FIVE

"Well, I still didn't have any better luck with the scrying than we had earlier," said Phoebe as they ate breakfast. "All it would keep doing is indicating that the demon is still in the house."

"Well, I think we can safely rule out that," said Prue. "We've searched this house so many times that there's no way a demon could be hiding here without us knowing about it."

"Which still leaves us with the questions who is the demon and why does he want to kill Jerome?" questioned Piper. "Jerome, are you sure you can't think of any reason a demon might want to kill you?"

"Not that I know of," said Jerome. "But then again, I don't really know that much about demons except what I've seen in the movies. I'm not even sure what demons do."

"They try to kill the innocent," said Prue. "And it's our job to stop them. Only we don't seem to be doing a very good job of it this time."

"It's not your fault," said Leo. "This demon even has the Elders stumped and that's hard to do. All they can figure is that it's a shape shifter like you theorized. And that it's shifted to a different shape so that no one can identify what it really is. It's also using that flaming staff to further throw everyone off. It's hard to identify a specific demon when it doesn't act like any known demon."

"Well at least the Elders are stumped, too," said Piper. "At least I don't feel so stupid now."

"You shouldn't," said Leo. "It's just nearly impossible to identify this demon from what we know about it so far."

"So, what do we do if you can't find it and stop it?" Jerome asked. "I can't live on your sofa the rest of my life."

"Don't worry," said Prue. "The demon will make a mistake sooner or later. And when it does we'll be ready for it. Especially since it's tried to kill you three times and failed. It's going to be getting antsy. And that will make it careless. We just have to wait for it to make another appearance and we'll finish it once and for all."

"What do we do in the mean time?" Jerome asked.

"We wait," said Phoebe. "Not much else we can do. But don't worry. Like Prue said, this demon doesn't seem to want to attack when one of us is around. So as long as one of us is with you then you should be safe."

"And no wandering off for a glass of water or anything else," said Prue. "If you want to go get something to drink you make sure one of us is with you. That way you don't have to worry about the demon attacking again."

"Well, what about," said Jerome hesitantly. "I mean, what if I have to . . . What about going to the restroom? You can't go with me there."

"One of us will be right outside the door," said Prue. "If the demon should shimmer in all you have to do it say something. But with one of us standing right outside the door I'm betting the demon won't want to take that chance."

It was nearly ten o'clock when there was a knock at the front door. Phoebe was in the living room reading a book and Prue, Piper, and Jerome were in the kitchen. Leo had been called off to one of his other charges. When Phoebe opened the front door she found Geoffery standing on the front porch.

"Hello," said Phoebe. "Geoffery, isn't it?"

"Yes. And if I recall you're Phoebe."

"That's right. You have a good memory for names."

"I always did. Is Piper home? I'm afraid when I dropped my papers last night some of them got mixed up. She got some of mine and I still have some of hers. I just stopped by to drop hers off and pick up the ones I need."

"Sure come on in. She's in the kitchen. I'll go get her.

Geoffery opened his briefcase and started going through the papers in it as Phoebe went into the kitchen. A few moments later Piper and Phoebe walked into the living room.

"Hello, Geoffery," said Piper. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Just a slight mix-up," said Geoffery. "Last night when my papers fell on the floor I'm afraid some of them got mixed up. When I got home I found out that I still had one of your documents and one of mine was missing. I just figured they got mixed up in the confusion."

"Oh, okay," said Piper. "I haven't had a chance to look through them yet. I'll go get them."

She returned a few moments later with the papers Geoffery had given her. He handed her some papers and then went through the ones she had. He finally pulled out some papers that were stapled together and looked at them.

"Here they are," he said. "I was kind of worried. I have to file these today."

"Well, no harm done I guess," said Piper. "It's been a little hectic around here the last few hours. But you have your papers now so you can get them filed."

"Tell me about it," said Geoffery. "I'm handling a commitment for a young man. I've never done anything like that before and I want to make sure I get everything right."

"Aren't you supposed to not talk about your clients?" questioned Phoebe. "Something about attorney-client privilege or something like that?"

"Yes," said Geoffrey smiling. "But as long as I don't mention any specifics it's okay. Besides, a commitment is a matter of public record. I'm not divulging any confidences by mentioning it."

"Oh, okay," said Phoebe. "I just heard that whatever a client talks about with an attorney is confidential."

"It is," said Geoffery. "But there are exceptions to that. Anything that's a matter of public record isn't confidential. And anything we discuss in front of a third party isn't confidential. But the specifics of the case are confidential unless I have the client's permission."

"Well, you learn something new every day," said Piper. "So I guess whatever I told you is also confidential."

"Yes," said Geoffery, "but to be honest there really isn't that much about a business transaction like this that's confidential. Most of the things are contracts and licenses and things like that which are a matter of public record. But anything we discuss in private is certainly confidential."

"That's good to know," said Piper.

"Piper," said Prue, coming out of the kitchen with Jerome behind her, "I think the milk has gone bad. I threw it out and we need to get some more."

"Okay," said Piper. "I'll run to the store later. You remember Geoffery from last night."

"Of course," said Prue. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks," said Geoffery."

"Geoffery," said Jerome suddenly running up to the lawyer, "I'm glad you're here. Everything I told you is true. Only the monster is really a demon. And these three are witches protecting me from it. I have proof now. The demon is real."

Prue just looked at Piper and Phoebe wondering what they were going to do now. Jerome had just blown their cover.