“Mallory!” Kaden grabbed her in one arm while wrapping the other around Star. Both women turned in to his shoulders crying.
“Ms. St. James, is that your wife, Sylvia Broome?” Dr. Howell asked.
They barely heard Star’s acknowledgement.
Kaden nodded at Dr. Howell, apparently to indicate they were finished just as Cody walked in. “Everything okay, Kaden?”
Kaden nodded.
“W-what are you doing here?” Mal mumbled into his shirt.
“I had this feeling you were in danger, so I called you several times,” Kaden said.
“I left my purse in the car.”
“Even Eve didn’t know where you were, which added to my fear. I finally tried Cody and he told me he sent Star here.”
“I need some air.” Star choked out.
Cody took Star from Kaden and walked her from the room.
“I guess I was just being paranoid.” Kaden continued to Mallory.
Mallory wouldn’t look him in the eye.
“Mal?”
“Well—I—may have had this idea to touch Sylvia to see if she could show me who killed her,” Mallory’s words practically ran together.
“Mallory!” Kaden gasped. “You’re playing with fire.”
“What’s the point of having these gifts if I can’t use them to help people?”
“You don’t know how to safely use them yet,” Kaden said.
“How else am I going to learn?”
Kaden’s eyes narrowed. “Why did you stop?”
“The ghost yelled… and knocked my arm away.”
“Well, there’s a good indicator that it was a bad idea.”
Kaden started to lead her away, but Mal stopped him in his tracks. Was she really going to miss an opportunity like this? Sure, she experienced pain when finding Sylvia, but what if it was a fluke? What if she could solve the case right here and now. She needed to take a chance.
“Mallory, what are you doing?” Kaden asked.
Blowing a breath out, she reached out until her fingertips felt soft silky hair.
She was jolted like an electric shock traveled up her arm. She couldn’t see. A dark shape in the distance started forming out of a shadow in the trees. She was in the woods. It didn’t look right, but it had a menacing presence. The face wouldn’t come into focus, but she could make out that whoever it was, they were wearing a long black robe, and there was a cross around their neck. Mallory broke into a cold, clammy sweat all over her body. The shape was disappearing now and the words Malleus Maleficarum glowed in the air like they’d been written with a child’s hand-held firework. She didn’t understand. Malleus Maleficarum. What did that mean? She was falling now.
“Ms. Vianu! Ms. Vianu!”
Mallory took a breath, hit with a pungent smell causing her to recoil.
Looking to her left, Dr. Howell was waving smelling salts under her nose.
“Are you okay?” Kaden asked.
Mallory nodded. “What happened?”
“You were screaming. I knocked your hand away.”
The doctor pointed to her hair, “Look!”
“What?” Mal asked, terrified by the look on his face.
“You have a white streak in your hair now.”
Mallory grabbed a stainless-steel pan from one of the open shelves and held it up. Sure enough. Dr. Howell was right.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Kaden stalked out the door with Mallory trailing. Once the elevator doors closed Kaden asked, “So, was it worth it?”
Mallory shook her head. “All I could see was a person in the dark, they must have been wearing all black. I couldn’t tell body type, height or anything. It was all for nothing.”
Kaden blew out a breath. “Not for nothing. Maybe now you won’t do it again.”
EIGHTEEN
M allory mingled with the guests during appetizers. Several Bohemian Lake residents mixed in tonight in addition to the festival committee members and the guests and she was pleased that nobody had commented on her hair. Cody had driven Star back from the morgue so she’d stopped and picked up some hair chalk from the drug store—the kind ladies used to hide their grays. So far, it was doing the trick.
It was raining again, but it wasn’t as bad as the night before. She certainly hoped the generator wouldn’t fail since it was still the only source of power for the manor. During dinner, she sat with Nana, Danior and Penny and just let their conversation flow over her as she stifled a yawn. She was worried she might have pushed Kaden too far today and she hadn’t exactly told him everything yet. Details were slowly coming back to her from the vision at the morgue, but if she was honest with herself, being desperate for answers had made her reckless. As Mal took her last scrumptious bite of the creamy chicken piccata, Danior was elbowing her.
“Oww! That hurt.”
“Look.”
Mallory followed her sister’s finger and saw Kaden through the doorway on the phone in the hall, listening and nodding. Now what, she wondered. Kaden motioned her over.
“Mallory, that was the ME, he just listened to his voicemail and said he hadn’t noticed the bruising we asked about during his preliminary exam, so he’ll look when he does the full autopsy tomorrow morning. Bruises can appear after death. Well, they don’t actually appear, they’re always there, it’s just they become more visible.”
There was a muffled sound nearby that sounded like tapping. Mallory cocked her ear, it seemed to stop. When the tapping started again, she realized someone was knocking on the front door. Where was Lizzy?
She opened one of the double doors to find Mick Spirit, rain running down his face off the brim of his hat onto the limp cardboard box he was holding. In his other hand was a useless umbrella, the tines showing since it had been blown inside out.
“Oh, Mick, come in.” Mallory grabbed the box and stumbled. Kaden quickly caught her elbow, then took the box, setting it behind the front desk. He frowned at Mal and she mouthed the words, side effect.
