“I’m impressed,” Rocky said, looking around Devin’s dining room table at the group that had gathered: Sam, Jenna, Jane, Angela, Devin—and Auntie Mina. “I’m impressed you were able to trace all those people that far back. Do me a favor and run through it again. Maybe something will jump out at me.”
“Okay, this is what we know,” Jane explained. “Devin is a descendant of Margaret Myles Nottingham. Brent Corbin and your friend Vince Steward can trace their lineage back to Elizabeth Blackmire—the first person to accuse Margaret Nottingham of witchcraft. Beth Fullway and Gayle Alden can both trace their lineage back to the same family. Gayle’s ancestor was Mary Beckett—born Mary Nottingham. Beth’s ancestor, Rebecca Masters, was born a Beckett. The two women were sisters-in-law.”
Rocky sighed in frustration. “If we follow one train of thought, the murderer would be Brent or Vince, because they’re carrying on a tradition of hatred or some kind of rite. But Vince has an alibi—a good one. And we pretty much ripped Brent’s life apart and didn’t find a thing to suggest he had anything to do with any of the murders.”
“We have to figure out why Margaret Nottingham was murdered and who did it,” Devin said. “I really think that will help us figure out the motive, and once we have the motive we can find the killer.”
“True, but there could still be other motives,” Rocky said. “Contemporary motives.”
Angela shook her head. “Everything we’ve learned points to the past. The victims all had some association with Salem. They had family members here at the time of the trials. We haven’t seen any other commonality between them, and the choice of victims isn’t random, not given the witchcraft angle in the way he leaves the bodies.”
“What about Beth’s fingerprints being on Devin’s back door?” Sam asked.
Devin couldn’t help but tense. “She’s my friend. Of course her prints are at my house. Besides, she had just turned fourteen when Melissa Wilson was murdered.”
“It is incredibly unlikely,” Sam said, “that a fourteen-year-old girl committed a murder that left no clues and was so cleanly executed. Even ignoring the fact that she probably wasn’t tall enough, children do murder, but rarely in such a calculated manner, and rarely without leaving any evidence behind.”
“I don’t think Beth was even allowed out past nine o’clock at night back then. Her parents were pretty strict,” Devin said.
“Puritanical?” Jenna asked with a smile.
“Just the parents of a teenage girl,” Devin said.
“I agree. Nothing is impossible, but it’s definitely unlikely. And given her friendship with Devin, I don’t think we can read anything into her prints being at the house.” Rocky paused thoughtfully. “Jack’s people have pursued leads on some other names that have popped up in various places. So far, everyone has alibis that pan out and are clear. Of course, we’re focusing on alibis for the one murder, now, really, and may have to expand, but I just can’t believe my gut is wrong on this.”
“So now we’re looking at Theo, aren’t we?” Jane asked. “He says that he’s not from here, but his family was—and at one time so was he.”
“We don’t know how old he was when he went to the Midwest—we may be able to check tax records and establish that—but we know he came back here as an adult,” Devin said.
Rocky nodded. “And the fact that he was gone for years actually addresses one of our biggest questions―why the killer stopped for so many years between Melissa and Carly. We definitely need to learn more about him. I’m certain we’re on the right track. The personal connection helps explain burning a pentagram into Devin’s lawn.”
“A warning?” Sam wondered.
“Or maybe—as Margaret’s descendant—I’m supposed to be the grand finale,” Devin asked.
“I don’t think the killer wants you dead. I believe the fire was meant to scare you off,” Jane said quickly.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Rocky said. He looked at Jane and wondered if she had spoken just to allay Devin’s fears. “We can’t let down our guard, though.”
“So,” Devin said matter-of-factly, “you said you’re going to concentrate on Theo, but what about Jack?”
“No one has worked harder on this case,” Rocky said.
“She has a point,” Sam said. “When you’re working the case, you know everything that goes on with it, all the little details that are kept from the press.”
“We all work on the premise that the more people we eliminate, the closer we get to the truth,” Jane said. “And we really haven’t looked at Jack.”
“You’re right,” Rocky said. “It’s just...”
“None of us want to think our friends could be involved in something like this,” Jenna said.
“Right. None of us,” Devin said.
“Okay, so we’ll look into Jack. And now that we have a name, we show Hermione Robicheaux’s picture all over town and try to find out where she was and what she was doing on the day she was killed.”