Grave Alchemy

by Amanda Armour

“Really, you sure he wasn’t running away?” Basil piped up—he must have followed me.

  “What were you doing at The Breakers? That’s a hangout for college kids. Aren’t they a bit young for you?” I asked.

  “She was probably looking for jail bait,” Basil said glaring at Natasha.

  “I was not. Harriet’s son Brian told me about it, so I had to check it out.” Natasha said defensively.

  “So, how is Harriet?” I asked.

  “Great, she found me the perfect house. I was just telling Annie that you guys can come by anytime. It’s just down the road.”

  “Down the road? There’s nothing for sale in this area, you must be mistaken.”

  “Harriet called it the Howard house, it was a pocket listing, very exclusive,” Natasha said with a smug grin.

  Well, isn’t that just great? I wish I’d known that property was for sale, I would have bought it myself. So much for keeping her at arms length.

  “That was a lucky break.” I may as well be civil, since it didn’t look like I’d get my wish now. Maybe Skye could curse her after all. A few big zits should do the trick.

  “Nice? This…person,” Basil glared at Natasha, “tried to kill me and you two are acting like nothing happened. Watch your back Nasty, it can get dangerous around here,” Basil added with a snarl as he stomped from the room.

  I crossed my arms and glared at Natasha, “You know you really should apologize to him.”

  “It wasn’t my fault. How many times do I have to say it?”

  “Basil is walking around with one horn and that is your fault. Why can’t you just say sorry?”

  “She’s right you know,” Annie added. “Basil lives here now, and he’s part of our family. You really should apologize.”

  Finally! I thought Annie would never say it. She had a tendency to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, even when they didn’t deserve it.

  “Fine, next time I see it, I’ll say sorry. But it’s as much to blame as me,” Natasha admitted, or at least half admitted.

  “Good, and don’t call him an it,” I said. “Rudeness doesn’t earn you any points. So, what’s Annie doing to your hair?”

  “Just adding some highlights. I thought I’d brighten it up; the water here is making my hair a bit dull. Annie’s doing it for free.”

  “That’s nice, and it will be good practice. Right Annie? Well, bye for now then,” I said as I turned to leave, silently hoping Annie would screw it up and give her bleached highlights. “Oh, I almost forgot. This is for you, it’s from Basil.”

  Annie dropped her dish and brush with a clatter as she reached for the box, “He’s so sweet. What is it?”

  “A new phone; enjoy,” I said as I left her squealing with delight.

  Chapter 9

  “I don’t believe this. Why aren’t you dead?” The obstinate old woman should have been dead, but here she was, sipping a glass of wine, looking as healthy as me.

  “Who the hell do you think you are and why should I be dead?”

  “Cause you’re on my list, so you’re supposed to be dead.”

  “I’m supposed to be dead just because you and that list say so? That’s just stupid, obviously I’m not.”

  “You’re 95 years old and have severe emphysema. Here, look,” I said as I waved the scroll in her face.

  “I don’t know where you get your information from young lady, but it’s wrong. As you can plainly see, I’m alive and kicking.”

  “Do you mind if I wait? Just to make sure you don’t kick off in the next few minutes.” This was unbelievable, people were supposed to die when the scroll said so. No one gets to cheat Stewart.

  “Mind? Of course I mind.” She pointed a bony finger at us and flicked it up, imitating a gun. “Get out and take that mangy bird with you.”

  “Who are you calling mangy, you old crone?” Basil screeched, flapping his wings as he lurched toward her. I grabbed him before he could make contact with her face.

  “You! Now get out before I call the police and have you charged with breaking and entering, robbery and attempted murder.”

  “What a cow,” Basil mumbled as we left the old woman sitting in her parlor. “I’m not mangy.”

  “This is getting ridiculous, that’s the second one this week.”

  “Did you notice they both live in huge houses with lots of servants?”

  “Yeah. Do you think Stewart can be bought?”

