Pretty Witches All in a Row Read Free

untouched by the fire, presumably as the owner had left it.  Once intended as a sun room, the windows were all covered with brightly colored bedspreads in a series of celestial designs.  One of the sun, another with a constellation of stars, one with the three phases of the moon and one with a large, five pointed star within a circle. 
    Candles surrounded the room as well, tall slender tapers, fat pillar candles and many unusual shapes and sizes.  A small table pressed into the corner was covered with trinkets, small boxes and bottles, and some objects that resisted identification.  Another five pointed star within a circle was drawn on the threadbare carpet with what looked like dirt, a darker stain in the center. 
    “Oh, this case keeps getting better and better…” Nick breathed, wandering through the room with interest before he turned on his team with exasperation.  “You knew this room was here the whole time and you didn’t lead off with this?”
    “We saved the best for last?” Brady defended weakly with a helpless shrug.  “We were letting the mood build.” 
    “We didn’t want to prejudice your examination of the rest of the crime scene,” Park offered with a straight face. 
    “Sneaky… I like that.”  Nick pointed at each of them in turn.  “So… what am I looking at here, exactly?”
    “It appears that our golden haired girl was also a card carrying witch.” 
    “Get outta town, a witch?” Gibson’s brows climbed.  “Like pointy hat and broomsticks and the whole shebang?  She sure hid her warts well.”  He thought back to the picture of the pretty girl; she looked like any wholesome college co-ed.  Not the sort of gothy, tattooed, black dyed-hair type that he associated with the occult. 
    “The politically correct term is Wiccan, Sir.  But that does seem to be the case based on her library; she had a very strong interest in paganism if she wasn’t one herself,” Park added, sounding fairly knowledgeable on the subject.  Nick resolved to ask her more about that later, but the star symbol on the rug caught his attention.  Kneeling beside it, he looked up at her.
    “CSU’s already processed this room?” 
    “Yes Sir, everything has been catalogued.” 
    Picking up some of the dark powder and letting it fall through his gloved fingers, Nick studied the symbol.  “Any idea what this stuff is?”
    “First word is it’s dirt, nothing beyond that as of yet, they took a sample down to the lab,” Brady replied.  “See that darker stain in the center?  That’s blood, same type as our vic.  We’re betting she was stabbed in here, then moved to the bedroom to make it look like the fire did her in.”
    “There’s not too much of it then,” Gibson frowned, rising to his feet again.  Ordinarily he would have expected quite a bit more blood, especially if the body was moved to a completely different room.  He studied the books on a short bookshelf.  Lots of witchy subjects; everything from candle magic to herb craft, whatever that was. 
    Returning to the living room, he paused at one of the tall bookcases.  Withdrawing a scrapbook, Nick studied the pictures within.  There were photos of the victim at several gatherings, always smiling and laughing, hugging, generally joyful.  His expression thoughtful, he flipped through the pages of her life, wondering, who would have killed such a happy go lucky kind of girl?  But then again, he’d learned time and again… things were rarely as they seemed. 
    “Okay, let’s step through this… our killer slips in here when she’s home all alone and vulnerable, maybe she’s in her witchy room, working on some kind of spell.”  Nick walked back into the ritual room.  “Maybe she’s even in a trance or something, because he’s able to get the jump on her and stab her through the heart without her making so much as a squawk.”
    “Maybe he held his hand over her mouth?  Muffled her before he stabbed her?  She