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“If the aunt is right,” began Dorrie as she filled her third cup of tea, “Mr. Gilbert took the ring off his fiancé’s dead body,” she paused as the image chilled her, even Pumpkin twitched his tail at the thought.
Ray and Jessica nodded but no one knew what to say. Finally, Ray broke the silence. “That’s horrible but why take the ring in the first place? Mr. Gilbert looks like the kind of guy who could easily afford to buy a diamond ring if he wanted to. Why steal it?”
“You’re right,” Dorrie sighed. “Even the aunt said the ring was of no value to her now.” She added more honey to her tea, and stirred it.
Stirring was one of her ties to being a witch even if Pumpkin twitched his tail at it. It was a small connection, but it helped her see things more clearly and it fit better on the table than a cauldron. It was times like this when Dorrie wished she wasn’t a witch. She could see there was more to situations than other people but she often didn’t know what to do with it. She could feel energy and recognize patterns but often didn’t know what they meant. Sometimes she thought she got just enough information to be totally confused. That’s what she felt now.
Dorrie decided to go outside and sit with the moon to get clarity. She was a witch and she had to do what witches do and stop hiding behind cups of tea and khakis. She slipped off her shoes and picked up the ring. Pumpkin quietly jumped down to her feet and followed. Jessica was still engrossed in The Dogged Detective and didn’t seem to notice. Ray only briefly looked at her quizzically as she slipped out the back door into the night.
Once outside, the moon covered her whole body with its silver light. “You’re remembering how to do this,” said Pumpkin. Dorrie put her fingers to her lips. Quieting her thoughts was always the hardest part. As she sat on the steps her own thoughts started to run through her head, about Jessica, about Lisa and Carol, about Ray.
“Just let them go,” said Pumpkin. “It is what is left after they have drifted off that you need to hear.”
Dorrie got herself still by staring at the moon and watching a few scattered clouds drift across its surface. Pumpkin was right. She did know how to do this. As her thoughts continued to circle around in her head, she concentrated on the scattered clouds blowing across the moon. To each cloud she placed a thought letting them blow away one by one. Slowly they drifted off until all she saw was the clear light of the moon.
“It began with greed.” The words came to her quickly once her own thoughts were gone. In her hand the diamond now glowed. “He knew the diamond flowed from the land.” Again, she heard this clearly as she sat with Pumpkin rubbing his chin on her ankle. Then everything got quiet again. She had heard all she needed to know for now.
While still keeping her eyes closed, letting it all settle, she felt Ray sit down beside her. She blushed, realizing she knew it was him because she recognized the way he smelled. Definitely coffee but more.
“Did you get something?” he asked.
Dorrie was still feeling a little dreamy and kept her eyes closed another minute. It surprised her to realize she was glad Ray noticed what she was doing.
“Sort of,” she finally answered, wondering how much he really understood and how much was safe to tell “I’m not really sure what it means.,” she began.
“Stop it!” Pumpkin almost screamed. “You’re doing it again. Just tell him what you learned. He is solving this mystery with you and needs to know, Stop trying to neatly wrap up your powers in one of your little gift boxes.”
“But people like little boxes,” she protested.
“Talisman to trinket,” Pumpkin harrumphed.
“So tell me,” encouraged Ray.
“He knew the diamond came from the land.” Dorrie began.
“Ah, so your guide speaks in riddles” said Ray. “Mine probably does too. It would explain why I usually don’t figure it out.” He shrugged.
“I try so hard I get headaches,”
“I’m not surprised. I think I am too lazy for that.” Ray smiled “Do you want some help?
Dorrie started to outline the clues again and Pumpkin suddenly swatted her in the leg with his claw, “Humans”, he grumbled.
“Ouch!”
“Are you OK?”
“Greed,” she announced, surprising herself. It just popped out. Of course. it was greed.
Ray looked at her with curiosity. There was no fear. “Is there more?” he asked.
“No...” she paused and Ray waited. “But I have an idea.”
“An idea can be good.”
“When I heard the word greed, I immediately thought of the docent saying that if a diamond like ours was ever found in the Northwest it would cause a modern-day gold rush.”
Ray grinned. “I see what you are getting at. Where there is one diamond there might be more.”
“Exactly,” Dorrie nodded as the idea grew stronger. “When Mr. Gilbert discovered that Lisa’s diamond had been found on her father’s property, he saw it as a way to make a lot of money. It would explain why he talked her into signing over her land.”
Ray, remembered the news article about the woman digging up a diamond while gardening. It was one diamond and still investors moved in to survey her land. Apparently, speculators are always out there looking for an opportunity. Lisa’s diamond was the type of high-quality diamond that hasn’t been found in the Northwest before. “Lisa’s diamond could lead to the elusive gem quality diamonds prospectors are always looking for.”
“It could lead to millions.”
“That would certainly make the gem Lisa had very valuable.”
“I am thinking,” Dorrie started to say and corrected herself before Pumpkin could swat her leg again. “I am sure. That is the beginning the diamond was showing me.”
Ray remembered reading about the large amounts of money that was needed for diamond mining and exploration. “He would have needed investors.”
“He would have had to show them the diamond.”
“And the aunt told you Lisa would never take off the ring.”
Dorrie shook her head sadly, “It might be why he killed her. I don’t think stealing the diamond off her dead body was an afterthought.”
Dorrie hated realizing this. Pumpkin crawled into her lap now satisfied with her performance. “I don’t know why you are happy,” she told him. “This is not good.”
“The truth is always good,” said Pumpkin.
He was right. Sometimes it’s just hard. Dorrie took Ray’s hand and led him back inside.
“Maybe it is time for us to give this a rest for tonight,” said Ray as he began clearing dishes off the table. Dorrie joined him. Maybe it will be clearer in the morning. The excitement of the evening began to fade and even Pumpkin went back to looking out the window.
Jessica, though, stayed at the table intently reading The Dogged Detective. Normally one to jump up and help, she remained immersed in the book as they cleared the bowls around her. Just as they put the last dish in the sink and started running the water, they heard Jessica say “The true picture will only emerge when all of the clues are accounted for,”
They walked over to Jessica. She was pointing at a picture of the Dogged Detective scratching his head as he held up a giant puzzle piece with a question mark on it. Dorrie now saw that while she had talked to the moon, Jessica had cut pieces of paper and had written one clue on each piece. Unlike Ray’s cumulous clouds, these pieces were neat squares.
“These are the clues we have and we are forgetting one.” She held up one of the squares. “Mr. Johnson said the ring had been mended. That means the band had been cut. Did her Aunt mention it ever being cut?”
“It had to be cut,” said a woman’s voice from the doorway, “Or he would have had no way of getting it off of her finger.”