Tarnished and Torn by Juliet Blackwell

this case would probably be okay. Unless Hans had changed his habits in the intervening decade, he was a night owl.
    I took a deep breath, picked up the phone in the back room, and dialed.
    “Lily, what a surprise!” Hans, a psychic, had no need for caller ID. “Well, well. Tell me: How are you? To what do I owe this phone call out of the blue?”
    “I need to ask you something. Do you know—”
    “
Hey
, you call me up after all this time and I don’t get so much as a ‘How are you, Hans’?”
    I blew out a breath. “How are you, Hans?”
    “I am very well, thank you. You know, just the other day I was asked by the German ministry of—”
    “I’d love to catch up,” I interrupted, remembering Hans’s propensity for speaking about his favorite subject: himself. “But right now I need to ask you about a witch from Bavaria named Griselda.”
    He chuckled. “Half the witches I know are named Griselda.”
    “She did trade shows, traveled to fairs selling vintage jewelry. Would that ring a bell?”
    “Nothing occurs to me, but I could look into it. Why are you asking about her?”
    “Listen, Hans . . .” I peeked through the curtains to be sure I was still alone. “Griselda was killed. Pressed to death.”
    “Pressed?”
    “I don’t know the word for it in German.” Like many Northern Europeans, Hans spoke excellent English. But witchcraft employed a highly specialized vocabulary, and it was important he comprehend its significance. Although psychics and witches are very different creatures, we were equally vulnerable to the tortures and killings during the purge. As were Jewish sages, healers of all sorts, and the Rom, for that matter. “Pressing is outlined in the
Malleus Malificarum
as a suggested method to extract confessions and information from witches.”
    “Ah, yes, I have heard of this method. You’re saying this woman, this Griselda, was killed this way? Do you have any idea by whom?”
    “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I know Germany’s a big country, but did your paths ever cross? Do you know of her?”
    “No . . . but I will ask around, see what I can find out.”
    “You might start here,” I said, and gave him the return address on the label on the cardboard box Griselda had sold me. “Thank you for looking into this, Hans. I appreciate it.”
    “Lily, did Griselda . . . give you something? A piece of jewelry—perhaps a ring?”

Chapter 5
    An alarm went off in my head.
    Could Hans be using his psychic intuition to pick up on my thoughts, or might he know more about Griselda than he was letting on? I trusted Hans, more or less. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say I didn’t
dis
trust Hans any more than anyone else. But given what had happened to Griselda, it seemed wise to be extra cautious. It seemed wise to lie.
    “Why would she give me a ring?”
    “Amulet rings are used by exorcists to keep demons in check. When such a ring is spun around so the stone is pressed into the palm of one’s fist, a skilled practitioner may be powerful enough to go up against even a demonic foe.”
    “Who said anything about . . . demons?”
    “Just a hunch. I’m sensing danger and pandemonium.”
    I sat back in the chair, impressed. Hans always was a sensitive guy—and not in the New Agey sense of the word.
    “Yeah, well . . . that’s not much of a stretch for my life lately.”
    “And I’m sensing a piece of jewelry . . . I think it’s a ring.”
    I glanced down at the opal medallion on my chest. The metal was warm from being in contact with my skin, but otherwise I felt nothing from it. And it wasn’t a ring.
    “I’m not aware of anything. Why would you think she might have passed me something?”
    “Just an idea. Jewelry can be imbued with great power, as I’m sure you know. If this woman had a demon trailing her, perhaps she tried to get the piece to safety.”
    “Why wouldn’t she have used the ring to exorcise the demon