Chapter 2 #2
It was the noise of the door falling shut in the past that brought Skye back to the present.
One person? Dressed up as a witch? Or …
Were there a few people running around dressed up as green creatures? Or was it just one person in makeup who was running around with green skin, a pointed hat … making a mockery of the tragedy that had long ago plagued Salem?
Skye quickly strode through the room, joining the others in front of the house.
Cason was pointing to the street and talking to Zach about Salem.
“Way back when, the entire area was ‘bewitched,’ one might say. Danvers was Salem Village back then; people were also arrested in Ipswich and Andover … It was a different world. A lot of people speculate that the ‘afflicted girls’ were prey to a fungus on the wheat or some such other physical cause. But I’ll tell you one thing—look at some of the forests around here at night.
The darkness is unbelievable. And, remember, at the time, there was a fear of the Native American tribes.
The tribes were so very different in their way of living, their beliefs, and their forms of worship.
Maybe it wasn’t so hard that in the darkness of time and place to believe bad things might have been caused by witchcraft or another form of evil, something that awakened or partnered with Satan himself. ”
Skye frowned, wondering if Zach had mentioned she’d “seen” the kidnapper—a person with green skin and a witch’s pointed black hat.
But he shook his head almost imperceptibly, and she knew that he had not. They had just fallen into a conversation that might be normal in the community.
Standing nearby, Constance smiled encouragingly at Skye and reiterated their request to be known as Connie and Vince. Then she grimly asked, “Anything?”
“Well, we’re late to the party, but I agree with the theory there was no break-in regarding the main house, and Patricia Yale simply opened the door.
It doesn’t appear that the house was torn apart in any way.
Of course, we’re a little later than you and the local police are to the situation, but it does seem what you’ve surmised so far must be the truth.
Except, I don’t believe Patricia was involved with her own disappearance and the little boy’s kidnapping.
I believe she was threatened, just as I believe Mike Bolton was forced to swallow the cocaine that brought about his heart attack,” Skye told them.
“These guys have just been showing me the area,” Zach said.
“Directly in back are woods; but to the right and left are homes, and they are a few acres apart. A little more country out here, although we’re still walking distance to town and the tourist areas—if you really like walking, of course.
But”—he paused and pointed—“look past the semicircle of the drive right before the house; there’s a place where you can pull a car in, far to the right, where it’s all but hidden from the street by the trees and foliage in the yard. ”
“So, then, you think someone kidnapped Patricia and little Jeremy and simply drove away with them?” Skye asked Zach.
“I agree with him,” Connie said. “What else? Slide in back and into the forest? What then? Hey, you can wind up in a dense twist of trees, forever and ever, back there. I mean, don’t get me wrong!
Salem is no Boston, but it’s a huge tourist area and still—lots and lots of deep dark woods, just like back in the day, as Vince was describing it.
I don’t think the park rangers know everything around here, to be honest. To me, it makes far more sense for them to have been whisked far away—and easily—via a car. ”
“What about traffic cams?” Zach asked.
Vince let out a sigh of frustration. “Not until you’re more into the populated area; and by then, a car could have come from anywhere, and just about everywhere, in the area. Yes, of course, we looked at what we could. No sign of the boy or Patricia Yale in any vehicle.”
“‘Fin’ Yarborough,” Connie said, looking at Vince.
“Of course, we’ve read the files. Fin—Phineas Yarborough—is Patricia’s boyfriend, right?” Zach said, looking at the two detectives. “From what I understand, he’s an amazing student himself at the college—”
“Okay, it bothers me that there was no break-in,” Vince said. “Patricia would have just opened the door to Fin. And who else might she have done that for?”
“I don’t know,” Skye said, smiling. She didn’t want to start off by offending the local detectives.
“I’ve been a babysitter in my day. When you’re looking after two children, you can get so busy and torn that you might just open a door.
Groceries are delivered fairly often these days, fast food …
maybe she thought that even Mike Bolton might ring the bell, knowing she was watching the kids. ”
“True,” Connie murmured. “But it’s true that … well, for one, Fin is a history major, completely taken with the area. He’s been published in a few magazines, though, and wants to teach himself. Maybe the two of you should interview him, see what kind of a vibe you get from him.”
