Charmed

Here, baby. Come on, baby.

Good girl.

Ancient one of the earth so deep

Master of moon and sun

I shield you in my Wiccan way

Here in my circle round

Asking you protect this space

And offer your sun-force down

What are you doing here?

-Prue? -In here, working on the chandelier.

-Sorry I'm late. -What else is new?

Piper, I would have been here to meet the electrician myself,

but I can't leave the museum until 6. I haven't even had time to change.

I just, I didn't realize how long I was in Chinatown. Did Jeremy call?

No, but he had some roses and a package delivered.

What were you doing in Chinatown? I thought you had an interview?

I did, but I went to Young Lee Market after my interview

to get the ingredients for my audition recipe tomorrow.

So that Wolfgang Puck knockoff didn't hire you today?

No, but this just may get me the job.

Jeremy sent you port?

It's the ultimate ingredient for my recipe.

Nice boyfriend.

Oh, my God. I don't believe it.

Tell me that's not our old spirit board.

I found it in the basement when I was looking for the circuit tester.

"To my three beautiful girls.

May this give you the light to find the shadows.

The power of three will set you free. Love, Mom."

We never did figure out what this inscription meant.

Send it to Phoebe. That girl is so in the dark, maybe a little bit of light will help.

You're always so hard on her.

Piper, the girl has no vision. No sense of the future.

I really think Phoebe's coming around.

As long as she doesn't come around here, I guess it's good news.

Okay.

Okay, okay. We have three units on it now.

-Well, it's about time. -I got here as soon as I heard.

Another dead female, right? Mid-to late 20s?

I've been paging you for over an hour, Trudeau. Where have you been?

Oakland, checking out a lead.

What lead?

-One that didn't go anywhere. -You're avoiding my question.

Because you don't want to know I went to an occult shop.

You hate me, don't you? You wanna see me suffer.

I want to solve these murders.

-Someone's after witches. -Women.

That woman up there, I'll bet she was killed with an athame.

Wrong. Double-edged steel knife.

Right. That's an athame.

It's a ceremonial tool. Witches use them to direct energy.

That woman didn't direct jack.

She was stabbed. Plain and simple.

Was she found near an altar?

Yes.

Were there carvings on that altar?

Just do me a favor.

Don't ever follow a lead without checking with me first.

You want to go to occult shops?

Just get to work, okay?

Inspector Trudeau.

Jeremy Burns, San Francisco Chronicle.

-You care to comment? -A woman was stabbed.

Plain and simple.

That's the third one in three weeks.

I don't get it. I have checked everything.

There's no reason why the chandelier should not be working.

We've been talking about what to do with that spare room.

I think you're right. We do need a roommate.

Well, we could rent out the room at a reduced rate

in exchange for help around the house.

Phoebe's good with a wrench.

Phoebe lives in New York.

Not anymore.

What?

She left New York. She's moving back in with us.

You've got to be kidding.

Well, I could hardly say no.

It's her house too. It was willed to all of us.

Yeah, months ago and we haven't seen or spoken to her since!

-Well, you haven't spoken to her. -No, I haven't.

Maybe you've forgotten why I'm so mad.

No, of course not, but she had nowhere else to go.

She lost her job. She's in debt.

And this is news?

How long have you known about this?

A couple of days.

Maybe a week. Or two.

Thanks for sharing. When does she arrive?

Surprise!

I found the hide-a-key.

Phoebe, welcome home.

-Hello, Piper. -It's so good to see you.

-Isn't it, Prue? -I'm speechless.

-Oops. I forgot about the cab. -I'll get it.

Piper, that's my purse!

Thanks. I'll pay it back.

Is that all that you brought?

That's all that I own. That and a bike.

Look, I know that you don't want me here.

We're not selling Gram's house.

Is that why you think I came back?

The only reason Piper and I gave up our apartment and moved back

was because this house has been in our family for generations.

No history lesson needed, I grew up here too.

