anything was happening in her profession - anything that had made its way into the public press, at least. So she Googled 'witchcraft.'
Lots of Halloween stories, of course, even though Samhain had come and gone. Some Harry Potter stuff, as usual. A parents' group in Lexington, Kentucky, was demanding that local school libraries ban the book series, on the grounds that it encouraged their children to practice the dark arts.
Libby snorted. She knew of a coven of black witches operating near Lexington whose activities made the Harry Potter books look like innocent fairy tales. She and Quincey Morris had clashed with them a few years ago, after the coven had kidnapped a local girl with the intent of inducting her into their circle by force.
Libby and Quincey had rescued the girl before too much harm had been done to her. She had recovered fully. The same could not be said for some of her captors. The survivors, Libby had heard, did not abandon their art - but had become much more discreet in its practice.
Hallmark was coming out with a line of Wiccan greeting cards. And about time, too. She made a mental note to send a blessing in the general direction of the Hallmark Company headquarters, and to maybe buy a few of the cards to send to her sister witches, who might get a kick out of them.
A blogger at a New Age web site had a piece called 'How Witchcraft Really Works.' By the third paragraph, she was smiling a little. By the seventh, she was giggling, and before she finished the essay - which had it all so wrong, wrong, wrong - Libby Chastain was laughing out loud. She bookmarked the page to read again the next time she was feeling down, and noticed that her mood had improved considerably. Maybe the folks at Reader's Digest had been right, and laughter really was the best medicine.
Then she came upon an article from the Providence Journal that prompted no laughter from her. None at all.
PROFESSOR FOUND DEAD;
OCCULT CONNECTION SUSPECTED
East Kingston, RI. Nov. 4. State Police are labeling as 'suspicious' the death of a URI professor whose body was found in the basement of his rural Narragansett County home yesterday.
The body of Dr. Hassan el-Ghaffar, 47, was discovered by a Sheriff's deputy who was sent to the home after University Police reported that the professor, who taught Anthropology, had failed to show up for his scheduled classes.
A Bureau of Criminal Investigation official, who spoke off the record because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly, said that el-Ghaffar's body was found in a large basement room containing an altar, atop which were numerous objects often used by Satanists. On the floor near the corpse was a drawn pentagram, a symbol often associated with occultists and those practicing witchcraft.
The official said that el-Ghaffar's death was almost certainly a homicide, although the Coroner's Office has not yet released its report on the case. Identification of the body, which apparently had been in the basement for several days, was made by dental records, the official said, since the corpse had 'become disfigured due to infestation by local wildlife.'
After finishing the article, Libby continued to stare at the screen. There was probably nothing supernatural involved in this Rhode Island business, anyway. People who became interested in black magic were often none too stable to begin with. Few of them were interested in undertaking the years of study necessary to become proficient in the dark arts, fortunately.
Although sometimes they can learn just enough to get themselves killed.
Nobody had hired Libby to worry about it, and there was probably nothing to be concerned about, anyway - except to local law enforcement. Some budding psychopaths got buzzed on meth, and tried to conjure up something evil. When it didn't work, they turned on one of their own.
But the one who had been turned on had been a professor, a Ph.D. This el-Ghaffar was apparently a man who had
Lots of Halloween stories, of course, even though Samhain had come and gone. Some Harry Potter stuff, as usual. A parents' group in Lexington, Kentucky, was demanding that local school libraries ban the book series, on the grounds that it encouraged their children to practice the dark arts.
Libby snorted. She knew of a coven of black witches operating near Lexington whose activities made the Harry Potter books look like innocent fairy tales. She and Quincey Morris had clashed with them a few years ago, after the coven had kidnapped a local girl with the intent of inducting her into their circle by force.
Libby and Quincey had rescued the girl before too much harm had been done to her. She had recovered fully. The same could not be said for some of her captors. The survivors, Libby had heard, did not abandon their art - but had become much more discreet in its practice.
Hallmark was coming out with a line of Wiccan greeting cards. And about time, too. She made a mental note to send a blessing in the general direction of the Hallmark Company headquarters, and to maybe buy a few of the cards to send to her sister witches, who might get a kick out of them.
A blogger at a New Age web site had a piece called 'How Witchcraft Really Works.' By the third paragraph, she was smiling a little. By the seventh, she was giggling, and before she finished the essay - which had it all so wrong, wrong, wrong - Libby Chastain was laughing out loud. She bookmarked the page to read again the next time she was feeling down, and noticed that her mood had improved considerably. Maybe the folks at Reader's Digest had been right, and laughter really was the best medicine.
Then she came upon an article from the Providence Journal that prompted no laughter from her. None at all.
PROFESSOR FOUND DEAD;
OCCULT CONNECTION SUSPECTED
East Kingston, RI. Nov. 4. State Police are labeling as 'suspicious' the death of a URI professor whose body was found in the basement of his rural Narragansett County home yesterday.
The body of Dr. Hassan el-Ghaffar, 47, was discovered by a Sheriff's deputy who was sent to the home after University Police reported that the professor, who taught Anthropology, had failed to show up for his scheduled classes.
A Bureau of Criminal Investigation official, who spoke off the record because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly, said that el-Ghaffar's body was found in a large basement room containing an altar, atop which were numerous objects often used by Satanists. On the floor near the corpse was a drawn pentagram, a symbol often associated with occultists and those practicing witchcraft.
The official said that el-Ghaffar's death was almost certainly a homicide, although the Coroner's Office has not yet released its report on the case. Identification of the body, which apparently had been in the basement for several days, was made by dental records, the official said, since the corpse had 'become disfigured due to infestation by local wildlife.'
After finishing the article, Libby continued to stare at the screen. There was probably nothing supernatural involved in this Rhode Island business, anyway. People who became interested in black magic were often none too stable to begin with. Few of them were interested in undertaking the years of study necessary to become proficient in the dark arts, fortunately.
Although sometimes they can learn just enough to get themselves killed.
Nobody had hired Libby to worry about it, and there was probably nothing to be concerned about, anyway - except to local law enforcement. Some budding psychopaths got buzzed on meth, and tried to conjure up something evil. When it didn't work, they turned on one of their own.
But the one who had been turned on had been a professor, a Ph.D. This el-Ghaffar was apparently a man who had
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