Larry was listening and breathing slowly.
‘People used to think a way to find a witch was by pricking her skin with a pin or a needle. They had these special tools to do it called … erm …’ He looked up to the left … searched the files, ‘Bodkins, that was it. Bodkins. It was a pretty common method. Also witches were thought to use all sorts of animals back then. Not just black cats but dogs, foxes, toads … and of course, rabbits.’ He had a sudden flash of that old picture he saw the other night in his cabin. Of witch-finder Matthew Hopkins and the black rabbit walking on its hind legs as an accused witch confessed its name: Sack and Sugar. ‘These animals were thought to be gifts from the Devil. Helpers. They called them familiars.’
‘I’ve heard of that,’ Larry said. ‘They were like little demons. Didn’t the witches supposedly breastfeed them?’
Keech screwed up his face. ‘You knew that, sir?’
‘Shoot me. I get the History Channel.’
‘You’re right. People thought witches’ breast milk was a source of power for these demon animals. Suckling familiars, they were called. That’s why the witch-finders would often prick the nipples … It was a bizarre test they came up with.’
Larry blinked.
‘Anyway. Sometimes communities wanted to destroy the familiar and not just the witch. And here we are with a dead rabbit and a dead swan.’
‘And a dead dog,’ Larry said.
‘Er … hang on fellas,’ Keech said. ‘Steph Ellis’s dog was beaten to death by a bunch of parents.’
‘Precisely,’ Matt said. ‘But whoever left her dog in there knew it’d get the blame and be destroyed. Even though it might have been this other white dog that actually did it. Either way, Steph was dead, and her dog was dead. Witch and familiar …’ he opened the fingers on one hand, ‘gone.’
Larry twisted his mouth. ‘This is pretty out there, Matt.’
Matt smiled through his teeth. ‘I appreciate that. But what we do have is two dead women and a needle for pricking. We have medieval symbols of Christian protection against evil, plastered on the crimes scenes. Plus, we have something we didn’t pay enough attention to before … two dead pets.’
‘Explain the bottle of whizz, then,’ Keech said.
Matt sat forward, palms together. ‘Okay … these witch-finders, they had a lot of weird tests, not just pricking. But I think when you hear this you’ll start seeing where I’m coming from. They used to collect the urine of girls that were under trial. They’d mix the urine with rye meal and they’d make a cake.’
Keech burst out laughing. ‘Try that on MasterChef!’
‘Dammit, Keech,’ Larry snapped. ‘Let the man speak.’
Matt waited for a few awkward seconds. ‘It was a bizarre mix of almost voodoo and Cartesian medical theory.’ He spotted their blank faces. ‘You don’t need to know what that means, but look, I know Church history. I teach it. Bottom line is they felt like the particles of the witch would still be in her fluids. I think they called it “effluvia”. So they’d make a cake with her urine and let a dog eat it. If she felt pain when the dog ate the cake they’d have proof of effluvia, that she was somehow in the cake, which was proof she was a witch. Job done …’ He trailed off when he saw Larry sitting up. ‘What is it?’
‘You know something? We found Steph Ellis’s urine all over the floor of that music cupboard, mixed in with her blood.’ Larry scribbled something down. ‘We all just figured the shock made her … well, you know.’
Keech waited for a moment and when he spoke he was as serious as he could manage. ‘I’m sorry but with respect this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I bet these girls just had weak bladders. And as for the killing of animals, well loads of serial killers do that. It’s kind of their thing. The needle prick on her …’ he trailed off. ‘Well, she could have been one of those self-harmers.’ He turned to Larry. ‘I’m not saying we shouldn’t look into this, sir, but I reckon you need to be extremely cautious about leaping onto this Hammer Horror thing. I mean I know it’s Halloween and everything, but …’
‘I do hear you,’ Matt said. ‘Plus this theory still doesn’t explain what makes these particular girls so …’
‘Punishable?’ Larry said.
The word made Matt blink. ‘Exactly. Look, these days, witches are just another faith group. They have conventions, specialist shops, they meet freely. No one tries to kill them, on the whole. Heck, they don’t even believe in the Devil. But if you’re looking for the witches’ worst enemy, then you check the churches. Mainstream Christianity says it’s a sin. Deuteronomy even says “you shall not suffer a witch to live”.’ He shifted in his seat. ‘And what do you know, someone in Menham clearly has an issue with the occult because we had a ruddy great crucifix thrown through a window. And this weird note.’
‘We check the churches, then,’ Larry said.
Matt resisted the urge to say just like I said last night. Instead he said, ‘Good idea, Larry.’
‘We’ll go together. And we can talk to these Phoenix blokes.’ Larry slipped the note into his pocket. ‘Me and you. But first, we tell the Hodges to call this seance off. We don’t want to anger this nutter any more than he is already.’
‘And Kassy? And Jo’s boyfriend Lee?’
‘Oh, I haven’t forgotten about them. My guys will keep searching. We’re not sure where Kassy is right now, but we’ll find her and warn her.’
They walked toward the door, and paused only to turn back to Keech.
‘Did people
