by Nova Nelson
“It seems like it, doesn’t it?” he asked. “I can’t say one critical thing about him without her jumping to his defense.”
“Maybe he’s just her friend. You know Eva’s fiercely loyal, and she has a big heart. I’m sure she defends you if Darius ever speaks ill of you.”
“But she’s supposed to do that because I’m her boyfriend.”
I reached forward and placed a hand on his forearm to try to ground him. “There’s nothing in all the time I’ve known her to indicate she’s the cheating type. And I see the way she looks at you. You two are good for each other. Maybe there’s something else going on. Something that has nothing to do with you. Have you talked to her about it?”
“I’ve tried,” he said. “But she just snapped at me.”
“What did you say?”
“I asked her, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ and she told me I needed to learn how to speak to women.”
I let go of his arm and looked him straight in the eyes. “She’s right. Maybe try asking her again but, you know, don’t phrase it in the worst possible way.”
He grunted, mumbled something about “every single woman…” and then he conjured the check in front of me.
“Really?” I asked. “Fine. I’ll send you a bill for my counseling services tomorrow.”
“You can go ahead and bill my parents when you see them.”
“I won’t do that, but I’ll definitely ask them where they think they went so terribly wrong with you.” I slapped a copper on the counter and made for the door. I paused by a table of one Gunther McGovern, a leprechaun and one of Sheehan’s displaced regulars. A half-eaten plate of lasagna sat in front of him getting cold while he dozed lightly in his chair.
“You gonna finish that?”
He didn’t answer, just kept snoring.
“Great. Thanks.” I loaded what I could into a napkin and carried it outside for Grim.
Chapter Ten
Ruby’s precautions must have worked, because I awoke the next morning the same way I’d fallen asleep: completely ghost-free.
Grim was still on his back, snoring like someone was pinching his nose, and I decided to let the sleeping grim lie.
I probably could have used an hour or two more of sleep, but I had somewhere to be. An owl had arrived on my window sill only a half hour after I’d arrived home from Franco’s with a letter containing the details of my meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Stringfellow the next morning.
Tiptoeing downstairs, I found Ruby cheerily making breakfast and tea. She even hummed while she did it.
“Look who’s in a good mood,” I said.
She glanced at me over her shoulder and smiled. “Happy Halloween!”
“Happy?” I said. “Literally no one I’ve talked to about Halloween has described it as a happy experience.”
“That’s because they’re not Fifth Winds. For them, this is a once-a-year nightmare. For you and I, though… Are you familiar with the German word schadenfreude?”
“Getting enjoyment out of other people suffering? Yep. Intimately familiar with it. ”
“Well, on Halloween, that’s what you and I, and I suppose Ted, get to do.”
The tea kettle whistled and she poured two cups, handing me one. “It’s a special blend. Sweet and hardy, with a little cinnamon spice. Perfect for a clear mind and a clear heart.”
I inhaled the steam and felt it move through me. Even the smell seemed to clear my mind. “This is incredible. Why don’t you make this every day?”
“Oh, you know,” she said, turning back to the sausages on the griddle. “It’s not cheap. Mostly because three of the ingredients aren’t legal, strictly speaking.”
I pulled it away from my face and stared down at the dark surface of the liquid. “But are they safe?”
“Of course, dear. Ezra would never sell me anything unsafe for consumption.”
I decided not to inquire too deeply into the black market in Eastwind, and instead headed into the bathroom to pull myself together. Why did I care what I looked like when I met Donovan’s parents, though?
Maybe it wasn’t about that. Maybe I just wanted to look nice for Tanner. And I might as well get ready for the Hallow’s Faire later that day.
Yeah, that was it.
Mr. and Mrs. Stringfellow lived only a couple blocks from Atlantis Day Spa and Echo’s Salon, in one of the nicer parts of central Eastwind. Though they lived in an attached cottage, it wasn’t anything like Ruby’s quaint one. It screamed wealth in every contour of the facade.
