by Kathi Daley
I filled Ellie in on everything I’d purchased that morning. When I got to the part about running into Phyllis, I shared the most recent update on Ashton Fall’s newest murder as well.
“Wow, that’s really strange,” Ellie said. “Four years ago a ghost hunter died in the Henderson House, and now a man writing a screenplay about haunted places ends up dead in the same house. What are the odds?”
“Probably pretty low if everything happened by chance. But what if that isn’t how it happened?”
“I know you think the murder scene was set up as part of a sick game to involve you, but does it also mean you think Edgar Irvine was intentionally lured here?”
“I suppose it would be pretty far out of the realm of reality to think anyone would go to that much trouble to stage the perfect murder scene, but the thought has occurred to me. The fact that the man was here to investigate haunted places might simply have put him at the scene at the time the killer needed a victim.”
Ellie’s smiled faded. “If this guy was lured here, I’m terrified for you. Talk about premeditation. It almost seems like the killer could have been working on this for weeks, or even months.”
I took in a breath and then blew it out. “Yeah. It’s beginning to feel like something out of a horror movie.” I tried to squash down the feeling of dread in my chest.
“Maybe you should take the kids and go on a trip. Go visit your relatives in Switzerland. It seems like a needless risk to stay here if you’re the object of someone’s obsession.”
“I can’t just run off to Switzerland.”
“Sure you can. Your husband has access to a private jet and a bazillion dollars. He could take you away from Ashton Falls and the danger that appears to be lurking about in a flash.”
“Okay, then I won’t just run off to Switzerland. We don’t even know for certain I’m in any real danger. Sure, there are circumstances that indicate there’s someone out there playing with me, but it’s also possible we could be reading things wrong.”
Ellie gave me a firm look. “I know you want to face this the way you face everything else: head-on. But I’m really worried. If you won’t go out of town will you at least stay home?”
I hesitated. “I understand the danger, if there’s some madman fixated on me. I do. And while I don’t plan to jump feet first into any type of investigation, I don’t feel like staying totally out of the loop; not being aware of what’s going on isn’t a good choice either.” I glanced at Catherine. “I’d like to stop by to see what Salinger’s found out. Would you mind taking Catherine home with you? I’ll come to get her as soon as I get the update.”
Ellie sighed, but I could see she’d reconciled herself to my decision. “I’m happy to take Catherine home with me. She and Eli are due for naps anyway. But promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I will. My plan is to talk to Salinger. Nothing more.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that. You do realize the number of times you’ve found yourself close to death greatly exceeds the national average.”
“I know.”
“By a lot,” Ellie emphasized.
“I know. But I’ll be careful this time. I promise. I know it seems logical that I should want to hide out where no one can find me, but I need to know what to expect so I can be prepared. What if this horrific game isn’t over? What if the vampire comes after someone I love if they can’t get to me?”
Ellie frowned. “You think they would?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t want to risk it. I know you’re worried, but I promise I’ll come over to the boathouse right after I stop at the sheriff’s office so you can see that I’m safe and sound.”
Ellie blew out a slow breath. “Okay. I suppose you’re going to do what you’re going to do anyway. It does provide me with a small amount of comfort that Catherine will be safe with me while her mommy plays Nancy Drew.”
Chapter 4
Salinger was just finishing up a phone call when I arrived at his office. He motioned for me to take a seat. His desk was piled higher with paperwork and folders than usual. It looked like he’d been busy, which was good, because maybe that meant he had something.
As soon as he hung up, he tossed a popular tabloid across the desk. I picked it up and looked at the front page. The headline read: Man dies from vampire attack in Ashton Falls.
“How is this even possible?” I asked. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours since the body was found. This article had to have been printed yesterday for it to have reached the newsstands this morning.”
“I’ve been asking myself that question since the article was pointed out to me. The only thing I can come up with is that the killer submitted the article himself before you even found the body.”
“Do you think someone from the paper can tell us who submitted the article?” I asked.
“I was speaking to the editor when you came in. The piece was delivered anonymously. He said they don’t do a lot to verify the tips they receive because the whole point of their publication is to publish shocking headlines to sell papers.”
I picked it up again. “This is bad.”
Salinger nodded. “If I had to guess, the town is going to be overflowing with wackos wanting to see a real vampire before the sun sets on another day.”
I looked across the desk at Salinger. “Do you think the person behind this is after the hoopla it will bring all along?”
Salinger shrugged. “Maybe.”
“So what do we do?”
“Solve the murder, run a feature with the actual facts in a reputable newspaper, and try to quell the vampire hype.”
“We need to solve this case and solve it fast. I ran into Phyllis. She said she provided you with information about where the victim was staying. Did you find something that will help us figure this out?”
Salinger sat back in his chair. “Something, yes, but unfortunately, not as much as we need.”
I leaned forward, resting my arms on the desk in front of me. “Okay. What do you know?”
He hesitated.
