Chapter 12

We awoke in our room at the hotel just after 1000 that morning, Thursday the 28th of January, after four plus additional hours of sleep. Following our morning preparations, we dressed in our traveling clothes before sending our luggage and other things to Jill’s SUV. She had a question before we left the room.

“Are we going to eat here before leaving,” she asked.

“I don’t believe we would be able to access any of the places along Essex St. this morning, or that we would wish to try. The police and other agencies probably have a lot of it blocked off,” I told her, and awareness showed on her face.

“They probably have a major investigation going on, don’t they?” she said.

“I would believe so, besides it’s only a half hour or so drive back to Southie where we can have breakfast in our own apartment,” I reminded her, before asking, “We do still have food there, don’t we?”

“Yes, there is still food there, but I’ll have to cook, and I was looking forward to letting someone else do the cooking for a while yet,” she told me.

“In that case, we’ll stop on the way and get something,” I assured her.

At the front desk, we checked out and turned in our room key. The clerk on duty there had some news for us.

“It’s fortunate that you are parked behind the hotel. If you had parked over in the Museum Place Garage, you wouldn’t be able to remove your car from there for some time,” she told us.

“Has something happened to the garage?” Jill asked.

“No, it’s not the garage that’s the problem, it’s the seven men who were murdered there last night or this morning. There were also a number of local men found tied up in some vehicles there. They also found a huge amount of Heroin in the vehicles. There are people from several police departments, the DEA, and the FBI there investigating. Everything along Essex St. in that area is closed off, and no one is being allowed into the area, not even those working there. Some of them have stopped by here and told us what is going on, plus the story is all over the radio and the television. Everyone is talking about it,” she finished.

“My goodness, I thought Salem was a nice quiet, safe town. I’m glad that we are leaving. Seven murders ... that’s shocking!” Jill told the clerk, as we turned to leave the hotel by the door to the parking area behind it.

After warming up the SUV, which we hadn’t used in five days, we worked our way up to Bridge Street, as the police had a number of streets around the Museum Place Garage blocked off. We took Bridge St. to highway 128 to return to Boston. We did find a place to have breakfast along the way, as we returned by the same route that we had taken to get to Salem last Saturday. It was nearly 1130 before we arrived at the parking area behind Paddy’s shop in Southie. We stopped in to let him know that we were back. He wasn’t surprised to see us.

“I thought you would be back today. Were you the cause of all of the news from Salem?” he asked.

“Yes, we were the cause. What are they saying?” I asked, as we could see that he had a television on in the shop.

“Oh, the local police and politicians are worried about the murder rate there, and how this will affect tourism. The DEA is calling it a major drug bust, and the FBI is interrogating all of those found tied up in the various vehicles. They are also warning that there could be a major gang war, as it seems the Russian mob from Philadelphia is already making noises about the fact that a Patriarca wise-guy was found among those murdered. There also seems to be a question about some missing money, as the DEA says the drugs are worth somewhere between forty and fifty million dollars,” he told us and smiled. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” he added.

“Us, know anything about drug money?” I asked innocently.

“Well, maybe just a little,” Jill admitted to Paddy’s smile.

“We can discuss it later,” I told him turning serious.

“Maureen will be glad that you are back. She has been out of sorts while you were gone,” he told us, changing the subject.

“I’ll give her another Magic lesson when she gets out of school, but we will be leaving soon. We have more to do to finish removing all of the Magic Hater’s leadership. We have two more names,” she told him.

“Are they around here?” he asked in a worried voice.

“No, they are down in the Washington, D.C. area,” I told him.

“Down in the ‘swamp’, as they call it?” he asked.

“Yes, very far down in the swamp,” I told him, but went no further for now.

“So what are you going to do now?” Paddy asked.

“We are going to relax for a day or two before we go back to North Carolina and plan our next move,” Jill told him.

“Will we see you again?” Paddy asked.

“Oh yes, we’ll be back to see Maureen and the rest of you. Do you know if your Daughter has made a decision on Maureen’s Magic education?” Jill asked in a concerned voice.

“No, she told me about what you had said, but she hasn’t decided, as Maureen is the only reminder of Kyle that she has,” Paddy told us, but had a question.

“Do you really know people who can teach her to use her Magic?” he asked.

“Oh yes, Uncle Thad has taught all of his children, their mates, and his Grandchildren to use their Talents and to do Magic. Max studied with him for a short time before moving to study with my Uncle’s teacher, Nick Kane. Nick has had many students who he taught to do Magic. After Max had learned all that Nick could teach him, we moved to study with his teacher, a man named Angus. He has a large library of books on Magic, and Max and I studied there for quite some time. We both learned a lot there, but even Angus isn’t as powerful as Max is. I don’t think anyone is as powerful as Max is except maybe those on the Magic Council,” Jill told him but stopped there for a short time.

“Speaking of the Magic Council, why haven’t we heard from them? There hasn’t been a word from them since they sent me to locate Max in Atlanta. Why haven’t I thought of them before now?” she asked, confused. Paddy and I just looked at her for a number of seconds before answering.

“I have no idea. Perhaps they are waiting to see how we handle things,” I finally said after considering what to say.

“Maybe, the Council has always been a bit mysterious and slow to interfere with our lives, but you would think they would have said something by now,” she insisted.

“Perhaps they would have, if they disagreed with what we were doing, or the path that we have taken,” I injected.

