Supernatural: Legacy S2 - Forgive Us Our Debts

Jordan grimaced and shook his head. Wow, she could not be more off-base.

"Actually," he said. "We're here to talk about Stewart."

The blonde woman - Genevieve, she said - sat back in her chair and regarded them.

"Stewart?" She shook her head. "Are you two detectives or something?"

Jordan glanced at Edgar. "Or something."

Genevieve hugged her arms and looked away. "I told the police everything I know. I don't know what happened to Stewart."

Jordan scratched his chin, looking thoughtful, gauging the woman's reaction. She was obviously hiding something - the question was, just how much? Only one way to find out.

"Did you tell them everything you know about this?" Jordan asked, holding up the picture they'd found.

Genevieve went white. Her gaze immediately darted to her boss' office before coming back to them.

"H-How did...?" she trailed off, biting her lip. She glanced back at her boss' office again, then fumbled with a notepad. "I'll tell you what I know. But not here, please? Not now. This is my address. Please, just come tonight. I swear I'll tell."

Her boss stepped out of the office and nodded to them. Genevieve immediately changed pose and offered them an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry we can't help you at this time," she said in a rehearsed tone. "Please come back when you have the proper documentation. You can call back to schedule an appointment, or just walk in. Thank you."

Jordan grabbed the slip of paper with the address and stood up. Letting Genevieve talk on her own terms would probably help to loosen her tongue. Of course, she could try to skip out on them, but Jordan was fully prepared to stake out the bank till it closed.

Mati was just able to spot Jordan and Edgar, and as he was going to their side, Jordan stood. Mati was surprised, but his good eyes spotted Jordan getting something in his pocket. Instead of going over there, he waited for Jordan and Edgar.

"Heh, I knew you could do it." Mati muttered, as he waited for the two. "For some reason ladies couldn't resist Jordan." Mati chuckled, waiting his partners.

Letting Jordan handle the talking, Edgar regarded the woman with the same fixed smile on his lips. He noted every change and shift in her emotions, allowing him to easily tell if she was lying or not. Were she planning to skip out on them, he'd know. He also lightly pressed on her emotions when she agree to talk to them, making strengthening any resolve she may have had to speak to them on the subject.

He continued observing all the way until she'd walked away. Mati arrived just as the woman left, and he gave the other man a smile of acknowledgement as he praised his no-doubt long time partner.

Jordan blushed slightly at Mati’s words and picked at his cheek. “I dunno about that...” He cleared his throat. “In any case, we’ve got a meeting with our suspect tonight. Let’s clear out of here.”

They left the bank quickly and stopped in at a nearby motel. After checking into their room, they relaxed and watched the clock as the time ticked on. With time to spare till their meeting with Genevieve, Jordan and Edgar filled Mati in on the details from their meeting.

“Either it’s Genevieve, or the man she was having an affair with,” Jordan reasoned. “We either get her confession, or if it’s not her, get her to identify the mystery man in our photo.”

He held up their only evidence so far, the very compromising picture of Genevieve and a man at her office doing things that were clearly not work related.

“Although...” He contemplated the picture as he thought, then quickly averted his eyes when he realized what he was staring at. “If this was the only evidence, why leave it around after taking care of Stewart? Maybe whatever she called forth to get rid of him isn’t something you want to be near... and then she didn’t have a chance to come collect it before the police started snooping. Although, judging by the mail pile, it had been several days at least...”

Jordan sighed and flopped back on the bed. It should be clear-cut, but the seemingly contradictory elements nagged at him.

“Did Genevieve strike you as a witch?” he asked Edgar. “I guess you can’t always tell.”

Mati was thinking through the evidences; the sad part was there were not much and hunter's work had taught him that making too early decision or making it too late hurts them.

"I can't say, the witches usually carry an atmosphere around them even though they tried to hide it. I have a feeling this could be work of an amateur or a person that got lucky with it." Said Mati, making the best out of what they have gathered so far.

"Do we have any other lead?" He asked, asking if he missed any crucial information that he should be remembering.

Edgar shook his head at Jordan's question. "Mati's right about witches having auras, and this woman didn't have the subtle emotional fluctuations that tend to be common amongst witches either." He explained.

"We didn't managed to scrounge up much else. We'll just have to wait until our appointment."

