Were in the City Ch. 14

"What's even more interesting though is that I'm having difficulty identifying so many of the other spectacular parts of Jessie's collection. Those things should not be drawing a blank -- they would have been talked about, bought and sold, worn, displayed -- but I'm not finding documentation. I would expect some problems, given two world wars, various revolutions, fire or water damage in records offices etc., but not so many unique things that can't be placed."

"There's also nothing later than the 1920's in the collection. It stopped growing at that point I think. It was all well taken care of, proper storage boxes, not too much damage even though you tell me Jessie played with it all as a child."

Helen had shared what Jessie's other half was with Paul so she was able to speculate openly about her family with him. "Ok, so judging from how much Jessie's gryphon loves jewellery and can detect the real thing, is the collection a result of, let me guess ... maybe at least four? ... generations of gryphons doing their thing, sometimes stealing what they want, sometimes purchasing what they want? And then something happened in the 1920's that made whoever was left stop collecting. Jessie's mother could have been alive in the 1920's ... if you have to start running and hiding for some reason, you'd stop doing whatever could give your presence away wouldn't you? If you are a gryphon you'd stop doing anything that had to do with jewellery wouldn't you?"

Julie had just been listening, drinking her tea, up to this point but now had to ask a question. "If you are saying that real gryphons have been around since at least the 1750's how come nobody knows about them? If they all looked like Jessie when they shifted, they'd stick out and somebody would have said something."

Paul nodded, "Fascinating isn't it! I've got a bit of a theory ... it's got lots of holes in it right now but here's what I'm thinking ... Somehow, the first gryphon was born, and maybe not too many generations ago. What if the first real gryphon was only Jessie's great grandparent or even great-great grandparent, so maybe born sometime in the 1600's. That would be a recent development in Were terms. Maybe each subsequent generation only has one child, so that would mean maybe only 5 gryphons have ever existed. Jessie is the last one living."

"Jessie is part wolf - if the first gryphon was the child of someone in a pack, that would certainly have been noticed and documented. So, her ancestors were likely rogues or members of a small, unaligned, isolated group. They stay hidden, no one knows they exist. They live their lives, indulging in their desire to collect jewellery in whatever ways work for them, until something happens sometime in the 1920's that makes Jessie's mother terrified for the rest of her life. It can't just be that someone finds out she's a gryphon -- that would make her a bit of a celebrity in the Were world but why terrified? There is something else going on."

Helen and Julie looked at each other, knowing what they were both thinking. Paul didn't know Jessie seemed to be able to compel wolves she was not bonded to and she only had to touch another Were to understand some part of who they were and what they were feeling. Was this because she was a gryphon? What else could she do?

Paul suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed "Damn, we missed it!"

The women looked at him, "Missed what?"

Paul grinned at them, "The jewellery is made of gold and silver."

"Yes ... so?"

"SILVER! And she played with it all during her childhood ... no rashes, no burns, no reaction to silver! Has she been touching it with her bare hands or wearing it around her neck and arms lately? And no reaction? I'll bet Liam was handling it all with gloves on, he knows he'd react to the silver. What would any of us give to discover a way to remove our vulnerability to that metal eh?!"

Ok, that characteristic along with the other things she could do was definitely putting Jessie into the "high value" category. Her odd look and jewellery fetish were not the most important parts of who she was. Helen was beginning to think that having her all the way across the country protected by just two men was not a good idea.

*****************

Just after 11am the next morning, Paul burst into Helen's office and danced around the room with excitement.

"You know you should knock first" Helen scolded, "I might have been on an important call or something ... and stop moving, you look ridiculous."

Paul laughed, "I don't care. I think I have found the piece of the puzzle we needed to sort out at least some of the mystery that is Jessie Taylor!"

"Well please share it, I'm all ears."

