Witch Hunt

by Marie Batiste

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “It’s complicated, and you have to redo it every couple of weeks,” said Blossom. “Here it is.” She handed me the book.

  “Oh, yeah, that does look complicated.” I reviewed the spell. There were so many ingredients. Some were difficult to come by. And there were a few I had never heard of like war root and water locs. “What are these?”

  “Rare herbs. Extremely difficult to find,” answered Blossom. “Whoever did the spell is skilled and probably has a lot of money. Or they just know where to look.”

  “Or a teacher.”

  “A teacher?” Blossom asked. “You know what, you might be right. In some classrooms, you can find rare herbs. Classes that teach spells will have rare herbs as a teaching tool.”

  “Yeah. I’m headed to her college next,” I said. “Thank you.”

  “If you need anything else, just knock.”

  “Thank you.” I closed the door behind me.

  I looked up to find Lola leaning against my office door.

  “Ready?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But I need to make a stop.”

  We drove to Rose’s apartment, where I ran inside and grabbed her class schedule from her pink backpack. Then we rode to the campus. Most inhabitants of Crystal Lake went to the college. While some opted to leave the island and go to a more prestigious one on Haven.

  The large five-story building was spread out over a few acres. We parked in a space marked visitor parking.

  “Did you go here?” asked Lola.

  “Yeah, I did,” I answered.

  “You went to college?” she asked amused. “What did you study?”

  “A few things,” I said. I walked up the stone walkway that led to the door. From the outside nothing had changed. From the front door I could still see the two courtyards in the front and with students sitting in the grass. The vegetable garden that students plant and cultivate was probably still behind the school. I got most of my food from that garden when I went the college.

  Lola chuckled.

  We moved past students that were leaving the school. There were some going to their cars while others were headed down paths that led to the courtyard. Inside the main building, it was cool and smelled of flowers. On the other side of the front doors, there was a long hallway and a door to my right that had Administration on it. We walked over to the office.

  There were only two people inside. One, an older man with salt and pepper hair was searching through a file cabinet while a young woman sat behind a desk. Her curly blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun. When we walked in, the microwave beeped. She held up a finger towards us and went to the back of the office and grabbed a mug out of the microwave. It must have been too hot because as she walked towards us, she grew an icicle from the tip of her forefinger and dropped it into the mug.

  “My name is Claire. How can I help you?” she asked.

  I took Rose’s class schedule and handed it to her. “Do any of these professors still work here?”

  She took the slip of paper and looked it over. “As far as I know they all do,” she answered. “Rose Stone?”

  “Yeah, I’m Hazel Moondance and I’m a private investigator. Her mother asked me to investigate her disappearance,” I answered.

  “Oh, I heard about that,” Claire sighed.

  “Did you know her?” I asked.

  “We had Advanced Chem together. And she had Advanced Spells with a friend of mine,” she answered.

  “But you didn’t know her personally?” asked Lola.

  “You mean were we friends? No,” Claire said.

  “The Advanced Spells Professor, where can I find him?” I asked.

  “Professor Pierce is always in his office or in his classroom,” answered Claire. “If you go out the front door, make a left his classroom is past the planetarium.”

  “Ok. Thank you so much,” I said.

  Lola and I followed Claire’s instructions. Out the front door, we followed the path to the planetarium. A woman emerged from the planetarium as we got closer. Whiter than white she looked like a ghost emerging from the building. Her white floor-length dress with red and yellow stars on it blended in with her skin and her just as white hair.

  “Hi Mrs. Celeste,” I said as we got closer to the planetarium.

  She stared at me for a second, then her eyes twinkled. She had dark twinkling eyes as if stars were in them and a great big smile that made the skin around her eyes and mouth wrinkle. “Hazel! How are you?”

  “I’m fine,” I answered. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed.

  “Who’s your friend?” she asked as she let me go.

  “This is Lola, and she’s helping me on a case,” I answered.

  “A case?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I’m a private investigator. I’m here to talk to Professor Pierce,” I answered.

  “That’s great. In that case, I won’t keep you. Don’t be a stranger,” she said with a big smile.

  “I won’t.” I smiled back.

  We had waited for Mrs. Celeste to go back into the planetarium before we walked past it to another door. I knocked on the metal door and waited. A few moments later a short man with a white beard and hair opened it. His rimless glasses rested near the tip of his nose.

  “Y-Yes,” he said.

  “Hi, I’m looking for Professor Pierce,” I said.

  “I am he,” he answered.

  “I’m Hazel Moondance, and I’m a private investigator. I’m investigating the disappearance of Rose Stone. Can I ask you a few questions?”

  “Sure,” he answered.

  He opened the door wider, so we could get past him.

  “I’m just eating some lunch before my next class,” he said as he sat down at his large black desk. His desk sat in front of two large whiteboards. There were six rows of student desks in front of his and a door behind them.

  “I just have a few questions,” I said as I took out my notepad. “Do you remember Rose Stone?”

