2:14 p.m., Monday - 11th Precinct

Detective Danny Woo was on part of his vacation last week. Of all the places he could have gone, he went to Arizona. It was all for a recharge, of sorts. He was hoping to come back to something simple to start out with. A neat little homicide, maybe a crime of passion, with no fuss. Alas, simple wasn't what he got.

"OK, we got two vics. One Marie Valakesh, 32, health-food store owner on the Upper West Side. Now we got 39-year-old Janet Devereaux, antique dealer on Duane St."

"Yeah, that's about it. Both kept to themselves, both own their own store, and both had their hearts removed. Those are the only connections so far," said Sara dejectedly. She had no doubt they would turn up something. She was just hoping it would be before the killer started up again.

"Well, one of the witnesses said that a mail courier came by the previous day around 1:30 pm. CSI checked the apartment and found a glass container filled with what they thought was marijuana. The plastic cover wasn't taken off yet. They also found a business card next to it, 'Rowena's Earth Emporium', located in Parsippany. The package must have been thrown out with the garbage," said Jake.

"So maybe it was drugs. Still doesn't explain the heart thing though. Or why a drug distributor would leave a calling card in the package. Might have been simple ground-up herbs," Danny pointed out.

"Well Forensics is checking on that, said they'll have it in a few hours," Jake said.

Sara wanted to hit the streets for answers as soon as possible. "Until then, let's find out about this company. Check on Ms. Devereaux's purchase and the courier they used. Maybe we can track this guy down and ask if he saw anything."

"Got it," said Danny, already on the phone.

"Cool. Me and Jake'll check out the antique store, see if anyone knows anything about what Ms. Devereaux was up to or why she was killed."


1:04 pm, Monday – Duane St., Vinnie's Pizza Pub

"So did you know Ms. Valakesh well?" asked Buffy. They had gone to the health-food store to see if anyone was there, but were rebuffed by a 'Closed' sign. They hoped to question some of the small businesses that adorned the area and get some, even a few, answers. Hoping to strike gold, or at least copper, they had ventured into Vinnie's Pizza Pub.

"No, not really. She was nice when you met her, though. Just kind of kept to herself. Came down for a slice of Meat-Marvel now and then. It's a shame what happened to her."

"A health-food store owner craved meat-topped pizzas?" Buffy said inquisitively.

"Hey, everybody's got to have their vices. My pizza was hers," said Vinnie proudly. "Did you check with her assistant? She'd probably know more."

"The store wasn't open," Giles said.

"Her assistant's a college girl, only comes in during the afternoon. She should be opening up about now."

Sure enough, looking outside of the door, someone was opening up Marie's store.

"Thanks a lot," Buffy said.

"No problem. You make sure you come back for a slice, got it?"

"Got it", Buffy replied, smiling as she and Giles left.

They walked into the store, where the assistant greeted them. "Welcome to Natural Life Market. I'm Gwen. Can I help you?" Buffy knew the girl's heart wasn't in it. Her greeting was forced, like it had been ripped out of her unwillingly. Of course, whose heart would be into running a store when the owner was murdered a month ago?

Giles was the first to reply. "Actually, yes. We wanted to ask you about the owner, Ms. Valakesh."

The girl immediately became defensive. "Why do you want to know about her?" she asked almost challengingly.

"We're not here for any ill purpose, miss," Giles assured. "We just want to know about her."

"You're not one of those people who likes grisly murders and collects 'souvenirs', are you?" asked Gwen.

"No, no," said Giles quickly. "We just want to understand who she was and why this happened. Nothing else, I assure you."

Feeling they were genuine, she replied, "Well, she's owned... I mean, she owned... this store for the last seven years, after her Mom died. Her mother owned it before her."

Buffy spoke up. "Did she have any enemies, maybe an old boyfriend or something?"

"No," the girl replied. "Nothing like that. She was a keep-to-herself kind of person, a danger to no one." That's when the girl started breaking down.

Buffy's heart went out to her. To lose a friend who was by all accounts innocent was certainly cruel. She hoped to find whoever did this and dispense a little 'pain therapy'.

"Things have been so difficult lately," the girl said. "I'm selling the space to buyers within the next month. She doesn't have any known relatives and I have to take care of her affairs. Being in college, I can't run this store full time. She loved it so much." The girl started to break down even more.

As Buffy consoled her, Giles eyes were wandering about when he spotted something familiar. "Pardon me, is that a Thesulan orb?" he asked.

"Yeah," Gwen replied, red-eyed and still sniffling. "That's what Marie said it was. She was into some pretty interesting stuff. I wasn't. I just liked the health food aspect and such."

"Was she, by any chance, a practicing witch?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, that's what she said she was."

"Thank you for your time. We're sorry for your loss," Giles said quickly. With that he and Buffy exited the store.