Edgar was right. No point in further speculation till they’d had their meeting with Genevieve. After a quick dinner of take-out, they loaded up and set out for her house. They didn’t want to spook her if she was unconnected, so they tried to keep their equipment on hand to a minimum.

After ringing the doorbell a few times, Genevieve answered and quickly ushered them inside. She looked distressed as she brought them into her living room and sat them down on a slightly worn but comfortable sofa. She looked like she could have used that promotion as well...

“I don’t know what you guys are thinking,” she began, “but I had nothing to do with Stewart’s death. I swear.”

Jordan pulled out the picture again and held it up. “He was blackmailing you though, right?”

Genevieve bit her lip and avoided looking at the picture. “Yes. He still thought I had a better shot at it, even after everything he’s been doing lately to make himself look better.”

Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

She sighed and shook her head. “Find cost-cutting corners. Turning down extensions for clients. Anything he thought would give him an edge. I thought it was a little too cold-blooded - he even made an old woman hysterical - but the boss did seem to appreciate it his ‘go-getter’ attitude.”

Genevieve sat up a little straighter and looked around at the three men. “Look, I wanted that promotion. I needed that promotion. But I wouldn’t go to those lengths, let alone make someone disappear over it.”

Jordan reexamined the picture and frowned. It wasn’t entirely clear, but... he did resemble someone at the bank today.

“But you would sleep with your boss, wouldn’t you?”

Genevieve went white and covered her face. “It’s not like that. He and I were involved before the promotion ever came up. I... I love him. I do. Maybe it isn’t ethical what we’re doing, but it wasn’t to get ahead. And he wouldn’t hand it to me out of favoritism. He’s not like that.”

So she said. But they didn’t really know this boss of hers. Forget Genevieve; if his conduct were found out, he’d have his own prestigious job in jeopardy. If it was him, though.. did that mean he was a witch? If there was a hex bag or something they missed at the crime scene, maybe they could use a spell to link it to him.

“Keep grilling her,” Jordan whispered to Mati. “I’m going to take the car back to Stewart’s. I’ll be back soon.”

Jordan extricated himself from the sofa and headed out. Genevieve cast him a confused look, then turned back to the other two.

“Umm... lemonade?”

Mati looked at Jordan, "You kidding right?" He whispered, but it was clear he was not. Mati gave gentle sigh, "You better be back soon." Mati said to Jordan, when Jordan left Mati gave his business smile, he had to make her unguarded around them. It would be easier if Jordan did this, but oh well, he had to give his best shot. "Yeah, we are up for it." Said Mati, he had no intention of drinking at it though. It was to make her feel that she earned their trust. "Just wondering though, when did you start dating him?" Mati asked, since she looked genuine with the part that they were in relationship way back.

This is, of course, to find out if there was something he could learn from the stories of their relationship. What Mati had in mind is that there could be something else they were missing. For instance, there might have been some unhealthy influence in their relationship that could help them figure this out. If not, there could be something else... she was having an affair and jealous witch killed the victim.

"Unlike my colleagues, I trust you, besides, I think we started it with wrong foot. Let's start with something light shall we?" He added, hoping that she would start open up with her love story.

Edgar sat prim, letting the others do the talking for the moment as he concentrated his efforts on reading her emotions. If she was lying, he'd know. As a prudent man, he made sure to extend his range to cover her house to find out whether there was any other emotional responses within as well. Just as they'd gotten started, Jordan abruptly made to leave, apparently to take another look at Stewart's alone.

Edgar sighed, but let Mati continue where they'd left off. Using his abilities to subtly make Genevieve more willing to spill her guts, he waited until she began to talk before offering her a piece of cinnamon from his coat pocket. In his experience, people would often unconsciously grab things offered when they spoke before realizing, and this seemed to drop their guard even further when they were offered a treat. "Now now, I don't quite distrust the lady either. It's just my job to start out a little skeptical. Snack?"

Genevieve returned from the kitchen and set down a tray with lemonade for her guests. She seemed surprised by Mati's question, and even more by Edgar's offering.

"Oh... thank you." She took the cinnamon treat and smiled a little weakly. She slipped it between her lips, perhaps buying time to think up her answer.

"Well... it was one of those things that sort of creep up on you," she admitted. "About a year after I started there, I got some heavy caseloads that required me to work late. Chris - my boss - would catch me on his way out and offer me dinner for being such a hard worker. We got to talking and found we had a lot in common. Then one time, as he was dropping me off... it just sort of happened."