So can we talk about what's really bothering you?

No, I'm still furious with you.

So you'd rather have a tense reunion

filled with boring chitchat and unimportant small talk?

No, but otherwise we won't have anything to talk about.

-I never touched Roger. -Whoa.

I know you think otherwise because that's what that Armani-wearing,

chardonnay-slugging trust-funder told you, but...

Hey!

I have a great idea! Why don't I make a fabulous reunion dinner?

I'm not hungry.

I ate on the bus.

Okay, we'll try the group hug later.

I'm at an apartment building on the corner of 8th and Franklin

where a murder occurred earlier this evening.

The victim, believed to be a nurse at County General,

was reportedly stabbed to death in her apartment.

-It's me. -Come on in.

-Oh, thank God. I am starving! -I figured.

Hey, that's my boyfriend, Jeremy!

-What happened? -Oh, some woman got whacked.

"Whacked"? Phoebe, you've been in New York way too long.

Yeah. I should have stayed.

Why didn't you tell Prue I was coming back?

And risk her changing the locks?

Besides, you should have been the one to tell her, not me.

Good point, Chicken Little.

It's just so hard for me to talk to her. She's always been more like a mother.

That's not her fault. She practically had to sacrifice

-her own childhood to raise us. -Her own childhood to raise us.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, we're lucky she was so responsible.

You and I had it easy. All we had to do was be there.

Yeah, well, I don't need a mom anymore, you know, I need a sister.

Hey.

This was always the coldest room in the house.

Thanks.

The same tattoo was on the other two victims.

So the murderer is killing cultists.

No, the murderer is on a witch-hunt.

Oh, yeah, and he's 500 years old and he lives in Salem.

Look around, Trudeau. Pentagrams, altars, offerings.

All tools for a freak fest.

They call them sabbats, and this was hardly a freak fest.

She was a solitary practitioner. She practiced her craft alone.

Let me ask you something. Do you believe in UFOs?

-Hell, no. -Neither do I.

But do you believe there are people out there who do believe in UFOs?

Yes, but I think they're crazy.

Then why can't you believe there are people who believe they are witches?

Look, all I know is that if you don't stop talking about witches,

I'm gonna start questioning you.

I'd stay away from that cat, Trudeau.

It's been clawing the crap out of everybody.

See you at the car.

I'm glad to hear you and Jeremy are still together.

Where did you meet him anyway?

We met at the hospital cafeteria the day Grams was admitted.

He was covering a story and I was bawling over a bagel.

So he handed me a napkin.

-How romantic. -As a matter of fact, it was.

The napkin had his phone number on it.

-Stop pushing the pointer. -I'm not touching it.

You used to always push the pointer.

More popcorn?

Hey, I forgot your question.

I asked if Prue would have sex with someone other than herself this year.

That's disgusting!

Please say yes.

Piper.

-Piper, get in here! -What?

-What did you guys do now? -Me? I didn't do anything.

The pointer on the spirit board. It moved on its own.

I'm serious. It spelled A-T.

-Well, did you push it? -No!

You always used to push the pointer.

My fingers were barely touching it. Look.

It did it again! It moved!

-It's still on the letter T. -I swear, it moved.

There! Look!

-You saw that, right? -I think so, yeah.

I told you I wasn't touching it.

Prue, can you come in here a sec?

-Now what? -I think it's trying to tell us something.

Attic.

Don't you think you're overreacting? We are perfectly safe here.

Don't say that. In horror movies, the person who says that is the next to die.

It's pouring rain. There's a psycho's on the loose. Jeremy's not even home.

So, I'll... I'll wait in the cab till he gets home from work.

-That'll be cheap. -Prue, I saw that pointer move.

No, look, what you saw was Phoebe's fingers pushing the pointer.

There's nothing in that attic. She's playing a joke on us.

We don't know that. We've lived here for months now

and we've never been able to get that attic door open.

-Great, now the phone doesn't work. -Yeah, the power's out.