"But we don't know anything," protested Phoebe. "We didn't even know he existed until he showed up at the manor."
"He may not know that," said Leo. "He may just be assuming that Penny told you everything."
"Leo's right," said Prue. "But he seemed surprised to find that we were witches. And he kept going on about getting what she took from him."
"That's odd," said Jessica. "If he knew Penny was a witch he should have just assumed that you three were, too."
"That's not the only odd thing," said Leo. "You said the deaths began in 1991 and that there were seven of them."
"Yes," said Jessica.
"That means the last one occurred in 1997," said Leo. "Are you sure none of the descendents were murdered in 1998?"
"Well," said Jessica, "the next victim on the list would be a Marissa Williams. She's descended from Abigail Williams who accused Rebecca Nurse of being a witch. That was March 19th. On March 23rd, Edward and John Putnam also accused Rebecca Nurse of being a witch.
"But the last I checked, Marissa Williams was fine. That was about November of 1998. Oddly enough she works as a nurse in a pediatric ward for a hospital outside Desmoine, Iowa. If the warlock had kept to his usual pattern, she should have been murdered on September 19, 1998."
"What do you think it means?" Piper asked.
"I don't know," said Leo. "But Penny died on March 5th, 1998. Which means she wouldn't have been around to stop the warlock in September of 1998."
"Unless she somehow prevented him from killing this Marissa Williams before," said Prue. "Maybe this warlock is using some special device or something and Grams stole it from him. That's why the next victim on the list wasn't murdered."
"That would also explain this year, too," said Phoebe.
"What do you mean?" asked Prue.
"Well, it's November," said Phoebe. "Jessica hasn't said anything about another victim in September of this year. That means two years have gone by with none of the descendents being murdered. If Grams was able to take whatever it was he's been using, he probably can't kill any more of the descendents until he gets it back."
"But what is it?" asked Piper. "We have absolutely no idea what we're looking for."
"My guess is a special athame," said Jessica. "In the old days, humans weren't just murdered. They were sacrificed. That involves a whole special ritual and a specially blessed athame. This warlock seems to be following that pattern. The details I've been able to uncover on the other murders indicate that he's following some kind of ritual, although I haven't been able to determine which one."
"That would make sense," said Leo. "If he's going after the descendents of the prosecutors and accusers, he probably thinks it's appropriate that they be sacrificed in the traditional ritualistic manner. Especially since he's going through the trouble of murdering them in a specific order at a specific time and not just going after them as he can find them."
"But why go after them at all?" Prues asked. "They had nothing to do with the witch trials. He couldn't be getting any power from them. They're mortals. And it's not like it's going to bring any of the victims back."
"For that matter," said Piper, "why would a warlock be trying to avenge the deaths of accused witches? Especially witches that died hundreds of years ago? Jessica said that most of the victims weren't even true witches. Even if this warlock believed they really were witches, by avenge the murders of who would ostensibly be his enemies?"
"I've never been able to figure that one out," said Jessica. "The best I could come up with is that he must be a descendent of one of the mortals who was executed for witchcraft. But I've checked the dates of the victims in Salem thinking he might be using one of those dates as the date for his murders. None were executed on September 19th." The closest date is September 22nd when eight convicted witches were hung. Before that it was August 19th when they hung five of the convicted witches."
"Who knows why he's chosen that date?" asked Leo. "I'm sure there's some connection but it may make sense only to him. It might even be something we know nothing about."
"Well, we need to find whatever it was he was looking for," said Prue. "He seemed to think it was in the attic. That's a good place to start. Piper and Phoebe interrupted him before he could finish searching it. I think it's safe to assume that whatever it is is still there, assuming it's in the attic at all."
"What would this athame look like?" Piper asked Jessica.
"That's hard to say," said Jessica. "Many athames' we specially designed for a specific purpose. But I'm willing to bet it's probably distinctive. And it's probably also enchanted. Most of the victims so far haven't had any knife wounds. Which means the athame is probably magicked to do something specific. If you do find it, be very careful with it. There's no telling what it might do."
"Well, we need to get back to the manor right away," said Prue. "Thanks for all your help, Jessica. You've given us a lot of information we might not have been able to find anywhere else."
"Penny was a good friend," said Jessica. "If she was murdered, I'd like to help find her murderer. And when you find the athame, bring it to me. I know some rituals and incantations that should be able to destroy it. That way it can never hurt anyone else ever again."
"We will," said Piper. "Well, I guess we should orb back to the manor now. Actually, orbing isn't so bad. I supposed I could get used to it pretty quickly."
"I told you there was nothing to worry about," said Leo, smiling. "Thanks, Jessica. I'll let you know how things turn out."
"Thanks," said Jessica. "I'll look forward to hearing what you've learned."
The sisters held hands and Leo took Piper's hand in his. Smiling at her, he orbed them back to the manor. This time, Piper kept her eyes open for the entire orb.