  “Nah. He never breaks the rules, and I bet he’ll be pissed when he hears about this. Want to break into Phineaus’ house? I want to look at that hidden room.”

  “I want to look at the dead files first,” I said, as I called Uncle Iggy. I got lucky this time as he was in. He gave us permission to look at the files, but only after I threatened to sneak in. I also asked him about the times changing here and in Oregon, and apparently Basil was right, they had stopped in Oregon when they started here. He tried to assure me that the SIB was still investigating, but the increasing number of undead was taking priority.

  The file room was deceptive—it looked like a small dark office when you opened the door, but when you stepped inside and closed the door, it revealed itself as a cavernous room. It would take us hours to search through the files, if we didn’t figure out the filing system.

  “I think it’s by year and last name,” Basil stated from behind a huge filing cabinet. “What do you want to look for first, the missing or undead?”

  “Undead, there’s not many of them. I’ll take Edmund McCleary and you can take that old cow, Sarah Knowles. Whoever finishes first can look for Howard Dixon’s file.”

  An hour later we had found multiple files on each of our subjects. We sat at a table in the middle of the room scanning the folders.

  “Can you believe how many death scenarios are in here? Sarah’s had sixteen. I didn’t know you could have more than one,” I said, pushing her folder over to Basil.

  “Neither did I. Guess you learn something new every day,” Basil replied, leafing through the pages. “Are there any future scenarios for them?”

  I flipped to the end of the two files. “Let’s see. Howard has two possibilities and Edmund has one. What about Sarah?”

  Basil looked at the last page of Sarah’s file. “There’s nothing here. Maybe her next death hasn’t been entered yet?”

  “Could be, but that seems kind of odd.”

  “All super rich and all alive,” Basil mused, chewing on one of his claws. “I wonder if they have any connection, other than wealth?”

  “You mean like, do they know each other?”

  “I don’t know, maybe I’m just grasping at straws. Let’s try the missing souls, Phineaus in particular,” Basil suggested.

  I was about to answer Basil when the sound of a drawer opening caught my attention. Basil and I crept toward the sound; no one else was supposed to be in here. Someone clothed in black was bent over, rifling through the files.

  “Who are you and what are you doing?” I demanded, causing the person to jump backward, and drop the file clutched in his hand.

  “I could ask you the same. These files are off-limits to reapers.”

  “I’m not the one sneaking around. I have permission to be here. What’s your name? I’m going to report you,” I blustered. Having a gargoyle for protection was making me a little over-confident.

  The man glanced up and arched his brow as he shifted his gaze to Basil. “You should be more careful of the company you keep. It’d be a shame if he got you killed.”

  As he backed away, I had a sense of déjà vu; the man looked familiar but I couldn’t place him. His eyes grew wide, and he ducked to the side just as a bright flash came from behind me.

  “Got ya,” Basil said, pumping his fist. “Where’d he go?”

  I closed my eyes to clear the white spots that blurred my vision. By the time I opened them, the man had disappeared, along with the file he had dropped. “Did you take his picture?”

  “Yeah, here take a look,�
� Basil said and started laughing.

  Basil stopped when he saw me giving him a curious look. “Do you know who he is?”

  “Nope, no idea,” Basil replied keeping a straight face.

  “Then why were you laughing?”

  Basil walked back to our files and looked over his shoulder, “Just cause I caught him.”

  Hmm, Basil was hiding something again. I looked down at the photo and zoomed in; it was an interesting face. The scar that ran from his eyebrow to his jaw gave him a dangerous look. He must have been in one heck of a fight to suffer that kind of injury. He was the man I had seen in Phineaus Pratt’s backyard, and that scar would help us identify him. Whose file did he take and why? Too many questions and no answers.

  “I think I’ve had enough for one day. What about you, Basil?”

  “Can we look for some information about Felix before we leave?”

  “Sure, the reaper files should be through that door over there,” I replied, waving at the door on my left.

  As we entered the next room, we startled someone else. It turned out to be Natasha, clutching a handful of papers. What was it with everyone sneaking into the file rooms today? I was beginning to wonder why I had bothered to get permission.

