by Raven Snow
Sutton frowned. He had probably voiced some of the reservations Rowen was having. “Sutton will walk you through that as well,” Ben said, not sounding concerned in the least. He waved a hand at the both of them. “Now, go on. Tell me if you find anything.”
Sutton led the way, and Rowen followed. The auditorium was much as it had been the night before. The tables and chairs were all out. There were abandoned plates of half eaten pizza and drinks left out on the bar. The balloons were gone from the floor. Rowen wondered if they had taken them in for forensic testing or if they had just cleared them away. It would be difficult to find much of use on them. They had been on the floor and all.
Sutton stopped just inside. He opened the folder he was carrying and laid a packet of papers on the bar. He removed a fancy silver pen from his pocket and offered that to Rowen next. “Sign these,” he said. “You have to before we can proceed.”
“I know the drill,” Rowen assured him. She had been led through crime scenes more than once. Ben liked to see if she could get a sense of things, a read on the place. Sometimes crimes left behind impressions. Occasionally, they even left behind a spirit that wanted the truth to come out before they moved on. Rowen signed the papers before her after only skimming through them. It didn’t look like there was anything new in there. She handed the packet back to Sutton.
Sutton’s brow furrowed, likely annoyed that she hadn’t looked over the packet at length. He took the pages anyway and tucked them back into his folder. “Follow me,” he said.
Rowen did as she was told. She watched Sutton’s back as she walked behind him. It was broad. He was a big guy with brown hair and stubble. He looked like he could play the lead in a police procedural. Rowen wondered if Ben was training him up as some kind of right hand man. She knew that he needed one, and Sutton definitely looked like the type that Ben would be drawn to. This guy was way too serious—though, Rowen supposed there were much worse things a cop could be than “too serious.”
Sutton led the way up onto the auditorium stage, where the DJ and Jessi had spent most of the night before. They headed into the back, behind the heavy curtains. It was considerably darker there. Rowen took in the levers that must have controlled all the pulleys out on the stage. She thought of that old production of Romeo and Juliet that Teaghan had been in. She wondered what Teaghan must have been doing back here last night, if it was the first time she had been here since playing Juliet. Maybe she and Dave had been here reliving some fond old memories. He would be the first person Rowen would go to question. She felt fairly confident the police already had. There was no need to mention that out loud. “Is there only one way back here?” she asked instead.
“There are a couple of ways,” said Sutton, keeping things vague. Despite what she had signed, he didn’t want to share much with her. Rowen supposed that was fair. She was here to sense things, not solve mysteries for them… even if she had a feeling she would end up doing that last one before the week was over.
Sutton took another staircase up. This one felt rickety. Rowen didn’t like being on it one bit. She liked the catwalks even less.
As it turned out, Lainswich High didn’t have a dedicated lighting booth. The heavy-duty lights were all on a series of catwalks crisscrossing the auditorium. It was from those that the balloons had been suspended. Rowen could see where the net still hung.
“Well,” prompted Sutton, motioning her on past him. “Do… whatever it is you do.”
Rowen held tight to the railings of the catwalk and took a few steps forward. The floor looked so far below her from up there. She didn’t have a noteworthy fear of heights or anything, but it all felt very unsafe. Rowen wondered if students ever had to be up there. That couldn’t be legal.
Rowen did her best to push down her fear. She didn’t dare close her eyes to concentrate, but she did slow her breathing. She took deep, cleansing breaths and expanded her consciousness. She willed whatever energies that were present to make an impression upon her.
There were definitely emotions in the auditorium. There were too many emotions. It was hard for Rowen to psychically see past the panic and horror from the night before, when Teaghan’s body had dropped from the ceiling. After that, the next strongest emotion was something energetic, something approaching jubilation. Everyone had been having so much fun before something horrible had happened.
