Page 19 of Dead and Gone

Good grief, here we go again.

"Settle down," says Mr. Argyle, gesturing at them.

"Are you not pulling the asshole up on his racist comment?" demands the vamp. "If he was a supe bad mouthing a human, he'd be with the headmistress by now."

I'm pissed. Not because the human/supe racism reared its head again but because this interrupted the discussion about the teacher's slip-up.

Redridge.

Rowan glances at me and nods, and I nod in return. He refocuses on his laptop but not on photographs of Marvin the Mole.

Opening a new screen, he types the family's name into a search bar.

Whoisthe Redridge involved in the town's founding, and why isn't he in the history books?

9

I switchour investigations to the Redridge family and their mysterious 'was-he-or-wasn't-he' council member, and we spend the early afternoon in the library.

"The Redridges were a minor witch family," says Rowan. "Wealthy but not influential. Few Redridge witches exist now because their family line and magic was watered down through marrying humans."

"Well, past experience tells me that ‘minor’ means the opposite is true," I say. "Are any Redridges members of the Circle?"

The Circle. Influential witches with more money than they need and a coven with a tendency to look after their own—whatever they've done wrong.

"Nope. You'll need to ask Dorian because I can only find things onpublicrecord."

"Onwitchpublic record," I say. "I'll mention this to Dorian and ask him to check records too. For now, what's public about the Redridge settlers?"

"There were Redridges in town in the early days, but there aren't any living witches registered locally who are descendedfrom the family. Census records show that the oldest recorded Redridge—Arthur—was a local doctor, but there's nothing connecting him to the founders' council."

"The taxidermist? Hmm. Were there many deaths around that time?" I ask blithely. "Murder disguised as inferior medical treatment? That may explain the whitewash."

"A lot of people died from poor medical treatment back then, Violet. That's how life was for humans. The town library is filled with all that information if you want to check."

"No thanks. I'll stick to your online expertise, Rowan. Besides, the hidden information is what we need. Mr. Argyle slammed his mind closed after the slip up, which confirms to me there's a link. Why would the town's history hide a Redridge witch's involvement?"

"Was this Redridge definitely a witch?" asks Grayson, and Rowan nods. "Did the humans know?"

"Maybe not at first, but I reckon they discovered something was off about Arthur and kicked him off the council," suggests Rowan. "Back then, humans never knew who was or who wasn't a witch unless someone told them—and supes weren't public. Arthur might've used magic that caused problems."

"We've no idea what his connection to the council was," I say. "Hence, we need access to the ledgers, and all historical records. It is now imperative that we locate this mole for our curator friend. The museum contains original ledgers and town settlement documents. If a Redridge was involved, he'd be mentioned at least once. Even photographed, if we're lucky."

"Any Redridges at the academy today?" asks Grayson.

"No. And no past Thornwood academy students either. Maybe the old Nightworld academy, but the fire claimed all the student records."

I run over the plans in my mind. Find mole. Return to curator. Get information from his books. Discover the connection.

"Look up the surnames of all Redridge descendants," I tell Rowan.

"There're dozens! Family trees are big, Violet."

"And?"

He sighs. "Ihavefound a photo of a watch that's likely to be the Redridge one. The exhibit wasn't important enough to feature in the museum's overpriced guide book, but I've found a newspaper report from the time the Redridges donated items a couple of years ago."

I turn the laptop around. Several items are laid out on red velvet—the box, one of the diamond necklaces from the same cabinet, and a gold pocket watch attached to a gold chain with large links.

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