“Yeah,” he answered and took a long swallow of his drink. “Murder… Sacrifice… Something…”

“And you’re sure what you found was a Pentacle, and not a Pentagram?”

“It had five points, and it was right side up,” he explained. “So yeah, it was a Pentacle I guess.”

“So what does your expert have to say?”

“Well, the latest theory from that Einstein is that it’s a ritual sacrifice from a Satanic African cult called Santeria.”

I puzzled over the information wordlessly for a moment, staring deliberately into my own drink as I formed a response. “I realize that I haven’t seen the evidence myself, but based on what you’ve said, I would seriously doubt that.”

“Why?”

“To begin with, a Pentacle isn’t a Santerian symbol, but that’s only a minor part of it. Santeria is an Afro-Cuban religion, not a cult, and it has nothing to do with Satan worship. Their sacrifices are normally small animals such as chickens, not human beings. In most cases, the animal is cooked and eaten as a part of the ritual. Truth is, they treat their dinner with more respect than you or I do.

“Another thing you might want to take into account is the fact that the actual Satanic religion doesn’t endorse human blood sacrifice either. My guess would be that your expert has some pre-conceived notions and is misinterpreting the facts.”

“How do you know all this stuff?” Ben looked at me with an expression of mild surprise, his cigar held frozen several inches before his face.

“I read a lot,” I told him. “Wicca and WitchCraft get compared to everything under the sun. Good, bad, and otherwise. I just like to keep up with what I’m being accused of.”

“Makes sense.” Thoughtful silence followed his measured reply, leaving us with the trilling night song of countless crickets.

I realized my explanation had, unintentionally, served only to add more confusion to his current discomposed thoughts. I could also feel his aura of internal conflict as he debated over his next question. In the interest of addressing both of the complications, I voiced my own query, “So…Are you looking for help?”