by Kelly Ethan
“Speak for yourself. How I raised such strait-laced daughters is beyond me. Must be your father’s influence.” Elspeth sniffed and shoved her gnome under a canary yellow pants-suited arm. “Excuse me, I’m off to suck up the excess tension.” She stomped off and left the room.
“Well, looks like her ankle is better.” Amelia lowered herself into a fluffy armchair.
“She probably sucked the life out of a virgin and used it to heal herself.” Lila waggled her eyebrows at her cousins and set them giggling again.
“Lila Harrow! That’s your grandmother. We never admit in public she can suck the life out of someone.” Amelia glared at her unrepentant daughter.
“If the evil witch hat fits.” Lila shrugged.
“Can we please focus back on my candles?” Winifred sighed. “Center your thoughts. Have a question paramount in your mind and repeat after me...”
Xandie tried to clear her mind. But the picture of Elspeth sucking the soul out of a virgin was hard to forget.
Winifred continued. “Clarity, clarity, come to me. Mind, body, and soul must see. With this spell, the fog disappears. This is my will. So mote it be.” She looked expectantly at her niece.
Xandie searched for answers to Point Muse’s thieving issues but came up blank. “Sorry, Aunt Winifred. I got nothing.” She pinched her lips together and then took a deep breath. Winifred was helping her and still she had nothing. No answers as to what scheme the thief played out. She’d thought after solving a murder, a series of magical robberies would be as easy as eating Lila’s butter puffs. Apparently not.
Waving a hand, Winifred snuffed all the candles out in the house. “It was worth a try. Maybe the question needs longer to percolate in your soul before you get an answer?”
“She’s not a coffee machine, Aunt Win.” Lila stood and pulled Xandie and Holly up. “We have to get going anyway. The gallery has a special showing tonight of dragon hoard artifacts from the Penne collection and I’m catering. I have to deliver my non-salty goodies to Iris Malone.”
“Fine, whatever.” Winifred gathered her candles and stomped away as much as an annoying optimist could.
The girls gathered at the front door of Harrow House and slipped their jackets on.
“Psst, Xandie.” Elspeth stood at the top of the stairs and gestured her up.
Telling her cousins to wait outside, Xandie clambered up the stairs to Elspeth. “Everything okay, G?” Xandie couldn’t bring herself to call the active, kooky, and sometimes mysterious woman in front of her Grandmother. G or Elspeth fit much better.
“Oh, everything’s a hoot.” Elspeth grinned malevolently. Then sobered as she peered at Xandie. “Your mother wasn’t the strongest witch, and she never found her special groove the way the other two have. But she was always a catalyst and brought things to a conclusion. You have that same quality. Don’t let those clingy Point Muse harpies get you down. You’ll work things out.”
“Thanks, Elspeth. I hope you’re right.”
“And if you’re lucky, you’ll find another body. That’ll shake up the town and get their mind off their troubles.” She slapped Xandie on the shoulder and cackled evil-hag style before slipping off to her room with a slam of the door.
“Why does everyone want me to find another body?” Xandie mumbled to herself as she joined her cousins outside.
Anyone would think bodies followed her.
“It’s full-bodied with a great potential for elemental satisfaction.” The smarmy art critic gushed over a curved pitted dragon tooth on display. “My family donated this precious artifact and others in the collection. In the hopes other supernatural families could share in our unique lifestyle. Red dots mean the artifact is for sale.” Ronald Penne adjusted his silk tie and searched for someone in the crowd before disappearing over to another popular artifact to spin his sales talk again.
“Pompous art talk for it’s a big tooth so buy, buy, buy,” Xandie whispered to Holly, who scowled at her.
“Shush, I like dragon teeth. Ronald Penne is right, some of these artifacts are fascinating.”
“Isn’t that morbid? The fang must have belonged to someone. And I can’t see a dragon volunteering a tooth. Especially not such a slick salesman as Mr. Penne.”
“Please, Xandie. I work in a funeral home and have visions of people dying sometimes. Morbid doesn’t worry me.”
Xandie nibbled on an appetizer and considered Holly. She’d worked at the funeral home for a while. But her cousin seemed stressed and snappy. Holly was the quiet Harrow, who held Lila’s foot-and-mouth leash. “What’s up, Holly? You seem kind of on edge.”
