by Marja McGraw
“Oh, brother! She’s reaching if she thinks that’s something she can sue me about,” Felicity mumbled from behind Mavis’ back. She curled her hand into a claw and raked it toward Mavis’s back, catlike and hissing.
“I heard that, Miss DuBois. Watch yourself.” Mavis turned and shook her finger at Felicity.
More lightning, more thunder, and the lights went out. Everyone was quiet. They were back on in seconds.
“So let’s retrace your steps.” I tried to divert Mavis’ attention away from lawsuits. “We’ll check the library since you were in there.”
“You look out here and I’ll check the hallway and library,” she said, pushing me out of the way.
“Be my guest,” I mumbled. “And I hope they don’t find your remains later.”
Jolly, grinning, snapped a photo of Mavis’ ample behind as she walked away.
Pete and I searched each corner of the room, while the other guests poked under tables and chairs.
I heard Felicity mumbling to herself again. “Crazy ex-girlfriends, fires, lawsuits. I’m not throwing another party. Never again. Not ever!”
“Now, Felicity, calm down.” Stanley patted her back. “It was a good party, no matter what that woman says.”
Stanley had apparently patted too hard and Felicity tipped to one side, barely catching herself before she fell. “Too much work for too little reward. I wanted everyone to go home happy.”
“Here it is.” Pamela held up the pendant like a prize. It swung back and forth, the red ruby catching the light, seeming to send sparks around the room.
“Well, now where did Mavis go?” Hamilton glanced around, smiling. It appeared he’d had another drink while we all looked for the necklace.
“Mavis?” Jolly called out. “Where’d you go?” He stuck his head around the corner leading to the hallway and called her name again. “Mavis?”
That’s when we heard her horrified scream. It didn’t sound like the one Traci had treated us to earlier. This one sounded real.
“Mavis?” Hamilton glanced around, looking confused and frightened. It looked like that last drink had put him over the edge.
It was quiet and I could hear rain and wind pelting the windows.
Chapter Seven
Pete and I raced for the doorway to the hall, with Stanley and Felicity following. Sharon Stone was only a step behind us.
“She’s not in the hallway. Check the other rooms. And Sharon, get out of here.” Pete, an ex-cop, knows what to do in an emergency situation. He headed for a doorway that led to a bathroom while I turned toward the kitchen. Sharon stomped back toward the living room.
I heard a thud and Pete grunted and said something unintelligible. I turned quickly. The Bogey Man was exiting the bathroom and Pete was holding his nose with his eyes tearing and closed. Three bombs and you’re out?
“Why’d you throw the door open like that?” Pete’s voice sounded about as angry as I’d ever heard it. He opened his eyes and saw Bogey staring at him.
“Guess you finally caught me, huh?” He didn’t sound anything like the real Bogey at the moment, and he appeared to be flustered. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”
“What wasn’t supposed to happen this way?” I asked.
“Our first meeting. Hey, what was that scream I heard?”
He’d distracted us for a moment.
“You stay with us.” Pete pulled himself up to his full height and looked down on our Bogey Man, speaking with his best authoritative ex-cop voice, which was comical considering he was holding his nose and sounded like he had a cold.
Stanley and I started checking rooms while Pete and Bogey appeared to be having a contest of wills. Pete won and Bogey shrugged his shoulders.
“Nothing in here.” Stanley and I bumped into each other as I passed a room he was exiting and he came close to falling off his thick-soled shoes again.
I heard whimpering.
“She’s in the library.” Felicity raced past me.
I flew by Pete and the Bogey Man, with Stanley on my heels. I could hear the whimpering coming from the Spook Room. I slowed down and peeked around the open door. Bomb Number Four had hit and sunk its mark.
Mavis was standing in front of the chair where the skeleton had rested earlier, her witch’s hat sitting at a cockeyed angle toward the side of her head. The chair had been turned so it wasn’t facing the table. The skeleton was resting in the corner and a body had taken its place. I recognized the lavender and white workout clothes. There was a knife sticking out of Purity Patton’s chest and Mavis had a grip on it. It was the same knife that had originally been sticking out of the skeleton’s chest. The arms on the captain’s chair kept Purity from falling out of the chair.
