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Reinhold’s Paw:
A Harry Ferriman Investigation Short Story
CHAPTER 1
I stared at the pile of papers sitting in front of me on the desk. It’d been three days since I solved the Bake Fair Murder. A name I didn’t come up with, but the residents of Wickermore Island had started saying as they congratulated me for solving my first case as the new Ferriman on the island.
“Great job on the Bake Fair Murder,” one person would say.
“It’s just a shame what happened with the Bake Fair Murder,” another would remark.
Since I’d only been on the island, and part of the community for a short while, I didn’t have the nerve to correct them. I simply nodded, smiled, and went on my way. Wickermore Island was nice, and I was enjoying my time living on it so far, but it was still a little weird that I was almost a celebrity. Everyone knew about the role of the Ferriman and my family. And since I’d recently taken up the role my grandfather had for so long, and my grandmother after his death, I was still finding my footing as a member of the community.
And being the Ferriman for the town meant solving unresolved deaths. Which led me back to the pile of papers on my desk. Papers full of unresolved cases that hadn’t been worked in years.
“You know, those cases ain’t gonna solve themselves with you just staring at them.”
Oh, yeah. And then there was Archie. The Ferriman family familiar. A wisecracking, snarky, and sometimes downright rude black cat. As much as I’d grown fond of him and enjoyed having him around since being on the island, his constant quips and sarcasm could definitely grind my gears.
“Yes, thank you, Archie. That’s very helpful.”
“I’m just saying, you gotta dig into them, Harry. Plus, might I remind you, we have the bowler’s death to look into.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t give me a lot to go on. I have to dig into this stack of cold cases; I just don’t really know where to start. I might’ve solved my first case, but how am I supposed to really be the Ferriman on the island if I don’t work on more and prove myself.”
Archie lifted an eyebrow. “We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self.”
His ambiguous words, which almost sounded mystical, caught me off guard. I stared at him for an explanation.
Instead of more sage words, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. “True Detective, Harry. Come on, I gave you a list.”
Oh, yeah. Archie is a pop culture fiend. From quoting Back to the Future to likening scenarios we’re in to something he saw on CSI: Miami. Complete with David Caruso quips.
I let out an annoyed huff, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“Archie, you see all of this?” I waved my hands over the papers in front of me. “How am I supposed to watch True Detective or Criminal Minds or even The Maltese Falcon. Besides isn’t that movie like a hundred years old?
“Hey!” Archie jumped up onto the desk and locked his yellow-jeweled eyes on me. “No one dismisses Humphrey Bogart, Harry. No one.”
I let out a chuckle. Like I said, I liked the cat. Even if he could be annoying and derisive at times. Before I could re-focus someone knocked on the office door. The frosted glass window revealed the silhouette of a man. I lifted an eyebrow at Archie since we weren’t expecting anyone.
When I opened the door, I found a tall, thin, pale man. He looked to be in his sixties, with bags under his eyes and wrinkles around his gray, thin mustache. He was fussing nervously with his brown cardigan sweater as I opened the door. His eyes shot over to mine as he gave me a wan smile.
“Oh, sorry,” he said timidly. “I’m… uh, yes. Hello. I’m Jonathan McGuire.”
I glanced down at Archie with a skeptical expression due to the man’s nervous nature. Archie gave me an assured nod.
“Hey, Jonathan.” I stuck out my hand to shake his. “I’m Harry.”
“Of course.” He shook my hand, giving me another ashen smile.
“What can I do for you?”
“May I come inside?” he asked.
“Sure.”
I stepped to the side and let him in. I watched as he looked around the office, inspecting the books on the shelves. After a moment, he looked back over at me with a much more confident smile.
“I’m happy to see some of the books I gave to Tom and Dottie are still in your library.”
“Oh, were you the librarian when my grandparents were working?”
“Oh, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t introduce myself properly. I run the Wickermore Museum.”
“Wickermore Island has a museum?”
“Certainly. It catalogues and displays items that date back to the founding of the island as an unincorporated community all the way up to the most recent bake fair the town just had…” He took a noticeable, nervous gulp, glancing down at the floor. “The, uh, recent sad events not withstanding.”
“Right.” I leaned back against the desk. “So what brings you by, Jonathan?”
“Yes, see, I know the Ferriman works on unsolved cases of the departed. And from the looks of it, you’re still settling in with quite a few.”
He looked down at the desk filled with papers.
“Yeah, it’s sort of a lot,” I replied with a chuckle.
“So I know what I’m about to ask probably isn’t going to be high on your list of things to do. Plus, it’s not the kind of issue the Ferriman gets involved in.”
Archie and I exchanged unsure eyebrow raises.
“Something’s gone missing from the museum,” Jonathan explained. “The Cat’s Paw is an antique artifact. It’s a polished-jasper paw design that was created in honor of Wickermore’s first mayor, Mayor Gabriel Langley, and his family’s familiar, Reinhold.”
