Witching Time (The Wild Hunt #14) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,65

mention of him that I can find in old newspapers. I searched through Vital Records—there’s no death certificate for him, either. It’s as though he vanished off the face of the planet and was never heard from again.”

“Or he was turned into a land wight and now lives out on the farm where he was tortured as a sacrifice to Reyas. Which is what we suspect. Okay, what about the mother? We think she killed Aida, and sacrificed her husband.” I took a sip of my coffee, the spicy scent filling the air as the taste of cinnamon and nutmeg tickled my throat.

“Elzabeth is another matter. She currently lives in rural Maine. Her kids are grown and scattered, and they don’t seem to ever contact their mother. But Elzabeth…did you know she was married three times before she married Jericho?” Wager held up a piece of paper. “I have the records here.”

“Three times? I wonder if Jericho knew she was a three-time divorcée.”

Wager shook his head. “Try three-time widow. All three of her former husbands died, all while they were still married to her.”

I straightened up, blinking. “She lost three husbands before Jericho? What happened to them? Was she marrying old men for their money?”

“Not so much, I think. No, I got hold of screenshots of their death certificates. All of the men were magic-born, by the way. She first married a guy named Lee Bloodburg in 1953. They had no children, and he died in 1955. He was apparently adjusting the television antenna on the roof when a minor earthquake knocked him off balance. He fell off the roof and broke his neck.”

“Earthquake, huh? Earth witches can cause earthquakes.” I frowned. “Do the cops know if they had problems?”

“It states here that there were several reports of loud arguments and screaming—their neighbors called in the complaints. But every time the cops went out there, neither Elzabeth nor Lee would say a word. And back then, domestic violence wasn’t considered a big thing.” Wager handed me the report. “Lee didn’t have a lot of money. He worked for a local butcher as a meat cutter and wrapper. Elzabeth offered piano lessons out of their home.”

“All right, who was her second husband? And did she stay in the house or did she sell it?”

“She stayed in the house. In 1956 she married Armando Lopez. He was one of the magic-born, as well. They tried to buy a house in the country but the loan wasn’t approved because they couldn’t raise a down payment and Armando couldn’t keep a steady job. He was good at his work, but he had the gambling bug and would often skip work to play in backroom card games.”

“I bet that went over well. So she wanted to move to the country—which makes sense, given she was an earth witch. What specialties did Lee and Armando have in magic?”

“Lee was just a general spellcaster. Armando was…well…he was charming, let me put it that way,” Wager said.

“Hence, he could talk his way into the games even if he didn’t have much money. Okay, how did he die?” I could see Elzabeth getting frustrated. Earth witches tended to live in the country and when they were cut off from it, they got a bit testy.

“This time it didn’t take two years. Armando died in 1957, two months after they were refused the loan.” He shook his head.

“How did he die? Another earthquake?” I crossed my legs and leaned back in my chair. Wager always gave me a copy of the reports so I didn’t feel the need to take notes.

“Nope. However, she could have orchestrated this death as well. Armando Lopez died when he ran off the road, into a tree. Elzabeth was in the car, but she came out unhurt. She said he was drunk, and they did find evidence of high blood-alcohol levels when they autopsied him. She walked away with only a few scratches. He didn’t. They were driving out near Snoqualmie Falls.” Wager had a disgusted look on his face. “So while it wasn’t an earthquake, she could have used magic to send them careening into the tree—and her connection with the element itself may have protected her. If she did engineer these deaths, she’s a piece of work.”

“Oh, I suspect she was behind all of them. What about the third husband?”

“She waited eight months. In 1958, she married Calvin Huddle. He was also one of the magic-born, and he’s rare—a star witch. He was