  “What are you two doing here?” Natasha demanded, attempting to bluff us.

  “Stealing files now, Nasty?” Basil snarked gleefully as he marched up to her.

  “I’m not stealing anything, I just want to know who works in the area. They didn’t give me a list of the local reapers when I started,” Natasha said placing a hand across her chest.

  “I’ll make sure that you get one Natasha, but you’d better leave before the clerk comes back from dinner and finds you,” I stated civilly.

  “Do you think this is enough to get her canned, Z?” Basil added.

  “I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I wonder what you two would do if I reported you?” Natasha countered.

  “Nice try Natasha, the clerk knows we’re here, we have clearance. You better give me those copies—you’re not allowed to remove information.”

  “Fine,” Natasha grumbled, handing me her photocopies as she stomped out of the file room.

  I turned to Basil and shrugged. We decided to make a copy of Felix’s file so we could study it at home. No one had to know, did they?

  Sam Wheatly’s office was close by, so Basil and I decided to check in with him. Sam leapt up and enveloped me in a bear hug when we entered the room.

  He pulled back and held me at arm’s length. “It’s so good to see you. Sometimes it feels like I’m so tied to my desk, that I don’t get a chance to see my old friends much.”

  “It’s good to see you too. How have you been?”

  “Just fine, couldn’t be better. Noah stopped by a while ago asking about the scrolls. He said that the times on his scrolls were changing. Have you had the same problem?”

  “Yes, I have. It’s so weird. They start out with the wrong time, then when it’s too late, they correct themselves.”

  “I’ve checked and double checked, and I couldn’t find anything wrong. Is it still happening? I haven’t heard back from him yet.”

  “You haven’t heard? Someone shot him, he’s in the hospital.” This was really odd, I thought everyone knew about the shooting.

  Sam blanched and leaned back against his desk. “That’s terrible. I had no idea. Is he going to be okay? I’ll have to visit him.”

  Basil hopped up beside Sam, startling him. “I’m Basil. So, what do you know about all the undead turning up?”

  Sam’s eyes widened as he stared at Basil. “There are zombies?

  “Sorry Sam, I should have introduced you to Basil. I met him in Oregon; he’s a bit pushy.” I reached for Basil and nudged him off the desk. “No zombies, just people who didn’t die on schedule. And Noah’s shoulder was shattered. It’ll take some time, but he’ll be okay.”

  “This is getting out of hand. How could this happen?” Sam leaned forward, grabbing handfuls of hair and shaking his head. “This is such a mess. I could lose my job.”

  I reached out to soothe him. “It’s okay, Sam. No one blames you, we’ll figure it out.” We left him sitting at his desk, staring out the window.

  Basil opened the car door and scrambled into the passenger seat. “Well, that was a bust. That guy doesn’t know anything.”

  “I don’t know about that. Sam was never very friendly toward me—or Noah for that matter. He blamed him for Jane’s death and called him a useless half-breed. Now he’s acting like we’re best buddies.”

  Later that day, Basil was sitting at his desk playing with an iPad. “I still think we should report Nasty.”

  “Reporting her won’t do any good. She’s acting strange though, nothing like her normal behavior, and I can’t help but wonder if she has a role in this mess. We need to keep an eye on her. I mean, what was she doing with those files?”

  “You know, she only picked the male reapers’ files,” Basil said, waving Natasha’s photocopies at me. “Maybe she’s looking for a date?”

  “Or figuring out whose scroll to mess with next,” I concluded and took the papers from Basil. “You were supposed to shred these.”

  “What’s in the file on Felix?” Basil asked, rapidly changing the subject.

  “Just some work history. No reprimands, no nothing. He was squeaky clean,” I sighed and threw down the papers.

  “Want to go back to Phin’s house? We didn’t get a chance today. Are you working tomorrow?” Basil asked.

  “Nope, my schedule’s clear, so we can go.”

