“It was written by someone in the 1800s. An ancestor of ours, right? Percy Ainsworth—one of dad’s great-greats?”
“Yes. There were probably about a hundred copies of it at one time. I don’t think Percy was ready to hit the world of publishing, but he did have a lot of opinions on what happened here in Salem. There’s some family history in it.”
Devin took the book to the sofa and started reading through it. At first there was a lot of disorganized rambling. Percy had been convinced that Puritanism still ruled in Salem but that religious diversity was—and should be—on the way. But as she read further, she decided she would have liked old Percy. He was a forward thinker for his day.
She read aloud to Aunt Mina. “‘One of the things that must be remembered is that the people of Salem lived in a dark atmosphere of fear. While greed and hatred and the power that came with land ownership might well have influenced who was and who wasn’t accused, it was a time when society at large believed with full sincerity in the devil and the evil that the devil could do. Anything that hinted of a link to Satan was illegal to own. To curse a neighbor was an act of witchcraft, and by the laws governing the colonies, the practice of witchcraft was punishable with death. The people saw witchcraft in the same way that we see a disease that we know transfers from one man to another. In their minds, a person tainted as a witch might well convince another to sign the devil’s book. A mole or a freckle might be the devil’s work, as could any talisman. Handmade dolls could signify to the examiners that a person meant to prick or torment the dolls as the symbol of a real person, causing that person great harm or even death. Possession of medallions, toys and other objects from the West Indies, where voodoo was practiced, could mean arrest for a man or woman.’”
Devin looked up and saw that Auntie Mina was gone but Rocky, sitting across from her, was listening intently. “Sam found out something interesting earlier. That medallion you found buried with Margaret? It’s as much as eight hundred years old. It had probably been in her family—or someone’s, anyway―for generations.”
“So you think Margaret owned the pentagram herself?” she asked. “And someone—Elizabeth Blackmire―saw it and accused her of witchcraft. And if she was going to be arrested—”
“Someone might have been afraid of what she would say when she was examined. Who she would accuse,” Rocky said.
“But whether that’s the reason or someone just wanted to spare her a hideous death, how is her death connected to the current murders?” Devin asked.
“Theory,” Rocky said. “Maybe one of her descendants is carrying out some kind of twisted revenge, trying to pin the murders on Wiccans because he blames the witchcraft hysteria for Margaret’s death. Maybe he even believes the accused really were witches, so he thinks blaming Wiccans for the murders will end up wiping them all out, much more efficient than going after them one by one himself.”
“All right,” Devin said, smiling, “here’s another theory. Maybe Margaret knew a dark secret about someone important, something that could have gotten them killed—maybe even that someone no one suspected really was practicing witchcraft―and she was killed to keep her from talking. And now she sees someone else killing to keep people quiet and feels compelled to step in.”
“But how does either of those theories relate to all the victims having ancestors here back at the time of the witch trials?” Rocky wondered. “Okay, let’s say Margaret’s killer really was practicing black magic. Maybe the answer to the current murders is the obvious one. Blood ritual.”
“So these women are being sacrificed?” Devin asked.
“Possibly,” Rocky said. “In Margaret’s case, the killer might have accomplished two things. He kept her from talking, and he carried out a blood sacrifice.” He shook his head and took a deep breath. “Now we just have to figure out how either a sacrifice or a mercy killing from the late 1600s connects to the present.”
Just then his phone rang. He answered, listened, said, “Gotcha,” and hung up, then met Devin’s eyes. “That was Sam. They showed Hermione’s picture around the bar, and Judah and one of the waitresses remember seeing her there. They’re meeting up with Brent soon, so we’re going to grab some dinner, then meet them all there after the tour.” He gave her a wry smile. “So much for a quiet night at home.”
19
Angela, Jane, Jenna and Sam went on Brent Corbin’s tour that night. Rocky and Devin went to the bar early, before it filled up, and so they had time to eat dinner and be waiting when the tour was scheduled to end.