“Move away slowly. And do it now.” I pointed at Mavis.
The witch looked at me in confusion. “I didn’t do it. I swear I didn’t. I was thinking I should pull the knife out.” I had a feeling she might be in shock. I couldn’t think of any other reason for her wanting to remove the knife.
“Don’t do it. Let go and move away.” Pete stepped past me, into the Spook Room. Bogey followed him.
Mavis looked from Pete to Bogey, and at her hand, and with a soft Oh, she let her hand drop to her side. She took two steps back and hung her head. “I didn’t do it.”
“Come away from there.” Felicity held her hands out toward Mavis. “Come stand by me, dear.”
The witch seemed uncertain about what to do. She glanced from the body to Felicity, and began crying. She ran to Felicity and threw her arms around little Mrs. Frankenstein.
Funny, the thoughts that come to mind during an emergency. I wished I had my camera so I could take a picture of the chubby witch hugging Mrs. Frankenstein. The witch had black mascara running down her face, resembling the face of the corpse leaning back in the chair. These were Industry people. Hadn’t any of them ever heard of waterproof mascara?
The female Frankenstein’s monster had eyes the size of saucers, and she was staring at me, silently beseeching me to detach the witch from her little body. It couldn’t have been more clear if she’d spoken out loud. When Felicity grunted, I knew that Mavis was holding her too tightly.
“Dames.” The Bogey Man’s voice sounded derisive, and I noticed he was back into his Bogart persona, although he turned pale when he glanced back at the dead body.
A camera flashed and Pete turned to order Jolly out of the room. “This isn’t the time or the place, man.”
“Mavis, come with me.” I pried one of her arms off Felicity and pulled her along behind me, leading her to a seat in the library. “You stay here. Don’t move a muscle.”
She wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“I mean it. You stay right here. When I come back, your rear end had better be attached to that chair.”
She nodded, but still wouldn’t look at me.
Bogey had followed us out of the Spook Room and sat down in a chair, facing Mavis. “I’ll watch the old broad.”
Mavis turned her mascara-streaked face to him, and if looks could kill… Well, he’d be a goner.
I stared at him for a moment. “Who are you? Never mind for now. Your rear had better not move either.” I gave each of them a threatening no-nonsense look and returned to the Spook Room.
I found Pete talking on his cell phone. He’d called the police.
Stanley stood next to Felicity, patting her back. “Are you alright?” he asked her. “Would you like to lie down? I can escort you back to the living room, if you’d like.”
“No, I’m not okay,” Felicity replied. “But I’m not a fussy little prissy-britches either. I can deal with this, and you know it.”
“Well, Sweetie – ”
“Stan, you know good and well that I’m a strong woman. Now quit fussing at me!”
Stanley looked hurt, but only for a moment. He knew he’d been over-reacting to Felicity’s state of mind. He also knew that she was a strong woman who’d faced plenty of adversity
in her life. She was a survivor, and survivors don’t always want to be taken care of by others. Men don’t necessarily understand the concept. I might not know what she’d survived, but Stan did.
Pete motioned me over. “Sandi, take everyone back out to the living room and make sure no one leaves. If anyone has already left, make a list of their names.” He glanced around the room. “Where’s Bogey?”
“He’s keeping an eye on Mavis.”
“Of course. Makes sense to me. Your Bogey Man keeping an eye on a possible killer. Or a possible killer keeping an eye on his next victim.”
“I don’t believe Mavis did it.” I wasn’t about to comment on Bogey until I knew more about him.
Pete gave me one of his get real, she’s a suspect looks. “I called Rick and he’s on his way. Let’s make this as easy for him as we can.” He stopped talking and glanced at the ceiling. “Yeah, right. Like a murder in a house full of suspects in costumes is going to be easy.”
