The Unusual Suspects (The Sisters Grimm, Book 2)

by Michael Buckley

  "How come you remember Mr. Grumpner?" Sabrina asked. "The rest of our class doesn't."

  "My dad had a protection spell put on our house. Whenever they dust the town, we aren't affected.

  "So, anyway, the birds went straight for the window and smashed it. They flew in and attacked the monster. Unfortunately, it was too late. Even from out in the yard, I could see the spider had already eaten him."

  "That explains the feathers," Daphne said.

  "And what about the janitor?" Sabrina asked, still not sure she believed the strange boy's story.

  "Ms. Spangler gave me a detention for refusing to play dodgeball," Wendell said. "1 mean, we know how to play the game. Let's move on, already. So, when I walked in, there was this ugly, hairy thing fighting with Mrs. Heart and Ms. White. At first I thought it was a bear, but it moved way too fast and it had these weird yellow eyes. Mrs. Heart was pretty useless against it. She hid behind a desk and screamed while Ms. White fought the thing. I got my harmonica out, wondering if I could control it, too, and at first it seemed to work, but it ran to the window, opened it, and leaped outside. When you guys saw me, I wasn't running away, I was trying to catch it."

  "You're quite brave, Wendell," Granny Relda said.

  "My line of work isn't for the faint of heart," he declared, wiping his nose on his handkerchief.

  "We've also had a run-in with an unusual creature," the old woman said.

  "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I don't think these creatures are monsters. I think they're the children of Everafters."

  "That's an excellent deduction," said Granny Relda. "You've got the makings of a great detective."

  The boy smiled. "The only thing I wasn't sure about was why the attacks were taking place in the first place. That is, until I found the tunnels."

  "Tunnels!" Sabrina and Daphne cried.

  "Yes, someone is digging under the school. They start in the boiler room and go on for a long time. I'm sure it's all connected—the tunnels, the giant spider, hairy things. I just don't know how."

  "Perhaps we should team up," Granny Relda said. "Combining our efforts might solve the case sooner."

  "Sorry, lady, I work alone," Wendell said as they reached the front door of the school. "Detective work is dangerous business. I don't want any dames getting in the way."

  Sabrina rolled her eyes. Someone's been watching too many detective movies, all right, she thought.

  "I understand," Granny said, trying her best to sound disappointed, just as Mr. Hamelin came running down the hallway. He swooped his boy up in his arms and hugged him.

  "Do you know how worried your mother and I have been?" his father said, half lecturing and half laughing.

  "I'm sorry, Dad," the boy said. "But there's a caper afoot, and I'm in the thick of it."

  "Thank you, Relda," Mr. Hamelin said, reaching over and kissing the old woman on the cheek. "Thank you all."

  Daphne tugged on her pants and stepped forward, mimicking the sheriff's funny little bow-legged walk. "Just doing my job, citizen," she said.

  "You're welcome," Sabrina added.

  "I've heard stories that you have a harmonica, young man," the principal said, reaching his hand out to the boy.

  Wendell frowned. "But I need it," he argued. "It helps with my detective work."

  "You're about to retire," his father said, sternly. "Until these monsters are caught, your days as a detective are over."

  Wendell reached into his pocket and pulled out his shiny harmonica. He reluctantly handed it to his father and grimaced when Hamelin stuffed it into his pants pocket.

  "Mr. Hamelin, before we go, I was wondering something," Sabrina said. "Are there any more children here at the school like Wendell?"

  "What do you mean?" the principal asked.

  "You know, children of Everafters?"

  "He's the only one I know of."

  "Anyone else on the staff?"

  "Only Ms. White, myself, and now Mrs. Heart," Hamelin said. "About ten years ago Ms. Muffet, the Beast, and the Frog Prince were all on staff, but they went in on a lottery ticket and won millions of dollars and quit. I was happy for them but it was a real shame. Good teachers are hard to find."

  "Anyone else?"

  "I, uh, I'm not sure," Hamelin said. "They don't really come with tags. I suppose there might be a couple, but I wouldn't know."

  "Of course," Granny Relda said. She looked at Sabrina and the girl saw a sparkle in her eye, the kind her grandmother got when she found an important clue. "Is there a phone I could use?"

  The principal gestured toward his door. "There's one in the secretary's office."

  "Thank you," Granny said, slipping out the door. "Children, I'll be right back."

  The group stared at one another in awkward silence.

  At last Puck spoke. "So, Piper, how many rats were there?" he asked, referring to the man's famous adventure.

  "Thousands," the principal replied.

  "That's gross," Daphne groaned.

  Granny returned to the room and smiled. "Well, we have to be going, now," she said, turning to Wendell. "Try to stay out of trouble."

  "Trouble would be wise to stay out of my way," the boy said, sounding like a movie detective.

  As the family walked back down the hall, they passed the boiler room.

  "We should check the tunnels now while no one is here," Sabrina suggested, walking over to the boiler room door and trying the knob. It was locked.