“We should do that,” Zach agreed. “Does he have an alibi?”
“Oh, yeah, sure. He was home studying,” Connie said.
“Any witnesses?” Skye asked.
“Of course not, that would be too easy!” Connie told her. “I just …”
“You’re just so tired, you’re about to keel over,” Vince said, turning to Skye and Zach. “We’ve been on this since Alicia Bolton came home from work last night and found Patricia and her son gone, and her grandfather-in-law dead, and—”
“We’ll take over for the next few hours,” Zach promised.
“And we won’t stop; and anything that happens major, we’ll get to you immediately!” Skye assured the two detectives.
Vince nodded and looked at Connie. “Go home. That’s what I’m going to do. We have the Feds on our case now.” He looked back at the two of them. “Thank you!”
He pointed to his unmarked car in the drive, looking at his partner.
Connie smiled at him, nodding. She quietly added, “Thank you” to Skye and Zach before heading to the car.
With a wave, Vince joined her.
When they were gone, Zach looked at Skye.
“Well? Do you think it was the boyfriend?”
“I’m not sure.”
Skye wondered if he sounded skeptical. But …
A man who touches objects and can see something about the person who had touched it last should hardly be mocking any strange perception.
She was probably just being touchy or defensive.
She lowered her head for a minute. Her sight or vision or whatever it was had come down to her through her grandmother, a woman who had been born just outside of Dublin and who had also told a few fantastic stories in her day.
But she had seen something in Skye when Skye had been a child, and she’d been quick to warn her that people wouldn’t believe her.
She needed to make sure she kept her ability silent, because others didn’t have it—and others wouldn’t understand.
Not even her own parents. And until she’d been interviewed by Adam, Jackson, and Angela, she’d kept the secret to herself and found other ways to explain to co-workers before now why she had come to certain conclusions, why she had been able to discover the truth when they hadn’t seen it.
“Skye, are you all right?” Zach asked. He seemed really concerned. Maybe he didn’t doubt her, or …
Maybe he thought she saw what she wanted to see or thought that she should see?
Anyway, his behavior was respectful.
And Jackson believed in her—that was what mattered. Her new partner was going to have to accept her words.
As she would have to accept his.
“Yes, yes, of course, I’m sorry. Yes, I saw the exact moment she opened the door.
I guess it’s pretty natural it was the same person who arrived at Mike Bolton’s little apartment, entered with a gun, and forced the drug into him.
Whoever it was—I can’t even tell if it’s a man or a woman—had a gun, threatened to use it …
and I saw Patricia. She is in no way or shape involved.
She was almost crying as she told the baby her mom would be home in a minute and swept little Jeremy up.
Of course, the witch threatened the child; and I believe with my whole heart, Patricia was worried about her own life, of course, but Jeremy’s life even more. ”
He let out a soft sigh, looking out at the day.
“Well,” he said. “She should have known if it was Fin—even if he was painted green and in a costume. But we need to start somewhere. Let’s interview the man.”
“We don’t really have a place where we can bring someone in—except, of course, the local station,” Skye reminded him.
“And in this case, at least, I think we’re better off if we just talk to him.
I have notes in my phone, and I’m assuming that you have the same notes.
Yes, right,” he said, looking at his phone.
“I have an address for him—it’s an apartment right off Essex Street. I have a car, so we’ll head on over.”
She nodded.
Zach reattached the crime scene tape to the door, glancing back as they walked away.
“I was just wondering if they should have a patrol officer looking over the house,” Skye murmured.
“Well, if not for you …”
“What does that mean?” she asked him.
She’d slid into the passenger seat. He slid into the driver’s seat and grinned at her.
“I don’t believe anyone is after anything in the house—they wanted Jeremy or Patricia or both of them.
I’m going to say they wanted the kid, too—or else they could have left him the same as they left the baby.
You’re seeing someone dressing up as, what I guess we should call, a movie-style witch.
After all, the historic so-called witches were just ordinary-looking people.
No, whoever did this wanted Patricia and the boy.
That’s why I don’t feel like making waves over having an officer watch the place. ”
She shrugged. “Seems like … Well, I was told that Connie and Vince were two of the best, so …”