The Witch's Ladder (12 page)

“
Then how did you hear about it, on the radio?”

Leona began rambling on about something in Spanish, though much too quickly for Valerie to catch it all.

“
Whoa—whoa, slow down,” said Valerie. “Start from the beginning.”

Leona took a deep breath and let it out with a quiver. “Valerie, I need to talk to you and the others, but I do not want to see Detective Marcella. I am afraid he will not understand.”

“
Leona. Dear God, what is it? Are you all right?”

Leona nodded.

“
Are you all right, Leona?”

Another nod.

“
Geezus, girl. If you’re nodding your head, stop it. I may be clairvoyant, but the phone is still the best medium for cross-town conversations.”

“
Yes, I am fine.” She laughed. “Can we meet tonight?”

“
Sure. I’ll call Doctor Lieberman and the others, tell him we need to meet as a support group.” After a brief silence, she added, “You know Detective Marcella will want to be there, too. You may not be able to avoid him.”

“
Yes, I know. Perhaps that is not so bad. Who knows, maybe….” She sighed. “We will see.”

Later that night, the group filed somberly across the parking lot, skirting the perimeter of the crime scene masked off in yellow tape. The county medical examiner had removed the bodies, but one could still clearly see where the murders took place. A chalked outline of Chris’ body ringed the ground next to the parking spot where the patrol car sat. Small orange police cones marked the dried blood that trailed downhill through the lot into a drainage grate.

Across the street, reporters and news crews trained their cameras on the bewildered faces of the arriving workshop members, their lights drawing the attention of both the curious and the morbid. The gathering crowd of onlookers lent a ghoulish sense of disorder to the picture, as the city gobbled up its live-at-five television report on the latest Surgeon Stalker killings.

Inside the building, the group gathered in the room on the second floor at the top of the stairs, taking their seats around the big oak tables as usual. Down the hall, Doctor Lieberman discussed the future of the workshop with Doctor Lowell in his office. At one point, the group overheard Doctor Lowell demand that the workshop disband. Doctor Lieberman argued vehemently against it.

“
This whole thing is just bad publicity for the Center,” Doctor Lowell complained. “We have people out there that think you’re running some kind of psycho-sorcery playhouse. Some say you’re toying with this Surgeon Stalker by enticing him with live human bait. My God. How else can the Center explain why three people from the same workshop were singled out by this…this madman?”

Back in the classroom, tears were already mixing with goodbyes when Doctor Lieberman returned, grinning.

“
Don’t pack your bags yet,” he announced. “I’ve convinced him to let us continue the workshops.”

“
How did you pull that off?” Lilith asked.

“
Never mind. Let’s just say that I offered up a very persuasive argument, but let there be no mistake. Doctor Lowell and I are extremely concerned for your safety. And I must warn you, should we continue, the Center cannot ensure your safety any more than Detective Marcella can. Our vigilance and caution may be our only defense for survival in the days and weeks to come. That is if you all still want to continue.”

Valerie stood and said, “Before you all answer, I think you may want to hear this.” All eyes turned to her. “I guess it’s clear by now that for whatever reason, somebody wants us dead. I know that Detective Marcella interviewed Michael again this morning and I’m sure he’ll be up here shortly wanting to question the rest of us. Before he does, there’s something you all should know and we need to discuss whether we should tell Detective Marcella or not.”

She turned to Leona and took her hand. “Last night, as you all know, while the rest of the town slept, something terrible happened, something so shocking and brutal that the devil’s own could not have committed a more hideous act. Something so gruesome and so horrifying that absolutely nobody on Earth should have had to witness it, certainly no one as precious and innocent as this young woman. Unfortunately…” She swept the room with her gaze. “Leona witnessed it. She was there last night through bilocation. She saw Chris and that officer slain by that savage bastard.”

“
You saw it
all
?” Gordon asked. “You saw the killer? Who is he, someone we know?”

“
Yes, who?” Michael added, feeding the frenzy of questions thrown at Leona from all directions.

The explosion of voices threatened to send Leona off in retreat until Lilith blurted out, “Is it one of us?”

Her question silenced the room. Leona shrunk into her chair; her eyes darted nervously from one curious face to the other before settling again on Valerie Spencer. Just the warmth in her eyes seemed to calm Leona. She smiled, stood and made her way slowly to the window. Below, the remaining investigators had begun packing up for the evening. The news people and their bright lights had already gone, pressed to meet the six o’clock news deadline. Leona opened her mouth and her soft-spoken words spilled out effortlessly.

“
I used to see everything,” she said, her monotone voice void of emotions. “When I was a little girl in Honduras, I saw such things and I remembered every detail. I remembered the faces and the uniforms of the men who came to kill.” She put her finger to the glass and traced a sign of the cross as she gazed out in a hollow stare. “They came to kill. They always kill.” Her finger slid down the glass and her hand came to rest by her side. “They took people away into the jungle. I saw the color of their eyes peering from above the bandanas they wore to cover their faces, and I remembered. I saw them, but they could not see me. The innocent could, but not the evil ones.

“
Many of the women in their pretty dresses…the men shot them dead. Blood ran down the front of their dresses, turning them bright red. I learned to despise that color. To this day, I do not wear anything red. To me, it is the color of death.”

She turned her cheek to the window and pressed it against the glass. Her voice, already barely loud enough to hear, came back even softer.