  "No, if people are being killed to protect what's in them, I suggest we take the hint for now," Granny Relda replied. "At least until we find out who these murderers are. In the meantime, I think I know the parents of our killers. Let's have a chat with them."

  ************************************

  A skinny Christmas tree sat at the entrance to the police station. It was hung with a few strands of tinsel and had a garland wrapped sloppily around it. A couple of boxes of shiny bulbs sat underneath it, waiting to be strung on the tree's limbs. As they passed the display, Sabrina finally realized how overworked the sheriff was. He didn't even have time to finish his holiday decorations.

  Sheriff Hamstead was at the front desk, surrounded by six of the most unusual people Sabrina had ever seen. She recognized two of them immediately. Beauty and the Beast weren't a couple she would soon forget. The dazzlingly gorgeous Beauty was a complete contrast to her husband, the fur-covered, fang-faced Beast. As for the others in the room, there was a pretty blond woman in a tiara and satiny blue gown standing next to a tall, strong man with enormous green eyes and an odd scaly skin disorder. The Frog Prince, Sabrina realized. Next to them was a chubby woman covered in jewels, Little Miss Muffet, holding hands, or in this case, holding the leg, of an enormous black spider nearly the size of Elvis. All six of them were complaining and shouting at the sheriff.

  "What's the meaning of this, Hamstead?" the Beast growled.

  "We had dinner reservations at Old King Cole's," Beauty cried. "Do you know how long it takes to get a table at Christmastime? We called in September!"

  The Frog Prince's bride was as angry as anyone. "Drag me out of my home in the middle of the night," she huffed. "We're royalty!"

  "It's beyond rude," the scaly Frog Prince complained.

  The spider clicked angrily with its gigantic pincers.

  "Settle down, everyone," the sheriff shouted, as he stood up. "Relda Grimm will explain everything."

  "What? Since when does Relda Grimm run the police force?" Little Miss Muffet demanded. Her spider companion clicked and hissed in protest.

  "The mayor has asked my family to help with the investigation of the two murders at Ferryport Landing Elementary," Granny replied.

  Little Miss Muffet stepped forward. "What's that got to do with us?" she asked.

  "Miss Muffet, it has everything to do with you," the old woman replied. "And your children."

  The crowd gasped and averted their eyes.

  "Relda Grimm, you've lost your mind," the Bea
st declared. "None of us have children."

  "That's what I thought," Granny Relda said. "Until my granddaughter asked a question that I should have asked myself. 'Who else worked at Ferryport Landing Elementary?' I had nearly forgotten that you, the Frog Prince, and Little Miss Muffet were all teachers there before the three of you won the lottery."

  Sabrina beamed with pride. Granny may have disapproved of Sabrina's suspicions about the Everafters, but it was those same suspicions that were helping solve the mystery.

  "We won the lottery more than ten years ago," Miss Muffet said. "And I go by Mrs. Arachnid now."

  "So we worked at the school. What does that have to do with the murder?" the Frog Prince asked.

  "It's your retirement that interests me. Let me explain. Witnesses say there have been attacks by two so-called monsters on school grounds," Granny said, crossing the room and stopping in front of the Frog Prince and Princess. "And my family and I were victims of a third attack during our investigation. This one involved a half-girl, half-frog creature. Luckily, no one was hurt."

  The couple lowered their eyes and Granny moved on to Muffet, aka Mrs. Arachnid, and her spider. "Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Mr. Grumpner. He was killed by what we suspect was a giant spider."

  The spider clicked angrily, but his wife was still. Granny moved on to Beauty and the Beast.

  "Charlie, the school janitor, also met an untimely demise by a creature described as a hairy, man-eating beast with yellow eyes," Granny said.

  "You can't prove those are our children," Beauty cried.

  "You're right, but there is one thing that we can prove," Sheriff Hamstead interjected. "None of you ever won the lottery."

  Everyone gasped, even Puck.

  "I called the state lottery commission," the sheriff continued. "They have records of every lottery winner in the last one hundred years. None of you are on their lists."

  "Where did you get the money?" Granny asked.

  "Are you suggesting we sold our children?" the Beast growled.

  "I think you know I am," Granny Relda answered.

  "And so am I," Hamstead added. He reached into his pocket and took out a pair of handcuffs. "I also think you are going to be arrested unless someone starts talking."

  "We were nearly broke when we found out I was pregnant," the Frog Princess said. "All of our money was gone; we were worried we'd lose our house. If you go broke in Ferryport Landing, you stay that way. There's no one to bail you out. You can't move to another town. We would have been beggars in the street."

  Beauty broke down in tears, as well. "We were in the same predicament, barely making ends meet on Beast's teacher's salary. It was no way to raise a child. He told us he could help.

  "One night, he brought over a spinning wheel and started spinning gold. By morning, we had enough to last us a dozen lifetimes. We sold it to a precious metals merchant from New York City. We were rich overnight."

  "Who did this?" said Granny Relda.

  "Rumpelstiltskin," the Frog Princess cried. The Frog Prince took her hand and begged her to be silent, but the tears and truth were already pouring out of her. "We had to come up with an explanation for the money, so we invented the lottery story," she said.