She blushed and averted her eyes.

"Have you ever kissed someone and just... knew it was what you'd been waiting for without realizing it? Like someone handed you a missing puzzle piece, and you only just noticed it had been incomplete this whole time."

"Yeah, that sounds really romantic and magical." Mati replied, and he could not help but think of one particular potion's name. 'Love Potion' or perhaps, a spell called 'Love Spell'

"You know, I'm just curious, where did you guys have dinner? You know, perhaps you could introduce that place to me? Maybe I could use that place for my future dates."

Now there's two things he was concerned, if it was a love spell, the hex bag could be in the restaurant or it could be in her clothes. If this was real emotion, he was not so sure being here would do anything for them. Besides, finding a counter spell to love spell was something they had to call the H.Q. for.

"And if you don't mind, may I see what you wore on that day? You know, a good reference to be an attractive person? I have been bad at, um, being attractive so maybe I could learn from you, like one or two." Mati smiled innocently.

Seeing as Mati had taken the lead, Edgar sat back and let him do the talking, keeping an eye on emotional responses in the vicinity while slowly using his powers to subtly increase Genevieve's trust in them. He had figured out Mati probably suspected magical foul play in this supposed love story.

"Oh, we're looking into fashion? My sister's a designer and taught me a few things. I'd like a look too." He piped up. Of course he didn't have a sister, but that was irrelevant.

Genevieve blinked at the two men, clearly taken aback by their interest in her dates and outfits.

“Oh... sure,” she said, standing up. “Let me bring it out.”

She headed back into her bedroom and returned a minute or two later, smiling as she held up a black dress with a white floral print and a white cardigan.

“I wore this on our last date,” she explained. “Over at Chez Beverly.”

When Mati reached out a hand, she reluctantly handed it over to him.

“So, are you interested in anyone in particular?” she asked Mati conversationally, glancing from the dress to the door Jordan left through, as though trying to puzzle something out.

She glanced over at Edgar and gave a nervous shrug of her shoulders. “I don’t know if it lives up to your sister’s standards as a designer, but... I try to be fashion conscious. It’s always good to look your best.”

As Mati looked through her outfit, he indeed found a small bag tucked into the pocket of her sweater.

Mati with his well trained sleight of hand, he took the hex, and gave business smile at Genevieve, "Thank you so much," He continued, "Well, what can I say, that person has a unique taste so I am not pretty sure."

Then he gave a signal to Edgar, he found a concrete evidence of involvement of spell. "You know, I think I will talk about my colleagues about your case in your favor." Said Mati, thinking in his mind with two possibilities, the man behind the scene used her to get rid of his thorns in his eyes (in the other words, these two were thorns), or he just wanted her for himself and got rid of the man who was being nuisance.

That said he had to be sure, "So just wondering, what made you sure that Stewart was dead?" A question that lingered in his mind came out from his lips, so far many would consider him as disappeared, but not death. Unless she saw him, or she was told that he was dead.

Genevieve quickly brought out the outfit. She herself was lrobably wondering what posessed her to do so, but the two quickly got busy examining it before she could manage to ask herself any questions.

"You have very good taste, ma'am. While I'm no expert, I'm sure my sister would commend you on this selection. Maybe I'll bring her to meet you when our business is over!" Edgar said to further butter her up, noting Mati pocketing the suspicious item.

Having found a suspicious article, Edgar was ready to call it a day when Mati asked their suspect a much more... volatile question. Snapping to attention, he began working his abilities to make sure she wouldn't be able yo react negatively.

Genevieve blinked at Mati’s question, then looked away guiltily.

“I guess I should be hoping for the best, right?” she said, offering a sad smile. “Despite everything, despite how much of a pain he’s always been, I want to believe he’s alive. But...”

She shook her head and gazed out through the window behind them into the night.

“I just can’t make myself believe it. It just feels like a convenient fantasy.” She looked between the two of them. “We had our employee reviews this weak. For Stewart to miss them, after everything he went through to position himself... I just can’t imagine anything good.”

Genevieve sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“Listen, it’s been a really long day. If you don’t mind, I really need to get ready for work tomorrow.”

She stood up and moved toward the door, opening it for them to leave. After a moment’s deliberation, she grabbed a scrap of paper from the drawer of the entryway table and wrote down an address.

“My boss’ place,” she said, handing the paper to them. “If you do find out anything about Stewart... please let me know.”

