by Krista Davis
Mars nodded. “Nat, stay here and call us immediately if she comes back.”
“I hate it when you two do this. What’s going on?”
On my way out the door, I said, “Karl is the killer. Apparently Vegas broadcast that fact to her whole class.”
Natasha clutched her throat. “I’ll ask Madame Poisson to find out where Vegas went.”
I called Wolf and filled him in during our fast walk to the haunted house. He promised to meet us there.
“We should cut down the alley in back and scope out the situation first, just in case we’re right, and Karl took her there,” said Mars.
“I have a better idea.” We passed the entrance to the alley and rounded the corner exactly as Wolf parked across the street.
We stopped in front of Le Parisien Antiques, and Wolf jogged over to us.
Afraid Ray might be closed on Sundays, I held my breath when I tried the door, but it pushed open easily, setting off the almost imperceptible bing-bong announcing us.
Mars whispered, “What are you doing? We don’t have time for this.”
“Have a little faith and follow me.” I cut through the maze of old junk to the door leading up the stairs. Daisy sniffed as we walked, happy to be back in the land of the exotic and weird. I knocked softly, not daring to make noise that might be heard next door in the haunted house. We didn’t have time to wait, though, so I tiptoed up the stairs with Daisy next to me and Mars and Wolf right behind.
We found Ray in the kitchen, chowing down on takeout ribs. Placing a finger over my lips, I bent over to him and explained in a whisper what was happening.
“Well, don’t that beat all!” He rose from his chair, wiped his barbecue-sauce-covered fingers on a kitchen towel, and lumbered into his office. The closet door must have had well-oiled hinges, because it swung open without so much as a tiny creak.
Wolf and Mars looked on in amazement as Ray opened the panel between the two rooms. Daisy whimpered.
I glanced out the window and saw an unmarked car idling in the alley. “Did you call for backup?” I asked Wolf.
“Of course.” He entered the closet and leaned an ear against the door on the other side. He retreated for a moment. “She’s in there. I can hear her making a racket.”
He returned to the closet and opened the door to the vampire room in the haunted house, just a crack. He pushed it open a little wider.
“Daisy, stay!” I said.
I could hear sobbing.
Although we shouldn’t have, when Wolf finally stepped into the vampire’s bedroom, the three of us did, too. Wolf opened the casket, and Vegas screamed as though she were being skinned alive.
He reached for her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, still crying. He swung her up out of the casket and carried her into the safety of Ray’s apartment.
I heard footsteps on the stairs of the haunted house and pushed Mars through the opening so I could follow. I closed the closet door in the nick of time.
We scooted through, and Ray closed the panel in between the rooms. A scant minute later, we heard Karl look into the closet on the other side.
Vegas bawled. She sat in the desk chair and in between sobs, swore to Mars that she would never, ever go anywhere by herself again, ever! He hugged her, and she clung to him like a baby monkey clinging to its parent.
I left Mars comforting her and dashed down the stairs with Daisy. I was dying to know what Karl would do when he realized Vegas had disappeared.
Daisy and I stepped out of Le Parisien Antiques, onto the sidewalk. Kenner watched the entrance from his position across the street. Wong waited on the sidewalk, like I did, only on the other side of the haunted house.
The door flew open, and Karl stumbled out in a hurry, just as Frank had the day Ray spooked him. Karl didn’t notice any of us. He turned and looked up at the windows as though he thought he might see Vegas—or Viktor.
Wong made quick work of handcuffing him.
The constant smirk had finally left Karl’s face—for good, I hoped. “You! I should have gotten rid of you and the girls right away. I was afraid you’d recognized me.”
“That’s where you were wrong. Your own daughter gave you away by wearing your vampire mask last night.”
The look of astonishment on his face was priceless.
Detective Kenner strolled across the street and asked, “Is the kid okay?”
Daisy growled at him.
“Traumatized, but I suspect she’ll be fine.”
He studied me. “You had a close call this time.”
I met his gaze dead on. “Thank goodness no one, and by that I mean you, will be following me anymore.”
“Just watching out for you.” He grasped Karl’s upper arm and steered him to a waiting squad car.
Wolf strode out of the house. “Karl wasn’t taking any chances this time. He patched the hole in the casket with plastic and slid it against the wall.”
A chill ran down my back. “He wanted her to suffocate?”
“That’s how it looks. Seems Heather sent out a text about meeting Blake at the haunted house. That’s why Vegas came down here. I suspect we’ll find it was Karl who sent the text from Heather’s phone.”
Mars and Vegas emerged from Ray’s store. I thought Mars was trying to prevent her from seeing Karl or the squad car. I waved my fingers at him, and the two of them walked away.
Wolf kissed my cheek. “I’ll be in touch in a couple of days.”
Before I knew it, Daisy and I were blissfully alone. We strolled home, and no one followed us or cared.