“Come on, Salinger. I know you don’t want me involved, but I am. Being kept in the dark isn’t going to help me. It’ll be better if I know what’s going on so I can keep an eye out for anything that seems relevant to the situation. Besides, maybe I can help. We both want this wrapped up sooner rather than later.”
“Okay. I guess you have a point.” He picked up a folder and began to tell me what he found inside. “Our victim is a man named Edgar Irvine. He lives in Hollywood, California, where he works as a writer focusing on paranormal activity. It appears he was fairly successful as a screenwriter who’d sold many scripts and published several books. From the e-mails we found on his computer, it appears he was sent information about three sites in Ashton Falls that are rumored to have a history of paranormal activity: Henderson House, the cemetery where Isaac Wainwright is buried, and the old Norlander mine.”
I remembered that Alex was researching the Norlander mine for her school paper and hoped showing interest in it wouldn’t put her in any danger. Maybe I’d suggest she choose a different topic.
“It seems,” Salinger continued, “that Irvine was sent enough information to capture his interest. He arrived in Ashton Falls on Friday.”
“Where was he staying?”
“The inn. As far as I can tell, he checked in at about four thirty that afternoon. He was seen leaving the inn on foot at around seven. He’d mentioned to a desk clerk that he planned to grab a bite to eat. The clerk said he returned at around nine. The morning clerk didn’t see him leave the next day, but his room was empty when housekeeping went in to tidy up at around ten. He didn’t know what Irvine’s plans were for the day on Saturday, but Phyllis saw him at Rosie’s, when he asked for directions to the cemetery. We’re assuming that’s where he went. A clerk saw him come back to the inn at around five.” Salinger took a breath before he continued. “No one saw Irvine eith
er leave or return to the inn on Sunday, but he wasn’t in his room when housekeeping showed up at around eleven thirty to clean the room, and he was seen leaving the inn on Monday morning at around nine, so we know he returned at some point. You found his body at Henderson House at around five o’clock on Monday. The coroner put time of death at around three o’clock. We don’t know where he was between nine and three.”
Wow. Salinger had been busy. I took a minute to review the details, then asked the question at the forefront of my mind. “So this man was in town in response to information he’d been sent. Do we know who sent it to him?”
“The e-mails were signed by Boris Grimly. There’s no personal information in them. I have the tech guys looking into things, but so far we haven’t been able to trace them back to a server.”
“So there’s no way to know who sent it.”
“Not yet.”
“Are we thinking this Grimly lured Irvine to town and then killed him?”
“Perhaps.”
“Why go to all that trouble, and why involve me?”
Salinger shook his head. “At this point we don’t know that Grimly killed Irvine, or that he intentionally involved you. All we really know is that a writer came to town to investigate haunted places near Ashton Falls and ended up dead inside one of them.”
I sat back and groaned. This was getting frustrating. “If Irvine got into town on Friday and was killed on Monday, it’s likely he came into contact with other people in town. He might even have hired a car or made calls for information. I don’t suppose you found Irvine’s phone?”
Salinger shook his head. “No phone. I’ve requested his phone records. And I have a call in to both his agent and his publisher. I figured one or both might know more about the person who sent him the information. Now that we have the victim’s name we should be able to put together a profile.”
I tucked a sneakered foot under my leg, adjusting my position slightly. “Okay, so we know who the victim is, and we know when and where he died. Do we know how he died?”
“Snake venom.”
I raised a brow. “Snake venom?”
“The two puncture wounds on his neck weren’t left by a vampire but by some device that injected the venom into his bloodstream.”
I frowned. “A device was used? He wasn’t actually bitten by a snake?”
“The coroner has determined that, while he died as a result of snake venom in his bloodstream, the method of delivery was something artificial. He isn’t sure what was used, but he’s working on it.”
“What type of venom?” I asked.
“The lab is trying to figure that out as well. The venom had to have been from an extremely lethal variety of snake because death came very quickly.”
“So someone either purchased venom or had a snake with them from which they harvested the venom, then used it to kill Irvine to make it appear as if he’d been bitten by a vampire. Then they contacted a popular tabloid to leak the story that there was a vampire loose in Ashton Falls. Again, I have to ask why.”
“We don’t know for certain that the killer was the one who leaked the story, although given the timing, it seems likely. As for the rest, it’s early in the investigation and we don’t have all the details, so all we have so far is speculation. The house was searched and no snake of any kind was found, so I’m thinking the killer either never had the snake there or they took the snake with them when they left.”
I couldn’t help but shudder. I certainly hoped there hadn’t been a snake in the room with me when I was at the house. I won’t say I hate snakes and want the world rid of them, but I’ve never been able to warm up to them either. “Where does this leave us at this point?”
“It doesn’t leave us anywhere,” Salinger answered. “I’m doing research and you’re staying out of it. Remember?”
I huffed out a breath. “Yes, I remember.”
“Go home, play with your baby, and let me track down Edgar Irvine’s killer. Once I have answers to all these questions I’ll fill you in.”
“But—”
“No buts. I promised that very supportive husband of yours that I’d keep you away from any danger that might come looking for you, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. Now go home.”