“Kaden, will you grab a towel from the kitchen for Mick, please?”
“Hello, Mallory, I’m sorry to drip on your floor,” Mick said. “The wind picked up rather ferociously just as I drove up.”
“The storm looks like it’s getting worse. What can I help you with?”
“I’m helping you. Hatti said you wanted to look at Balthasar Popescu’s ledgers from our archives. I delivered them in hopes of seeing the girl of my dreams.” Mick winked.
“She’s taken,” Kaden said, handing Mick a couple of towels.
Mick chuckled while drying his face and glasses. “I’m referring to her bewitching grandmother.”
Mallory rolled her eyes. “Would you like some dinner, Mick? A lot of people are still eating including Nana.”
His eyes lit up while rubbing his hands back and forth. “I’d love to!”
The dining room was full of guests buzzing with conversation as Mallory walked Mick to her table. Removing her plate, Mal said, “Nana, Mick was kind enough to bring some important paperwork to me in the middle of this storm, so I’ve offered him some dinner. Would you keep him company?” Mal made sure she didn’t make eye contact. “Enjoy, Mick!”
Mallory felt twin holes burn through her back as she returned to join Kaden. Nana was not pleased. Just as she passed through the corridor into the foyer, she noticed the closet door under the stairs was open. Now who was in there at this hour? Mal held a finger to her lips, looking at Kaden, then crept quietly to the closet. She peeked around the door in time to see Lizzy shut the secret passage door. Hmm. Lizzy exited the closet quickly, obviously not seeing Mal until she ran into her and screamed, dropping something that landed with a loud thunk.
“Oh, Ms. Vianu! You scared me!” Lizzy exclaimed.
“What were you doing in the secret passage? You’re supposed to be manning the front desk.” Mal asked as Kaden appeared at Mallory’s back.
Lizzy looked nervously from one to the other. “I�
��m sorry, what? I wasn’t in the secret passage. I was looking for the mop.”
“Don’t lie, Lizzy. I saw you.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. It’s just I overheard one of the guests saying they heard shouting and banging coming from Mr. Poe’s room. He wouldn’t answer his phone and everyone else was having dinner so I texted Willa to check on him but she wasn’t answering either. I know I’m not supposed to leave the front desk unattended but I decided I’d better run up there myself to check on him. And the passage is the fastest way.”
“And, is he okay?” Mallory asked.
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t answer.”
“Oh, well we keep a spare set of keys hanging up behind the desk. What did you drop, anyway?”
“Nothing, just some supplies.”
Lizzy’s aura flashed dark blue.
Kaden bent down to retrieve the item. He removed the silky pouch and showed it to Mallory.
“I just told you not to lie and yet you did again. What should I think? Are you stealing books now?”
“No, of course not. I just didn’t want to get Willa in trouble.”
“What do you mean get her in trouble?”
Lizzy looked around, folding and unfolding her hands furiously, “Well, I’d prefer you didn’t tell her that I told you but, I saw this book in her cubby earlier and then just now it was lying on the floor outside Mr. Poe’s room. I think it’s a spell book and I think she stole it from Ms. Broome.”
“Alright, Lizzy. Thank you for telling us. Get back to work and don’t leave the desk unless someone is covering it. You can always call me or Danior if it’s an emergency.” This girl was hiding something, but Mal still couldn’t decipher the colors of her aura—there was too much black.
“Mal, look at this. She’s telling the truth. It isn’t an ordinary book.”
Mallory leaned against his arm as Kaden opened the cover.
“Kaden, I’ve seen Sylvia with this book. It must be her Grimoire—she’s always toting it around and she never leaves it unattended. This is like a witch’s personal diary, for lack of a better word. It’ll have everything in it. Notes, spells, secrets. Why was it outside of Edwin’s room?”
“That’s an excellent question. I’ll have to turn this in as evidence, but at some point, it will be returned to Star.”
Mal nodded, “I would love to get a look at that, it might help me. Then, I wouldn’t be taking chances.”
“Nice try. You’ll have to wait until it’s processed.”
Kaden’s phone rang.
“It was worth a shot.” Mal winked at him. “I’m going to grab the keys and check on Edwin.”
Engrossed in his phone call, Kaden didn’t answer. While climbing the stairs to the second-floor, Mallory felt a wave of dizziness and sat down at the top. It only lasted a minute or two, so she continued with her errand. She knocked on the door to Edwin Poe’s room, but there was no response. She tried a couple more times before opening the door a crack.
“Mr. Poe?”
Mal entered the room and not wanting to disturb him if he was asleep, she left the light off. Lightning flashed, making her realize the heavy velvet drapes were open. How odd. Why would he go to sleep with the drapes open? She waited for another flash from the window. That’s strange. The empty tray was still there. Mallory quietly tiptoed to the nightstand, but before reaching it, she realized the bed was empty. Then she noticed just the barest sliver of light coming from the bathroom. Oh dear! Here she was, in his room, while the poor man was in the bathroom. Mal cleared her throat.
