Page 30 of Silent Ritual

Jenkins hesitated, then seemed to gather herself and nodded. "I'll need a chalkboard or...something similar."

Finn fetched a whiteboard and a marker from the corner of the room while Sheila watched Jenkins carefully. There was an uncanny calmness about her, as if she were merely teaching a class of curious students, not divulging a murderer's secret language. As Finn set up the whiteboard, Jenkins rose from her seat and walked over to it. Her handcuffed hands shook slightly as she uncapped the marker.

She drew the first symbol, a complex interlacing of lines that vaguely resembled an ancient rune or sigil. "This," she began, pointing to the symbol, "represents the constellation Cassiopeia."

"And that," Jenkins continued, drawing another symbol, "stands for Perseus." Her hand moved across the board, filling it with strange symbols that looked like cryptic codes from another world. “You see the patterns now?”

Sheila squinted at the board, trying to make sense of symbols and constellations. She recognized a few constellations—Orion, Taurus—but there were others she'd never heard of before—Draco, Cepheus. She only knew the names of the latter because Jenkins wrote the names beneath the constellations.

Finn was leaning forward in his chair, eyes fixed on the board; he appeared to be deep in thought. His fingers drummed on the table in a rhythm that was oddly soothing. Sheila found herself caught between wanting to decode the cryptic symbols and watching him.

"Okay, so we've got the constellations down," Finn said, breaking the silence that had settled in the room. "But how does this translate into a location? How do you make a map out of it?"

Jenkins took a step back from the board, running her fingers through her dark hair. "That's where things get tricky," she confessed, looking over at Sheila and Finn. "Each constellation represents a different geographic area in Coldwater County."

Finn frowned at that, obviously skeptical. "And how exactly does that work?"

Jenkins sighed, seeming only slightly frustrated with their doubt. "It's a bit complicated to explain, but the locations are selected based on certain features that are reminiscent of the constellations. For instance, Cassiopeia's symbol corresponds to the north end of Mirage Lake—the 'W' shape of the constellation mirrors the curve of the coastline there."

Sheila looked at Finn, who met her gaze with a distinct look of apprehension. It was clear he wasn't entirely sold on this concept. But then again, neither was she.

"And Perseus?" Finn asked, gesturing to another symbol.

"Perseus aligns with the eastern boundary of the Whispering Woods," Jenkins replied, pointing to the area on an imaginary map in front of her. "The constellation's form resembles the unusual tree formations found there."

A heavy silence filled the room as Sheila and Finn absorbed this information. The whole theory seemed surreal, like something out of a movie or a novel. But if it was true…

"What's the next constellation?" Sheila asked.

Jenkins looked at the board again, studying the symbols she had drawn. She stayed silent for a while, then finally pointed to one symbol near the bottom. "Draco," she said. "The dragon. The tail, the serpentine shape… It corresponds to the Slick River curving through the valley."

As Jenkins spoke, Sheila felt her stomach tighten. The Slick River was a popular camping and hiking spot. Any number of innocent people could be there right now, oblivious to the killer’s designs.

"Is that...is that the next location, then?" Finn asked.

Jenkins nodded, her face pale. "If my calculations are correct, yes."

“And when will the killer strike next?” Sheila asked. “Can you tell?”

Jenkins shook her head. “The Cherubim may strike any time. It’s possible the creature is there at the river right now…already drawing the next symbols.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“If we find out Jenkins is just sending us on a wild goose chase,” Finn said as Sheila drove along the dark, winding road, “I'm going to have words with her."

You and I both, Sheila thought. She hated putting so much stock in Cassandra Jenkins, a woman who had not only lied to them about her knowledge of the crimes but also tried to kill them. Still, Jenkins’ little show with the whiteboard had been convincing, even if Sheila had had a hard time following along. This lead might not pan out, but then again, if it did…

This case would be over in a hurry.

“The way I see it,” she said, “we find one of two things: Either there’s a body, or the place is deserted. If there’s a body, we know Jenkins’ theory is correct and we can have her predict the next location. If there’s no body, we set up surveillance and see if the killer shows.”

"And what if the place is deserted and the killer never shows?" Finn asked.

Sheila gave a shrug, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "Then we know Jenkins was wrong and we're back to square one."

Silence fell between them. The night swallowed everything beyond the car’s headlights, leaving their world narrowed down to the stretch of gravel beneath their tires and the sinister forest leering in on them from both sides.

Finn's fingers drummed again on his leg, a nervous habit that Sheila had come to recognize. His gaze was fixed out the window, scanning the darkness with a vigilant intensity.

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