Rowen took a few steps toward the net. Only part of it was still tied to the catwalk. The opposite side was hanging. It had probably been rigged to one of the pulley systems down below so that someone backstage could make the balloons fall on time. Rowen tried to picture what must have happened up here. Teaghan had either walked or been carried up here. Someone had been with her but, as far as Rowen knew, no one had seen them come or go. She would like to ask if that was really the case. She wanted to know if Jessi had seen anything or if school cameras had picked up a potential suspect. She wanted to know those things, but she didn’t dare ask them. Sutton wouldn’t answer her. He wasn’t that kind of guy—not that that was a bad thing.
Rowen stuck with what she was there to do. She cleared her throat. “Teaghan?” she called, scanning the area. She wasn’t facing Sutton, but she heard him snort then clear his throat like he was offended. So, he wasn’t a believer in all of this. Rowen should have expected that. Maybe she had just gotten too used to Ben being in his place. Ben believed in her abilities. He had seen them in action countless times in the past.
Rowen took another deep, cleansing breath and did her best to ignore Sutton. “Teaghan?” she tried again. “Are you here? It’s Rowen. I know we were never very close… like at all, but I’m trying to figure out what happened to you. I’m trying to help.”
It was no good. Rowen didn’t sense her. Either she had already moved on or she was now wherever they had taken her body. Another possibility was that she didn’t realize she was dead. Rowen had seen that happen as well. Regardless, there wasn’t anything she could do here. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning to Sutton. “I’m not really picking up anything of use.”
Sutton raised an eyebrow. “I’m shocked,” he said, his voice all sarcasm.
Rowen tried to keep her face impassive. She always tried not to be offended by skeptics. It was more difficult at some times than others. “You know, Ben comes to me for this sort of stuff. He ordered you to bring me through here in the hopes that I would glean something of importance. Do you really think Ben is a gullible guy?”
Sutton regarded Rowen in silence for several long seconds. “Do you want to know what I think?” he asked finally.
It seemed implied that Rowen wouldn’t like whatever he said next. Of course, now she felt that she wanted to know more than ever. “What?” she asked.
“I think he humors you and your family because he’s married to a Greensmith himself,” said Sutton. “He doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Maybe you’ve helped on a few cases. I hear you work as a private investigator with your husband from time to time. I imagine that helps with your investigations. You see a clue, put two and two together, and chalk it up to witchcraft. Maybe you don’t even realize you’re doing it.”
“Interesting theory,” said Rowen, not meaning it. “Have you told Ben that?”
“I have,” said Sutton. “He knows how I feel.”
“Fair enough, I guess.” Rowen wasn’t going to press the matter. At least Sutton was still doing his job. That was likely the most important thing to take away. Rowen wasn’t going to go out of her way to prove her abilities to him. If she took the time to do that with every person who doubted her, she would have no free time to solve murders for people like Sutton. “Do you think it would be possible to see the body?” she asked, heading for the stairs.
Sutton didn’t respond at first, even though he was following her. “Don’t you people have any shame?” he asked. “A woman died.”
Rowen stepped down from the stairs and looked back at Sutton. “You people?” she repeated, trying to figure out what he
was getting at. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound kind.
“Phony psychics, mediums. You know, people who prey on folks at their most vulnerable. It’s despicable.” There wasn’t a whole lot of emotion in Sutton’s voice, which was a bit surprising. It was like he was stating all of this as a simple fact.
Rowen wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She stared at Sutton and just stood there for a moment. “You aren’t from around here, are you?” she asked finally.
Sutton shook his head. “I transferred here from Tarricville not all that long ago.”
That made sense. Rowen nodded. “Well, Detective Sutton from Tarricville, I don’t profit from stuff like this. I don’t even let Ben pay me.”
“You let him pay your husband,” Sutton pointed out.
“He’s a private investigator, not a psychic… not technically… If he is, he isn’t a particularly good one.”
Sutton ignored that last part. “You work with him. Not only that, you work with your paper. I’m shocked internal affairs hasn’t cracked down on this.”