"My emerald expert emailed me a list of missing or lost gems this morning and I went through it. There was one 62 carat emerald on the list that seems to match the one in Jessie's collection. It was listed as missing after the family of Mario de la Vega was wiped out during a civil war in Spain in the 1830's. Mario, a wealthy and eccentric land owner, was a widower and had only one child, a son also named Mario. It seems Mario Sr. was known for his gemology expertise and the quality of his personal collection. I asked a source if there were other gems listed as missing from the De La Vega collection and yes there are ... can you guess what they are?!"

Helen smiled, "They must match some of the gems from Jessie's collection that you haven't been able to identify up to now, right?"

Paul nodded, "Yes! Jessie has at least half of the missing De La Vega gems. Some of them have been mounted in settings that date to around the 1860's. I think we've found some of her ancestors."

Helen frowned, "You said the family had been wiped out, yes? No survivors? And whoever did that could have stolen the gems. What makes you think they are Jessie's family?"

Paul laughed, "I haven't got to the best part yet. Mario Jr., the son, was about 15 years old when the estate was overrun during the war and he was only presumed to have died as he was never found -- only his father's body was identified. And remember I said Mario Sr. was "eccentric"? It seems there were stories from his tenants that the family raised a wolf as a pet and worshiped birds. Makes you wonder doesn't it?!"

Helen nodded, "Yes, it does. So you think they were gryphons like Jessie?"

"Maybe ... Mario Sr. comes out of nowhere apparently, buys the land and lives there for about 20 years before the war. I don't think we can easily trace him any further back in time with what we know right now, but I think we have a chance to follow Mario Jr."

"How do we do that? If he did survive, he changed his name and could have gone anywhere."

Paul couldn't have grinned any wider if he tried, "We have Jessie's collection to guide us! I can tell you where Mario Jr. was at various points from the 1830's to 1900 ..."

Helen smiled, "The thefts."

Paul nodded, "Yes. They happened at a time in history where detailed population records were starting to be kept, and we have access to them in digital form today. Regular census records start in the 1840's, there are directories of people living in cities and towns, passenger lists, etc. etc. It will take time but we might be able to find Mario Jr. I'm guessing his father Mario Sr. was also a thief as I've got 3 items that were stolen between 1750 and 1820, and we can try to find him too based on those, but records for that time period are not as good."

"And we might find Jessie's mother if we get lucky. Think about it ... the last theft I've got so far is 1900 in England, there are two English pieces in the collection I can date from the 1910's that I haven't yet been able to trace, and something stops the family from collecting in the 1920's. Maybe Cecile was alive then. There's detailed 1901, 1911 and 1921 census data available for England. If we can put enough information together we might be able to locate her, and possibly her parents. I think her father might be Mario Jr."

Helen shook her head, "Wow Paul, it would be fascinating if you could prove that, but it sounds like you have a lot of work to do yet before you can convince me. You are assuming the Mario's are Were, with long lives, to make this whole thing work over many decades. You could be wrong. Do you want help with the research? There are a few people I could free up to help you."

Helen and Paul talked for a while longer, mapping out a research plan. She also asked him to write up a short report outlining only what he could prove so that they could share it with Jessie. The rest would just be for Paul to work with for the time being.

That evening when she finally had a quiet moment to contemplate, Helen thought about what she knew about Jessie Taylor and everything Paul was guessing at regarding her family history. Something didn't add up. It was clear gryphons went gaga for jewellery, and smart gryphons could steal or trade or buy what they desired. They might end up wealthy, travel, buy a home and raise a family if they didn't end up in jail or worse if they got convicted of theft. It was handy that they didn't have a reaction to silver given their interests -- that would make them worthy of study by other Were, yes, but not to the extent where they'd fear for their lives would it? Why had Cecile been so terrified?

It was Jessie's bond to both twins and what was happening to her now that her other half had appeared that made Helen think she was more than just a gryphon. Jessie was exhibiting a kind of power that wasn't normal, and she was acting like an Alpha (a novice one, mind you, which could get her into trouble if they were not careful). Nothing Paul had found indicated her male gryphon ancestors were leading a pack. Her alpha characteristics had to be coming from her female line, but Cecile didn't strike Helen as an Alpha. When did alpha characteristics skip a generation?

There was still a lot to learn about Ms. Taylor.