Landra and I nodded in agreement. I was worried that he would ask my opinion of some team or player and I don’t know anything. OK, I do know that he’s talking about football.
Herman spent a few more minutes discussing the Bears’ chance this year and then eased into the Bulls. Finally, he noticed that we weren’t contributing to the discussion. With his head down, he said that he was going to get another drink and asked if we were sure that we didn’t want one. We indicated that we were full up.
“He’s a well meaning boy,” Landra said after he left. “Let’s see what’s to eat,”
By the time we sampled the canapés and finished our second drink, the room was emptying. We walked through the lot to her car in silence except for her clicking heels. She looked at me and said, “Thank you, Frank. It was a nice evening.” She squeezed my hand and then got in her car. She started the car, looked at me and gave me a finger wave. I watched her drive down the tree lined road into the dark night.
Chapter 10
Witch Meeting Was That
I don’t know what got into me. I thought that if I went there now, no one would be there and I could find out something useful. I had the keys for the front door that I got from ___ so I was able to get to step 1. I’m sorry I can’t name the person who gave me the keys since this would violate my ethics, the Jason Malloy Code of Professional Ethics.
I glanced around when I put the key in the lock. I shouldn’t have done that. I promised myself I wouldn’t do that. The correct thing to do would be to walk up the steps and stick the key in the lock like you were supposed to be in the building and you were late. But, I’m learning and I have to admit I’m nervous.
As you would expect, it was dark inside. There were a few lights on but if I was a burglar, which I almost am, these few lights would not showcase my presence in the library.
Next to the elevator were the stairs. I opened the door and tried the lock to see if I closed the door, would I be locked in the stairwell. OK, it wasn’t locked. If the Professor found out that I was doing this extra-legal action, he would say, “Jason, who told you to do this? What were you thinking?” That is, unless I found something that was of value. Actually, even then he would kill me. He is a stickler for ethics and for setting a good example for us.
Down the stairs I went. Slowly because the lights were so dim that I could easily trip and make a noise that would alert any evil-doers, or cops, that were in the area. The air felt dry and warm like a boiler room of an apartment building.
At the bottom of the stairs, I heard sounds, like humming or singing—something human—it wasn’t a machine or the creaking of the building. I went left, toward the sound. There was a light on in a room at the end of the corridor which lit the path for me. There was no other illumination. The sound was louder as I got closer. I pressed myself against the wall next to the open door and, putting aside all my fears, sneaked a look into the room.
I can’t believe it! Wait till I tell Ralphy, and Palma! At the end of this forty foot square storage room were about eight or nine people in a circle, holding hands. They were all naked. Naked as the day they were born. There were two men and the rest were female. They all looked ready for retirement. Droop and flap are the words that I would use to describe the scene. Pretty or beauty was not here tonight. If I wasn’t such a horny perv, I would have quietly ran from my spot next to the door, but the opportunity to see our zany librarian was too much.
They were singing or chanting something in a foreign tongue or they were saying something backwards. I can’t believe it! Our Ms. Beems, naked as anything bouncing up and down, holding hands with the two men and prancing around a big candle that must have been a half a foot in diameter and twice as tall. The candle was in a bowl. A bowl colored like the missing one only much larger, large enough to accommodate the candle. They stopped now. They turned to their partners, the person on their left, held both of their hands and very gently kissed on the lips. Then they looked like athletes after an event. Coming down, unreeling from the experience. It looked like they were through and getting ready to leave.
With great care, I slowly moved backwards, away from the door. I stopped. Someone was behind me and was pushing a board into my back. I raised my hands in surrender and carefully turned around to see my captor. I just about passed out from relief. What happened was I backed into a partially open door. Did I make a noise? I don’t know. I looked around to see if those in the room had heard me. I tip toed backwards down the corridor to the stairs.
Yes, I could have probably learned more if I stayed around longer and observed but, let’s face it, I’m chicken, a pussycat at best.
Who were those people with Beems and what were they doing down there? Wait till I tell the gang!
Chapter 11
Library Discussion
“I am angry with you, Jason. That was a crime.” We were all at the Bar Bar having lunch, courtesy of MAW, and I was reading the riot act to Jason for his unthinking venture into the library last night. What was he thinking?
“Wait,” Ralphy said. “It’s not Breaking and Entering because he didn’t break in. And it’s not Criminal Trespass because he had no criminal intent. I would say the worst Jason would be charged with would be Trespass or Unlawful Entry, not really anything that carries a sentence worth talking about.”
“What about ethics here?” I asked. “What about doing what is right? What about behaving responsibly? What did I teach you? Nothing? Even if he isn’t charged, he still did wrong. That is not how information is gathered by law enforcement units or prosecutors. I expect more from you guys. I have told you time and again about the responsibilities of being a law officer. It’s not just about getting caught. If you act with disregard for the law, you are no better that the people that we are tracking down. We are the same as the criminals. We are the criminals.”
