"Please, we need to get organized and take turns to speak because this feels like a hen house," I complain looking at the laptop screen and everybody falls silent suddenly. I sigh relieved because I was getting a headache listening to them arguing at the same time while Iselen chuckles next to me drinking a cup of tea and petting Morgan who's lying on her lap: she's happy because she knows she's winning the debate.
My sisters didn't know what I wanted to tell them when I called the meeting through a text in our WhatsApp group "Hocus Pocus" and dropped the news like a bomb later, most of them weren't surprised to find out who the responsible for this mess were but, when my girl explained her theory and suspicions, all of them took her side. The general opinion is that Zalir is a stupid ass and couldn't draw up such a perfect plan alone, even Kanti admits they didn't look smart when she met them briefly at the airport. The truth is that I think the druid is right too, and it's pretty obvious they made a mistake when they attacked our friends and neighbours drawing our attention, which confirms they're idiots, but it's my duty as the leader of this coven to not rule out any theory at first.
"Give up, Ruby, you've been defeated," my mom smiles from the screen and I nod, resigned. She wasn't supposed to be invited to this meeting but she called me on the phone to ask me if we liked the lasagne, I told her what was happening and couldn't stop her when she decided to invite herself to give us her opinion and take a look at Lester's new girlfriend at the same time even if there's nothing much to see: we're all tired, our hair is a mess and we're wearing our most comfortable pyjamas, even Kanti, although I'm happy to see she's relaxed sitting next to my brother and ready to help us. I wonder how is Lester doing with her plan to charm the pretty Canadian girl. Right now, I think he tries to impress her with his cooking skills and they both munch on some homemade cookies that my brother has found in his freezer and baked for her.
"Okay, we'll assume that they work with an accomplice... But we still need more information. To be honest, we don't have many proofs against them, circumstantial evidence at best. Zalir could say there're millions of silver charms like that in the world, with the same inscriptions, and anyone could've dropped it." The girls nod, disappointed. "Everybody can buy those things on Amazon, Etsy or Instagram nowadays, you know that. Everything that's remotely connected with magic is a trend right now even if it comes from different cultures and traditions."
"We need to lure them into a trap in order to expose them," Thyra suggests. The Voodoo queen is always the first one willing to take action, as usual.
"Okay but, how?" Vinnia asks from the corner of the screen while putting her red hair up in a ponytail.
"You need three things: a plan, a decoy and a witness... those are the basics to unmask someone," my mom taps on her lips with her index, pensively. "It must be an independent witness, maybe a witch with a good reputation or a member of the Council... Or better... What if you record the conversation? A video could be conclusive evidence."
"I'll take that," Lester raises his hand and Kanti looks at him surprised. "Despite I'm a good magical tracker, I'm also good with technology and very interested in spy stuff... I'm a James Bon fan and was curious to know how normal people that don't have my gift manage to find things, so I have lot of small devices, recorders, GPS trackers... I love all that stuff and it can be bought online easily, even state-of-the-art technology that only professional detectives use."
"Really?" Iselen blinks surprised. "I didn't know that. And do they work like in the movies? I mean, you can stick a tracker on the underside of the car and we could know where they are all the time?" My brother nods, smiling amused.
"Yes, and there's another additional advantage: this is modern technology and not related to magic so they won't notice there's a tracker on their car not even if a powerful demon is sniffing around looking for enemies. Everything is digital nowadays which means that electromagnetic interference coming from protective spells around them won't be a problem." Lester shakes his head and rolls his eyes hard when he realizes that we're looking at him puzzled, as if he were speaking Chinese language to us. "Years ago, when most devices were analogue, some energy sources could damage the stuff you were working with but it doesn't happen anymore: no gosht hunter finds out that their camera is off at the crucial moment when an ectoplasm materializes, if they manage to find a real one, of course... The 80s are gone and won't come back, I'm afraid."
