson’s eyes lit up with understanding. “You’re right. I haven’t heard any noises at all as the group as been walking through the entire apartment. Hey guys, come in here!”

  We waited as everyone made their way to the living room. Once everyone was assembled, Professor Nelson gave me a knowing glance and indicated for me to share what I had observed. Instead, I shook my head and shrunk back.

  Professor Nelson smiled at everyone. “Thanks for coming in here, guys. Madison found a very interesting discovery, one that I’m not sure I would have every thought to check for. Like yourselves, I too was looking for clues for the crime while Madison chose to explore the apartment through the eyes of the victim. That’s when she noticed that the floorboards, which should be as historic as the building, made no noise when I approached her. Did any of you notice any noises from your team members walking around you as you investigated?”

  I watched as the group looked around at each other with surprise and shock on their faces. David locked eyes with me. I couldn’t quite read his emotions from the look on his face. It appeared to be a mix of jealousy that I was getting so much attention and praise from Professor Nelson yet support and encouragement.

  He stepped forward and smiled at me. “When I was in the bedroom with Emilia, I don’t think I heard anything make a noise. The floor didn’t make a sound but neither did the doors or the window when we tried to open it, come to think of it.”

  Emilia nodded in agreement. “It’s true.”

  Scott leaned against the couch. “So someone wanted to make sure this apartment would be easy to sneak throughout in a way that wouldn’t alert Jane to the fact that she wasn’t alone. That takes a lot of planning. This was not a crime of passion. This was someone who wanted Jane dead and wanted to be able to plan for it. This is someone who thought of everything down to the last floorboard that could possibly give them away.”

  Reese crossed her arms. “Yes, but then that person would need a lot of access to the apartment to make that many changes. Who would be able to get in and out that many times without alarming Jane or her neighbors?”