Giving into hunger, Holly shoveled three cheese cubes into her mouth and mumbled around them. Swallowing, she repeated her words, “I thought working at Elysian Fields would be a good way to get a handle on my banshee gifts. Plus, with the necromancer twins who own the home, I thought it might help.”
“But?”
“But my visions are on the fritz.” Holly sighed and snatched an orange juice from a passing server. “My father thinks it’s the Harrow blood and the Maguire banshee blood battling each other. I have to wait and see who wins.” She wrinkled her nose and pouted.
“I guess it makes sense. Your mom and dad don’t know how your gifts will interact. Just be patient. I’m sure you’ll see someone die soon.” Xandie poked her tongue out at her cousin.
“Put that away. Who knows where it’s been?” Lila moved behind Xandie and Holly and gathered up empty trays.
“It’s been eating your cheese cubes.”
“Oh, poor baby. Sheriff hot-pants Braun isn’t here and Xandie’s lonely and grumpy.”
Xandie choked on a cheese cube. “For your information, Lila Harrow, Sheriff Braun arrested me. I have no interest in his pants, hot or otherwise.”
“Saying it aloud doesn’t make it so, oh great librarian.”
Ignoring her cousin’s teasing, Xandie glared at the art crowd milling around. Half a dozen dragon artifacts from claws, fangs and scales to ancient books, jewelry and tapestries, hung on display. Ronald Penne, mate to the Penne heir, mingled with the elite of Point Muse while projecting a fake air of social goodwill to convince people to buy his dragon art.
“Looks like Iris got a good crowd.” Lila leaned over Holly and snatched a platter of appetizers out of her hand. “Your waistline doesn’t need those.”
Holly crammed another cheese cube into her mouth and ignored Lila.
“It helps nothing weird has happened the last forty-eight hours.” Xandie let out a little shriek as Priss Makepeace popped up next to her. Orange juice swamped the side of her glass as her hands shook at the sudden interruption. She turned and carefully placed it on the table behind her. “Are you in stealth mode?”
Priss stared at her champagne and then back to Xandie. “No, more alcoholic mode.” She raised a glass in salute to Lila’s catering.
“Are you an art appreciator?” Holly joined the conversation as Lila cleaned behind them.
She shrugged. “Sometimes. I’m more into swords, but dragon artifacts can be interesting. I hear that Archibald Penne from the Penne clan helped to supply the artifacts. You see him anywhere?”
Hadn’t Priss argued with Archibald just five days ago? Why was she searching him out now? “I wouldn’t have thought dragons were your thing. Didn’t you tell me your father preferred a dead dragon to a talkative one?” Xandie’s pulsed raced; having some of her questions answered would go a long way to shutting up the gossips and their pressure to solve the thefts. Not to mention cementing her reputation as the librarian and the mysterious sword wielder was beginning to appear shadier by the minute.
Priss bared her teeth in a close copy of a smile. “His actual words were the only good dragon was a quiet dragon. But whatever. Doesn’t mean I agree with everything he said.” She looked sad for a moment.
Talk about the guilts. Xandie felt like a bully. “Sorry, I must’ve misunderstood. Ignore me.” Xandie offered an apologetic smile.
“No problem, death and dads are touchy subjects.”
“Dead mothers too.”
Holly butted in between the two girls. “And absent fathers.”
A cackle sounded from the corner and all three women turned and watched Elspeth shimmy across the floor in a lime-green pantsuit with a bowl of fruit on her head.
“Grandmothers too,” chorused Holly and Xandie.
Priss snorted into her champagne glass and sprayed her top with alcohol. “Well, I have to say your family isn’t boring.” She placed her glass down. “I think I’ll mop this up.” She indicated her champagne-sprinkled top and waggled her fingers in a goodbye. Priss headed off, perky blonde ringlets bouncing.
“That girl confuses me. One moment, grim and focused, the next, cheerleader. It’s exhausting.” Xandie puzzled over the mystery of Priss Makepeace. She liked the fencing instructor, but something about the woman niggled at her.