  "You sold your children?" Sabrina cried. She had never heard a more horrible story in her entire life. "How could you!"

  "He manipulated us," Mrs. Arachnid sobbed. "I know you don't understand, but when we gave him the babies it was like we weren't in control of ourselves. We were so desperate, so full of despair. It was like he crawled into our brains and rewired them so we really believed it was the best thing we could do."

  "No, I don't understand," Sabrina shouted. "You filthy Everafters are nothing but animals! You would hand your children over to a monster so you could cover yourselves in jewels and furs!"

  Mrs. Arachnid looked down at her sparkling necklace and started to cry.

  "Sabrina," Granny said. "That's enough."

  "I agree," Daphne said. "Take a chill pill."

  Sabrina ignored them. "No wonder Wilhelm trapped you in this town. All of you belong in a cage!"

  "Sabrina Grimm, you will hold your tongue this instant!" Granny Relda ordered.

  "You got yelled at," Puck tauntcd.

  "Puck, that goes for you as well!"

  Sabrina was stunned. The old woman had never raised her voice to her. The girl's face was hot with embarrassment.

  "If we showed you photos of all the children at the school, do you think you could pick out which ones might be yours in their human disguise?" the sheriff asked, picking up the Ferryport Landing Elementary School yearbook that was sitting on his desk.

  "I don't think so, Ernest," Beauty said, trying to control her sobbing. "We haven't seen them since they were a day old. We didn't even get to name them."

  "Well, we will do the best we can to reunite you with them," Granny Relda said.

  "You would do that for us?" the Beast asked.

  "Of course," Daphne said proudly. "We are Grimms and this is what we do."

  "Do you need anything from me?" Hamstead said.

  Granny shook her head and flashed Sabrina an angry look.

  "Actually, can I have a police hat?" Daphne asked the sheriff.

  Hamstead smiled and nodded at the girl.

  "You are so punk rock!" she cried.

  ************************************

  Once the family was outside, Sabrina wasn't sure which was colder—the bitter winter air or Granny's attitude toward her. She also knew that Daphne was going to give her the silent treatment again. But it didn't matter to her anymore.

  "I'm not sorry for what I said," she declared.

  "Oh, we're well aware of that," Granny Relda said as they approached the car. Mr. Canis was waiting on the roof.

  "I heard yelling," he said, crawling down to help the old woman into the front seat.

  "I bet you're going to hear a lot more," Puck said, sounding hopeful.

  "Everything is fine," the old woman said. "It is late and I think we all need a good night of rest."

  "Good idea," Daphne said. "We can search the tunnels tomorrow."

  "No, I don't think so," Granny said as they got settled into the car. "Things have escalated to a point where I don't feel comfortable having the three of you help out. A few Everafter children are one thing, but Rumpelstiltskin is another entirely. He may be behind these murders, and he's one of the most deranged and mysterious fairy-tale creatures that ever came to Ferryport Landing. I can't put you into harm's way when I have no idea what to expect."

  "This isn't about danger," Sabrina said, shaking with anger and hurt. "We've been in plenty of dangerous situations since we moved to this town. This is about me, isn't it?"

  Granny Relda turned in her seat and eyed the girl. "In the past, I thought you two girls were smart enough to handle yourselves. I thought you might possibly be the cleverest Grimms in the history of the family, but right now, I don't trust your judgment, Sabrina. You're not who 1 thought you were, child. I'm sorry, but this case is closed for the sisters Grimm."

  ************************************

  Everyone was furious with her, so Sabrina had crept upstairs to her room, rather than hear another lecture. As she lay in bed, looking up at the model airplanes her father had hung from the ceiling, she thought there might be an upside to being the black sheep of the family. While everyone was busy solving mysteries, she could spend more time searching for her parents. Just two days ago, she would have thought this was a perfect chance, but now, with Granny acting so blind to the truth about the town's residents, she worried the old woman would be their next victim. If that happened, the girls would get sent back to the orphanage and any chance of finding their mom and dad would be gone.

  Daphne entered the room, dressed in her pajamas, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

  "Well, we now know what Granny's like when she's mad," she said. "She's downstairs cleaning the house. She's been dusting f
or the last hour. If you get her any madder, she's going to clean out the closets."

  "I didn't mean to make her angry," Sabrina said.

  "You've got to get over this thing you have about Everafters," Daphne said.

  Sabrina groaned. If Daphne was going to lecture her, she'd be happy to go back to receiving the silent treatment.

  "No, what I've got to do is convince everyone to stop being so naive," Sabrina said. "But let's just say I'm wrong about everything. Punishing us for my attitude isn't going to help solve the case. Granny can't do it all, and she's not going to get any help from Charming and the sheriff. We could be searching the tunnels. Who knows how far they've dug, or even what they're digging for? Maybe there's some kind of monster under the town. I know that sounds nuts, but we used to think the same thing about giants not so long ago. What if the bad guys are doing something really bad down there while Granny is running around trying to find out which of the kids at school are monsters?"