The next morning, I finally attacked my growing pile of laundry. Linens, towels, and clothes, I carried them all down the stairs. As I sorted them into piles, I felt something hard in a pants pocket. I reached inside and pulled out the white gold bat on a chain that had been Viktor’s.
I looked up at Faye’s portrait. “So what do I do with this thing?” Good heavens! I was beginning to talk with Faye, like June did. The necklace brought back memories, many of them painful for a lot of people. It didn’t seem right to sell it, and if Viktor had relatives or heirs, we didn’t know about them.
Late in the afternoon, I took Daisy for a walk down to the haunted house. There wasn’t any police tape, so I assumed we could enter.
I walked up the stairs to Viktor’s room, pulled open the curtains, and opened the window for some fresh air. I placed Viktor’s bat necklace on a table under the window, wondering what I should do with it.
The door slammed downstairs. I didn’t have to worry about the killer anymore, but my heart raced anyway. I walked into the hallway, ready to bolt down the back stairs if necessary. Fortunately, it was only Wong. She waved and jogged up the steps.
“I thought I might find you here.” Her chest heaved as she caught her breath. “You’ll be happy to know that Karl is officially under arrest for Patrick’s murder. They’ll be bringing attempted murder charges for his attacks on you and Frank.”
Me? I shivered at the thought. “So he did try to kill Frank with dry ice in the casket?”
“Sure did. Frank told all.” She winked at me. “Just so you know, it will be in the paper soon. I’m not divulging privileged information. Frank was afraid Karl would try to kill him again and decided it was best to take the offensive and murder Karl first, so he’s being charged with attempted murder, too. He might get hit with some moonshining charges for his illegal absinthe operation.”
“Why was he interested in Maggie? Did he really love her? She said they never had an affair.”
“Money. Frank’s wine shop hasn’t been in the black in over a year. He’s broke and was looking for someone to funnel money at him. Speaking of Maggie”—Wong waved a sheaf of papers at me—“it took some doing, but I have it. Peggy Zane didn’t die from a vampire bite. Her official cause of death, according to the coroner’s report, is acute myocardial infarction.”
“A heart attack? Wouldn’t you think they would have made that public?”
/> “Apparently they did, but it doesn’t make for a great story. People probably remembered the vampire part, not the mundane everyday part.”
“What about the neck? Any bites?”
Wong sighed. “Sort of sad, actually.” She read from a paper in her hand. “Two puncture wounds to the neck consistent with piercing by the pincers on a scorpion necklace she wore, probably due to a fall.” Wong looked over my shoulder. “Is that . . . it can’t be!”
The ruby eyes of the bat shimmered even though dusk had set in and the sun was long gone. “We found it jammed under the wall in the closet. I . . . I don’t know what to do with it. It must have been there for decades. I wonder if I shouldn’t put it back. Maybe it belongs here. Sort of like a time capsule for someone else to find someday.”
A rustling overhead caused us to look up as a little vortex of air descended. A bat settled on the table next to the necklace to look at us.
I wasn’t fond of bats, but it did explain the mysterious little things that flew over our heads. “Eww. I bet bats have nested in the attic.”
It grabbed the necklace and flew out the open window.
We rushed to the window in time to see the bat swoop toward the ground. The big black cat Nina had been chasing leaped at the bat but missed him and yowled in frustration.
My eyes met Wong’s and a clamminess crept down my back.
Wong threw a hand over her heart. Horror in her eyes, she held out her little finger and said, “Pinky swear. We never mention this to Maggie.”
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RECIPES & COOKING TIPS
Dead Man’s Bones
(Sophie says these are great in the summer on the grill, too. They only take about half an hour on the grill.)
1 slab baby back pork ribs
4 garlic cloves, chopped
¾ cup apricot preserves
¼ cup soy sauce
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a shallow roasting pan with aluminum foil (makes for much easier cleanup!). Lay the slab of baby back ribs on it, meat side up, and roast in oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the garlic, apricot preserves, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Remove ribs, flip bone side up, and slather with half the sauce. Roast 15 minutes. Remove ribs, flip to meat side up, and baste with the remaining sauce. Roast another 15 minutes and they should be done. When done, they will tear apart easily between the bones. Slice into two-bone portions and serve!
Ghost Potatoes
3 pounds white potatoes
Salt
¾ cup milk (Sophie uses skim)
¼ cup (½ stick) butter
2 egg yolks
Raisins
1. Peel potatoes and cut into large cubes. Place in large pot with enough water to cover them. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. When they boil, turn down the heat a bit and cook them until easily pierced by a fork, about 15–20 minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot.
3. Pour the milk into a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, add the butter, and microwave until nicely warm but not hot.
4. Whisk the egg yolks a bit with a fork, then add just a bit of the warm milk to them and whisk again. (Tempering the eggs this way will prevent them from seizing when added to the hot potatoes.) Add the yolks to the milk in the measuring cup.
