Page 10 of Shadow Seeking

I laughed, leaning across my desk. “I’ll believe that when I see it. But, thanks. Why don’t you drop over around ten on Saturday? I’ll spring for lunch.”

“Sounds good. You ready for today?” he asked, holding his foot out to admire his boot. The cowboy boots were white, and so clean I knew they were new.

“Yeah,” I said. “I did some research on the academy yesterday.”

“Give me the rundown?” he asked.

“Let me open my files.” I’d taken a bunch of notes while researching. They were on my computer, but I needed to print them out for the file, as well as send them to my tablet.

“Okay,” I said, pulling them up.

“Windchime Magical Academy was established in 1935, as a school for witches. At first, it served students who were twelve years old to eighteen. But over the years, it’s shifted to accepting students from preschool through grade 12. They also have community adult classes now. It started out as a day school, but now it also acts as a boarding school, and it grew from a large building to a five-hundred-acre campus.”

Dante whistled. “Well, it’s certainly stepped up. Any scandals through the years?”

I nodded. “There have been several unsolved deaths and disappearances over the past forty years. Before that, a few minor disturbances. The building is haunted, that’s a given.”

“Students, teachers, or guests? The missing and dead, that is.”

I glanced back at my notes. “Students…and two teachers.”

“How many victims are we talking about?” Dante leaned forward. He looked intrigued now.

I counted the names on the list. “Well, five missing, seven dead. The missing were all students. The dead…two dead teachers, and five dead students. It looks like the reports vanished from the papers quickly after they happened, and I don’t see anything regarding follow-up investigations. In fact…” I scanned through the articles I’d copies. “None of these were ever approached again, at least in the news.”

“How were the dead killed? You must admit that Letty’s death was…difficult to ignore. She landed in the center of the courtyard.”

“Let me look. Two of the students’ deaths were ruled death by poison, but they were labeled suicide. One of the teachers drowned in the gazing pool, but to drown, she would have had to get in the pool and lay flat because there was only seven inches of water in it at the time. The other teacher died from anaphylaxis from a series of massive bee stings. She was stungfifty-five times…in January during a cold snap, when bees should be inside the hive.”

“Crap,” Dante said. “That’s…weird.”

“Yeah. As for the other students, two fell to their deaths from staircases to the concrete below. And the fifth student died from asphyxiation when he locked himself inside a trunk, reportedly trying to play Houdini. But…somebody had to lock the trunk on the outside, though nobody was ever implicated.” I sat back. “All odd deaths, all of them could have been homicide but were labeled suicide or accident.”

“I think,” Dante said, “Angela might be onto something. A couple odd deaths are to be expected but…seven? What about the missing students?”

I glanced at the report again. “They all vanished in November, though years apart. Nobody ever saw them again, and while there were a few searches, the parents went silent.”

Dante shifted in his seat. “When were the deaths?”

“There’s the oddest thing of all,” I said. “Almost every single death took place during November. If the authorities ever noticed it, they didn’t say a word.” I stretched, then slid my jacket on again. “I think we’d better get over to Letty’s house and go through her things. But we’ll have to work quietly. If the cops refuse to examine the cases, they’re going to try to keep Letty’s quiet, as well. I have no idea why, but I think we’ve stumbled onto something bigger than a few deaths.”

“Yeah,” Dante said. “I’ll get my jacket. You want to drive?”

I nodded, slinging my purse over my shoulder. “Meet me at Sophia’s desk when you’re ready.” As I headed to the front of the office, I remembered the look on Angela’s face. She knew there was something wrong, and I knew she was right.

CHAPTER FOUR

The driveto Letty’s house took about twenty minutes. Traffic had calmed down, though they were busy with pedestrians, hustling through the city streets like ants at a picnic. There was a bleak, busy feel to Seattle during the holiday season. Most of the holiday displays hadn’t gone up yet, and the clouds echoed the grays of the pavement and concrete buildings. The mirrored windows reflected the windswept skies. November brought with it strong winds and rains to the area, and though Pike Place Market and the docks were busy as ever, a melancholy pall hung over the area.

Letty lived near Volunteer Park and Lake View Cemetery, where Bruce and Brandon Lee’s graves were. Not quite four miles away from our office, the trip took us twenty minutes due to the detours and roadwork going on. She lived on Federal Ave East, with East Galer Street as a cross street. As we pulled into the driveway of the modest one-story house, I noticed the yard was exquisitely manicured. But it didn’t look like a lot of the cookie-cutter lawns, and there were several plants I didn’t recognize.

There was already a car in the driveway, one that I figured belonged to Angela. I glanced at my watch. It was 10:05, so we were almost on time.

“Well, let’s go.” I opened my door and hopped out, grabbing a kit from the back seat. Dante followed me up to the door. There were a couple charms near the door, and a pentacle to one side of the opening. The protection magic coming off it was so strong that even I could feel it.

“She was a powerful witch,” Dante said.

“I think you’d have to be a powerful witch to be principal of a magical academy, don’t you?” I said, reaching out to ring the bell.

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