Rowen didn’t bother mentioning to Sutton that Lainswich seemed to exist in its own sort of liminal space. It wasn’t subject to much scrutiny. Sutton would likely learn all that on his own. “Sorry we couldn’t start out on a better foot.” Rowen did her best to offer him some approximation of a smile. Nice to meet you, Detective.” She headed toward the door on her own. Maybe she would just ask Ben if she could see the body.
Stepping out into the daylight, having a private word with Ben seemed out of the question. He was surrounded on all sides by the people who had been out in the bleachers of the football field. Jessi appeared to be leading the pack, launching question after question. “Have you questioned Charles Abernathy yet?” she was demanding when Rowen approached. “He always had a crush on her.”
“And Miles,” a woman behind Jessi added. “Miles Derry. He had a thing for her too.”
All this stuff had happened back in high school. Rowen wasn’t sure it was still relevant now. Ben seemed to be of the same opinion. “We’re exploring every possibility. There are a lot of people to question. We’re starting with those who both attended the reunion and were involved with the victim’s…with Teaghan’s life in the present.”
Rowen recognized Ben’s words as a pretty standard canned response. It assuaged Jessi and her mob long enough for him to make eye contact with Rowen over their heads. Unfortunately, eye contact meant everyone else suddenly noticed Rowen as well. Jessi turned. Her eyes widened. “Did you go in there?”
Rowen hesitated but finally nodded. She didn’t see any point in lying. “I did.”
“Did find you anything? Like… I don’t know, like a ghost or something?” asked Jessi. At least that was her primary concern. Unlike Sutton, she wasn’t upset that Rowen had been allowed in at all.
Rowen shook her head, looking to Ben as she did so. “No, I haven’t sensed anything yet. That doesn’t mean I won’t. I’ll just have to find a different way to approach things.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” said Ben. He had likely caught her meaning there, that she wanted to get closer to all of this, that she wanted to see the body. Ben turned walking away to speak with Sutton.
Jessi and the others didn’t follow Ben. Jessi’s attention was still on Rowen. “Do you think we could talk privately for just a minute?”
Rowen looked past Jessi, to all the people grouped around and behind her. “Um…” she began, not sure she was the person Jessi should be asking.
Jessi turned. “Can you guys give us a minute, please?”
The group Jessi had gathered slowly dispersed. They looked a little aimless as they wandered away. Some headed back to the football field, some into the parking lot. Jessi led Rowen to a bench outside of the auditorium. There they sat down together. “Did you really not feel anything in there? I know you and your family have, like, abilities.”
“I come from a family of witches,” Rowen said with a nod. “Everyone in the family has their own particular set of skills. I’m pretty good at sensing spirits and traumatic events.”
“Well, last night was pretty traumatic.”
“That’s the problem. It was so traumatic, it’s difficult to separate the emotions and assign them to different people.” Rowen wasn’t sure she should be relaying all of this to Jessi. “Not that that means we won’t find the person responsible for what happened. We always find the culprit. Always.”
Jessi looked down at the sidewalk. She swallowed. “I really hate all of this. Last night was supposed to be fun. I wonder if they’ll ever let us have another school reunion after this.” She looked up and turned her head to Rowen. “What do you think?”
“I think another school reunion shouldn’t really be anyone’s major concern right now.”
“Right,” Jessi said quickly. “Of course.” She glanced toward Ben and Sutton. They were engaged in what looked to be a heated conversation. They were both fairly stoic men, but Rowen could feel annoyance coming off the both of them in waves. “You’re usually pretty heavily involved in the investigation process of all this, right?” asked Jessi.
“Sometimes,” said Rowen. “If they feel like I can help, they’ll call me in.”
Jessi nodded. She hesitated then, like she was carefully deciding what to say next. “Do you think I could help?”
Rowen turned to look at Jessi, really look at her. Jessi looked up from the sidewalk to meet her gaze. “Help how?”
“I knew Teaghan, and I was the host last night. I feel like this is partly my responsibility.”
“It’s not your responsibility. Not even a little.” Rowen would think that was obvious. Unless, of course, she had planned the murder.
