"I don't know anything," he said weakly. "After I talked to her, I thought about it again and... and I realized they couldn't have been the same kids."
"Relax, David. It's not like I'm going to the media with this. Breaking news: occult book shop employee sells lethal spellbook to teenagers. From what Charlie told me, it sounds like the kids you talked to were heading to Penny Pines."
"Yeah and who wasn't that night?" David blurted. "It was a full moon and every forest in New Jersey is full of witches on the full moon."
Verona agreed. "Okay. Fine. So, let's say they were not the same kids." Her hand was already on her notepad in her purse. "The completely unrelated teenagers that were in the store that night. The ones in the new robes who were asking about dark magick. What were those teenagers on their way to do?"
Running his fingers through his hair, David looked nervous. "I don't really know what they were going to do."
Verona had seen David do this gesture a million times. When David got uncomfortable he started brushing his hair over the almost non-existant bald spot on the top of his head. She knew pretty much all his gestures. He hadn't started biting at his lower lip yet; that one meant serious trouble.
"It's okay," Verona told him. "You don't have to tell me anything." She hadn't thought about how upset this would make David. Verona realized early on that murder didn't phase her quite as much as it did other people. She didn't like it, but always forgot how upset it made people to talk about it.
"You're trying to find the killer?" David said with some optimism in his voice. He seemed encouraged by this. "One of the girls, the one with the eyebrow piercing, she was looking for a healing spell."
Verona said, "Wait, what?" The hand with the pencil went limp. "A what?"
"I said, a healing spell. She was looking to heal her mom with magick. She needed a powerful healing spell because her mom is terminal with cancer." David swallowed hard. He looked sick. "Was? Is? I don't know."
Scribbling in her notepad, Verona shot him a questioning eyebrow. "Okaay?"
"The thing is: the girl, that girl, Emily, that was her name, Emily. The other kids were calling her Emily. I only remember it because she bought our only book of poetry on Emily Dickinson and said... she said that her mom named her after her."
"That sucks," Verona said. Her brow knitted in sympathy for the girl. "That was one sad poet."
"Yeah," David agreed. "We don't carry that stuff, but someone special ordered it and never picked it up. I shelved it with the New Age women's health section. She must
"Relax, David. It's not like I'm going to the media with this. Breaking news: occult book shop employee sells lethal spellbook to teenagers. From what Charlie told me, it sounds like the kids you talked to were heading to Penny Pines."
"Yeah and who wasn't that night?" David blurted. "It was a full moon and every forest in New Jersey is full of witches on the full moon."
Verona agreed. "Okay. Fine. So, let's say they were not the same kids." Her hand was already on her notepad in her purse. "The completely unrelated teenagers that were in the store that night. The ones in the new robes who were asking about dark magick. What were those teenagers on their way to do?"
Running his fingers through his hair, David looked nervous. "I don't really know what they were going to do."
Verona had seen David do this gesture a million times. When David got uncomfortable he started brushing his hair over the almost non-existant bald spot on the top of his head. She knew pretty much all his gestures. He hadn't started biting at his lower lip yet; that one meant serious trouble.
"It's okay," Verona told him. "You don't have to tell me anything." She hadn't thought about how upset this would make David. Verona realized early on that murder didn't phase her quite as much as it did other people. She didn't like it, but always forgot how upset it made people to talk about it.
"You're trying to find the killer?" David said with some optimism in his voice. He seemed encouraged by this. "One of the girls, the one with the eyebrow piercing, she was looking for a healing spell."
Verona said, "Wait, what?" The hand with the pencil went limp. "A what?"
"I said, a healing spell. She was looking to heal her mom with magick. She needed a powerful healing spell because her mom is terminal with cancer." David swallowed hard. He looked sick. "Was? Is? I don't know."
Scribbling in her notepad, Verona shot him a questioning eyebrow. "Okaay?"
"The thing is: the girl, that girl, Emily, that was her name, Emily. The other kids were calling her Emily. I only remember it because she bought our only book of poetry on Emily Dickinson and said... she said that her mom named her after her."
"That sucks," Verona said. Her brow knitted in sympathy for the girl. "That was one sad poet."
"Yeah," David agreed. "We don't carry that stuff, but someone special ordered it and never picked it up. I shelved it with the New Age women's health section. She must
