<°)))><

The next day, Jill sat in front of her magic mirror seeking connection. She picked up a cloth and rubbed it over the black mirror until the glass glistened. She looked pale and haggard. 

Where’s your energy?

She stared at her reflection and saw something hideous standing behind her. Fear jumped into her heart.

The thing was large, green, and scaly, with deep, penetrating eyes. She’d seen it before. The entity came and stood next to her. She could feel its acidity breath hot on her neck. The creature’s thoughts penetrated her mind. 

The girl is still alive. This should not be.

Jill closed her eyes and tried to will the creature away. 

I can strengthen you.

Jill sensed the anger, the hurt, and the bitterness. It wasn’t only the doctor, the magistrate. The past had done the damage.

I can strengthen you.

The psychic told her that the enemy would try and disfigure the spiritual guides. 

Yes, this is what’s happening.

The creature’s thoughts continued to invade her mind, confirming her suspicions. She understood. The enemy was trying to draw her away from the light. She must keep her eyes shut.

She needed to get reconnected. Her mind told the spiritual guide to have its way with her. Her head fell forward on the dressing table. She sensed vibrations all around her and shook. Something entered her. She raised her head and looked in the mirror. She looked different.

Jill Winter looked different.

<°)))><

Jill walked out on the back porch. The sky was darkening. She looked down toward the bay, at the lights on the water buoys which stood out in the greyness of the approaching evening. Her partner sat there, a steaming mug in his hand. 

“I didn’t hear the offer of a hot drink come my way.”

He turned around and looked at Jill. 

“I came in to see you, but you seemed out of it. I spoke to you but you didn’t answer, so I thought it best not to disturb you. I sensed there was something happening spiritually.”

“There was, and I feel recharged.” Jill nodded. “I was losing my energy, but it’s come back. I need to complete the task. I believe the girl is still alive. The druggie lost his way.”

“You look recharged.” He stood up and pulled out a chair for her. “Yes, there was something on the news about him. They only mentioned the victim in the garden, although it seems he will recover. There was a brief mention of our friend causing a ruckus in a block of units, but no mention of anyone else being hurt.”

“We still need to finish what we started,” Jill said. She felt she was being carried along by some force. Her voice seemed unnatural but she saw it all as a positive.

“We will.”

Jill looked at her partner and felt fear. Why?

36 – Keep off the lovely grass

POST INTERVIEW, JACK AND CATHERINE spent most of the day working with the investigation team going over CCTV footage, forensic notes, interview records, and call logs. They were slowly piecing together the individuals involved in the Wiccan circle, but still hadn’t identified the high priestess. 

Late in the day Jack and Catherine found themselves foraging around the nature strips in the area where CCTV footage from the road management system had shown Oram throwing a piece of paper to the ground. The CCTV didn’t record the full event, as some technical glitch kicked in when the paper hit the ground. It was if the paper hitting the ground triggered some kind of electronic malfunction. 

Maybe it was a spiritual thing, a thought which worried Jack.

A driveway between the nature strips meandered up to a heritage house with well-maintained gardens. The entrance to the driveway was guarded by a heavy electronic gate. An elderly lady was walking down towards them, removing her gardening gloves. Jack had concerns about walking on the well-kept grass and felt he was about to cop the lady’s wrath.

The lady stopped and leaned on her gate. “Are you people looking for something?”

“As a matter of fact, we are. We’re detectives and believe a suspect may have dropped something around here.”

“Was your suspect a scraggy looking thing wearing jeans and a black and blue flannel shirt?”

“He was.”

“Well, I was resting on my porch up there when I saw him throw some rubbish on my lovely grass.” She nodded at Jack. He sensed a keep-off-the-grass warning. “I started walking down to collect the rubbish but a man came running over and picked it up. I didn’t even get a chance to thank him.”

“A man . . .” Catherine said.

“Yes. He picked up the rubbish, then went back to his car.”

“You wouldn’t be able to describe him or the car, would you?” Catherine asked.

“Normal-looking sort of man—not big, not small. Had a full blonde or whitish beard. Dressed in jeans and a dark blue jumper. He wore a baseball cap, like everyone seems to wear these days. Now the car . . . sorry, love. A car is a car. It was black, if that helps.”

“It does,” Jack said. “Anything else?”

“Next time, keep off my green grass.”

She turned and took a few steps back up the driveway, then paused, turned around, and looked at them.

“You make sure you lock that skinny fellow up. He hurt my neighbour a few houses down, and I’ve been telling him for years to get a gate installed. Now I’m thinking maybe we should join a rifle club so we can purchase some weapons and shoot these ba—”

“No need for that.” Jack cut short the expletive he was sure was coming. “We don’t want you forming a vigilante group.”

“Why not? It would help me look after my grass.”

She took a few more steps, before turning again.

“I just remembered . . . you see that foxtail palm there?” The lady pointed to a huge palm the size of a street pole.

Jack didn’t know what a foxtail palm was but nodded anyway. It got the thought of the lady chasing after him with a gun out of his head.

“I’ve got a camera up there to catch people who’ve been thieving my plants. You can come and have a look at it if you wish. You may find who that good citizen who picked up the paper was.”

CCTV? That was a brilliant stroke of luck, although Jack had doubts that the man in question was a good citizen. They followed the lady up the driveway.