Ever-Increasing Darkness: Twelve

Back at Jill's house, the Green Man looked out over the snow-covered park. He smiled grimly, looking back over the hills, towards Tonn. While Lady Slyvia and Jill waited on a sofa in one corner of the room, Ms. Madison stood a little way away from her chief, hands folded.

"What is going on?" Ms. Madison asked him. "I mean, after what we saw, is this some sort of evil magic?"

I don't think so," the Green Man told her. "Did you know who owned that house?"

"Some ghastly town people, according to Jill," Ms. Madison replied.

"A man by the name of John W. Orr," he told her quietly. "A man who's been on my books for some years. He's used fake magic to con gullible old people out of their savings for years, but I've never been able to pin anything on him. Not even enough for a visit from the justice of the Green Man. What he did here is puzling, though. The snow and that creature..."

"Could he have actually performed some magic rite by accident?" Ms. Madison asked.

"Whatever he did," the Green Man nodded, "I suspect this wasn't supposed to happen. Orr is a worm, a wart who needs to be crushed. But if this is an illusion, then it's far beyond his ability to create."

"And if it isn't?" Ms. Madison pressed further.

"Then the answer's the same," the Green Man told her. "But the evil has come from the pit itself."

There was along silence, as they looked back out at the snowy park.

"And who'd do this if it wasn't the devil?" Ms. Madison spoke softly. "I mean, isn't this sort of huge?"

"Naturally," the Green Man looked straight into the blonde's eyes. She shuddered at the fire she saw in them. "And if the person who has done this is mortal, then there's something going on. "Can you get to the nearest planning office tomorrow, Ms. Madison?"

"Of course," she nodded. "What do you want me to look for?"

"Any planning applications about the Tonn Estate," the Green Man told her.