Did it surprise me that Donovan came from money? Of course not. He worked as a bartender yet somehow managed to own his own house, and a nicely furnished one to boot. His job and lifestyle never quite added up without a separate source of income to make ends meet.
“Morning, beautiful,” said a voice from behind me. I turned away from the Stringfellows’ house to wrap my arms around Tanner and say hello in my favorite way. His body was warm in the cold chill.
“Holy moon, it’s nice to hold you,” he said. “I had one wild night, and my nerves are on edge with all the spirits I encountered just on the walk here. How you holding up?”
“Fine,” I said truthfully. “I’ve mostly been left alone by the ghosts all day.”
“Guess they have fresh targets to pester.” And as he spoke, a movement caught my eye behind him, and I watched Echo Chambers sprinting down the street toward his salon, wailing as a herd of ghostly satyrs galloped after him.
“Sure looks like it.”
“Shall we?” Tanner said, nodding toward the front door.
“Not yet.” I snuck another kiss.
“Keep it in your pants, Ashcroft,” came Donovan’s voice, and I pulled back to see him striding up the road toward us. “My poor parents don’t need your PDA.”
I said, “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“That’s because I didn’t tell you. But if you think I’m going to let you two milk my folks for embarrassing childhood stories about me when I’m not around, you’ve lost your mind.”
Tanner laughed. “I don’t need to ask your parents about those. I already have a stockpile. Remember the time you were convinced our brewing teacher had a crush on you and you—”
“I set up this meeting, and I can cancel it, you know,” Donovan said tersely. “Let’s get this over with.”
He led the way up to the door and knocked twice before letting himself in. “Mom? Dad? Tanner and Nora are here.”
Mr. and Mrs. Stringfellow were already waiting in the drawing room and stood to greet us when we appeared. Their clothes told an entire story, his mother in a light blue and white striped dress with a collar buttoned all the way up to her chin, and his father in loafers and what I could only assume was his lounging suit. The navy blue pants were ironed with a crisp fold down the center, and his matching sport jacket had a fresh water lily pinned on the lapel.
Was this what they considered casual?
Donovan took after his mother in the looks department. He had her crystal blue eyes and her dark hair. His father was handsome enough, but I couldn’t have picked him out of a lineup of men if you’d asked me to select the one related to Donovan. His hair was completely silver with streaks of white throughout, and his brown eyes and round face were friendly enough.
“Tanner,” his mother said warmly, hurrying over for a delicate hug.
Mr. Stringfellow sauntered over a step behind his wife and shook Tanner’s hand before Donovan said, “This is Nora Ashcroft.”
There was an unmistakable twinkle in Mrs. Stringfellow’s eye as she extended her hand and said, “Lovely to finally meet you, Nora. Please call me Jasmine.”
Mr. Stringfellow seemed less enthusiastic about my arrival in his home, but he shook my hand all the same and said, “Pleasure. You can call me Hans.”
Jasmine, clearly the more enthusiastic about the meet-up, ushered us into the sitting room where a tea tray was already set out. A ghost floated in through one of the walls an
d she shooed it out, scolding it for showing up uninvited. To my surprise, the spirit listened, grumbling as he slunk out, his head hanging low.
“I suppose you have to deal with this all the time,” she said to me.
I smiled and accepted the cup and saucer she handed me. “Usually not this bad, but yes.”
“I’d love to know some tricks.”
I shrugged. “It looks like you have it pretty well handled.”
She beamed and her eyes traveled to her son. “I like her.”
Donovan groaned softly and pinched at the bridge of his nose.
“Tanner,” said Hans congenially, “how’s the new job going? Don’t think we’ve had a chance to catch up since you became Eastwind’s newest deputy. Quite the step up from working in a restaurant!” I didn’t take the comment personally, though I couldn’t help but wonder if it was an intentional jab at his son’s career choice.