“Cheer up. No glum faces at the Iris Malone Gallery.” Iris Malone walked toward Xandie and handed her another orange juice. “In fact, you know what cheers me up? Buying art. The pieces here tonight have been donated by Ronald Penne and the Penne clan.”
“Not on a librarian’s wage.”
“Or a funeral assistant. We’re just here to support Lila,” Holly offered.
Iris waved the words way. “One can always appreciate art even if they can’t afford it.”
“Are all the pieces from the Penne dragon hoard?” Xandie asked Iris, still feeling guilty for eating and not buying anything.
“Oh yes. The Penne clan is very generous. Not everything’s for sale, but Ronald Penne has marked on the descriptions in the catalogue. Archibald has worked with Ronald and me to produce a top-notch collection.”
The same Archibald Penne Xandie had seen arguing with both Priss and Iris only five days ago. “Is he here tonight?”
Iris smiled over Xandie’s shoulder at another potential customer. “He’s here somewhere, as is his Uncle Ronald. Can’t have a gallery showing of dragon artifacts without a few in residence. God knows, Marjorie or her heir, Adelind, wouldn’t get caught dead here. Ronald performs most of the social duties for the clan. Now I must move on. Enjoy the art.” Iris floated away and buttonholed another art goer.
“That woman smiles too much,” Holly grumbled. “It’s like talking to a shark. I guess it’s natural. Her mother’s a dwarf and they’re all about gold and acquisition.”
Xandie sat her juice on the table. “You know what? I’ve had my fill of the Point Muse social circle. You want to leave?”
“Thank God. I thought you’d never ask.” Holly grabbed the last cheese cube and munched.
“Right, you stay here. I’ll let Lila know we’re going.” Xandie threaded her way through the crowd until she reached the back of the gallery. The employee only doors were ajar. Xandie shuffled a few steps into the hallway and called Lila’s name. No one replied, but a figure at the end of the corridor ducked out the exit.
“If that’s you, Lila, you’re too old to play hide and seek.” She cracked a smile at the thought of her cousin hiding behind some old statue. Following the figure, she eased open the exit door and scanned the alley, but it was clear. Confused, Xandie turned when she heard the thump of something hitting the floor. Her heart pounding in her chest, she moved in the direction the noise had come from and entered a small galley-sized kitchen.
Chills cascaded down her spine when she spied Archibald Penne on the floor. His body twisted like a pretzel, his face an odious silvery-green and his tongue protruding. A wisp of smoke trickled out from his open mouth. “Oh my God.” Xandie froze, hands over a mouth.
“It wasn’t me. I swear. Believe me.” Priss Makepeace stepped over Archibald’s body, hand outstretched. The other hand holding a crystal vial of smoking green liquid.
Point Muse, always a surprise and a body count...
Four
“I swear I didn’t kill Penne.” Priss smoothed her wrinkled shirt over her jeans. The same outfit she’d worn last night to the exhibition, when Xandie discovered her with Archibald Penne’s dead body.
Xandie evaluated Priss and her appearance. Sure, she was rumpled, the woman had spent a night in the Point Muse lock-up. But she didn’t seem satisfied or pleased with her deadly handiwork. If anything, her pacing, clenched jaw and pinched lips indicated frustration, not guilt. So why did Xandie feel as if the woman hid a mile-wide secret from her?
“I found you standing over his corpse with a poison bottle in your hand.” Xandie rubbed her aching head. She’d sent Holly for Agatha as soon as she found Archibald. The Brauns stepped in, removed Priss for questioning and closed the gallery. The police chief was away on course, otherwise she’d never be allowed to quiz a potential murderer. “Why were you standing over him with the poison?”
“Argh.” The incarcerated woman threw up her hands and paced the cell. “We had a meeting. I found him dead. That’s it.”
“Why meet with him? No offense, but you don’t like dragons much, do you?” Xandie asked Priss in a flat tone. She’d seen the dragon victim arguing with both Priss and the gallery owner. Why the sudden popularity with the town’s female residents?
Priss nibbled her lip, her cheerleader blonde locks limp and non-bouncy. “The meeting was personal. But I didn’t kill him. That’s all anyone needs to know.” She pounded a fist against the wall, then slumped onto a bench.
