“I hate asking her for help, but I was really hoping she would know the name of the person whose remains we have locked up in the shop.” After pouring two cups of hot water, Ten brought the mugs and tea bags to the table, setting one in front of Ronan.
“I was hoping so too,” Ronan admitted. He was with Ten in that he didn’t want to use Everly’s gifts to assist with their cases, but this wasn’t a case, at least not yet. “Fitz set up a meeting with Cisco for Wednesday morning, which gives us all day tomorrow to figure out the mystery.”
“What happens when we don’t discover who the remains belong to?” Ten asked, looking as if he didn’t want to know the answer.
“I definitely think we need to make an appeal to the media. We can pinpoint the location to within several blocks of Laura Cooper’s house. Maybe some funeral home director will recognize something about the box or the approximate area where it was found.” Ronan took a deep breath. Ten wasn’t going to like this next bit at all. “If worse comes to worse, we can bring the remains to the lab and see if there are any teeth or bone fragments that are intact enough to run DNA. If not, then we’ll make sure the remains are kept at the county morgue in case someone comes looking for them.”
“Okay, well that answer isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” Ten took a sip from his steaming mug.
“You know, if we do go to the media with this, it might come out that you weren’t able to speak with the person who died. Are you prepared for the shitstorm that could bring?”
Ten nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that since Laura threatened to sue me when she left the shop earlier today. I’m sure there are a lot of people, Laura included, who’d like see my downfall. On the other hand, there are a lot of good people in this city who trust me and my gifts. If we explain that the spirit has crossed over that might get me out of this bind.”
Ronan had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case. Ten’s detractors were vicious, especially those emboldened by the anonymity ofa keyboard. He was sure there would be renewed efforts to put West Side Magick out of business, but Ronan knew no one was going to let that happen. “Changing the subject,” Ronan began, “did you hear anything about Aurora being a bully?”
Ten’s eyes widened. “That was Aurora?” He got up from his chair and went into the living room. When he came back a few seconds later, he was holding Everly’s backpack. “I meant to tell you earlier about this letter, but we got busy with dinner and putting the kids to bed.” Ten unzipped the pack and pulled out a purple folder. The left side was filled with papers that needed to go back to Mrs. Robbins, while the right side was filled with things parents needed to see. Ten pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Ronan.
“Dear Parents,” Ronan read aloud. “It has come to my attention that several students have reported a case of bullying. We are taking all measures to ensure this behavior is stopped and appropriate punishment is dispensed. As a result of this behavior, recess will be canceled for the rest of the week and we will hold an anti-bullying assembly tomorrow without the student in question.”
“What the actual fuck?” Ronan was pissed. “How the hell can they do that to Aurora? If kids don’t see her at school tomorrow, then they’ll know she was the one accused.” “Did Everly mention anything about this?”
Ten shook his head. “Which, now that you mention it, is strange. Out of everyone, wouldn’t Everly know what was going on?”
Ronan grabbed his phone and called Fitzgibbon.
“Hey, Ronan, now’s not really the best time.” Fitz sounded exhausted.
“How’s Aurora?” Ronan had known the little girl since was a few hours old. She was a little picky about certain things, but didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She certainlywasn’ta bully.
“Not good. She hasn’t stopped crying since she got home. Jace is upstairs with her now, trying to get her to calm down enough to sleep.” Fitz sighed heavily. “They don’t want her to come to school tomorrow. You want to talk about bullying? How can they do that to a six-year-old?”
“What did they tell you happened?” Ronan asked.
“According to three classmates, Aurora was making fun one boy. Singing a song about how he smelled bad and laughing. Apparently she told everyone that the boy was poor and that I was going to arrest him because he didn’t belong at the school.”
“I don’t believe that for a second,” Tennyson said. “There’s no way Aurora would say anything like that.”
“I agree,” Ronan said. “What can we do about this?”
“Nothing,” Fitz said, sounding sad. “She’s suspended for tomorrow and her behavior will be monitored. She’ll have to go to counselling sessions at school and Mrs. Robbins will be sending home daily reports on her behavior.”
Ronan couldn’t believe his ears. “What did Aurora have to say for herself when the teacher and principal spoke to her?”
“They didn’t speak to her.”
“What? How the hell could they pass sentence without hearing her side of things?” Ronan was beside himself.
“Aurora is being railroaded,” Everly said, walking into the kitchen. She climbed into Ronan’s lap. “Timmy Bowman is a liar. Aurora never made fun of him.”
“Timmy Bowman? The boy who brought his nana’s ashes to school for show and tell?” Ronan asked. Under any other circumstance, he would be laughing, but this was serious. This could end up on Aurora’s permanent record.
Everly nodded. “Yeah, he’s the one who’s been bullying Aurora, but she didn’t want to say anything and get Timmy in trouble.”
“Is this something you saw and heard with your eyes and ears, or with your gift?” Fitz asked.
“I saw it with my eyes. Woofie did too. Timmy told Aurora that you were gonna send her away to live with another family because she was adopted. Aurora started to cry. I was the one who told Timmy that he smells. He said he was going to tell on me and ran away.”
“Who else was there when this happened?” Ronan asked, proud that his daughter stood up for her friend.