While Tanner regaled Hans and Jasmine with watered-down stories from his work, I had a chance to inspect the room for the first time. The loveseat where they sat looked like it might have been crafted by the same person who made the elaborate one Veronica Lovelace had reclined in when I’d interviewed her at her home in Hightower Gardens. It was one of those expensive pieces that was designed more to express that fact than for comfort. The walls of the sitting room were covered in framed photographs. At first, I thought it was Donovan staring back from most of them, but when I noticed one of the larger ones near me, I got a bit of a shock. That wasn’t Donovan in it. It was someone who looked like Donovan. He must have a brother. But why had he never once mentioned it?
Then I realized that he’d never once mentioned anyone in his family.
When I spotted another picture close by, I quickly confirmed my suspicion. All four Stringfellows were gathered together for a family photo, and the one that looked like Donovan must have been a brother. No question. The resemblance was too close. And not just a brother, but an older one, maybe by a handful of years. He stood slightly taller than Donovan, at least when that family portrait was taken. Donovan looked to be around eighteen, and he was the only one in the photo who wasn’t grinning like it was the best day of his life.
Seemed about right.
My gaze jumped to the real-life version of him sitting on the ottoman, where he massaged his temples like he had a migraine coming on.
“Well,” said Jasmine, “I’m just so glad we have people like you keeping us safe, Tanner. I always knew you would go on to do great things. Your parents would be so incredibly proud.”
“Speaking of which,” Donovan interjected, “that’s why they’re here.”
“Don’t be rude, Donny,” Jasmine scolded.
Donny? Oh yeah, he wouldn’t hear the end of that from me.
“It’s true, though,” Tanner said. “We’re here to talk about my parents.”
Hans crossed an ankle over his knee, exposing a gray argyle sock sticking out from his loafers. “What about?”
“Well,” Tanner began, “not an especially pretty topic, unfortunately. They came and visited us yesterday.” He let the words sink in, and sink in they did.
Jasmine’s face paled and she clutched at the opal necklace around her neck.
Hans adjusted his ankle on his knee, and set a firm hand on his wife’s shoulder. Then his gaze moved to me. “I suppose that makes sense, with you being what you are.”
Not the kindest way he could have phrased that, but he wasn’t wrong.
“Yep,” I said, smiling politely. Hans was a paternalistic figure I was well versed in from my business days back in Texas. He reminded me of some of the wealthy good ol’ boys I ran into who were all business until you got them talking about their college football days or deer hunting. Then they’d offer you a scotch and tell story after story about their glory days.
I could tell Hans meant well, so I didn’t hold his apparent hesitancy about me against him.
Finally, Jasmine regained her words. “Are they okay?” Her face drained of even more blood as she leaned forward and quickly added. “I mean, not okay. Obviously, they’re… But is something wrong? Is that why they visited?”
“For what it’s worth, they’re fine,” I said. “They seem to be enjoying the afterlife.”
Jasmine relaxed slightly after her minor faux pas. “Good, good.”
Tanner took it from there, and I could tell he was putting on his deputy routine just a little. I didn’t blame him. It was a good persona to have up his sleeve for the messy emotional stuff when he needed to keep a clear head. “We’re looking into their death, which is still unsolved, according to Sheriff Bloom. She mentioned you two were with them the night they died.”
“They didn’t do it,” Donovan interjected.
Tanner turned toward his best friend, narrowing his eyes. “I know that.”
“Yeah, Donny,” I added, “we know that.”
I didn’t actually. I hadn’t cleared them from my suspect list, but I was just dying to call him Donny. It had the effect I’d hoped, and he pressed his lips together, biting back what he’d wanted to say but wouldn’t in front of his folks.
Tanner addressed Hans. “I’d just like to run through anything you can remember from that night. Anything they said or anyone who was around? Anything strange at all?”