  “Yes of course. She was an excellent student. Very smart. She even helped other students who were having trouble, not just in my class,” he answered.

  “And what do you teach exactly?” I asked.

  “Well, I teach advanced spells,” he answered.

  “Like cloaking spells?” I asked.

  “Well, yeah. That is a lesson that I teach. The different kinds of cloaking spells and how to use them.”

  “The mist one?” I asked. I could feel Lola staring at me, but she kept quiet.

  “Yeah, I do teach that but it’s very complicated—”

  “Do you have the ingredients for it?” I asked.

  “Yeah. But the supplies stay locked up. And I’m the only one with access,” he answered. “I’m sorry what does this have to do with Rose Stone? Was she trying to do the spell?”

  “Can’t say just yet. Did she have any problems with anyone? Any fights? Problems in class?” I asked.

  “No, not in my class anyway. And I never heard about her fighting. Like I said she was a good student,” he said. He leaned back in his chair. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

  The door at the back of the class opened and closed.

  “Oh, I have your assignment packet right here,” Professor Pierce said as he stood up and went to a table to the left of his desk and grabbed a stack of papers.

  The student sauntered to the front of the class and stopped in front of his desk. Professor Pierce handed him the papers.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Syn this is Hazel Moondance. She’s the private investigator that’s investigating Rose’s disappearance. Weren’t you guys friends?” asked Professor Pierce.

  “Yeah,” said Syn in a husky voice.

  I stared at him. So, this is the elusive Syn. He didn’t seem surprised to see me. Or that interested in my presence. He was taller than me, but a hair shorter than Lola. He had the brightest green eyes I had ever seen. Syn wore a long-sleeve cobalt blue shirt with loose
dark blue jeans. It was strange because it was so warm out. He held out his hand and I took it. There was something about him. Something seemed familiar.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said.

  “Yeah, you too,” he replied.

  Lola, who stood behind me, poked me in the small of my back.

  “Oh, this is Lola she’s helping me on the case,” I said.

  She gave a short wave while he nodded.

  “Have you two talked already?” asked Professor Pierce.

  “No, no, we haven’t,” I answered as I stared at Syn.

  “If you’re done here, we can talk now,” said Syn as he moved towards the door that led outside.

  “Okay. Thank you, Professor, for your time,” I said. “Oh, you said Rose helped students in other classes. What were they?”

  “Astronomy, I believe was one of them. I’m not sure about the rest,” he answered. “I believe that was her favorite class.”

  “Thank you.”

  Lola and I followed Syn outside.

  “Thought you were running,” I said as we headed towards a bench across from the planetarium.

  “Nope. Just had some business I had to take care of,” he answered as he sat down.

  I sat on the bench next to him while Lola stood close to me. “Where?” I asked.

  “Somewhere else,” he answered. “I don’t know anything.”

  “You could tell me about Rose. Did she have any enemies? Was she acting strangely before she disappeared?” I asked.

  “You already know about her boyfriend. I can’t tell you anything more than that. We never met him. Can’t even tell you what he looks like,” he sighed. “She was a good person. Really nice… I can’t think of anyone having a problem with her.”

  “Ok. What can you tell me about Professor Pierce?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?” He sat up and stared at me.

  “Did Rose have a lot of interaction with him?” I asked.

  “He is her professor,” said Syn with a raised eyebrow. “He was a little handsy, but Rose talked to him about it and he stopped.”

  “Handsy?” asked Lola.

  “Yeah, he’d put his hands on her shoulder a lot. Once she said he rested his hand on her thigh. It made her uncomfortable and she pushed him away. She said they talked about it, and he never did it again,” answered Syn.

  “Hmm,” I said.

  “I heard rumors that he had done the same thing to some other female students, but I don’t think he had anything to do with what happened to Rose,” he said.

  “Okay. Thank you for finally answering my questions,” I said as I stood up.

  “You’re welcome,” he said with a crooked smile.

  “Next time I call you, answer the phone,” I said.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he said as he got up and went back into Professor Pierce’s classroom.

  “Come on, let’s go to the planetarium,” I said.

  Astronomy was one of my favorite classes too. My friend Susan and I opted to eat our lunches there instead of going to the cafeteria. We would sit there and stare up at the stars. They were always so beautiful. Staring up at the stars was so calming. Being surrounded by space had a way of making me feel that my problems weren’t so big. It made me feel small and for a few minutes took me out of my head and allowed me to appreciate the beauty in the world.

  I opened the door and stepped into the dark room.

  “Mrs. Celeste?”

  The layout of the room hadn’t changed. To me, it was one of the strangest rooms that I had ever been in. When you open the door from the courtyard you are met by stairs. The stairs go down until you reach Mrs. Celeste’s desk which is in the middle of the room. It’s like the astronomy classroom goes underground for some reason.

  There were four sections of six rows with seven theater-style seats in each row. Stairs separated each section. I followed the stairs down to the middle of the room while Lola stood next to the door letting some light in, so I could see. As soon as I reached the last stair, the lights flicked on. Mrs. Celeste sat at her desk.

