Mr. Stone

My name is Iolanta. I’m a Stone Witch. No, not made of stone, of course—and my heart isn’t stone either. It’s just that my “specialty” is amulets made of semi-precious stones, and my clients believe in their magical power. As for the fact that it’s not the stones that help them, but my experience as a certified psychotherapist—people who are waiting for a miracle don’t need to know that.

But I was wrong: the stones really do help. It was the stone that told me that Regina Shestakova didn’t commit suicide—she was murdered. “Mr. Stone”—that’s what Regina called one of the amulets I gave her, a lazurite.

You might ask: what business is it of mine—did she get killed or did she kill herself? Regina is only one of my clients, no more than that. But she called for help specifically me. Yes—again, the stone. A different one, this time.

And I couldn’t turn away and forget. All I needed was to prove it was a murder. As for who, why, and why—let the police sort that out.

I had no idea what I was getting into…