Gabby lifted her head up and blinked the tear from her eye. She didn't say anything but figured that Ray would keep talking no matter what she did.
"I just want you to know how truly sorry I am about what happened to you. If you want me to be perfectly honest, I'm fascinated by the dark arts," said Ray, "I have been since I was a kid. In fact, it's part of the reason why I have this job, and I know that it's the same with you."
Gabby stopped trembling and relaxed her shoulders. She wasn't sure whether to believe Ray or not. What he started out with was assuring but she wanted to hear more.
"If there's one thing I love, it's going to the library or esoteric bookstore to read up on spells and rituals, even though I've never performed any myself. I do it to understand the paranormal a little better. I mean, you can't bust a ghost properly unless you know how they got here or what their motives could be."
Gabby knew that Ray was thoughtful when it came to other people, but he was also thoughtful in that he was full of thoughts. Sort of like Egon but a bit more emotive. With a head full of thoughts came curiosity and with that curiosity came understanding. If only more people were like Ray.
"The reason I went along with what Peter did was because I didn't want to cause any more drama than there needed to be. I mean, the guy was so riled up that if I defended you in any way, he probably would have accused ME of being a witch."
Or maybe more people shouldn't be like Ray. If he really cared, he would have spoken up rather than go along with the crowd, but he didn't out of self-preservation. Gabby was ready to be angry with him until she realized that this was no different than the witch trials of centuries ago. How many people on the juries and in the communities knew that the people accused were innocent but didn't speak up because they didn't want to be accused as well? How many of them had to live the rest of their lives knowing that an innocent person was dunked in a pond or hanged and they just… let it happen? Granted, Peter wouldn't have done those things. The others at the firehouse wouldn't let him. The others in this so-called enlightened society wouldn't let him. But the feelings that were boiling over within Peter were very much the same as the riotous villagers from centuries ago.
"From what I've read in the occult books, there are many spells that do insidious and spiteful things… but there are also spells that help others, like healing a sickness or making plants grow. The Wizard of Oz has taught us that there are good witches as well as evil ones. And I know in my heart that you're good. One of these days, Peter will come around. Just… keep that in mind while you're busy being sad, okay?"
Gabby suddenly felt the urge to straighten her back. Ray was being his sweet, helpful self while at the same time, divulging personal details. It was a moment of vulnerability for him. Gabby stood up, stretched and opened the door.
Ray stood there and gave a half-hearted smile.
"Oh, Ray," said Gabby, "I can't stay mad at you." She gave a big hug to Ray, who in turn squeezed her even harder. She didn't mind the near-suffocation from the strong man. As far as she was concerned, this was a measurement of how much he cared. "Just… from now on, try not to be a groveling sycophant, okay?"
"Okay, I'll try," said Ray, "Honestly, I'd rather be an elephant than a sycophant." He then held out his arm like an elephant trunk and did his best elephant impersonation (which was pretty darn good).
Gabby couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"See? I knew there was a happy person in there somewhere."
Gabby much preferred this way of getting a smile out of her rather than having people tell her to smile in a paternalistic tone.
Gabby and Ray turned to their side to see Peter using the phone at Janine's desk.
"Hello, NYPD?" he said, "Can I speak to your Witchfinder General?" Peter waited a few seconds for a response and then sulked. "They hung up."
Winston promptly grabbed the receiver out of his hand and slammed it back onto its cradle.
"That's enough funny business from you, Peter," said Winston, "We don't want you making this situation any worse than it needs to be. Egon is going to be here any minute to help us clear things up."
Gabby couldn't be angry at Peter anymore, either. Now, he was just being ridiculous like he usually was.
Sometime earlier, Egon sat at Janine's kitchen table surrounded by the usual chaos of papers, writing implements, books, measurement devices and his trusted portable computer. The mess brought him comfort. It was proof of how hard he was working on this new proton pack. And, no, he didn't mind that he would have to clean it all up later so that the table could be used for its intended purpose. So far, his design was coming along. Every so often, he's daydream about this invention. It was only a matter of time until it went from being just a drawing to being a reality
Along with the mess on the table was Little Casey propped up in his infant seat. He had no complaints and remained quiet while his father stared at the calculation on the paper in front of him. But then, he started leaning forward and reaching toward something. As he did this, he made whining noises, which snapped Egon out of his concentration.
"What is it, Casey?" asked Egon.
From the looks of it, Casey was trying to reach for the spoon that was sitting on one of the papers. Egon had put it there in anticipation of using it for lunch… or was it for coffee? He couldn't remember.
"You want the spoon?" he asked. "What could you possibly want with a spoon?" He picked up the spoon and placed it in Casey's tiny right hand. Unfortunately, Casey could not yet grip an object like that correctly and it fell back onto the table. Casey went back to whining and trying the grab the spoon himself.
Egon picked up the spoon again, this time ensuring that it stayed between his fingers and thumb.
"Here," he said. He held up the spoon as close as comfortably possible to his child's face.
Casey was awestruck as he looked at the eating implement. He moved his head while still looking at the shiny object. He reached out, grabbed it and squeezed it a couple of times. He drew it close until he wrapped his mouth around it. For a brief couple of seconds, he was using the spoon for its intended purpose. When he took it out of his mouth, he stared at it some more. He then used his limited strength to hit the spoon. After doing this several times, the spoon flew out of Egon's fingers, causing Casey to giggle.
"Why would you do this to something you wanted so badly?" asked Egon.
But he then realized that he answered his own question. What this baby was doing was a highly simplified version of The Scientific Method. Casey spotted the object and posed to himself the question, "What is this?" Using the abilities that he had, he performed a battery of tests on the object: What does it look like up close? What happens when I look at it from a different angle? What does it feel like? What does it taste like? What happens when I hit it hard enough? To Egon, this was a simple spoon and he knew exactly what it was used for. To Casey, this implement was a groundbreaking discovery on par with The Antikythera Mechanism. He wanted to unlock its secrets, although it was mainly for his own personal knowledge rather than any sort of esteem from the public or scientific community.
"That's my boy," thought Egon.
Egon snapped out of his pride when the phone rang. He got up and answered it. Fortunately, Casey wasn't interested in the spoon anymore and was content with bouncing up and down in his seat.
"Hello, Melnitz Residence," said Egon.
"Hey, Egon!" said Winston. He sounded just as joyful as he usually did during the beginning of phone calls. "How have you been?"
"I was going to save it for the group update but I think I'm close to developing that new proton pack. You see, I've been drawing blueprints for switches and what I thought was-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can save it for the group call. The reason I called you is because… well… you know Gabby?"
"Of course, I know Gabby. I was the one who hired her."
"Yeah, obviously. You know her but it turns out you didn't KNOW her."
Egon couldn't quite comprehend what Winston was saying. "What do you mean, exactly?"
"Well, it turns out she's a witch."
Egon was dumbstruck at this revelation. "A witch? Am I hearing this correctly?"
"Yes, Egon, a witch. She casts spells. She communicates with beings from other realms. She probably rides a broomstick. That kind of witch."
Gabby? A Witch? He was slightly suspicious when he saw her drawing random symbols in her spare time. But he tended to jump to the worst conclusions and he had to convince himself that she was just drawing random designs out of boredom, just like what kids who are bored in class do. But this was one of those times where Ockam's Razor didn't do justice. In this case, it was the strangest explanation that was the correct one.
"I see…" he said, "I'll head down to the firehouse once Janine gets home so I can have a talk with Gabby."
"Good luck with that," said Winston, "She locked herself in the bathroom because Peter made her angry. She also damaged some property in a magical angry outburst."
"Oh, joy."