Hans nodded like he already knew what Tanner was after specifically. “I remember that night vividly. We had plans to meet at Sheehan’s to have a drink, some food, and catch up after our vacation—Jasmine and I had just spent a lovely weekend in Avalon, and your parents were eager to hear about it.”
Oh sure, I thought. Because there’s nothing anyone loves more than hearing about other people’s extravagant vacations. Tanner’s parents worked at his grandmother’s animal sanctuary, mostly doing fundraising, and having talked to Zoe Clementine, who’d taken over the operation after Tanner’s grandmother passed, I knew there wasn’t much money in it. There was little chance they could afford a vacation to Avalon, so why would they want to hear about someone else’s? They had to be saints if they could tolerate that.
I also had a hard time imagining the Stringfellows in Sheehan’s Pub. Donovan went there often, but he’d clearly not picked up some of his parents’ more rigid and upper-class qualities.
But there was no accounting for friendship, really, and as Hans continued speaking I sensed genuine admiration for the Culpeppers, and a clear sense of sorrow for the loss, in his words.
“They were there early, which was no surprise. They’d dropped you off at your grandmother’s early that morning so they could have an entire day off to recharge, and they always were talented at soaking the most fun out of an opportunity. Great company, those two. We’d offered to pay for them to come with us to Avalon, but they’d said they had a work function planned that they couldn’t miss. Always responsible. Like I said, doesn’t surprise me to see you stepping up as deputy.
“Anyway,” he continued, “they were already there when we arrived. They had almost finished off a round of drinks, and they were having an intense chat with Serenity Springsong.”
Jasmine nodded along as he spoke.
“The High Priestess?” I asked, incredulously.
Hans leaned back on the loveseat. “Ah, yes, but she wasn’t High Priestess at that point. She was just another Coven witch. An ambitious one, sure. We all kind of figured she would take over whenever High Priest Clearbrook passed away. But at the time, she was just a Coven member like the rest of us. I believe your parents were fond of her, which surprised me a bit. She was nothing like them.”
“Why do you think they were fond of her?” I asked.
“Well, I suppose I’d noticed them spending a lot of time together leading up to… well, you know. So I didn’t think much of it when I saw her at the table with them. But as soon as they saw us, Serenity excused herself and left the pub. Guess she wasn’t a fan of ours.”
Or she didn’t want to hear about your vacation.
Tanner said, �
��After you sat down with my parents, how did they seem?”
“Oh, a little distracted. I figured it was just Coven drama. There’s always been enough of that to go around. But they lightened up after a moment.”
“And during your dinner, did you notice anyone suspicious around you? Anyone who didn’t usually go to Sheehan’s?”
I wasn’t sure what Tanner was fishing for, but watching him question them was really doing it for me. I clasped my hands firmly and set them in my lap so I didn’t start pawing at him.
Hans considered the question fully, narrowing his eyes before turning to his wife for input. “I don’t recall. Jasmine?”
“Let’s see. Ted and Malavic were there, of course. I remember them scaring the spirit out of a few underage kids trying to buy a drink. Just trying to entertain themselves, I suppose. Life must get terribly dull for them.” She nibbled her bottom lip then frowned. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t remember it that well. It was a while ago, and Sheehan nights do have a way of blending into each other.”
True enough. And the night Hans and Jasmine were recalling didn’t even seem significant to them at the time.
Tanner nodded. “That’s fine. Did they mention what they were talking with Springsong about? You said it was an intense conversation.”
Hans shook his head. “They didn’t mention it and we didn’t ask. As soon as we sat down, they dived into questions about the trip.”
Diversion, I thought. There was no way they were eager to hear about the vacation.
“After the pub, did you go somewhere else?”
Hans chuckled. “Where is there to go after Sheehan’s but straight to bed? We were there for a while, and we parted ways with them and went home.”
Jasmine stared down at her hands folded neatly in her lap, but probably not for the same reason I kept mine there. “If we’d known it was the last time we’d ever see them…”