Page 22 of Investigation of a Quest

“Professor Samuel was a loner,” the aide said. “He spent most of his time working or traveling, so I was always checking on his apartment or helping his students. I honestly think I was his closest acquaintance, but I never saw a girlfriend or friends.”

“Traveling?” Olivia asked. “For work?”

“Kind of. He taught history, but his passion was the ancient occult. It fascinated him, so he would travel to obscure locations to research his book.”

“Book?” Olivia glanced at Bel. “Is his research here?”

“No, it’s at his house.”

“And you have a key?”

“Yeah… but don’t you need a warrant?”

“He’s the victim,” Bel said.

“Right… I keep forgetting,” the aide said. “Sure, I can take you to his apartment.”

The women did a quick scan of his campus office, but it proved bare and boring, so the trio drove the short distance to the professor’s cluttered studio apartment.

“Here’s his research,” the aide said, directing them to the wall perpendicular to the massive windows overlooking the tree-studded street. Papers buried the wood desk, the sheets spilling to the floor and walls where certain notes were taped along the brick. “He was close to starting the book. It’s a shame it’s going to sit here now. His notes are too hard to follow, even for me, and I worked for him. So sadly, all of his discoveries will probably end up in the trash unless someone can figure out what these scribbles mean. He got the idea for this book years ago after a trip in South America, I think, and it’s so sad that he died just when he was ready to put pen to paper… or rather, keyboard to paper. His handwriting is impossible to decipher.”

Bel picked up a sketch and studied the scribbled notes in the margins. She didn’t say anything to the aide, but bad penmanship aside, the reason this kid couldn’t understand the words was because he didn’t realize these hasty notes and half-baked sentences referred to very real horrors.

“What do you think?” Olivia whispered as she grabbed Bel’s arm and guided her out of the aide’s earshot.

“That our professor got a little too close to the truth, and it probably got him killed,” Bel whispered back. “If his death really was a sacrifice to incite black magic, he made the perfect target. If he published this… this is information that people like Eamon kill to keep quiet.”

“So it’s a good thing that this kid can’t follow his research?” Olivia asked.

“And it needs to stay that way. I’ll tell Eamon. He’ll make sure these papers get lost.”

“The brain makes sense now,” Olivia said. “Professor Samuel was smart, and he possibly knew too much.”

“I was thinking the same thing. There’s also no sign of a struggle here.” She pointed to the haphazard clutter strewn across what appeared to be original hardwood floors that didn’t deserve to stay so hidden by junk. “Disarray was his lifestyle.”

“Still doesn’t mean there wasn’t a struggle,” Olivia said. “The natural mess could hide what happened.”

“I don’t know,” Bel said. “I don’t think he was taken from his home. Excuse me?” She raised her voice for the aide’s benefit. “Would anyone else at Ozland have more information about Professor Samuel’s life?”

“Probably not.”

“Did he follow a routine?” she asked.

“Definitely,” the aide said. “You could tell the time by his actions.”

“Our killer probably studied him and then took him when no one was looking,” Bel said to Olivia. “His predictability would’ve made it easy, especially for a witch.”

“Makes sense. Then the security footage from this building won’t be of any help. Our killer managed to move two dead bodies out into the open without being seen. I doubt he’d be so sloppy taking a human.”

“We’ll ask for it, but I agree. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I think his research put him on our killer’s radar, and that’s why he took his brain.”

“So, are we done here?” Olivia asked.

“I think…” Bel trailed off as her eyes snagged on the mantel. “What’s this?” she asked the aide.

“No clue.” The kid shrugged. “That’s been there since I met him. He never talked about it.”

“It’s an odd centerpiece,” Bel said. The rest of the studio apartment was messy, the unmade bed included, but this mantel was bare save for the single object sitting alone and elevated.