  Annie burst into the attic shouting, “I did it. I passed. Look at my license.” She was waving a small card and jumping for joy. “I’m officially a hairdresser.”

  “Oh good, then you can fix Z’s hair now,” Basil said as he got up to hug her.

  “Congratulations!” I knew Annie would pass the tests. “I like my hair as it is, but maybe we can change the pink to purple. What do you think, Annie?”

  “No problem. We can do it tomorrow. Hey, did you know there’s a new product out? It’s like makeup for hair, it comes in all sorts of colors. You spray it on and when you want to change it, you just wash it out. You can do it yourself.”

  “That sounds like fun, let’s try it.”

  Annie leaned over and picked up Felix’s file. “What are you doing with this?”

  “He was killed the other day, and we’re looking into it.”

  “What?” Annie cried, “I just saw him a few weeks ago. What happened?”

  “You saw him?” Basil asked.

  “Well, yeah. We dated for a while, but it didn’t last. We stayed friends though.” Annie had tears in her eyes and wiped them away. “I don’t understand. How could he be dead?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out. There’s nothing much in his file.”

  “Well, there wouldn’t be. When I found out he went rogue, I broke it off. He tried to say that it wasn’t what I thought. He must have thought I was dumb or something.”

  “How could you not know? It was big news when he went rogue.”

  “You know I don’t care about what happens in the reaper world, and I don’t gossip.”

  “Yeah, sorry, I forgot. But you may be our best lead, Annie. What can you tell us about him?” I asked.

  “There’s not much to tell. We just had normal dates. You know: concerts, movies and dinners. But mostly we hung out at his place.”

  “The house on Greene St.?” Basil asked, he had picked up Felix’s file and was looking through it again..

  “No, his condo on the wharf.” Annie dabbed her eyes and sniffed. “He never said anything about a house. See, that’s what I meant about rogues, you can’t trust them. How did he die?”

  “Shot.” Basil tapped his keyboard. “We’re trying to figure out who killed him and why.”

  Annie gave us the address of the condo. She wanted to come with us, but Basil managed to sidetrack her. He suggested that sh
e make a list of everywhere they had gone and everyone they had met.

  Chapter 10

  A brewing storm threatened rain and tore at the remnants of the crime scene tape as we pulled up to Phineaus’ home early the next morning. Fortunately for us, the police had chopped down part of the hedge, clearing a path to the back door. They’d locked the door, but that didn’t present much of a problem, I was pretty handy at picking locks. Gray powder covered most of the surfaces in the kitchen and the sea of paper still covering the checkered tiles. The hallway was clear, and we quickly made our way up the stairs and entered Phineaus’ bedroom. It looked exactly the same as I had left it, aside from the rumpled bed coverings.

  “So, where’s this hidden room?” Basil asked, as he reverted to his gargoyle form.

  “Over here, behind this bookcase. I don’t remember which book opens the door though.” I reached for an old manuscript, thinking it looked familiar.

  After pulling and pushing several rows of books, I finally found the one that triggered the locking mechanism. The bookcase creaked and groaned as it swung aside, revealing the hidden room. I slid my hand along the wall, feeling for the light switch.

  “Look at these Basil, have you ever seen anything…” I flicked on the light and stared, wide-eyed at the sight before me. The shelves that had been packed with pulsing globes were now empty, just a shamble of broken glass. One lone globe remained on the lowest shelf, its pulse increasing in intensity as the light illuminated it. The dancing lights within were bouncing around the globe.

  “I thought you said there were lava lamps in here?” Basil asked while looking around.

  “There were, but they’re all gone, except for those empty ones. Someone must have cleared the place out. From the mess in here, I’d say they were in a big hurry.”

  When Basil picked up the globe and shook it, the color changed from green to dark red. “This reminds me of a disco ball.”

  “That globe looks angry, I don’t think you should shake it.” The lamp stayed red as Basil replaced it on the shelf. I ran my finger over it and watched as the color changed to a deep blue. “Put your finger on it; don’t pick it up, just touch it.”