Page 84 of Bewicched

“How long was I in it?” I glanced at the detectives before turning back to Declan, who had moved, trying to find space in the small room to stretch out on the floor.

“I’m fine,” he said, though the strain in his voice said anything but that.

“Far too long for him to be stuck in that position,” Osso clarified. “I tried to take over but none of us wanted to do anything that would interrupt the vision.”

I stood, putting the elephant back on the table and slipping my gloves back on. “Stay there,” I said to Declan. “Can I get paper and a pencil?” I asked Detective Osso. “I have his face.”

I hadn’t brought a sketch pad and charcoals—which I really should, if I did any more police consulting. I felt like a horrible intruder, walking through their lovely home, their daughter’s death fresh in my mind. Sitting at the dining table, I waited for supplies. Osso came back in the house a few minutes later with a memo and a dull pencil.

“Good enough.” I scrubbed the side of the lead back and forth over the memo, slowly rolling the pencil, sharpening it without a sharpener, and then turned the memo over to the blank side and got to work.

I wasn’t sure how long I was sketching, but when I’d finished, I looked up to find all three of them sitting at the table watching me. I slid the sheet across the table to Detective Osso.

“That’s him. If you show that to the babysitter, she’ll be able to identify him.” Standing, I checked my phone for the time.

“Wait,” Osso said as he and Hernández rose as well. “Where is she? Is she still alive?”

I blew out a breath and shook my head. “I didn’t get it all. Parts were muddy or incomplete, I guess. I was just getting flashes before Declan used the water—good call, by the way—so I’m not positive.” Both detectives had their notepads out. “Again, this is based on feelings and images I saw for less than a second, okay?”

“We get it,” Osso grumbled. “Go.”

“We understand this isn’t an exact science. Your impressions could help direct our investigation, though,” Hernández elaborated.

“Okay.” I went to the back door. “Let’s go outside.” Stopping at the edge of the stream, I tried to gauge where I’d been standing in the vision.

When I sat down on the grass and began to unlace my boots, Declan moved beside me. “What are you doing?

Once I’d removed my boots and socks, I pulled up the hem of my jeans and offered him my gloved hand. He pulled me to my feet easily.

I paced back and forth over a six-foot area until I was sure and then stepped into the stream. Unlike the ocean, I felt the cold here. I walked out to the middle, water rushing by my calves.

“He knows you found his lab,” I told them as I peered into the dark depths of the forest. “He came back while you were processing the scene. He was angry. He’d been using that spot for over a year and now everything he’d built was being carried out by techs. After a while, though, he just enjoyed watching the work. All of those adults were out there working, running around, taking pictures, talking to each other about what he’d done. A kid. They were awed by what he’d accomplished.”

My feet were going numb, which was probably for the best. “Maybe a month ago he went for a walk, checking up on potential victims. Drawn to the music and laughing, he arrowed through the woods to Ana’s party.” I looked over my shoulder at the three on the shore. “You know her birth date. It was a Sunday.” I turned back around to the forest. “He watched and eventually zeroed in on Ana. She was so happy, loved her unicorn cake and her stuffed elephant, loved the way her dress flew out when she spun. He wanted to take it all away, to strip away the security and introduce fear. He considered taking her mother briefly, wondered what she might whisper to him, but decided he wasn’t ready for adults yet. He had more training to do first.

“He came back often on his rounds. There were a few people he was watching, including Christopher. When he saw his lab had been found, Christopher’s body taken before he was done recording his findings, he was irritated. The cops thought they were so smart. He’d do it again. Right under their noses, and there was nothing they could do about it.

“He came straight here and found her alone on the back porch, coloring. He stood right over there.” I pointed. “He knew that spot would be hidden from the window in the back door. He asked if she’d seen a unicorn. She shook her head no. She knew better than to talk to strangers. He told her he was sure he’d seen one. He’d been following it in this direction.

“She shook her head but then looked over her shoulder at the woods, eyes wide with hope. He started to move off but she stopped him, asking if it was true. Did he really see one? Was it really coming here? He said yeah and waved her to him while he pretended to look down narrow paths, where a unicorn may have got off to.

“She hesitated on the steps, even called to the babysitter, but when she called out, he moved farther into the woods. The babysitter didn’t come, and he was going to find a unicorn without her, so she ran, splashing through the stream—she knew where the shallow part was—before stepping into the woods.

“She couldn’t see where the boy had gone, so she searched down what wasn’t quite a path, overgrown with trees and bushes. A branch snapped and when she turned, a rock hit her in the forehead.

“When she woke, she was bound, her mouth taped. He didn’t have his soundproof lab anymore.” I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering uncontrollably.

“I don’t want to talk about what he did. Your doctors can tell you. I will say it was a quick death, which is, I suppose, some comfort.” Finally, I saw it. I pointed to a branch maybe ten feet off the ground and in the crook of the branch and the trunk was a black plastic garbage bag. Like in the vision, the wind changed directions and the leaves moved, revealing a sliver of shiny black.

“She’s in that tree. He used a rope thrown over the branch to pull her up there and then climbed the tree to untie the rope and wedge the bag into the crook. Much like with the superheroes watching Christopher die, he thought it was funny that the family would go crazy looking for her while she was right here, hidden out of reach.”

“Okay, come on.” Declan reached out a hand for me. “That’s enough. You guys know where to look.”

I took his hand and let him steady me so I didn’t slip. When I got out, I saw he had a dry towel in his hand. “Thank you.”

Detective Osso was talking into his radio while I sat and wrapped the towel around my frozen feet.

Hernández dropped into a crouch beside me. “Are you okay?”

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