Rick Mason is Pete’s closest friend, and a homicide detective. I counted my blessings that he was on duty when Pete called the station.
Stanley and Felicity heard Pete and headed for the living room. I motioned for Mavis to follow me. She was shaking and had trouble standing, but managed to follow me anyway.
“Ms. Webster, do you think I have grounds for a lawsuit here?”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Mavis. Give it a rest! I can’t believe you’d be thinking about a lawsuit at a time like this.” I sped up and she had to practically sprint to keep up with me.
I could hear her grating voice coming from behind me and glanced around. “Well, I didn’t kill her, but you know everyone will think I did, and they’ll be defaming me. This isn’t fair. Felicity should have taken precautions against this sort of thing. I don’t like to be defamed. Besides, he probably did it.” She turned her head and pointed at Bogey, who was following behind her.
“I said, give it a rest!” I stopped in my tracks and turned on the woman. “A woman has been murdered, and I honestly don’t care what people think about you. And if you keep this up, I’m going to sue you for getting on my nerves. Got it? Now zip it up and let’s join everyone in the living room.”
The Bogey Man chuckled. I gave him one of my don’t test me looks. One of the things Pete and I have in common is we can speak volumes with a facial expression. It saves a lot of time.
Mavis followed behind me as meekly and quietly as she could. Huh. Maybe no one had ever stood up to her before. I did take note that our discussion had calmed her down, or distracted her. Whatever the reason, she was no longer shaking. She was probably trying to figure out what she could sue me about.
“And what’s your story?” I let Mavis pass me and held back to talk to Bogey. “Why have you been following me? What’s the deal?”
“We’ll talk later, mamma.”
“You’re mixing your generations. Bogey didn’t call woman ‘mamma.’ And you can bet we’re going to have a very long talk, very soon. Now go sit down.”
Felicity was checking with her guests to make sure they were okay. The only one who’d left was Traci Marks, who said she needed some rest so she’d look good on the set, and she’d told Jason Redman where she could be reached in case the police needed to talk to her.
I rolled my eyes at Felicity. If the police needed to talk to her? A woman had been murdered and Traci needed her beauty sleep?
I glanced around the room. Jolly Wade was fiddling with his camera. He glanced up and saw the Bogey Man and quickly aimed and snapped a picture. Bogey frowned.
I heard Sharon tell Jolly that she wanted copies of all the pictures he’d taken.
Jason Redman stood by Felicity’s fireplace, admiring his work, the portrait of her.
Mavis was huddled with her significant other, Hamilton Stewart, who had a silly grin on his face. He’d definitely had one drink too many. She was poking his chest with her index finger, trying to make some point.
Joshua King glanced from Bogey to me. “What’s going on? Mavis said someone is dead?”
I was surprised that she hadn’t told anyone who was dead. “Joshua, sit back and relax. The police will be here shortly, and you can talk to them.” I didn’t want to say anything to him. After all, he and Purity had been an item, and this would be a shock even though they’d broken it off. Unless he was the killer.
I looked for Pamela, but she was nowhere in sight. “Anyone seen Pamela?”
“She went outside for some fresh air. I think I’ll join her.” Joshua stood up.
“No, you stay here. I’ll go find her. As a matter of fact, everyone is to stay here until the police talk to each of you.”
I walked outside and found Pamela sitting on the porch. She looked upset. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Those people are so… Well, they’re just different than what I’m used to. I needed a break. And look what I did to my costume.” She sounded upset, and pointed to her chest. I saw blood red spots on her costume.
“What’s that?”
“I broke a glass, and when I tried to clean it up I cut myself. I rented this costume, and I know they’re going to charge me an arm and a leg for the damage.”
“That’s blood?” Uh oh.
“Yes. I didn’t notice I was bleeding at first, and I got blood on Joshua’s arm when he was helping me up.”
“Let me see the cut.” I reached for Pamela’s hand.