“The professor is right,” Veronica said. Monica nodded her approval. “You can’t just go wherever you want. There are rules that we must follow. And besides, you could have gotten hurt. Those people could have taken you prisoner.”
“Not likely,” Ralphy added. “Those people were so old that if there wasn’t an elevator there, they’d probably have to hold their meeting on the first floor.”
“I don’t mean disrespect, Professor, but how could we have gotten that information other than the way Jason got it?”
I answered by saying: “I know people in the administration. I could have asked them to give me permission and keys to go into the library, or for that matter, into any building that I thought was necessary to carry out our investigation. There are always many different ways to solve a problem—if you use your head. That’s the key, use your head.”
“I’m sorry, Professor. I got carried away with the Private Investigator thing. I won’t do it again,” Jason said.
“None of you are indispensable. Remember that. If anyone is not following my guidelines or is not doing what I ask them to do, they will be removed from the group. Is that understood?” I looked at each one of them with my most serious look and settled on Jason’s face
They all nodded in agreement.
“All right,” I said. “Since you were there, what did you find out?”
“I don’t know if it’ll help us, but I did learn a lot, Professor,” Jason said.
“Like what?” Ralphy said.
“Well, I went downstairs and it was pretty dark. I heard something. Something like moaning or chanting so I headed in that direction. There was a room with a light on near the end of the hall. I thought that’s where the sound was coming from. When I looked in, I couldn’t believe it. Everyone was dancing around naked.”
“What?” Veronica said sitting up with her eyes wide open. Monica did the same.
“They were in a circle holding hands and like moving around and s
inging all naked. And, let me tell you it wasn’t pretty.”
“Ms. Beems was the only person I recognized by name. There was another lady of Beems’ vintage there but I don’t know her name. They were all old guys and old ladies dancing around with no clothes on.”
“Besides their lack of clothes, what else did you see?” I asked.
“You know, thinking back on it, I was so shocked by their nakedness that I don’t remember much else,” Jason said.
“They were in a circle, moving around. Do you think that this was a game that they were playing?” I asked. “What were they doing?”
“No, it seemed like it could have been something religious. The music seemed kinda like church music. Like maybe they were praying for Spring to come or some Indian dance to pray for good crops or something.”
“Could you understand what they were singing?” I asked.
“No.
“Did you recognize the language, French, German, Spanish?”
“No, I don’t know what language they were singing. It sound kinda like German, you know, harsh.”
“Did they have music playing, to accompany their singing?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Jason said.
“Were there any statues or things that they might have been worshiping?” I asked.
“They had a candle that they were dancing around.”
“What did it look like? Where was it?”
Jason thought for a moment and replied: “It was big, about a foot tall and half a foot wide. It was red and had several wicks, three, I think. Now that I think about it, that was the only light in the room. It gave them a red look, a bloody look.” He stopped for a moment and then said, “I don’t remember anything unusual about the room.”
I asked: “Was there a lot of junk lying around or was it clean? Were books or cartons stored there? Were there offices or desks in the room? And, do you remember the room number?”
“No, I don’t recall the room number and I don’t remember it being messy or having any desks but I do remember that there were some tables, large tables, like work tables, and there was a big book open on the worktable. It was really big, like one of those dictionaries you find in a library.” He cleared his throat. “The room was at the end of a corridor in the basement.”
“Jason, you were in a library. Duh,” Ralphy said.
“I know that. It was like a big prayer book. Maybe they were following directions for their ritual from it? It had a black leather cover and gold edges on the pages and it looked old and used. Oh yeah, and the candle, it was in a bowl, a big bowl and it was decorated on the outside. Now that I think about it, it was like our stolen bowl only bigger, much bigger.”
“What were they doing, Professor?” Ralphy asked.
“That could have been some ritual of a cult that they all belong to. I think that this was some form of worship or prayer. We’ll have to look in to this—more internet and library work,” I said. I made a note to talk to our Ms. Beems ASAP.
Chapter 12
March Talks
I arrived at her office Monday at 10AM. It was nice, a lot bigger than mine with many school-owned artifacts displayed on shelves. I mean, I don’t think that the miniature harp or life size bust of Voltaire were her own. She greeted me in a friendly way which said that she was pleased to see me but she had a busy day scheduled. She asked me to be seated.
“What can I do for you, Professor? Is this visit related to our recent theft?”
“I don’t know.” I didn’t know how I could politely introduce her dancing in the basement the other night without causing her embarrassment or clamming up on the subject. I thought I’d ease into it from an oblique angle. “I don’t know, Ms. Beems, if this is related. I had a report that there was some activity in the library basement last Sunday night. I was hoping that you could fill me in on what was going on.”
She knitted her brow. “What time was this activity?”
“I believe that it was around 9 o’clock. One of the students heard singing and looked in the window to see what was going on.”
