Pieces to the puzzle were finally fitting in place. Paul went back to the cave in the tunnels to fill in the wall. There he found Delilah and Melissa.
“Hey, so how are you guys handling all this.”
“I couldn't comprehend how someone could do that. Lie to everyone around about something so serious. Then I remembered all the lies we all have told for some sort of twisted greater good.” answered Delilah.
His eyes turned towards Melissa waiting for her answer but she stayed silent for a bit longer. “I don't know yet. I just want all this to be over before we lose anyone else. This thing is turning out to be bigger than we expected.”
“We have a lead. We think there is a witch involved in all this. Father Tivy would need someone pretty magical. So they are thinking of ways to see who he knew,” he explained.
"Well if Tivy was an old school kind of guy it might be hard. But I know he had a phone. Can we get the phone records or check his email?" Delilah asked.
"I think it's time we get help from the twenty-first century." Paul decided.
A little bit back, Paul found himself wondering about hacking. How it would make things easier in stuff like this. Unfortunately he didn't know anyone with such skills. But an idea popped in his head. He might know someone who would know someone.
On the football team he had a teammate named Nathan. Nathan had an older brother who went to college for computer stuff. Paul thought maybe he could or at least know someone who could help.
He placed a call to his buddy and asked him for his brother's information. Nathan was curious but cool with giving him the information. The man's name was Eddie and was in fact willing to hear Paul out. However Eddie didn't want to discuss that kind of stuff over the phone, only in person.
Every fiber of Paul's being wanted to call Quinn and bring him with to meet this guy. Quinn would have loved it. However his friend needed time and he didn't blame him. It was getting late so they made a plan to meet at three the next day
The next day he would head off into the city. It was a three hour drive so he brought some company. Mr. Everald went with for his hunter knowledge and he decided to bring Melissa with because well having a vampire there couldn't hurt.
Honestly the drive was really nice in Paul's opinion. There was no worry. Melissa sang terribly along to pop songs. They had a bunch of snacks. Even Mr. Everald seemed to relax. Plus the fresh air and sun did them some good.
They arrived at the address they were given. It was a hole in the wall coffee shop. When they entered they saw the place filled with people on laptops.
"Okay which one is Eddie?" Mr. E asked.
Paul's eyes darted around the room trying to find a familiar face. The realization that he hasn't seen Eddie since he was a freshman set in. He was about to give up and start just asking around when a voice came from behind him. “You three must be my three o'clock"
"If you're Nathan's brother then yes." Paul responded.
“Yes I'm Eddie. Come follow me and sit." He told them while leading them to a couch where his laptop was. He continued. "Now the hat I wear is mostly gray so I need to know some details and please don't waste my time I will know if you're lying."
Melissa leaned to the side and whispered. "He's not wearing a hat."
"It means I won't do things that can harm or hurt any innocent person. I don't do it for ill motives.” He explained.
Mr. Everald decided to go first. “Okay well we need to see who a person talked to regularly or emailed regularly before they passed away."
"Who was he?" Eddie questioned and pointed to Paul.
"It's Father Tivy, the priest." Paul answered.
"Oh I knew that guy. A shame what happened. Now why?" he said pointing at Melissa.
"Me, oh, he was in contact with a lady and we want to find her." she answered.
Eddie instantly asked. “What do you plan on doing to her if we do find her?”
"Well, we just need to know why she was looking into our friends.” she replied.
"Well that's half the truth. Do you or anyone in your group plan to harm her." Eddie asked.
"No" Paul said not very full of confidence.
"See, that was a lie. My time is valuable, you're wasting it." Eddie snapped.
Melissa got impatient so she grabbed Eddie by the chin and looked him in the eyes. "You're gonna help us and do it with a smile."
Eddie laughed and pushed her hand away. "You brought a vampire, smart move. But I'm from Autumnvale guys. That place is terrible at keeping secrets.
Paul was curious. "How did you find out?"
“One day I was bored and hacked into emails for practice. It wasn't too hard. Most passwords were password. The Historical Society's email explained everything. So when I left I did some research of my own. Even dabbled in magic myself."
"You can do magic. You're a witch?" asked Melissa.
“No, most humans can do little things with a lot of practice. The big things can only be done by people who have it in their DNA. That's how I knew you were lying." Eddie explained as he put a rock on the table. The rock was black and smooth. It also had a face painted on it. He went back to explaining. "It's a truth stone. It vibrates when you're lying."
"Did it need a face painted on it?" Mr. Everald asked.
"No but I thought it would be fun. Don't hate." he replied.
Eddie asked them one last time for the truth so they decided to tell him everything. He was speechless and took a moment to process it.
"That's insane. That's a lot…..but I deem you guys within my perimeters. Write down the priest's number. I'll see what I can do. Also another rule, you do not drag Nathan into this. He gets to have a normal, unaware life. If you break that rule I will stop helping.”
The three agreed to his terms and left. Before they headed home, Paul did want to grab some food. So he convinced the two to go get sushi. The whole conversation at dinner was pretty fun. The teens took the time to bug their teacher about his life. Where did he go to school? How he got into hunting. What would he do if he was normal? It was a delightful and pleasant dinner.
The drive back went by like a breeze. Melissa decided she wanted to play a trivia game so she made both the guys play as well. There was such a temptation to just keep driving. They could go city to city trying foods and checking out local scenes. Maybe even solving supernatural crimes. The thought passed because it was clearly ridiculous. Paul considered perhaps he should spend a year traveling before college.
It was late when they got back home so Mr. Everald dropped the teens off at their respective houses. He had school tomorrow so he wanted to catch some sleep.
A few days would go by. Everyone was waiting for Eddie to give them a direction to go in. Thalia spent her days looking for anything else. The teens and Mr. Everald went to school. Everyday with no response from Eddie made him a little more anxious. It was like he was holding his breath the entire time. Thursday was when he got an email from him. He exhaled finally.
Eddie found many calls to a burner phone. The hacker even found a way to link it to a specific person. It was explained to Paul but he didn't really follow most of it. An email was sent from a computer cafe and the name on the card used to buy time was Ethel Burton. Other than a few credit cards and some emails between Father Tivy and her, that's all Ethel Burton had out there. Eddie said it might be a fake name because she just appeared a year ago.
Without a face to the name it would be hard but it was another step in the right direction. However for every answer they got a few more questions would appear. Eddie promised to check in if he uncovered anything more.