Crimes of Magic: The Witch's Artifact

  Chapter 10

  The pistol and handcuffs had been left behind, presumably because they contained iron. The stun gun had also slid outside the circle when Buster had knocked it from Rachel’s hand. Wherever they had gone, Rachel had no weapon, and I had no clue.

  I was totally unprepared for acting solo in any kind of investigation, much less a murder, and now also a kidnapping. Whoever “Buster” was, he had already killed Beth, and now Rachel was in danger of meeting the same fate. Our plan had seemed foolproof in theory, but it turned out to be flawed in practice. Mental note: Always have a contingency plan.

  I had to think. What could I do alone? Did I have any advantages in this situation? One possible advantage—Buster still didn’t get rid of the photos on the store computer. Would he still care about them? Would Rachel’s ambush lead him to believe that the cat was out of the bag and it was too late to get rid of the photos?

  Let’s see, when Rachel sprang the trap she had said, “I’m the bitch that’s going to bust your ass.” That sounded like a cop. She did say “bitch” and not “witch,” right? Buster knew he committed a murder, so cops would definitely be involved. We hadn’t done anything magical to lure him in, so he had no reason to suspect that we knew ahead of time about his magical powers.

  A second advantage—As far as I could tell, Buster didn’t know I existed. I was frozen in the back of the dark bedroom, and his eyes were locked on Rachel, so, as far as he was concerned, Rachel was the only witness to his teleportation into the room.

  Then why, in his mind, would Rachel have been waiting for him? Because the killer always returns to the scene of the crime? Not likely. Cops don’t stake out every crime scene hoping the perpetrator returns. Coincidence? He couldn’t know for sure that Rachel was waiting specifically for him. Maybe he didn’t know it was an ambush. Maybe it was just bad luck that he popped into a room with an armed investigator. Not something you would bet on, but possible.

  So, he doesn’t know about me—advantage me. He does know magic and evidently judo—advantage him. He doesn’t have the photos he came for—advantage me. I have no idea what I’m doing—advantage him.

  This was going to take some more thinking. I picked up the stun gun, cuffs and pistol and went back into the bedroom to pack up. The Coriolis was still swinging wildly clockwise. It should have slowed down by now; the magic was gone. Or was it? Was Buster coming back already?

  I had Rachel’s pistol, I could shoot Buster when he materialized. No, I couldn’t do that. I had never fired a gun, and I had no time to practice. Guns have a safety lever, right? I wouldn’t know which way was on or off. Buster was also quick. If I missed him with the first attempted shot, he would grab me.

  What if I did manage to kill Buster? Unless he brought Rachel back with him, I would have no idea where she was, and there wouldn’t be anybody alive I could ask. That would be the absolute worst scenario.

  The stun gun was good. I could use that, but I would have to be within arm’s reach of him. That hadn’t worked out very well for Rachel, but my arms were longer than Rachel’s or Buster’s.

  I needed another advantage. I had the advantage of surprise. I had to use this advantage to allow me to get close enough to use the stun gun before Buster could snag me back to wherever he came from. Somehow I had to throw him off balance, sneak up on him and pounce before he saw me.

  Then I remembered the nylon rope, and I grabbed it along with the handcuffs. I quickly tied a slipknot in one end of the rope and made a lasso. I rushed into the meeting room and expanded the loop bigger and bigger and laid it inside the chalk circles that were still on the floor. The rope was only about thirty feet long, so the rope circle could only be about six feet in diameter if I was going to have any length left to stretch out of the circle. I had to rely on Buster appearing in the center of the circle, just as he had done a few minutes before. I uncoiled the rest of the rope as I walked back toward bedroom door. The rope was just long enough to reach, just in the nick of time.

  The air began to shimmer once again in the dim light of the meeting room. Once again, there was a flash of light. Buster stood in the center of the circle with his arms at his sides facing away from me.

  As soon as the shimmer started to fade, I pulled rapidly on the rope, hand over hand. The loop slid across the floor and stopped against his feet. I continued to pull and the loop was pulled up over his ankles and began to tighten. Before he realized it, the loop had encircled his legs just above the ankles, and I was still pulling. The noose tightened and I pulled faster taking up the slack.