“Why was the student interested? I mean singing isn’t that unusual around here.”
“Well, he said that it wasn’t regular singing but more like chanting or, his words, “sounded like some pagan ritual.”
That perked her up. She sat up straight in her chair and became instantly interested in sorting through the papers on her desk. “Pagan ritual, that sounds strange. Why would a person think that?”
“You know kids. They always put a sinister twist on everything. But, did you have a room signed out in the basement last Sunday night? Do you have a list of the clubs that use your rooms?”
“Yes we do. We keep a list of everyone who uses a room. No one would be allowed to use a room unless they signed out for it.”
She still was working on the papers on her desk. “Is it possible for you to check on that for me? I’d be glad to wait.”
“I’ll see who had signed out for the rooms, but I can’t do it now. I’ll have one of my staff call you,” she said, a little relieved that she would have some time to make up a response for me. “When do you need it?”
“If I could have it by the end of the day, I would appreciate it. It might help us with our search for the stolen bowl. And,” I said in passing, “have you found the keys for those two rooms in the basement? Could it have been one of those rooms that the singing was coming from?”
“I really don’t think so,” she said with downcast eyes, “since I don’t think anyone has keys for them. I haven’t found the keys yet.”
“Would Security have keys? Don’t they have keys for everything?”
“I suppose so. When I have exhausted my sources here at the library, I’ll check with them.”
“Ms. Beems, thank you for your time. I appreciate your help.”
“How is the investigation coming? Are you close to finding it?”
“No leads yet but we are getting some background information on the bowl. When we find why someone wanted it, we’ll be able to pinpoint the person who took it. Thanks again for your help.” I stood to leave as did Ms. Beems, who gave me a real smile now that I was going.
I don’t think she’s the bad guy but I do think that something is going on here that is not kosher. She has something to hide, and it’s not just her relationship with Hoover, the Director—or President.
“If we can solve this ourselves, we won’t have to bring in the police. Good day, Ms. Beems,” I said as I walked out of her office into the outer office where her secretary usually sits. I turned back to look at her. She was crushing paper between her hands and looking vacantly out the window.
What’s the deal with our Ms. Beems? Was that stuff in the basement last Sunday her hobby or was there some direct connection to the theft of the bowl? Is that our first lead, the incident in the basement? Was the thief there? Is the bowl hidden in the basement? I need more information on her, and the rest of those at that meeting.
* * *
The LaMonicas have been putting in a lot of time researching religions and cults. They came to my office this afternoon after class to tell me what they found. Veronica started the discussion as she usually did, since she’s the alpha male, or whatever.
“Monica found some important things on the internet today, Professor. She found the group that Ms. Beems and the others belong to, didn’t you Monica?”
“I think so. I was looking up ancient religions and I found one that had a ritual that was like Jason described, people dancing around a lit candle in a bowl dressed, you know, like they were.”
“And what was their religion called?”
Monica said, “I think that they are worshippers of the sun god, Ra, and they are called either Ramen or, Ramaidens depending if they are boys or women. The purpose of the ritual, I think, was to give thanks for the harvest. Most of their rituals have to
do with earthy things like successful crops, good growing weather, and fertility. They do them in different seasons and always during some special phase of the moon. They are not, according to my research, dangerous or evil and all of their rituals have a candle in a bowl and they’re always dressed that way. The most evil thing they do is the way they dress for their rituals.”
“Thank you Monica. Do you think that they might be the ones that took the bowl? Would they use it in any of their rituals?” I asked.
“It’s possible. They were using some type of bowl for their candle the other night. Maybe.”
* * *
Myrna March was taken aback when I dropped into her office on the second floor of the library Wednesday morning. She got up from her desk and headed toward the windows of her sunlit office where she sorted papers on the sill into neat piles and gave me furtive glances over her shoulder. Seeing her in her Sunday night uniform wouldn’t have been as bad as seeing Beems, but it wouldn’t be something I’d wait in line for. She looked like a pencil with her slim yellow dress and eraser colored hair—a perfect no. 2. Not really bad for a woman rubbing up against sixty.
“Good morning, Myrna, I hope I haven’t come at a bad time. Could you spare me a few minutes?”
“What is this about, Professor?” she asked, frowning at me while returning to her desk.
“Several things.” I turned around and closed the door quietly. She sat down looking at me like I was an IRS auditor. “First of all, what was going on last Sunday night? One of my students said that he heard chanting in the basement. He said that it sounded like some sort of pagan witchcraft ritual. You know, one of those rituals where the room is only lit by candles and everyone gets naked and dances around in a circle.” She couldn’t have been more uncomfortable; her face was scarlet, she crossed and uncrossed her legs.
I’ve known her as long as I’ve been at Braxton and she’s always treated me nicely. I felt like a real jerk coming down so hard on her, but I did need to get started on this investigation.
“I don’t know anything about what happened in the basement Sunday night. I was dining with Ms. Beems.”