"Are you sure about this?" Dipper asked one final time before getting into the car.
For a moment, he could see doubt on Ford's face. The man glanced at the Mystery Shack and frowned. He wanted to stay, that much was obvious, but he forced the feeling down. "Yes." He said with resolve and slid into the driver's seat.
Dipper sighed heavily. He looked at the Shack one last time and found Bill standing in one of the windows. He offered him a comforting smile before hopping into the car. Ford turned on the ignition and they drove away. The new car was small and black. It was a second-hand vehicle but it had been maintained so well that one would never have guessed it had belonged to another family before. It was far more comfortable than the heap of junk Grunkle Stan drove around and Dipper was thankful for the comfortable seating. However, he couldn't quite enjoy it as much as he would have liked. Worry weighed on his mind.
"So what's the deal between you and Bill?" Dipper asked as they got onto the road to town, "No offence, but you were kind of an asshole to him the other day."
"The other day…?" Ford asked, drawing out the last word and indirectly requesting clarifications.
"Honestly, every day for a while." Dipper admitted, "You've been impatient, cold, and harsh with him."
"It's complicated, Dipper." Ford sighed softly.
"Do you love him?" Dipper asked bluntly.
Ford jolted and gripped his steering wheel tighter. "It's…complicated."
"It's a yes or no question." Dipper said. And after a moment he added: "You said no more secrets."
"This is different." Ford said.
"Okay, so are you not letting yourself love him?" Dipper asked instead.
"…Yes." Ford admitted, defeated.
"Why?" The brunet frowned.
"Because he hurt me, Dipper. More than you could ever imagine." Ford said and glanced at his nephew, "I shouldn't love him. What I'm feeling for him is irrational."
"People change." Dipper tried.
"Bill is not people." Ford said and the younger man was surprised by the answer. Bill had said the same thing at some other point. The difference was that Ford sounded like he was reciting something that had been drilled into his head. "He looks human and he might act more human, but he's not. Not really, anyways."
As much as he wanted to keep arguing in Bill's defense, Dipper decided to stop. Mabel was right. The man needed more time to digest what he had gone through with Bill before moving on. He found it annoying that the progression was moving about so slowly but there was nothing Dipper could do.
"Regardless," Ford said, effectively changing the subject, "We're driving to Maria Morgan's shop. I want you to look at the security feed of the day of the theft and of later that night."
"What do you know?" Dipper asked just as they rolled into town.
"Ms Morgan gets a lot of random customers." Ford started, "Only a few are regulars and she knows all of them perfectly well. She supplied a list of names but insisted they would never steal anything from her – let alone a dagger that wasn't even on display."
"Did anyone know about the dagger?" He asked.
"Very few people. All of them were close friends." Ford informed, "She made a list and they all checked out."
"What about the theft?" Dipper asked, "Any particular details?"
"It was skillfully done." Ford explained, "The perpetrator knew exactly where he was going and there were no signs of hesitation in his steps. I also concluded that he knew his environment pretty well because no alarms were triggered."
"You would think he would have been able to avoid the cameras in that case." Dipper snorted.
"Ms Morgan had them install the day of." Ford said, "I don't know if that means he screwed up or if he had done it on purpose."
They pulled up in front of the shop in question. It was small, nestled between two much larger buildings though it managed to stand out what with its bright and flashy colours. The wooden structure was modelled after the Victorian era – something Dipper always thought was fitting considering most of Ms Morgan's goods stemmed from that time – and was painted in various arrays of purple, pink, and blue. A large sign with headlights was erected just a meter in front of the set of stairs that led to the entrance, drawing more attention to the shop.
They walked up the creaky steps and pushed the door open. The bell above sounded in a gentle and pleasant jingle which drew the attention of everyone who stood nearby. They spared the pair a brief peek before returning to their own devices. The shop was small and cramped but still managed to display an impressive quantity of Victorian furniture. The smaller trinkets were located off to the left on shelves that touched the ceiling.
Dipper followed Ford through the surprising amount of people inspecting the furniture. He was careful not to bump into anyone and sighed in relief when they got a less crowded area with more room to breathe. Ford led the way up a set of twirling stairs in a space so narrow the man himself could hardly fit properly. His arms touched either walls on both sides which forced him to walk in an awkward, diagonal way until they got into the room it gave out on. The room in question wasn't particularly big but that might have been due to the surveillance equipment and multiple camera monitors.
"This is more high-tech than I was expecting." Dipper confessed.
Ford sat at the desk chair and Dipper pulled a stool just next to him. The six fingered man typed at the keys in front of him, quickly taking over a few monitors and replacing the live footage with pre-recorded images detailing the day and night of the theft they were investigating. Ford played the day first. The footage was programmed to advance at a much faster speed and so would only take a couple of minutes rather than a few hours to conclude. Customers began arriving at eight though Dipper knew the store opened at seven on that specific day of the week. There were never more than four people in average in the small space all at once though it was more frequent to have two people at the same time – excluding the employee working the cash just by the entrance.
Dipper didn't see anyone that stood out. Here and there he recognized people he had befriended. There had been Robbie and Tambry, Melodie, Old man McGucket, Tad and Mayor Cutebiker, and many others. Everyone acted normally. They all sorted through the items on display and some even bought a few things. Dipper was particularly surprised to see Robbie purchase a dresser that seemed like it would have been rather expensive. Then again, his parents were much richer than they let on.
"What do you make of that?" Ford asked.
"There was nothing out of the ordinary." Dipper said. "There were just a bunch of people buying things. Old Man McGucket was sort of strange though. Isn't he poor?"
