One for sorrow,
Two for mirth
Three for a funeral,
Four for birth
Five for heaven
Six for hell
Seven for the devil, his own self
Death by Burning
I guess I had been so caught up in the trauma of Barney’s death that I got sloppy and missed a clue—something that rarely happens with me.
Helen had given me Barney’s notebook and I had gotten so distracted by the crows and the funeral, I had put the notepad aside intending to come back to it, and didn’t.
But now that things have settled a bit I remembered and was kicking myself for being careless.
I sheepishly told Maddie and we sat out on my patio sipping tea and going through the contents.
Barnie was never a great note-taker and a lot of his scribbles were undecipherable but when he needed to make a record of a name or phone number, he got a lot more diligent.
There was only one item on that last page that leapt out at both of us and that was Karen Nightley’s name—she was the town librarian.
“Why would Barney be in contact with Karen?” Maddie mused, “I don’t think he cracked open a book in all the time I knew him.”
“Ah, but librarians are not just purveyors of fine literature,” I reminded her, “They’re also curators of local history.”
The lights went on for both of us. What had Barney stumbled on that he needed Karen to research?”
I told Maddie I was heading to the library to talk to Karen and she agreed that it was the next logical step in our investigation.
While I drove to the library I noticed the town was remarkably silent to for a midweek in September, and I made a mental note to remember to tell Maddie that no crows followed me.
What did that mean—had the trail gone cold or was I wasting my time? I had no idea but I had to follow up on Barney’s last activities before he died, if only to eliminate Karen as a potential source of information.
Karen was shelving books when I walked in and I noticed the library was deserted.
“Why is it so quiet in town today?” I asked after greeting her and sitting down with her on the comfortable sofa chairs in the reading nook by the fireplace.
“It’s an undeclared day of respect for Barney,” she smiled wistfully, “everyone is respecting his wishes about not making a fuss and by doing so, they’re actually honouring his memory better than any ceremony."
I nodded. Barney was definitely esteemed and would be missed by everybody who knew him and that meant most of the town.
After a few pleasantries I broached the subject of Barney’s last visit to see her and she immediately seemed eager to talk about it.
“I thought there was something significant about Barney asking questions about the town’s history—particularly the period of the witch trials.
“Witch trials?” I rasped hoarsely, “you mean like the kind of hysteria that gripped Salem?”
She nodded. “I thought it peculiar too, but it was a dark part of the town’s history,”
“Why do you think Barney was concerned about that—I mean, what kind of questions was he asking?”
“I’m not entirely sure what his motives were but he wanted to know particulars about the trials—the specific names and places.”
“Were you able to give them?” I asked.
“Of course, it’s all a matter of public record and stored in the town’s archive. He sat there the whole afternoon flipping through the microfiche reader and from time to time would ask me questions. He seemed particularly interested in the Allard farm near Ravenwood and got really excited when he realized that one of Agnes’ ancestors was burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft.”
I could imagine the jolt of adrenaline Barney felt when hearing that news. I had to stifle my own excitement.
I could see a pattern emerging here and it was a hellish one. Agnes is a Neo-Pagan and practicing witch obsessed with Druidic practices and human sacrifices. If one of her ancestors was burnt alive for following the same black rituals there might be a motive here.
Of course, I said nothing about this to Karen, but as I was leaving she happened to remark, it was curious that one of Barney’s ancestors had served on the town council back then and must have been part of the six-member inquiry that ultimately resulted in Agnes’ ancestor being put to death.
Regardless of her beliefs and practices I couldn’t imagine the hellish death that poor woman endured being tied to a stake and burnt.
But was an injustice committed two centuries ago by one of his ancestors, motive for putting Barney to death?
It was a question I had to pursue.