  “Yes, dear?”

  The door closed, and Lola descended the stairs.

  “Do you remember Rose Stone?” I asked.

  “Oh. Is that why you're here?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “She was a good student. She reminded me of you in that she was always here,” answered Mrs. Celeste.

  “This was her favorite class?” I asked.

  “Yes. She loved the stars. We would talk about them all the time. She was really looking forward to seeing the Emerald Stars,” answered Mrs. Celeste.

  The room went dark again, and the stars appeared. The night sky was stretched out above us. It seemed to go on forever. Stars twinkled around us. There were a few green ones scattered around.

  “There will be more as it gets closer,” said Mrs. Celeste.

  “Professor Pierce said Rose tutored some students in your class,” I said.

  “Yes, she did.” The lights clicked back on and the stars disappeared. Mrs. Celeste stood next to Lola.

  “Did she have any problems with anyone?” I asked.

  “No. She was an exceptional student. She tutored four students, but they all got along. No arguments or anything. There was talk about starting an Astronomy club. It was something they all wanted to do,” answered Mrs. Celeste.

  “Could you give me their names?”

  Mrs. Celeste nodded. She wrote down the names of the students on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

  “Thank you for your time,” I said with a smile.

  “Come back anytime.”

  Lola and I walked back upstairs. I closed the door behind me.

  “She’s creepy,” said Lola as she backed away from the door.

  “No. She’s just different,” I said. Mrs. Celeste was one of my favorite teachers. She was always so different and kind. She taught me it was okay to be yourself no matter how strange people thought you were.

  “Why is she so—”

  “Pale?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “Mrs. Celeste is a celestial nymph.”

  “I’ve seen a lot of strange things, but I’ve never seen one of those before,” said Lola as we followed the path back to her bike.

  “They are rare. Very rare. I think there are only seven,” I said.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Each one controls or takes care of a different part of the galaxy or something like that. Or maybe their stars. I can’t remember,” I answered.

  We reached her bike and she hoped on.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure,” I answered.

  “Why do you seem fixated on the Professor?”

  “Do I? Well, I guess it has something to do with the cloaking spell. To some, it may not seem like a big deal, but it is. Because we are surrounded by it magic can seem easy but it’s not. That spell is complicated and expensive and difficult to perform. Add to that the fact that few people even know about it. In fact, the only place I have ever heard about the mist cloaking spell is in my advanced spells class. And we learned about it vaguely, we didn’t perform it. There are herbs attached to it I’ve never even heard of. The fact that her boyfriend had that spell tells me a lot. It tells me he had been planning this for a while and he is able to perform complicated spells and he has access to rare herbs. Which pretty much describes Professor Pierce,” I explained.

  I slid on the helmet and hopped on the back of her motorcycle.

  “So, we’re going to the police station,” asked Lola.

  “No, not yet. I want to learn more about him first. Let’s go back to the office.”

  I didn’t want to run to the police station just yet. Whoever her boyfriend was, he was careful. Too careful. My afternoon was spent reviewing my notes but without more to go on, there wasn’t much to review.

  While Syn and Wolf seemed suspicious it’s hard to say if it had anything to do with R
ose or if they had secrets entirely their own. I also called the students Rose tutored and they gave me no new information. The professor and the cloaking spell were all I had, but something about it wasn't right. Professor Pierce didn’t match the description Wolf gave me. The professor isn’t tall and lean, nor did he have black hair. If he’s not the one that took her, maybe he knows who did. Or maybe he had nothing to do with it and I was looking in the wrong direction.

  I sighed and leaned back in my chair. What am I supposed to do? Where else could I look? What am I looking for?

  Chapter 9

  Listen Gingerbread

  “Listen gingerbread!” I shouted to the auburn-haired detective that stood in front of me. “I’m here to see Detective Warren.”

  He stood in front of the elevator with his arms folded and wouldn’t budge.

  “We don’t need some private investigator interfering with our cases,” he said. “Why don’t you be a good little girl and go home?”

  “Listen you—” started Lola as she lunged at him.

  I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. The usual Desk Sergeant had been replaced with Officer Gingerbread, who wouldn’t let us up to see Detective Warren.

  “I come here all the time. I’m working on a case with Detective Warren, just call him,” I said.

  “I told you I don’t care. And he’s not here,” said the officer.

  “You didn’t even check,” said Lola.

  “Okay. Okay,” interrupted Detective Warren. He appeared from the front door of the precinct. “Hello, Miss Moondance. I was on my lunch break. How can I help you?”

  “I needed to talk to you about something,” I whispered.

  “It’s fine Dave. Hazel is one of the good ones,” he said to the big, burly detective. “Come with me ladies we can talk upstairs.”

  Lola and I followed him up to his desk and sat down.

  “So, what can I do for you?” he asked.

  “I found something interesting about Rose’s case, but I need to ask you a couple of things first,” I answered.