  Then he realized what was happening, but I kept pulling. I put my weight behind it, jerked the rope, and he toppled over forward onto his face. I continued pulling the rope, drawing myself rapidly toward him, and pulling him toward me, while keeping the noose tight.

  When I reached him, I pulled the stun gun out of my jacket pocket and zapped him in the back of the neck. He went limp, but I zapped him again, anyway. Now that’s a contingency plan.

  I handcuffed his hands behind his back and dashed back to my duffle bag to retrieve the duct tape. As per Plan A, I taped his ankles together and put tape over his mouth. Although completely bald, Buster had a dark handlebar mustache.

  I began to search his body. His shirt had no pockets or buttons, but I gave it a good pat-down and found nothing. His baggy pants were cinched at the waist with a cloth sash. They had two front pockets and two cargo pockets with Velcro flaps on the thighs. I took the contents of all four pockets and carried everything over to my duffel bag and dropped it in.

  I gave him a final pat-down, paying particular attention to his waistband, shirtsleeves and pants legs—nothing more to be found. For good measure, I pulled Buster’s body out of the magic circle in case he had some kind of automatic extraction spell going on that would spring, like when he grabbed Rachel.

  It was then that I noticed several items on the floor inside the circle. One of these was the chunk of wood that had been cut off of the altar cabinet. There were also some cards with symbols on them, some tiny bits of metal and a small cross or X made of wood. The symbol cards had been scattered when I was pulling Buster by his feet, but I collected all of these things and put them in my duffel.

  That reminded me to check the Coriolis. It was still circling clockwise, but was slowing down. The magic was fading. I stuffed the Coriolis into my duffel. Best not to let Buster know that I knew anything about magic.

  Buster was hogtied—advantage me.

  OK, now what? To the best of my recollection, this was as far as Plan A went. I guess I had assumed that at this point, Rachel would conduct a masterful interrogation and discover all of Buster’s secrets, including, I hoped, a name other than “Buster.”

  Buster was starting to move and groan. What should I do? Maybe I should play dumb. That should be easy. I had better start thinking about Rachel. I had to do something to keep her safe.

  Then I remembered: Always have a contingency plan. Rachel had said that this guy was no dummy. He might escape. If he did, I needed a contingency plan, some plan that would convince him that he didn’t need to kill Rachel, if he hadn’t already. Maybe he had accomplices. I didn’t want them to kill Rachel either. OK, I would play dumb and make Rachel look dumb, too.

  Buster was conscious now, and the moaning had stopped. His eyes were fixed on me.

  “OK, Buster, who are you and what have you done with the detective I hired to find my daughter’s killer? I know she got here earlier, and now she’s gone. When I came in here I saw you standin’ there all hazy and dressed like a ninja, and I had to lassoo yah,” I said in my best Eastern Oregon cowboy accent. I wished I had a cowboy hat and boots. At least I was wearing jeans, a flannel shirt and hiking boots, which I decided were stakeout- and cowboy-appropriate. My leather jacket might be believable.

  “Mmmm mmmm,” said Buster.

  “What’s a matter,
cat got yer tongue? More like a tapeworm I’d guess. Let me help you out a bit,” I said as I peeled the tape off of his mouth and moustache. I didn’t think he could just shout out a spell. I didn’t think real magic worked that way.

  “What do you think you are doing,” Buster said in what might be a Russian accent.

  “Well that’s the exact same question I have for you, Buster. What are you doin’ in my daughter’s store?”

  “Untie me!” he commanded.

  “Well, I might untie yah if yah do a little cooperatin’,” I said. “Now who are yah?”

  “I am Gregor and I, uh, I am doctor.”

  “Well you look like a ninja. How do you explain that?”

  “These are, uh, these are yoga clothes. I am here for yoga class.”

  “There ain’t no yoga class here, Gregor.”

  “Sorry, my mistake then. Untie me!”

  “What did you do with that lady detective I sent over here?”

  “I have seen no lady and no detective.”

  “Oh yeah, then how do you explain this stun gun I found on the floor. I think this is her stun gun, or did yah bring a stun gun to yoga class?”

  “I brought no stun gun, and I have seen no detective. Untie me now!”

  “That ain’t gonna happen, Gregor, not until I get me some answers,” I said as I pulled Rachel’s pistol from the back of my waistband.

