Haley stood and walked around the table, setting her hands on Vince’s shoulders. “Come on, Vince. Give Rocky a break. We all remember when Melissa...” She trailed off and looked at Rocky. “I feel like all of us had a hand in her death. That’s why we’ve all been so haunted ever since by what happened.”
Renee let out a little choking sound. “No, Haley—we can’t blame ourselves.”
“We can,” Haley said. She looked over at Rocky again. “She was crazy about you, and I encouraged it. I admit some of it was slightly sour grapes. You and I had called it quits. I knew she’d had a crush on you since we were kids, so I encouraged her to go after you—knowing darned well you were just counting the days till you could move on. I don’t think I was trying to be mean—I was just a kid and jealous despite the fact that we were over. That night...Renee and I were in a rush to get to a sale at a vintage shop in Danvers. Melissa called, and I told her if she didn’t make it to my place in thirty minutes, we were leaving without her because the shop would close if we didn’t get going. She said okay, she understood, and if she didn’t make it in time, just to go on without her. She didn’t show up, so we left. And you guys...” she said, turning to look from Jack to Vince to Rocky. “She said she’d called you for a ride, Jack, and you said you had plans, you were busy. And what were you busy doing? Drinking beer in the back of Vince’s pickup.”
“We are guilty,” Vince said softly. “We’re guilty because we were lousy friends. I’d had a few beers before I even went over to Rocky’s place. She called me, too, but I was afraid to drive her—I didn’t want to get stopped by the cops. Rocky’s place was just down the street, but you lived farther away. If only I’d done it,” he murmured.
There was silence in the room. Devin and the Krewe could only listen, Rocky thought, but as far as he and his old friends went, yes, they were all guilty in their own ways.
Speaking for himself, Rocky thought, he should have sat Melissa down. He should have told her that he’d always love her as a friend, but they were never going to be a couple.
He was surprised to hear Devin gently clear her throat. “Forgive me, I wasn’t there, but listening to you...what you’re all feeling is survivor’s guilt. Melissa’s death was a tragedy, but whoever killed her is guilty—and not any of you. I don’t have a degree in psychology, but I interviewed a lot of people who’d lived through tragedy or lost someone to it when I was a reporter. And I’ve seen this so many times, even in cases of natural death. A relative or a friend dies and you realize they’d asked you for help with something or just to go to lunch, and you brushed them off. It’s one of the best things about us—the way we feel remorse for hurting someone’s feelings.”
Jane spoke up. “Why don’t you all run through the events of that night—no attacks on anyone. Maybe one of you will remember something that can help us.”
“We called him the Pentagram Killer,” Haley murmured, then patted Vince’s shoulder and returned to her chair.
“I thought the information about the pentagram necklaces never went out,” Sam said, frowning as he leaned forward.
“It was never released to the press,” Jack said, “but you have to remember we were just a bunch of high school kids, and we told one another pretty much everything. We grew up playing in mud puddles together.” He paused, looking sheepish. “We played witchcraft trials.”
“And they made me play Magistrate Corwin,” Vince said. “Because I was big and so was he.”
“In middle school, Haley and Rocky became a couple,” Renee said.
“There was a dance I wanted to go to,” Haley said. “I needed an escort, so I asked him. After that, we just kind of paired up.”
“The rest of us were always just friends,” Jack said. “The kind of friends you told everything to—shared everything with.”
“Were any of you into Wicca?” Angela asked.
“No, we’re all from what they refer to as good old New England ancestry, with parents who were die-hard Episcopalians,” Vince said. “If I’d said I thought being Wiccan was cool, I’d have been grounded for a week.”
“Wait!” Haley exclaimed, leaning forward so suddenly she almost knocked over her wineglass and just managed to save it. “The week before, we all went down to the wharf at Salem, remember?” she asked excitedly. “There were so many wonderful stores. I bought a wand—and Melissa bought a bag of herbs for a love spell.”
Rocky frowned, remembering.
He’d thought nothing of it at the time, and to be honest, he still wasn’t sure it meant anything. They all went down to the shops in Salem sometimes. It was just what you did if you grew up around there.
Did it mean anything?
“Oh, great, we all went down to Essex Street,” Vince said, his tone sarcastic. “We looked at Wiccan necklaces and bought spell bags. One of us must be guilty.”
Devin spoke up then. “Vince, I don’t think it’s that at all. Maybe someone saw Melissa buy that spell bag. Maybe they thought she was Wiccan, or making fun of Wiccans—there are a thousand possibilities.”