"A practicing witch," Buffy said outside on the sidewalk. "Probably has something to do with all of this. Like I said before Giles, coincidences and leprechauns."

"I'm inclined to agree," Giles replied.

At that moment, Buffy's cell phone rang. It was Willow. "Hey Buffy, I was checking web sites and some of the newspapers, cross-referencing them with some of the stuff in your dream. I turned on the TV and turns out there was a murder victim found this morning, a Janet Devereaux. Police aren't releasing any details, but the news reports are saying her heart was removed."

"Well, we found out something too, Will. Marie Valakesh was a witch. Saw a Thesulan orb and asked her assistant."

Willow was not happy at this bit of info. Someone was targeting witches, someone who probably had an agenda. "If Ms. Devereaux was one also, then that's probably the connection."

"Well, we can't go near her place while the investigation is still going on. Would attract unwanted police attention. I'll do patrol tonight and try and scrounge up information from the local 'wildlife'. See ya, Willow," said Buffy.

"I'll head back and work on deciphering your dream. Hopefully something will come about," Giles said.

Hopefully.

4:26 pm, Monday - Duane St., Natural Life Market

Getting out of the car, Sara and Jake made it over to the health-food store. They tried the antique store, but came up dry. The store was closing for the day out of respect for Ms. Devereaux and the last person to leave, the assistant manager, knew surprisingly little about her employer. They started walking when Sara's cell phone went off.

"What's up, Danny?" she said.

"Hey Pez. Got some info on Devereaux's purchase. I tried calling the business, but all I got was a busy signal. Forensics got that report in on the jar of herbs. Turns out it was sage. More specifically, Chia sage, native to California."

"Why sage?" Sara asked.

"I asked the same thing and one of guys said it was common in... get this... spells. As in actual witch spells," Danny said.

Sara was surprised, to say the least. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope," was all Danny replied.

Sara felt this was going to be one of those weird cult cases, the ones that stuck with a cop's career wherever they went, the kind that everyone always talked about. "Thanks, Danny. I'll tell Jake." She hung up and went in to get Jake, who was questioning Gwen.

"Hey, Pez. Ms. Marshall was just telling me how two other people came in earlier asking about Ms. Valakesh."

Sara was extremely unhappy. Actually, she was pissed. Someone interfering with a police investigation? she thought. Someone looking to spend time in a nice, small cell. She brushed the thought out of her mind to ask Gwen what she wanted.

"Ms. Marshall, was Ms. Valakesh, by any chance, a witch?" asked Sara.

Gwen was a little surprised. "Yeah, she said she was a practicing Wiccan. As a matter of fact, those other two people left right after they asked me the same thing."

"What did they look like?" Jake asked.

Gwen replied, "Well, one was a man, late 40's, early 50's, glasses. Had a British accent. The other was a woman, in her 20's, kind of small. Had blond hair. That's about all I can remember. I was so distressed about things I forgot to ask their names."

"Thanks for your time, ma'am," Jake said.

They exited the store and Sara told Jake what Danny relayed to her. "Seems Ms. Devereaux was also a witch. Danny said Forensics found out the herbs in that jar were sage, commonly used in spells."

Jake couldn't believe it. Spells? Witches? Were Dorothy and Toto going to make an appearance, too? "You're kidding, right?"

"'Fraid not, McCartey. Someone's killing witches. And someone else is trying to get in our investigation. I want to get to the bottom of both."


Meanwhile...

The robed figure approached the locked room with a reverence for what was beyond it. In there, Tarchannen, also known as "The Dark One", meditated. For all Sean Davidson knew, Tarchannen was a specter, face always hidden and body robed in black. But what Tarchannen looked like didn't matter as what was promised to Sean: absolute power. When the world became theirs, as one of Tarchannen's followers, Sean would come into power like he had never seen. A few months ago, he was just some guy trying to make a buck selling drugs. Now, he was on the frontier of a new beginning, for all of them. The world would bow before them. Soon.

"I'm here to see The Dark One," he said to the guards. They were vampires, but they were intrigued by The Dark One's promise of power. Thus, they had chosen to serve him.

The guards opened the door and Sea proceeded in. There his master sat cloaked in darkness and meditating.

"You sent for me, Master?" he asked.

In a deep, harsh voice the dark figure spoke. "Yes. It seems that we have interlopers in our midst. I have sensed them ever since they arrived. We must step up our plans before they interfere. Here." The Dark One produced a photograph to Sean.

"I want them both. My spell will guide you to them. Bring their hearts back to me. Work quickly, and you will be rewarded upon completion of your task."

Sean was pleased. Rewards were always good. He replied humbly, "As you wish, my master."

He left to carry out his master's bidding. Tarchannen smiled. Soon the world would bow. Soon the world would bleed.