Page 394 of Castings & Curses

He pulled a collection of small pages from within a pocket of his trench coat.

"There was nothing untoward about the magic cast on the pin. It was a simple stealth spell created using goddess energy and stored in the pin's crystals. There wasn't anything else."

"Hmm, okay," I replied. "I've been thinking about that, and I spoke with Riga. She believes that it might be possible to detect the area of a stealth spell by the absence of an area that can be detected. For instance, by detecting the reverse. I think it might be how the attacker found you, Raphael. They could determine which area was disguised, and you were in that area, because you were carrying the pin."

"I was going to say to be careful how much you disclose to Riga, but that is a good insight," Raphael replied. "I think that was likely the case as well. I went to see the sentinels this morning."

"I was thinking of doing the same thing," I replied. "What were you able to find out?"

"They initially said there was no one seen leaving Misha Drake's studio, but we've discovered that wasn't entirely accurate. An angel was seen in the vicinity — two blocks away from the studio — but not included in the original assessment due to the distance and their angelic status."

"Do you know who it was?" I asked, growing more intrigued by the moment.

"Yes, it was Joanne," he replied. "Oddly, she has no recollection of ever being there."

"Joanne?" I asked with confusion.

She was my superior, and the one who had assigned me to the investigation in the first place, on the orders of someone higher up — or so she'd said.

"There has to be some mistake," I continued, as I wondered how this figured into the bigger picture. "She was in heaven, unless she could have slipped down to the mortal sphere? Is it possible a shapeshifter could've taken her form? But then, how would they know what she looked like?"

"You make good points," Raphael replied. "We've ascertained that she's telling the truth. She doesn't remember being near Misha Drake's home. It's questionable whether she'd be strong enough to rend his soul. If she had a source of additional power—"

"You think she did it?" I asked as I stared off into the distance. I couldn't put in words what I felt — it was a blend of outrage, shock, disappointment, and above all, confusion. I didn't see how Joanne could be guilty — I knew her, and she was one of the most honorable angels I knew, and yet, from an unbiased standpoint, her presence near Misha's home was suspicious.

"I haven't determined her guilt, so no, I cannot say I think she did it at this juncture," Raphael replied. "I would suggest you try to remain unbiased as best you can. If you cannot, it might be wise to re-assign the investigation to someone else who doesn't have a strong personal connection to Joanne."

I felt a little hurt that Raphael would say such a thing, and yet, he was right. I had to do what was right for the investigation above all else. I wanted to help Joanne, but I also knew that if she was guilty, I had to let justice take its course.

"I don't believe that will be necessary," I replied.

Goodness. Between my budding relationship with Melinda and now this worrisome situation with Joanne, it was shaping up to be anything but an unbiased case. It was time I reined in my behavior and got the job done, I knew.

"I think we must consider that Joanne might've been an accomplice or even a victim of someone more powerful," I said, voicing my thoughts. "She could've been controlled from afar, and made to carry out the murder."

"Those are possibilities," Raphael said. "It's also possible that she isn't who we believed her to be. As I'm recuperating in heaven for the time being, I will see if she has an alibi."

I nodded at that. "We also know when and where you were attacked, and you could see if she had an alibi for that time as well. I'd like to check with the sentinels whether she was at Lucia's home at any point. I would expect the killer to check on her, if we were correct about our Nephilim theory."

"There's no need," Raphael said. "I'll take it up with the sentinels. Please, continue the search on the ground, then we can check in and see if either of us has further information."

"Sure, that sounds wise to me," I said. "I'd like to check on Joanne. Perhaps some reassurance from me might help her open up and talk to us."

"You have that right, but it might be preferable that you don't," Raphael said. "I'm thinking more for your sake than hers. You need to be unbiased, and her current mental state is only going to affect you, especially when you're such a strong empath. This mustn't cloud your mind. We're relying on you, just as you're relying on me and Melinda now, to get to the bottom of this case."

I sighed softly, but I didn't feel the motivation to challenge Raphael's stance on this. He was probably right, and yet I felt that a hug would probably be beneficial to Joanne's state of mind. The honest truth was there wasn't much more I could do for her right now except solve this case and try to clear her of any wrongdoing.

I nodded in agreement with him, and he seemed to appreciate my choice.

"Do you think Joanne could've been the one who attacked you?" I asked.

"My heart tells me it wasn't her, but I'm not sure. The mask my attacker wore wasn't in her quarters, but it could be stashed somewhere on Earth."

"I will keep a lookout for it," I promised him. "I'm confident we will find the one who did this to you, and the one who… harmed Misha. It occurred to me that despite visiting Lucia, we haven't interviewed her yet."

"I talked to her when I went to see her," Raphael replied. "She was returning from work when she found out Misha had passed. The only thing that seemed relevant was that Misha had called her and told her he loved her the night before. He seemed afraid, but he wouldn't tell her why.

"If need be, we can return to interview her further, but she's in a fragile state right now. She's going to need time."

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