"He didn't buy anything." Ford pointed out, "McGucket might be a crazy coot now, but he's definitely not the Warlock. It was like I already told you, the man could never learn to wield magic."
"Bill said with enough time it would have been possible." Dipper reminded.
"Bill's claim has no evidence to support it." Ford stated and he pressed the play button for the night recording.
The first few hours were lifeless. They saw Ms Morgan close down shop and lock the doors as she left to return home. Then there was more nothingness until a shadow appeared at the door. Dipper knew it was the Warlock because he bore a black tunic and hid his face with his hood. Rather than use magic, he opted to kneel and make use of his lock picking kit. He fiddled with the lock for a few seconds before the door fell ajar and he pushed it open the rest of the way. The video switched to a new camera, offering an angle that showed the man walk into the store and easily move past the aisles and furniture scattered about. He went to the back of the store and the camera switched again to show him walking down the stairwell that led to the basement floor – the place where Maria Morgan kept her personal collection. It showed him walking into the room, picking a few more locks, and leaving with the obsidian dagger which he didn't to bother hiding. It was strange.
"The dagger's still in his hand when he leaves the store." Dipper noted. "Even if you were under the impression there were no surveillance cameras, wouldn't you have hidden what you stole once you stepped out? It's still a weapon and, dressed like that, he would definitely draw some attention."
"The fact that it's the middle of the night would only make him more suspicious to the random onlooker." Ford mused in agreement.
"When was this taken?" Dipper asked. There was something about that night that bothered him.
"June 4th." Ford answered after pressing a few buttons to reveal the date.
"June 4th…" Dipper repeated meditatively. "Wait…" and suddenly he realized what was bothering him, "Wasn't that a day before Bill stumbled upon the Shack?"
"You're right." Ford said, "This must have been for the ritual…hadn't there been a full moon the night he came to us?"
"I don't remember, there was a storm." Dipper said, "But it's possible."
"From this we can gather the Warlock took his materials at the last second." Ford concluded. "Which doesn't make sense. If gaining so much power was at play, he shouldn't have wanted to risk anything going wrong by delaying the acquisition of essential tools for the ritual until the very last second. Something's not right…"
"Maybe…he just wanted to borrow it?" Dipper suggested and he couldn't believe he had just said something so stupid.
Borrow? Really? Because a Warlock would have been thoughtful enough to return what wasn't rightfully his once he was done murdering someone for a ritual.
"I doubt he's benevolent enough for that." Ford snorted.
"None of this helps us figure out who he is." Dipper said, "I mean, we can't just go around asking people where they were on the night of June 4th. I can hardly remember what I was doing two weeks ago, so how are they supposed to remember what they were doing over a month ago?"
"People wouldn't feel obligated to answer either way." Ford agreed, "At worst, the people start talking and news reaches the Warlock. That being said, it does help with your side of the investigation."
"How?" Dipper asked.
"You can ask your people where they were on June 4th or if they heard any strange sounds." Ford said, "If one of them was absent for whatever reason or if one of them heard something, it likely means they had the Enochian bowl or something else the Warlock needed."
"Smart." Dipper huffed.
"I have twelve PhDs for a reason." Ford smirked.
Suddenly, his smile was gone with a gasp. His pupils shrunk and the colour drained from his face.
"What? What's wrong?" Dipper asked worriedly, reading the panic evident on Ford's face.
"The Warlock's attacking the barrier." He hissed and in a flash, he was barrelling down the tight stair case. "We have to go!" He yelled with Dipper trailing after him, "Now!"
They ran into the car and Dipper had barely gotten in when Ford slammed on the gas pedal. He ignored all the street lights and drove at insane speeds that would make Grunkle Stan feel unsafe. They also almost smashed into a few cars along the way. But Dipper didn't say anything. His heart was beating heavily in his chest. Neither had been expecting the Warlock to be so bold.
"Shit!" Ford hissed and he pressed the gas pedal further but the car couldn't go any faster. "He broke it!"
"Bill can fight back." Dipper said hopefully but he wasn't sure the ex-demon could. Bill's power was limited now, not to mention he was going up against a foe who managed to bend the elements for nearly a whole month.
Rather than answer, Ford remained quiet. They turned off the main road and drove down the dirt path that led to the Shack. Then they beheld a sight neither had been expecting. The wooden structure was engulfed in purple flames which slowly ate at the wood and tore the house down. Dipper left the care with an awe-struck expression.
"Stay back!" Ford snapped and he walked towards the purple fire. "Bill!" he called, "Bill! Answer me!"
But he didn't and Dipper knew it was because the Warlock had gotten him. The two were probably long gone. He gritted his teeth in frustration and couldn't help but kick the car out of sheer anger. They had failed. They had screwed up just like the Warlock had said they would.
Ford walked towards the fire until he was so close Dipper thought the flames would consume him. Then he raised his hands and a yellow glow encased them. He took in a heavy breath and used his magic to put out the fire calmly and rebuild the parts of the Shack that had fallen. Dipper noticed how the green grass died around his great uncle as he accomplished his feat. It was amazing and the teenager might have appreciated it more had Bill not been taken away to be murdered by a deranged Warlock.
"Bill!" The thirty year old man continued yelling once the flames were gone.
"They're gone." Dipper said as he came up behind his uncle. "The Warlock took him."
He couldn't see Ford's face but he assumed he was angry. His entire body trembled for an instant and the yellow flame engulfing his bawled hands grew in ferocity.
"How long until the full moon?" Ford asked, his voice shaking with rage.
"Around twelve hours." Dipper said grimly. "It's tonight."
"We need to find Bill."