The Millionaire and The Witch

Chapter 12

Samson woke up early to see where his research had led him so far. He had checked into the Blackgale family and realized that it was an extensive clan. As far as he could tell, they didn’t seem to have any connection to the occult. He also learned that Blackgale was a family name that went far back.

The current generation uses Blackgale is a last name, but they have four names. Their third name was the father’s name then Blackgale was their last name. Moreover, women were allowed to use Blackgale as a last name for their kids. It was an interesting naming system and it made it hard to create a family tree if you didn’t know someone’s third name.

He thought he would compile a list of suspects behind the murders and have Broody ask his aunty how each were related. Now that he had a plan, he prepared the documents he needed Broody to sign along with his notepad.

Samson left the house and 8am hoping to do some grocery shopping before meeting Broody at 10am. Something about this case was bugging him. There didn’t seem to be any clear motive for someone to sabotage Broody’s search for his mother. Unless, the perpetrator knew that Broody was trying to find out what happened to his mom.

As far as he knew, only Lucy Blackgale knew that Broody was looking into his mother’s disappearance. Everyone else seemed to think he is an eccentric wealthy guy looking to prove the existence of magic through a bare piece of land.

It occurred to Sam that he didn’t read about any search for Cynthia when she went missing. A family with that much resources and influence, but they didn’t bother looking for a missing relative. Something seemed off. He made a mental note to add that to the things he needed to ask Lucy. He needed to get his paperwork in order fast to explore the new leads he was gathering.

Sam did his shopping, and arranged his perishables in the cooler to keep them from going bad. He had developed the habit after leaving some frozen items out in the boot for a day and they went bad. He needed more protein and vegetables in his diet to stay healthy. It was approaching 10 am when Sam got into his and drove to Broody’s house for the meeting.

***

Broody opened the door on the second ring and led Sam straight into the living room. Broody had prepared some sandwiches for the meeting and gone through the paperwork the detective had sent over to avoid being sued over the outcome of his investigations.
“Do you always have your clients sign this agreement before starting investigations?” Broody asked.

“Yes. Clients are very tricky and they can turn on you when they don’t like the outcome. Some of them won’t believe the facts even when they are laid out in front of them.” Samson answered.

“Most people don’t believe that their friends and family are capable of doing awful things. It’s easier to blame the person who brought things to light than accept that they never knew someone close was a monster.”

“I’m constantly amazed at how much humans are comfortable with the cliché ‘let the sleeping dogs lie.’ You wouldn’t believe the number of times that people told me that I was spreading misery for figuring out crimes people thought they got away with.”

“I understand that you need to take precautions. However, I need to have my lawyer look over this and I’ll sign it by end of day tomorrow. Is that okay with you?” Broody stated.

“Yes, of course. Everything is within the limits if the law but I understand that you are careful about what you sign.” Samson replied.

They spent a couple of minutes eating the sandwiches and sipping tea. Broody was studying the detective keenly to see if he betrayed anything. He didn’t see anything apart from a calm gentleman eating his sandwiches.

“Why are you still pursuing this case? You don’t seem to believe in the supernatural, and you never take on cases where people believe  in the supernatural. I checked your previous cases.”

“Mr. Logan, your case is quite interesting. I don’t believe in magic, or superpowers, or the occult. I do enjoy to solve mysteries and you seem to have a big mystery going on. I’d like to find your mother and solve the murder of professor Jefferson. That’s all I’m interested in right now.”

“What do you think of Nina and Duke?”

“I did a little research on them. Duke is an excellent bodyguard, detective, and partner for Nina. He has military training and access to funds that ensure he has the latest gadgets. There isn’t much on Nina except that she is an upstanding citizen. She lives alone in Malindi and travels a lot for work. Research says she’s a good seer, one of the best in the world if you believe in magic.”

“Thanks for the honest opinion.  I expect updates from you about the case. You can reach out if you have questions and I will tell you what I know. Someone will email you the agreement on I sign it. Also, I’d like to give you a retainer. We can discuss the details later.”

“Mr. Logan, I’d like to request for a meeting with your aunt. I have a few questions about your mother. Maybe you can organize that and tell me the time and place?”

“Sure. I’ll let you know when my aunt will be free. May I presume that an hour or two will be enough?”

“Yes, that will do. Thank you for your time. I will keep you updated on any developments about the case.”

Samson Rose from his chair and extended his hand to Broody. They shook hand and he left immediately. Broody had a strong feeling that he needed to find Nina, but he intended to avoid her for a day or two and see how he feels about her.