Xandie fought the swell of compassion threatening to swamp her logic centers. Sighing, she waved at Agatha to let her out. “When you’re ready to tell the truth, get Agatha to call me. I like you. You saved me from killer garden ornaments, but I can’t help you unless you let me.” She waited until Agatha let her out and paused, staring at the murder suspect. A disheveled, scared, and mysterious Priss Makepeace. It was time to bring the girls in and Nancy Drew the heck out of Archibald’s murder. Xandie stepped out of the station and raised her face to the cool sun peeking through the gray clouds. Another murder to solve.
Wait until Theo heard.
“Our little sword wielder is a killer? Cool.” Lila drifted around the library, trailing fingers over wooden shelves.
“Are you’re checking out Xandie’s housekeeping?” Holly griped at Lila.
“Well, it’d be nice if someone cleaned my apartment once in a while.”
“How about the owner of said apartment?” Holly shot back.
“How about the freeloader who stays because she can’t stand living with her mother?”
“Stop squabbling over my lack of dust. The library handles it. Can we get back on target?” Xandie rolled her eyes. Her cousins fought over anything, given the chance.
“Fine.” Lila flounced to the same couch Holly lounged on and perched on the edge with a frown.
“Yeah. You guys will solve this murder. No worries for the woman on potential death row.” Theo the fluffy black cat, a.k.a. ancient Greek teenager, strolled around the room. His pet imp, Horatio, hung off his ear, free climbing Theo’s face.
“Hey,” Xandie protested. “I’ve solved multiple murders.”
“You were lucky and don’t forget we all rode to your rescue.” Theo made his point by flinging his head. Horatio squealed as he flew into the air. Theo sighed and shot his paw out, flicking Horatio onto his back. Protesting, the imp crawled into his handmade saddle and adjusted his pink spangled jogging suit.
“I had it in hand. Now we focus on Priss. Remember her? Languishing in jail for a crime she didn’t commit?”
Holly held up a hand. “Are we positive she isn’t guilty? I mean she’s nice and has a cool sword. But we don’t know her.”
“I hate to agree with my death-obsessed cousin. What do we know of Priss Makepeace? Is that even her name?”
“Okay, she’s sketchy, and she argued with Archibald, but Malone threatened him too.” Xandie flashed to Priss’s reaction to Es Penne, Lila’s newest work experience girl. “I have unanswered questions for her. But murder is a big stretch.”
/> “I suggest you find background on murder girl, Iris Malone, and how the dragon died. You have a week before the Chief comes back from his course. After that, you won’t get a look in.” Theo galloped past with Horatio heehawing on his back.
Lila rose. “It’s a plan. What does the library say?”
Xandie opened the volume on dragon migrations. She showed it to her cousins. “But what it has to do with the missing artifacts, I’ve no clue.”
“Go through it. See what sparks that suspicious sleuthing mind of yours. Meanwhile, we’ll find out what killed Archibald. Meet up with you later.” Lila dragged Holly up and they left, still squabbling.
Xandie dropped the book and took hold of her necklace. The pendant belonged to her great-aunt, Sera, the previous librarian. The necklace, library and Theo were her inheritance. She smoothed a finger over the design. The pendant represented the symbol of knowledge. Originally it had been a focal link between her and the library. But she’d found out when a killer knight attacked her that she could communicate with the library without it. But she felt a connection to her murdered great-aunt when she wore it. For now, she still used the necklace to help focus her questions. Xandie had already asked about the artifact thefts. So, this time she formed her question differently. “Someone killed Archibald Penne. Is the killer a supernatural?”
The tome on draconic movement shivered and shook again. “Okay, I get the message.” She patted her desk and whispered a thank you. Didn’t hurt to play nice with the supernatural entity that controlled her paycheck. She dropped to the couch vacated by her warring cousins.
Xandie resigned herself to reading. She scanned the contents and turned to the Pennedrakon chapter. She skipped past the information she’d read earlier. “Point Muse is a favorite of otherworldly creatures. It’s a supernatural, relatively isolated community, built on a nexus of ley lines. Visitors access the town from off the highway. A lake borders one side, with a forested reserve on the other. The secluded area has an abundant national park, hiking trails and a bustling harbor and fishing trade. Great background, but what about the Penne family?”