With the door closed behind them, Mati and Edgar found themselves on the porch with night all around them. Jordan hadn’t returned, but the address Genevieve gave them didn’t look too far from them. They could walk and make it there soon.

As they got out, Mati texted Jordan. 'Found involvement of Love Spell, needs to find its counter, I am sending you the boss' address. Bring Equipment to burn the witch.' Mati sent it and gave a signal to Edgar with his chin, "Come on, let's go and meet the boss. I think it's about time we visit the mastermind behind this event."

Then Mati stopped. blinking. as he realized he himself lacked in equipment. "Could I borrow some of your equipment? I think my equipment isn't with me...." He asked the newly added guy, Edgar.

With their Q&A done, Genevieve quickly saw them out in order to get ready for work. Once outside, Mati took out his phone and started fiddling with it as Edgar made for his bike. Having finished up whatever he was doing Mati soon joined him, asking to borrow some equipment.

"Sure. I'll work on finding a counter for the love spell as well. We'll have to be prepared before we head over to this mastermind's home." He replied, putting his bags back in their places on the bike and hopping on.

Following Genevieve’s directions, Mati and Edgar arrived at a new set of high-rise condominiums downtown, which must have been quite pricy. They arrived at the number they’d been fiven and knocked. A few moments later, a man opened the door. He was around middle-aged, reasonably handsome, with dark hair and beard. His right hand was crudely bandaged with some gauze, and he scowled irritably at them.

“It’s a little late for Jehovah’s Witnesses,” he said, trying to close the door on them.

They forced the door open, however, and he staggered back in surprise as they slipped inside and shut themselves in.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. “I’ll call the police.”

"We are the police, buddy." Said Mati, "We have a testimony that you could be involved with the death of someone you know very well." Mati showed the badge with ease, his voice carrying out authority.

"So are we going to do this hard way, or you want to come clean."

Mati knew the mastermind would have figured out by now who they were, but he had to try to stall him. Or fool the guy for some time. Matter of fact, he wanted to make sure he was the right target, and with the three hunters, it was going to be less harder to kill the witch.

Mati hoped it was that simple, and he wanted to give the time for the newbie to shine as well.

Edgar and Mati forced their way in. At first the man was only irritated, but when Mati claimed they were police here to question him for murder, a pang of fear and a tiny bit of guilt surfaced momentarily. Edgar pounced on it immediately, using his powers to magnify it and thereby extend the amount of time it would take to figure out they were lying. The feelings were faint, so he could only have minimal effect.

He stood behind Mati with his arms crossed, blocking the doorway so the man couldn't try and flee from there. He spotted the man's crudely bandaged arm, which screamed suspicion from just a glance. From a glance from a Man of Letters rather than the police, of course. So naturally, he made sure not to let his gaze linger.

The man looked between Mati and Edgar, confused and suspicious and afraid. “You’re not-“

But when Edgar pressed his abilities onto him, his eyes suddenly went wide with fear. He stepped back, his hand clutching the nearby table for support. No, not support. He suddenly lashed out and grabbed the lamp on the table, pitching it at Mati before making a break for the back of the apartment. As Mati and Edgar went after him, he slammed the door behind him, though he didn’t have a chance to lock it as he booked it for the window. By the time they threw the door open, he’d forced up the window and clambered onto the ledge, looking to jump. They were too high up, but he seemed too panicked with fear. Just as he suddenly pitched over the side, he suddenly reversed trajectory and was pulled back through the window to crash onto the ground.

“That was close,” Jordan muttered, lowering his hand as stepped up behind Mati and Edgar. “What the hell did you guys do to scare him so much?”

Genevieve’s boss, Chris, cowered on the ground, hands over his head. “Please, take whatever you want. Just don’t hurt me.”

“We’re not here to hurt you,” Jordan reassured him. “We’re here to help you.”

Mati and Edgar looked at him in confusion until he held up an envelope, which had been addressed to Stewart’s house. Inside the envelope was a smoky ring on the paper, like something hot had been pressed to it.

“Did you get a letter like this after Stewart’s death?” he asked, holding it up.

Chris raised his head, trembling as he stared up at the letter. “...yes.”

Jordan grabbed his bandaged hand and pulled the bandages off, causing a yelp from Chris. He jerked his hand back, but it was too late. They’d already seen a strange symbol branded onto it, circular like whatever had been inside Stewart’s envelope.