Never Burn a Witch: A Rowan Gant Investigation

Take one part twisted sociopath and add a double shot of psychosis-fueled misinterpretations of Bible scripture and prophecy, then toss in a copy of a fifteenth-century Witch hunting manual known as the Malleus Maleficarum. Mix well. What do you get? An even more twisted sociopath who now believes he is on a divine mission from God to single-handedly resurrect the Inquisition of medieval Europe-and he is armed with the instructions for doing so.

Set him loose on the world and he becomes a serious problem.

Set him loose in Saint Louis and he becomes my serious problem.

My name is Rowan Gant. The police call me their "Occult Practices and Alternative Religions Consultant." That is just their media-friendly spin on what I really am-that being the unofficial Witch of the Major Case Squad.

You see, there is a bit more to me than just a cranium filled with arcane knowledge of religious history and the occult. I also have this unwanted affliction-I can hear the voices of the dead. To be specific, I hear murder victims crying out to me from the dark hereafter. The more heinous their deaths, the louder they are. Not all Witches can hear them. I'm just unlucky that way, I guess.

At any rate, you can rest assured, given the torture and murder spree this latest psycho is on, the din inside my head right now is damn near unbearable...