5. Using an electric mixer, mash the potatoes, slowly adding the milk mixture. Mix until mashed, but don’t overmix, or they’ll get gummy. Salt to taste. (Mashed potatoes are best when the potatoes are put through a ricer. However, to save time and energy, Sophie usually puts them in her KitchenAid mixer to mash them.)
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. Butter a shallow baking dish.
8. Spread about ⅓ of the potatoes on the bottom of the pan. Spoon the remaining potatoes into a pastry bag with a large tip. Don’t have one? Use a plastic freezer bag and snip a hole in the corner. Squeeze out ghosts!
9. Cut the raisins lengthwise and slice into little bits. Place two raisin pieces on each ghost as eyes.
10. Bake about 20 minutes. The tops should have a tiny golden tip.
NOTE:
Sophie had some leftover potatoes that had not been baked, so she scooped them into a container and stuck them in the fridge for two days. When she took them out, she found they were very malleable. Sophie pressed the potatoes into a funky goblin shape (or try another shape—your imagination is your only limitation!), decorated him with almonds, and popped him into a 400-degree preheated oven. He tasted just as good as the ghosts had days before!
Dracula Defense Shield
1 or more garlic heads
Olive oil
Salt
Rustic loaf of bread, sliced
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the loose, papery skin around the heads of garlic, leaving the cluster of garlic cloves intact. Slice off the top ¼ to ⅓ of the head, exposing the interior of the garlic cloves. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 50 minutes or until soft. Squeeze out the soft garlic and spread on a slice of bread. Vampires are guaranteed to flee!
Chicken Scaryaki
(MONSTER FINGERS)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup orange juice
½ cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
6 tablespoons apricot preserves
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 package chicken tenders (about 9 chicken
tenders)
Almonds, sliced or halved
Whisk the cornstarch into the orange juice until dissolved. Pour into a small pot, along with the soy sauce, garlic, apricot preserves, and ginger. Stir or whisk. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Cook at a gentle boil for approximately 1 minute, stirring. Set aside to cool. When cool, pour 1 cup of the teriyaki sauce into a zip-top bag and add the chicken tenders. Squeeze out the air and be sure the meat is covered with the sauce. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Refrigerate the remainder of the marinade.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the chicken tenders on the foil and squeeze any excess marinade in the bag onto them. Place one almond slice or half on the pointy end of each chicken tender (as a fingernail). Bake 15 minutes. Warm the reserved marinade and serve in little bowls as a dipping sauce.
Mummies
1 package refrigerator crescent rolls
1 package hot dogs (beef, chicken, or soy,
doesn’t matter)
Yellow mustard
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Unroll the crescent dough and slice into long strips. Wrap one strip around each hot dog, leaving a small part uncovered where the eyes will be. Use mustard to create two dot eyes. Bake 12–15 minutes or until light golden brown.
Bat Cave Risotto
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup arborio (risotto) rice
1 onion, chopped
½ cup diced ham
2 15-ounce cans black beans
2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
¾ teaspoon cumin
Place butter and olive oil in a wide, shallow microwaveable dish. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients. Stir. Microwave for 9 minutes on high.
Stir again and microwave for another 9 minutes on high. Stir again and microwave for 9 more minutes.
Remove and let stand for a couple of minutes. Salt to taste.
Immortal Kiss
1 ounce Parrot Bay Passion Fruit Rum
1 ounce Absolut Raspberri Vodka
2 ounces each pomegranate juice, grape juice,
and ginger ale
Splash of grenadine syrup
In a tall glass, mix together the rum, vodka, juices, and ginger ale. Add a splash of grenadine, and serve.
Breakfast Monster Fingers
1 banana
Almonds, halved or sliced lengthwise
Any red jam (strawberry, raspberry, whatever
you like)
Slice the banana in half, then slice each half lengthwise. Press an almond slice on the narrow end of each “finger” as a fingernail. Broken edges only add to the scary look. Smear a little bit of jam where the finger was “cut off,” and using a toothpick dipped in the jam, dab a little bit of “blood” along the finger.
Autumn Punch
1 part apple cider
1 part orange juice
2 parts ginger ale
Mix together all ingredients and serve.
Mag’s Famous Sweet Potato Pie
4–5 medium sweet potatoes
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1½ cups sugar
½ cup butter
2 cups milk
2 unbaked 9 to 10-inch pie shells
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cut potatoes into large chunks and boil until done. Peel and mash with a potato masher until pulp forms. Mix in beaten eggs, sugar, and butter. Using an electric mixer, beat thoroughly, then add milk. Beat again until well mixed. Pour half of the mixture into each of the two pie shells. Bake about 55 minutes or until the crust is brown and the mixture is set.
Makes two 9 to 10-inch pies.
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Krista Davis
THE DIVA RUNS OUT OF THYME
THE DIVA TAKES THE CAKE
THE DIVA PAINTS THE TOWN
THE DIVA COOKS A GOOSE
THE DIVA HAUNTS THE HOUSE