“What?” Archie shouted, jumping onto the desk. “Reinhold’s Paw is missing?”
Jonathan looked at Archie. I knew he didn’t know what Archie was saying. Only the family of familiars can understand their animals, but Jonathan nodded with a frown. He definitely understood Archie’s reaction.
“Okay, hold on. What’s Reinhold’s Paw?” I asked.
“As I said, it’s an artifact that was gifted—”
“No, I get that part,” I said. “But what’s the big deal? Maybe it just got moved somewhere? How many people work in the museum?”
“No, no one touches it,” Jonathan said with the first hint of authority in his voice. “Everyone on the island knows not only of its importance but also the precariousness of it. Legend says that Reinhold’s Paw has the power to control other familiars.”
“What do you mean, ‘legend says’? You said the museum just features things from Wickermore Island. I’m sure there were people here in some shape or form, but the actual town itself can only have been around a hundred years or so, right? Two hundred at most.”
“You don’t understand, Harry,” Archie said, sitting next to me on the desk. “Reinhold was the mayor’s familiar, but that isn’t what made Reinhold such a well-known animal. He was the last familiar that directly descended from the Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet.”
“Hold on, familiars can descend from gods just like humans?”
“Yes, but it was extremely rare,” Jonathan answered. “I’m sure Archie just explained Reinhold’s ancestry.”
“Yeah. So, Reinhold was descended from a cat god?”
“Goddess. Bastet. How much do you know about the Egyptian gods?”
“Not much. So far I’ve been trying to learn about the Greek gods and the Norse.”
“Yes, those are the two most popular groups that families with magic descend from, but Egyptians are right under them. Ra, Isis, and Horus are just a few of the more well-known gods from which the bloodline flows for magic welders. Bastet was the daughter of Ra. She was the goddess of protection, and legend says at night she would turn herself into a cat to watch over her father while he slept.”
“How does Reinhold’s Paw play into all of this?”
“When Reinhold died his last death, his family had him cremated and forged into the paw,” Archie said.
I lifted a finger, putting the pieces together. “So all of his magical power is still in that ornament?”
“Correct,” Jonathan answered. “It’s been in dormancy ever since we received it. It was never meant to be used. Reinhold’s family simply wanted to leave Wickermore with something to remember the feline. But now it’s gone missing!”
“Who could’ve taken it?” I asked. “For that matter, who would’ve wanted to take it? From everything I’ve seen on the island, familiars are just like normal people.”
“I’ll ignore the obvious rudeness from that comment,” Archie said, rolling his eyes.
“Archie, I just meant everyone seems to love familiars. Even you sometimes.” He shot me a look and I grinned. “Now that was a rude shot. Sorry.”
“That’s what perplexes me,” Jonathan said. “There’s no reason for someone to steal the paw. It’s why I’ve come here. I know the Ferriman doesn’t deal with these kinds of things, but I was hoping you would help find the item.”
I stood up straight and looked back over my shoulder at the desk. It was still covered in papers, reminding me of the responsibility I had as the Ferriman.
“Jonathan, shouldn’t you contact the police? I’m sure they’re much better suited for looking into stolen items.”
“I have. I’ve filled out police reports and spoken with two different officers, but they don’t see the urgency in this.”
“Why not? I mean, taking the magical implications out of it, the thing has to be worth a pretty penny, right?”
Archie jumped off the desk and walked over to Jonathan. He sat at his feet, curled his tail around his body, and shot his yellow eyes up at me.
“You can’t take the magical implications out of it, Harry,” he said. “And that’s exactly why it won’t be high on their list of priorities. Remember what I told you, most police officers don’t have magic and can’t use magic. So what does it matter to them if some magical artifact goes missing?”
His rhetorical question gave me pause. After taking a long breath, I glanced back at my desk again.
“Archie, you know as well as I do that I have to get a handle on all of… this. I’m still learning the ropes of being a Ferriman, much less learning magic. We don’t have time to take on a stolen item case.”
“Harry, I’m not saying we do. But Reinhold’s Paw is important. If the wrong person has it then who knows what they’ll be able to do with familiar. The strength of Bastet’s magical power was great over familiars. It almost rivaled Artemis’s.”
“Bastet’s magical power was that strong?” I asked. “And wait a minute, Artemis is linked to familiars?”
Jonathan took a step forward. “It seems I have Archie’s support. And yes, Artemis and the magic of her bloodline can greatly affect magic users and their familiars. Please, Harry. I know this might cause a stressed workload for you, but I really need your help in this matter. The entire island needs your help.”
“If nothing else, you get more brownie points for helping the community,” Archie said with a grin.
“Fine, let’s look into this thing.” I grabbed my brown trench coat from my chair and headed to the door with Jonathan and Archie. “But I won’t stand for any movie quotes with pets because I have a feeling you’re just itching to unleash some.”
“No promises,” Archie said as we left the office with Jonathan.