Free A Witch's Curse by Paul Martin

at the look on Rose’s face. “From what I understand, Chief, my Grandmother and some of her friends had a slight interest in the occult. They would meet every so often, perform séances, and do other silly things. All perfectly harmless, I assure you, Chief.”
    Flustered, Rose said. “Really, Miss Waters, I wasn’t trying to insinuate your grandmother was a...”
    “ A witch? Really, Chief Rose,” she said with a faux disapproving tone. “After all, this is the twenty-first century. They don’t burn witches these days.”
    “ You’re absolutely right, Miss Waters. I hadn’t really given Hargrove’s accusations any credence, but I did need a better explanation as to how you overcame your attacker and to account for his current state of mind.”
    “ As my Grandmother’s lawyer, I’m sure Hargrove knew all about the house's reputation, and even some of its secrets, which is why he chose to dress as Caroline in order to scare me. Then, when he hit his head, who knows what damage the wall did to his mind?” she said with a shrug. “Plus, what man would admit to being beaten up by a girl?”
    “ Or he’s simply trying to use the legend as an excuse to appear mentally incompetent,” Rose added.
    “ I suppose that’s possible. You mentioned earlier he embezzled from my Grandmother?”
    “ Yes, I did. Don’t worry though. Herman recovered every cent Hargrove stole.” Chief Rose chuckled. “Hargrove wasn’t a very smart embezzler. He transferred the money to an off shore account all right, only he kept the account numbers in the safe in his office. With the proper codes, Herman easily transferred the money back to the rightful owner, which is you.”
    “ May I ask how much he recovered? Hargrove was quite vague about Grandmother's worth.”
    “ Now you know why he was so vague. I believe the total Herman recovered was seventeen million.”
    Carolyn’s chin hit the floor. “Oh my—You’ve got to be—How much?”
    Chief Rose stood to pour her a glass of water. “Seventeen million. Ample motive to scare you from your house, or even kill you, which I’m sure is what he planned to do all along.”
    Carolyn drained the glass. “You really think so?”

    * * * *

    Carolyn floated into the sto re, and Maggie ran across the floor to meet her. “Carolyn! Are you all right? I got the strangest call from the chief of police this morning, telling me you would be late coming in today, but to not worry. He said you were fine, but what does the fuzz know? What the hell is going on?”
    Carolyn closed the store for the day and took Maggie to the coffee house down the street where she explained in detail the entire story of what Hargrove tried to do. She apologized to Maggie for doubting her friend then informed Maggie that she was her missing cousin.
    Maggie dismissed Carolyn’s suspicions with a casual flip of her hand, “Don’t worry, I would have done the same to you. Are you positive we’re related? You're not pulling my leg, are you?”
    “ According to Chief Rose, we are. He saw the files from Hargrove’s office, and I couldn’t be happier it’s you.”
    “ Same here. I knew there had to be a reason I liked so you so much when we first met. It was like we had been friends forever.”
    “ I know! I had the same feeling, Cuz.”
    “ So, tell me more about your plan to help free Caleb. I want to help.”
    “ You can. You can help at the séance. Sarah said the more the merrier.”
    “ Cool! I’ve always wanted to be in a séance. Hey, didn’t you say that all the women in your family were witches? Then, am I one too?”
    “ I don’t know. We can ask Sarah.”

    * * * *

    Carolyn answered the knock on her door to find Sarah dressed in a long, gray, hooded cloak. Sarah brushed past her, asking, “Why aren’t you dressed?”
    Wondering if she had somehow become naked again, without her knowing, Carolyn glanced down and breathed a sigh of relief. She still had on her blouse and jeans. “I am