“I guess that is possible,” she agreed before changing the subject.

“Speaking of things to do, there are some things that we need to pick up, if we intend to continue to eat before we leave,” Jill told us.

“Let’s do that before the weather changes. We need to be on the road by Saturday. It’s a long trip to North Carolina and Thad’s farm,” I reminded her.

“Yes, I need to do some laundry also. Cleaning spells are all right, but some things need washing, especially following all that we went through in Salem,” Jill told us.

“I’ll be back to pick up Maureen for another Magic lesson, when she gets out of school,” she told Paddy, as we prepared to leave to do some shopping.

What followed was a tour of several stores where we picked up food, detergent and other laundry items before moving on to check out other things that Jill was interested in. I sent everything to our apartment instead of carrying them around while we continued to shop. Finally we returned to our apartment.

While the washer and dryer in the basement worked, we watched the news on television. There was more information, but it became available very slowly. The commentators ran the same stories over and over adding more interviews with people from Salem and others from Boston over time. There was even an interview with a police representative from Philadelphia who gave his views on the Russian mafia, and what they would do now that six of their men had been murdered, as he put it.

“What do you think?” Jill finally asked me later that afternoon.

“I think the Russian mafia is really pissed. They have six dead and there is no sign of the money they sent to Salem, plus the DEA has their Heroin. Oh yes, they are pissed.

“What they will do ... that I’m not sure of. I believe they will be sending people to Salem and here to Boston. They’ll be looking for those in the Magic Haters who they made the deal with. Of course, they won’t find them or any trace of them,” I told her.

“But Lew and Al know that we incinerated them,” Jill protested.

“Not really,” I said and smiled. “I cast a forgetfulness spell on them, so they wouldn’t remember their little trip to Hell before we left. SO, the Russians won’t learn where the Magic Haters disappeared to. The launch crew will have a lot of questions to answer, as I made sure that Lew and Al did remember that they were the ones who delivered the Heroin, and also where it was stored in the Museum. There are sure to be questions for the Museum and the people running it. The drivers will also remember where they picked it up, and who helped load it on the vans. The police, the FBI, the DEA, and anyone else involved in the investigation will have lots of questions for all of them, I’m sure.

“The only other lead the Russians will have is Frank ‘the Fish’ who is also dead, but the news has identified him as a Patriarca wise-guy, so I would imagine that Carmen ‘the Cheese Man’ DiNunzio will be visited by some of their people wanting to know how Frank ‘the Fish’ was involved with the Magic Haters. Things should be very interesting here in Boston, and in Salem for the next several weeks,” I told her.

“What about those in Washington?” she asked.

“What can they do that the Russians can’t? Of course, there is the one member of the Anti-Magic League who wasn’t at the meeting, but he’ll know nothing of what went on, or where the others went. He had best hope that the Russians don’t learn his identity. They would be very anxious to talk to him, and I doubt they would believe that he knew nothing, not for a long and painful time, anyway,” I told her.

“And just what are we going to do?” she asked.

“We are going to your Uncle’s for a short time while we do research at the various libraries that we have used in the past, and develop a plan for how we remove those who’s names we have,” I told her.

Jill picked up Maureen after school and gave her another Magic lesson. I only listened. Following that, Jill made dinner for us, while I helped Maureen with her school work. We were just finishing dinner when Maureen’s Mother, Kathleen, returned from work, early tonight. She rang our door bell.

“Father said that you’re leaving,” she said after being admitted to our apartment.

“Yes, we have finished our business here, and will be returning to North Carolina in a few days,” I told her.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier,” she continued, but appeared to have trouble speaking.

“Father also told me that you know several teachers of Magic,” she continued. “I’ve always wanted Maureen to have a better life than I have had. To be able to get away from Southie and have happiness and a chance to really enjoy life. I can’t ... can’t do that for her. I don’t have the means. I hardly have the means to keep myself alive,” she told us as her voice rose in pitch, and she was nearly ready to cry. She swallowed hard before continuing.

“Kyle always believed in Magic, though I don’t believe he could do any. Father can do a little, but very little, and I’ve never been able to do any either, yet Maureen is able to. She showed me the things she has learned from you.

“Will it take very long for her to learn to do Magic like the two of you can?” she asked ready to cry.

“Unfortunately, it will,” Jill told the distressed woman, as she hugged her. Maureen had also moved up against her Mother.

“How long?” Kathleen asked, as the tears started.

“At least six to eight years for someone her age,” I told her. “Magic can be very dangerous unless performed perfectly each and every time. Additionally, there is much to learn for someone with her level of Talent,” I told her.

“I’ll be losing my little girl!” Kathleen wailed in distress.

“That doesn’t mean that she will be gone for all of that time,” I continued to try to calm her fears. “We will be able to return her here for holidays and other occasions. In about four years, she should have learned enough with her level of Talent that she will be able to return here by herself,” I told her distraught Mother.

“I had no idea it was that complicated,” Kathleen said, somewhat relieved.

“It isn’t just Magic that she will need to learn. She will need to improve her Gaelic, and will need to continue her regular schooling,” I told her, before looking over at Jill.

“Yes, we’ll take her to stay with Uncle Thad for the first few years. He has taught Magic to all of his Children and his Grandchildren. They are all home schooled, as they live out in the country on farms. She will have lots of other children and young women for friends there,” Jill told her.