“
When I became older…” She reached up for the beads around her neck and clutched them. “I slept with the holy rosary so that I might have it with me when I traveled out of body. I could do nothing to help the innocent whose murders I witnessed, but when they saw me holding the beads, they would think the Holy Mother sent me. They would look up at me and make the sign of the crucifix. I think it gave them a sense of peace before…” Her voice trailed off to an inaudible whisper.

In the window, Leona could see the reflection of the others. They stood behind her, silent, but for their breathing, straining to hear her words. She had not spoken of those horrible memories to anyone before, not even to Valerie or Doctor Lieberman, though both found it encouraging that she could speak of it after all these years, finding the strength to confront her demons.

“
One night, about two years ago,” Leona continued, “I went away to Puerto Castilla on holiday with my Uncle and his family. I went to sleep, but awoke to find myself in the jungles of Nicaragua. It had been many months since I traveled out of body, so I did not sleep with my rosary. I knew then what I would see there, another killing. What I did not expect was that this time it would be my own papa. They beat him severely and dragged him into the jungle so they could shoot him and leave him dead. Papa begged on his knees for his life. He looked over and saw me. I knew he did, but his assassins could not.

“
When they executed him…” She broke again to catch her stifled breath. “I looked at the men who did it so that I could remember their faces.” She shook her head softly. “For some reason, I could not see them. They were not wearing masks or covering their faces anymore. I just could not see them. My brain would not allow me to see. That was the last time I experienced bilocation in my sleep, until now, before all of this started.”

Leona turned from the window. A single teardrop skittered down the side of her cheek, splashing delicately onto her chest before disappearing in a salty trail down the front of her blouse.

“
So you were at Suffolk’s Walk?” asked Michael.

“
Yes, but I did not see who did it. It was just a shadow to me. I was very frightened. I feel whoever it is, he knows me. He can see me. Only now I cannot see him. I cannot explain. I have this feeling. The killer knows me and soon…” She began to tremble. “I will be next.”

Valerie hurried to Leona. Doctor Lieberman also rushed to her side. Together, they steadied her.

“
So you know it’s a man?” said the doctor.

“
No, not for sure. Every time the shadow seems somehow different. Sometimes the figure is large and menacing, and sometimes it is not so large.”

“
Maybe it’s not always the same person,” said Valerie.

Leona shrugged.

Shekina said, “Let me get this straight,” her voice twanged with cynicism. “You’re telling us that you were present at all six murders. You saw everything, but you cannot tell us if the killer is a man or a woman? I find that difficult to believe. Am I the only one who thinks that is unbelievable?”

Akasha stood. “No, Sister. You are not the only one. It seems to me if one is watching, then one can see everything and not just shadows. I believe we have much documentation including vivid accounts of Leona’s bilocations. In them, she has never mentioned seeing shadows, only colorful details.”

“
Wait just a minute,” Lilith said. “I don’t remember anyone saying that Leona was at all six murders. Nobody said she saw Travis or Barbara murdered. Why make that assumption now? Are you morons, or just pathetically lacking compassion for this poor woman?”

Akasha turned her nose up. “Why do you defend her?”

“
Because she deserves the benefit of the doubt. No one said she was there when—”

“
I was there,” said Leona.

“
What?”

“
I was there when Barbara and Travis were killed. I saw everything—except for who did it.”

Doctor Lieberman said, “Leona. Why haven’t you told us this before? Don’t you know that any information you have could be important?”

“
I was afraid that whoever it was would come for me if he knew I could help the police.”

“
But you came clean now,” said Valerie. “That’s what’s important. Maybe we can help you remember. Would you let us try?”

Leona clutched her rosary to her chest, searched Valerie’s eyes for reassurance and said, “All right.”

Doctor Lieberman motioned for Jean to check outside the door. Gordon and Michael drew the shades over the windows. Valerie grabbed a chair and slid it to the middle of the room. “Lilith,” she said, “will you help me?”

Lilith agreed, and the two led Leona to a chair, taking up positions by Leona’s side.

“
Leona,” said Valerie. “Lilith and I are going to try something on you. It will help you remember. It’s a form of hypnosis called spontaneous trans-neuro-manipulation, or STM. It won’t hurt a bit. Is that okay?”

Leona nodded.

Most in the group knew what to expect next, except Jean. She asked Doctor Lieberman, who explained it the best he could.

“
It’s a simple procedure,” he said, “involving the manipulation of the temporal lobe and the spinal accessory nerve at the base of the skull. It requires two people to perform, as you can see, with Valerie implementing pressure on Leona’s spinal accessory nerve while Lilith applies equal force to Leona’s temporal lobes. If performed correctly, Leona should fall into a relaxed state of consciousness. Signals to her cerebellum will temporarily short circuit. When that happens, the temporal and frontal lobes of her cerebrum, the portions harboring long and short memories, will become energized or super charged.”

Jean nodded as though she understood. In all likelihood, though, she probably lost him at, ‘It’s a simple procedure’. Though his narrative might have proved difficult to understand, the results of the experiment were realized immediately. In no time, Leona was under hypnosis and vividly recalling the horrid events of the night before.

“
Tell me what you remember about last night, Leona,” Valerie said, her voice soft and soothing. “Start from the beginning, just after you called Doctor Lieberman to tell him you weren’t going to make it to the meeting.”

Leona’s body fell into a relaxed slump as she melted comfortably into her seat, releasing her inhibitions and surrendering them to the will of her guardians.

“
I remember feeling so very tired,” she said, rocking her head back into Valerie’s cradling fingers. “All day I did not feel well. I went to bed for a nap. The next thing I knew I was here at the Center. I was bilocating.”