She held it out and I examined her finger. I could see a small cut on her ring finger, but it wasn’t big enough to have caused that much bleeding.
“Uh, Pamela, how could you have left blood everywhere from that little tiny cut? Think about it. This is important.”
“I don’t have to think about it. I’ve been having headaches lately and I’ve been taking a lot of aspirin. It’s thinned my blood enough that this thing bled like a son-of-a-gun. What’s this all about?”
“Don’t say anything yet, but someone was stabbed. I want you to be able to account for the blood on your costume.”
She looked surprised. “Stabbed? Who? Are they okay?”
“Let’s go inside. I’ll answer your questions later.”
“But, Sandi – ”
“Later. Come inside with me.”
We walked into the house and as I entered the living room I heard Mavis’s grating voice with the volume turned high. She was facing Joshua, but talking to Hamilton who appeared to be asleep.
“He probably did it. After all, she was his girlfriend. And I know I didn’t do it. Who else would have a reason? Answer me that.”
It was about that time that I heard the sirens blaring. They grew louder and Joshua’s face turned red.
Chapter Eight
“Who’s girlfriend and what happened to her?” Joshua jumped up from his chair and turned on Mavis. “Exactly what are you talking about, you old bat?”
“You’re defam – ”
“Shut up and tell me what you’re talking about or I’ll do more than defame you. You’re making some kind of an accusation, and I want to know what this is all about.” He stepped in front of her, towering over the little witch.
“You don’t scare me, Joshua.” She glanced around the room, looking for someone to protect her. “You may have stabbed your girlfriend, but there are witnesses here to take care of me.”
“Stabbed? My girlfriend?” Joshua glanced around the room. His gaze stopped on Bogey. “You know what she’s talking about, man?” His anger had faded away and turned into confusion.
Bogey shrugged, looking uncomfortable.
Joshua turned to me. “What’s going on?”
“Sit down Joshua. There’s been an, uh, incident. Did you know that Purity didn’t leave after your argument?”
“No. She left after our fight. I’m sure of it. Didn’t she?” He sounded hopeful, but he sat on the edge of the couch in anticipation.
I hated to burst his bubble, but I had no choice. “Joshua, Purity didn’t leave. Mavis is right. Someone s
tabbed her.”
“Is it bad? Will she be okay?” Either he wasn’t catching on or he was a better actor than I thought. I had a feeling his mind was protecting him, not letting him comprehend what I was telling him.
Dolly sat down on the couch next to the actor and reached for his hand. My elderly neighbor understood shock. She’d lost her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter’s husband in a fatal car accident.
“Joshua, Purity has been stabbed and she’s dead.” I was blunt, in the hope that maybe I could force him into comprehension.
“Where is she?” I could hear panic in his voice. “Let me see her. She can’t be dead because we haven’t… Quit that!”
Jolly had begun taking pictures of everyone. He snapped one of Joshua and the actor turned on him, his hands rolled into fists.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked, turning to Jolly.
“The lady from the newspaper asked me to take background photos for a story she’s going to do.”
I turned and found Sharon Stone trying to slip out of the room. “Sharon, get back here right now.”
“I just wanted a few pictures to go with the story I’ll be writing. Besides, you – ”
“Sharon, what’s the matter with you? Don’t you have any common sense? A woman is dead. This isn’t the time for a photo shoot.”
“It’s the perfect time. Maybe I’ll catch someone off guard and find a killer.” She was grasping for excuses. She twisted one of her long brown curls around her finger, reminding me of a toddler. Her glasses slid down her nose and she pushed them back into place. I’d forgotten just how young and immature this woman was.
“That’s about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Go sit down with everyone else.”
I turned to Jolly. “And you, put that camera down before I take it away from you.”
He hugged his camera to his chest, seemingly half afraid I’d actually take it. I felt like I was dealing with a bunch of kids. Realizing how much I sounded like my mother, I clamped my lips together.
Jolly lowered his camera and I saw a spot on his brown zombie shirt. It looked like rust, but I knew better.