“Oh, all right,” I grumbled. “But if you find out anything call me. This not-knowing stuff isn’t working for me at all.”
******
When I arrived at Ellie’s, both babies were still fast asleep, so I settled in with a cup of tea for a nice long visit. Ellie and I used to hang out all the time, but since we’d both become mothers, our sitting-and-chatting time had been reduced greatly. After I’d assured Ellie that Salinger had everything under control, she wanted to discuss baby names, nursery themes, and bedding colors, and I was happy to oblige. To a degree.
“Are you even listening to me?” Ellie said at some point in the conversation.
“Sure. You were talking about candy.”
“I was talking about paint.”
I furrowed my brow. “No. I specifically remember you saying something about cotton candy and candy apples.”
“Cotton-candy pink and candy-apple red are paint shades. It’s okay if you want to talk about something else.”
I let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I know you’re excited about decorating the nursery, and I know I said Salinger had everything under control, but I can’t get the man in the basement out of my mind.”
Ellie frowned. “There’s more to this, isn’t there? Something you aren’t telling me.”
“There’ve been a few developments,” I admitted.
“So share.”
“For one thing, Salinger told me snake venom was delivered to Irvine’s bloodstream via some sort of a device that mimicked a vampire’s bite. I thought the vampire thing was a ploy to somehow get at me because it seemed I was being maneuvered into finding the body, but Salinger also said he was sent a tip that a popular tabloid published an article about a vampire attack in Ashton Falls.”
“Already? How’s that even possible?”
“I don’t know. He thinks the killer may have sent in the information in the article even before I found the body. He talked to the tabloid people, and they said they got the tip anonymously.”
“This is bad,” Ellie said. “The town is going to be overrun with vampire hunters.”
“That’s what Salinger and I think as well. He’s working on trying to come up with some real answers to counteract the hype. He knows who the victim is now, and that will help him to gather additional information. In the meantime, I think we should prepare for the worst. Salinger keeps telling me to let him handle it, to try not to think about it, but trying not to think about it is making me think about it constantly. I’m going to go crazy if it goes on too long.”
“Then let’s talk about something else. I can see you didn’t find my exposition on paint colors riveting, but earlier, you mentioned we should discuss food for the Halloween party. With all the baby talk, we never got around to it at lunch.”
“And you have some ideas?”
“Of course.” Ellie jumped up. “Hang on. I’ll grab my list.”
I checked my phone while I waited for her to come back from the kitchen. There was a text from Jeremy, letting me know someone had been in the Zoo looking for me. He hadn’t left a message, but he’d said his name was Orson Spalding, and he’d given Jeremy his e-mail address to forward to me. Jeremy thought he remembered seeing Orson somewhere before, although he couldn’t remember where, maybe our last adoption clinic.
I texted Jeremy back to say I’d get in touch with Orson. If he had questions about adopting a pet, Jeremy was well qualified to answer them, but there were still a lot of people who insisted on speaking to the shelter owner. I supposed I understood that. If something was really important to me, I wanted to speak to the owner of a business too.
“Something up?” Ellie asked when she returned with the list.
“Just a message
from Jeremy about a guy who wants me to e-mail him. Just give me a sec and I’ll respond to him, then I’m all yours.” I used my phone to send the e-mail. Then I put my phone in my pocket and turned my attention to Ellie. “So, bat-shaped wontons?”
“Among other things, including stuffed intestines, jack-o’-lantern pizzas, and rat cakes.”
I made a face. “Rat cakes?”
“They’re just little cakes made to look like rats. No actual rats will be used in the production of the cakes. I’m going to cut up some fruit in fun shapes for the younger kids. We aren’t going to want them to get all sugared up.”
“I saw this thing on the internet where someone made meatloaf shaped like a face. A very messed-up face. It was called a zombie loaf. I seem to remember they used little onions as eyes and small crackers as teeth.”
“I’m not sure I’d want to eat something shaped like a face. Besides, I was thinking we’d stick to finger foods. Which reminds me: we’ll need mummy fingers.”
By the time the babies woke up from their naps, Ellie and I had settled on the menu. Zak and Ellie would handle most of the cooking, but it was nice to be included in the process. Ellie’s enthusiasm had gone a long way toward helping me to look forward to the party. It was going to be a busy few days, with Haunted Hamlet this weekend, followed by the Halloween party on Wednesday of next week, but after a few hours with my energetic friend I felt up for it.
Chapter 5
Wednesday, October 24
As predicted, by the following day the vampire hype had become a living, breathing thing as vampire hunters from all over the country congregated in Ashton Falls to celebrate the undead in the hope of meeting the creature who’d killed Edgar Irvine in the flesh.
“This is crazy,” Tawny Upton, a fellow events committee member, complained during our last meeting before Haunted Hamlet, which was set to run Friday through Sunday. “The town is so full of vampire hunters and worshippers, there’s nowhere for the visitors who want to come up for a family day at the festival to stay or even park. This vampire thing is going to ruin Haunted Hamlet.”