Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency Year Three: Case File No. 41-145
AMBER LOVE 24-FEB-2020 Find out how all this began. Catch up on Year One and previous Year Two cases at the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency. We are in YEAR THREE still because we started cataloging our criminal investigations in the spring.
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A story of intimate partner abuse, gaslighting, harassment, and attempted murder:
Where We Left Off:
The Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency found more evidence of lycanthropes (werewolves) in our area.
The Bone Collector:
Recently we traveled to Allentown, Pennsylvania (made legend by Billy Joel) to attend a small horror convention. It was held inside a bizarre indoor flea market, a place we had been before. This time the indoor market was in much better shape as far as open vendors and styles of antiques and weird things. At the end of the building, the Horror Sideshow Market awaited.
For this expedition, the butler and I set off alone without Oliver Winchester and Burton Guster Nabu. There were signs on the entrance doors explicitly stating only service animals were allowed, but there were several dogs without service vests. Gus would have been fine in his stroller but he really hates driving in the car. We didn’t know what to expect other than seeing some people who were in movies, but that didn’t have interest for anyone this time. The vendors were the target and we were not disappointed. To be honest, we were mainly there to shop at the Deadly Grounds Coffee booth.
There were different styles of artisans which made for a diverse shopping experience — even “window shopping” in my case most of the time. I found some irresistible treasures besides coffee. I picked up a couple of well-priced and interesting crystal bracelets. One has the lava stones so I can add oils to it and it is complimented with beautiful baby blue angelite. The other bracelet is designed to look like phases of the moon with lava stones, black matte onyx, cracked black and white glass, white dragon vein agate, white howlite and white jade! They are gorgeous and I’ve already enjoyed wearing them. They were designed by Aubrie Foster of Edhel Atara Naturals.
Keeping with the crystalline experience, I stopped at another vendor to get a chunky piece of rose quartz. It’s so pale it’s almost clear, but with the right light, you can see the blush tones. I had one years ago that someone gave me for my broken heart. Then I passed it on to someone else who needed it. I have plenty of smaller tumbled rose crystals, but I enjoy the natural look of the jagged edges too. It felt like the right week to replace it since my heart has been stressed.
The biggest find was BONES! I could not believe there was someone there at a nerd convention with real bones for sale. The last time I saw anyone selling bones (besides on etsy) was on our trip to Salem, Mass. Ethically sourced animal remains are great additions for our detective agency collection. We can use them to compare to things we find. Not to mention, bones made for beautiful decor. And the most shocking part was the price — $1 per vertebra! I questioned her, “What? Are you sure? For real? That can’t be right.” The process of cleaning bones is time consuming and requires multiple steps with soaps, water, and hydrogen peroxide (the way I do the amateur way; not sure what taxidermists do). These came from Brain Fever by Sammi.
I almost bought one of the skulls: there were a couple of ducks, rabbits, and an opossum. It was the opossum that had my interest the most. It was $45 and in beautiful condition. Without having a great space to display it though, I passed. I just ordered some shadow boxes for the vertebrae and for some of the bones that Gus and I collected together. I’m not sure how to display ones with more dimension, like the skull piece we have so I’ll have to see how it all works out. An acrylic display might fit it, but then would more space on a shelf. Right now, the bones are in a lovely pottery bowl between books and statuettes.
We saw some of our human friends — as human as possible at a horror show. Then went out to the best Mediterranean eatery, the Hummus House. Five stars from both of us.
At home, Gus helped me unpack and photograph the new bones. We were so excited! Well technically, I was jubilant while Gus was curious and possessive. He immediately declared them his property. Usually Oliver is the one who gets deeply possessive of any evidence and clues.
Case Findings:
We set out on a journey for coffee and came home with bones! The only case to solve here is how to display them so we can use them for future identification comparisons.
Case Status: Closed
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.