Part 9
Nick laughed, "very funny, Willow." He looked at the serious faces surrounding him. "You actually believe that magic is real? Next you'll tell me that vampires are real."
Xander opened his mouth, but shut it again when Buffy elbowed him.
Willow took a calming breath before continuing. Her heart was beating rapidly and her palms were beginning to sweat. They were taking a big risk telling Nick the truth, her and Buffy more than the others.
"What made you decide to investigate vampires on your rave case?"
"It was vampires. Well, not the Bela Legosi vampire but teens play-acting. We're scientists, Willow. We stick with the facts and let the evidence take us. Sure we may make wild leaps in logic sometimes but all myth has a basis in fact."
"Exactly. So follow the evidence, Nick."
Nick held up his hand and ticked off the facts with his fingers. "One, we have a missing necklace."
"A missing necklace with a mythological history behind it. Those that believe it can prolong life at the cost of others."
Nick ignored Willow's addition. "Two, there are four homicides. Two gunshot related and two unknown."
"Two victims aged beyond their years with so far no scientific explanation."
"Gil's friend at the genetic think tank." Nick countered Willow.
"What are the odds that two victims in a small geographic area have the exact genetic anomaly?" Giles countered Nick.
"All right, I'll give you that they're still unknown. But that still doesn't prove your theory that the necklace caused the aging in the victims."
Willow debated about floating a pencil for him, but she really wasn't sure that it would convince the scientist in Nick. She was still an amateur when it came to magick. Giles had been training her, but with Tara's death she had lost interest in going further with it.
"No, it doesn't. But the evidence doesn't disprove it either. Nick, as a scientist we don't believe in coincidences. We live in Vegas, what are the odds that there are two victims of mysterious aging? What about the odds of a necklace known to have mystical life altering abilities also missing and connected, however nebulous, to the other cases? It'd have to be like a million to one. All I'm asking is that you keep an open mind."
Nick's eyes searched Willow's serious green ones and sighed. "All right, I'll listen. BUT, I won't guarantee I'll believe AND when this is over Mr. McKim will go to the precinct with Buffy to make a statement."
Willow's heart began to slowly resume its normal pace with Nick's agreement. She smiled at him and resisted the urge to grab him into a relieved hug, "thanks."
Buffy slowly relaxed. Nick held her and Willow's career in the palm of his hand. Not that anyone would believe him if he went to their supervisors and said they thought magick was involved. But they could be put on probation and maybe suspended from duty for not taking Benjamin to the police. Not so much Willow but her job with LVPD had been dangling on the precipice while Nick decided.
Giles squeezed Benjamin's shoulder in reassurance. "Agreed."
Benjamin took a deep, calming breath. "The necklace has been in my family for years. No one really remembers not having it. It's believed that it once belonged to the god Osiris. I'm not sure I believe that myself, however some of my ancestors did live in Egypt and they were not above keeping a little memento of their time there."
Xander leaned over to Buffy, "Grave Robbers?"
Benjamin smiled, "We prefer the term, Thieves of Time."
"So the necklace has god-like qualities?" Nick tried to keep the disbelief out of his voice but he failed miserably.
The older man shook his head no, "the necklace itself has no value beyond that of an antiquity. No, the true value is the spell combined with the necklace that will prolong the wearers life."
Benjamin turned very wise eyes to Nick, "how old would you say I am?"
Nick mentally rolled his eyes. Next, he was going to tell him he was hundreds of years old and the necklace was the reason. That wasn't anything that could be proven anyway. Did Willow really believe this stuff?
"Mid to late eighties."
Willow and the others watched curiously as Benjamin reached for his wallet and began looking through it. He smiled as he found what he had been looking for.
Curiosity compelled Nick to reach for the pictures that the older man held out to him. They were black and white photographs of the pyramids of Egypt. In one, there were three people standing at the entrance to the pyramid. One of them bore a striking resemblance to Benjamin and he was dressed as a young upper class Englishman would have been in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
"This doesn't prove anything other than you bear a striking resemblance to a relative that lived along time ago. Are you trying to tell me that this is you and that the necklace is like the Fountain of Youth? Anyone wearing it lives forever?"
Benjamin gave a sad smile, "Not the necklace and not forever. As keepers of the necklace my family was given certain privileges, some say curse. One of those is that our lives are tied to the power of the necklace. We age and die but at a tremendously slow rate as long as it remains in our family's possession. I was born just as the American Civil War came to its conclusion."
Nick digested the information. Not that he really believed it but he could tell that the old man believed it. "Okay. Say I believe you or at least that you believe what you say it true. Besides everyone in this room and your family who else knew about its 'magickal properties'? Buffy said that there was interest lately in your necklace?"
The older man nodded, "yes, I received a note from the owner of the pawn shop that there was an interest in my necklace. I'm a good customer and he wanted to give me warning that if I couldn't get it out of hock he'd have to sell it."
Nick, Buffy and Willow sat up straighter at this bit of information. "Did he give you a name?" Buffy asked.
Benjamin concentrated and then his eyes widened at the memory. "Yes. I believe it was Geoff Daisani."
Giles turned to his friend, "Are you quite certain it was Geoff Daisani?"
"With my memory I'm as certain as I can be. Why, Rupert?"
"Mr. Daisani owns an occult shop on the other side of Vegas."
"Did."
All eyes turned to Willow and her shoulders slumped.
"Did own an occult shop. He was the latest victim."
"Oh dear lord."