“No, it’s partly my responsibility,” Jessi insisted. “I’ve told the police who they should investigate, but I don’t feel like they’re listening to me. I’d look into it myself, but I don’t want to do it alone. Maybe together—”
“Why don’t you write down some of these leads you have,” Rowen interrupted. She could see why she might feel that the police weren’t listening to her. She was an intense person with strong opinions. To Rowen, it felt more like she wanted to be involved in the investigation for attention. It was why she had hosted the reunion and why she had put together the vigil. Inside of her, there was still that high school cheer captain that wanted to lead everyone.
It was with some reluctance that Jessi handed over a list. It wasn’t a bad list. It was more just a long one. Still, it gave Rowen some leads to chase. It saved her a lot of legwork. Rowen scanned the list. She noted Teaghan’s closest friends on there. It didn’t escape her notice that Tina was on the list as well. Rowen looked up and spotted Peony and Tina standing next to one another across the parking lot. She took a deep breath and hoped against hope that this investigation wouldn’t get messy.
Chapter Five
“I would be lying if I said that I was sorry she was dead,” said Aunt Lydia, speaking candidly and more than a little too loudly for a public restaurant.
“Shh,” hissed Rowen, looking around to make sure no one had heard them.
They were in a corner booth of a cafe across the street from the Lainswich Inquirer building. Lydia had dropped by in the hopes of having lunch with her daughter. Rose, unfortunately, had been too busy with the mess the school reunion had left behind. Nadine had come along, though her own daughters were also elsewhere. Willow was home with Benji, touching up photos. Peony was at Teaghan’s funeral with Tina.
Nadine didn’t seem to mind much. Nadine and Lydia generally treated Rowen like she was their own. Rowen’s mother, Tiffany, hadn’t been around much while she was growing up. As a result, Rowen had been primarily raised by her aunts and grandmother. Rowen wasn’t entirely sure where Tiffany was right now. She had taken off a couple of weeks prior without much planning. That sort of thing was normal for her—similar to how being blunt was normal for Lydia.
“What?” asked Lydia. “That girl drove poor Rose
to tears. You remember. She was just awful.”
Rowen didn’t remember Rose being in tears. Rose had always held herself together well. At least she had in front of Rowen. It hurt a little to hear that she had come home from school only to run crying to her mother. Rowen did her best not to dwell on that now. “Teaghan was a kid back then,” she pointed out. “Kids make stupid decisions. They grow up. They change.”
Lydia snorted. “A bad person is a bad person, if you ask me. Anyone capable of bullying a fellow human being like that doesn’t deserve to live on this earth.”
She raised her menu to eye level, leaving the matter at that. With her wild gray hair and layered hand-sewn skirts, she already stood out. Rowen could only pray that the people occasionally glancing in their direction couldn’t overhear them as well.
“I think it’s sad,” said Nadine, speaking more quietly, her tone more forgiving than Lydia’s. “My Peony is very close with that Tina woman now. You know she was awfully cruel to Peony in high school. It wasn’t until later in life that they warmed up to each other.”
“Peony had to literally take a bullet for her,” Lydia pointed out. To be fair, the bullet had only grazed her while she pushed Tina out of harm’s way. Even so, Lydia’s point stood. “You shouldn’t have to take a bullet for someone just so they’ll be a decent human being.”
Talk quieted as the waitress approached with their meals. She sat them all down quickly, forcing a smile before heading back for the kitchen. Greensmiths tended to make people nervous. Nadine and Lydia didn’t seem to notice the waitress’ odd behavior. They dug in.
“High school was difficult for all of you,” said Nadine, picking up her fork with a skinny hand. She had ordered a salad. She very seldom ate meat. Her reed thin frame was likely a product of that.
“Middle school as well,” Lydia added after a bite of her burger.
Nadine nodded in agreement. “I had half a mind to home school you all, but your grandmother wouldn’t hear of it. She said you needed to learn how to be social with the folks around here. You needed to learn how to fend for yourselves. You all turned out okay, so I suppose she must have been right.”