  “OK, OK, lady detective was here, and I know where she is. Untie me and I will tell you.”

  “How ‘bout you tell me, and then I untie you?”

  “No. Untie me first.”

  “I really don’t think yer in no position to bargain, Gregor. I think I’ll just make me some coffee and come back when yah decide to cooperate.”

  “Unlock handcuffs. I am on strict schedule.”

  “Yah got another yoga class to go to, Gregor?”

  “I am doctor. I have things I must do. My schedule is strict.”

  “OK then,” I said as I stood up, “I’ll make me some coffee. Sorry I can’t offer you none, but yah seem to be a little jittery.”

  “OK, OK, I will take you to lady detective.”

  “Now yer talkin’. How far away is she?”

  “Will not take long to get there, believe me.”

  “How do I know I can trust yah?”

  “You have gun and you can keep me handcuffed. You can trust me.”

  Yeah right, I thought. A steel pistol and steel handcuffs. I didn’t think they would make it where we were going.

  “All right, that sounds fair. Let’s go,” I said.

  “You must untie my feet. I must stand.”

  “I don’t think so,” I said, “I don’t want yah pullin’ any of yer ninja tricks on me. I’ll get yah out to my truck.”

  “We do not need truck.”

  “Oh yeah, how’re we gonna get there then?”

  “Uh, there is secret passage. You are right; I am ninja. I have secret passage. Will seem like magic to you, but is safe and fast.”

  “I knew it. Whadaya have to do, say ‘Open sesame’ or somethin’?”

  “Something like that, yes. I need things from my pockets, and there were things that I brought with me. They should be on floor.”

  “I emptied yer pockets and took all the stuff on the floor. Whadaya need?”

  “I need everything.”

  “I don’t think so. I’m still thinkin’ ‘bout makin’ coffee.”

  “OK, OK. I need deck of cards with symbols, wooden pivot point—looks like X, and torn photograph.

  I went to my duffel and retrieved the specified items.

  “OK. Here they are,” I said. “Now what?”

  “I need to use my hands,” Gregor said.

  “No way. You said I could keep yah handcuffed. I’m holdin’ yah to that. I’ll be yer hands.”

  “OK, OK. This is what you must do...”

  Gregor told me where to place each item within the circle. The cards were white and the size of poker cards. Each card had a symbol drawn on the face in black ink, and the back of each card was blank. Evidently the placement of each item was critical, because Gregor had me make adjustments to the location of a few things. I suppose that in ancient times, a magician would have to draw each symbol with charcoal or with a stick in the sand. It went much more quickly with the symbols pre-printed on cards.

  The last thing I was told to do was to place the torn photograph on top of the wooden X in the center of the circle. Then I dragged Gregor back into the circle.

  “So all I have to do now is move these three cards together in a straight line and the secret passage will open?” I asked.

  “Yes, yes. That is all, I swear.”

  “OK,” I said, “But I’m gonna bring the stun gun, too.”

  “Yes, yes. Bring pistol and stun gun. You can trust me.”

  I retrieved the stun gun and walked back into the circle next to where Gregor knelt. I reached over and zapped him in the neck. He went limp again. Because it had worked so well before, I zapped him a second time. The stun gun had a plastic case, but I guess Gregor knew that even if most of the stun gun made it to our destination, it had enough iron in some of its parts that it wouldn’t work after the teleportation.

  So I put the stun gun and pistol into Rachel’s duffel, and I got my slip-on cargo pants out of my duffel. I quickly took everything out of my jeans pockets, changed into the cargo pants, and put the stuff into the big pants pockets. I took the rest of the things that had been in Gregor’s pockets and on the floor and put them in my jacket pockets. I put both duffels into the closet and brought the duct tape into the circle. I taped around Gregor’s hands below the cuffs. I didn’t know where the handcuff key was, but the cuffs would be left behind anyway. Once again, I taped his mouth closed.

  Gregor was pretty much incapacitated now using only non-ferrous bindings. I completed the teleportation spell by moving the three cards into their required positions and hoped for the best.

  The air all around us began to shimmer. Suddenly, there was a flash of light. The air around us was still shimmering, but we were now in a different room.