“Mr. Poe, I’m so sorry to disturb you, I’m just here to pick up your tray.”
No response, this was getting weird.
“Edwin?”
Nothing. Mal knocked on the bathroom door. She had no idea what she should do. What if he was hurt? Gathering her courage, Mallory tried the door handle half expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t, so she entered the bathroom. At first, she held a hand over her eyes, but could tell it was too quiet.
Standing perfectly still, she listened for sounds of any kind but heard only the harsh rasp of her own accelerated panting.
She opened her eyes and her breath hung in the air in foggy puffs. The temperature had plummeted.
She turned her head toward the tub. The blood drained from her face. Edwin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another man. He was in a long, black coat and wide brimmed hat.
Balthasar Popescu, the witch hunter. When she looked straight at him, he was gone.
She searched her peripheral vision terrified that she was next. This man had hunted and murdered witches and one thing she’d learned in the last year was that ghosts retained their human characteristics.
Edwin was still there. Unmoving, silent—just staring at her, eyes bulging from under the water.
She turned away from the tableau, pulling her phone out, she swiped her finger over Kaden’s name.
“Mal? Are you there?”
“Kaden, are you still downstairs?” Mallory asked in a wooden voice.
“Yes, what’s wrong, you sound funny?”
“Please come up to Mr. Poe’s room. It’s open.”
Mallory could hear his quick footsteps in stereo, through her phone, not realizing she hadn’t ended the call, and lightly from the hall.
“Mal?”
She pointed. Kaden stood there staring at Edwin Poe, drowned in the tub, with several large stones resting on his torso. Kaden nodded as he wrapped an arm around her, turning her to his shoulder after noticing the silent tears.
“You need to let someone downstairs know, so we can eventually remove his body quietly to avoid your other guests. I’m going to call this in.”
“Of course.” Mallory sniffled as she wiped her face. Thank goodness for waterproof mascara.
Just as she reached the foyer, Emilion walked through the main doorway.
“Hey Mallory! There’s a leather rope missing from the tack room.”
“Okay, thanks Emilion. Wait, was it braided?”
“Yes ma’am, that’s the only kind I use with the horses.”
Mal nodded. “Hmph. Okay, thanks for letting me know. By the way, have you seen Willa around?”
“No, actually, I haven’t.”
“Okay, well, if you do, don’t say anything to her. Just text me her location, and I need your help with something else. We have a stiff bedframe on the second floor.”
“Whose bed?”
“Mr. Poe.”
“What is it with this place?” Emilion exhaled.
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“So, same drill as usual. You want the old frame removed quietly.”
“Yes, please lead them down the maintenance drive and in through the back kitchen. Shoot! Lise was always so good at keeping everyone busy. I’m not too sure about the new girl. Maybe I’ll have Eve dial up the distraction instead.”
“You’re gonna regret that.”
“Yes, I’m sure I will.”
NINETEEN
A fter speaking with Eve, Mal rounded up the Hexfest guests and herded everyone into the parlor, library and dining room area which all opened into one another via pocket doors for a surprise performance. A small round table had been set up near the windows and covered with a purple satin tablecloth with gold stars scattered across it. The space was tight but it worked. Then Mallory closed all outside doors to the corridor, and once Eve’s music began to play; she gave Emilion the signal to lead the ME, EMS paramedics and a small forensics team upstairs using the elevator.
Distracting guests during an emergency body removal was a careful art—one their ex-receptionist had mastered. Without Lise, Mallory was curious to see how Eve would do. Realistically it could go one of two ways—flawless perfection or divebomb disaster. Those were the two modes Eve operated in.
For a moment Mal waited outside in the hall playing security in case anyone tried to leave, but eventually she got curious and decided to see what kind of distracti
on Eve had come up with. She slid the pocket doors open about an inch. She couldn’t believe her eyes as Eve pulled a long length of purple cloth from her purse. She kept pulling and pulling like a magician pulling tied handkerchiefs from her sleeve. Finally, Eve reached the end of the cloth, so now there was a pile of silk on the table. Ignoring the silk for now, Eve dug around for a bit and pulled a crystal ball and stand out of her purse. Now, Mallory had seen everything. Eve must have seen her peering through the gap because she gave her a cheeky wink. Shoving the silk pile to the side, she set the stand in the middle of the table, gently placing the crystal ball inside. Next, she began wrapping the silk around and around her head tucking the end under, until she had effectively created a turban. The finishing touch was a white feather that she stuck in the top of the turban with a grin.
Mal looked over at Nana, wondering if she was still in deep doo-doo for the blind date setup. Mick had scooted his chair right up next to her for the show. The lights had been dimmed. Danior had obviously been recruited since she now had a flashlight pointed under her chin to give an eerie glow as she introduced The Great Bamboozle and asked for volunteers. Lightning flashed behind Eve, perfecting the image. Much to Mallory’s surprise, everyone in the room raised their hand. She had them eating out of the palm of her sleight of hand. Would wonders never cease?
Secretly pleased, Mal headed for the front desk and grabbed the box of ledgers that Mick had brought, quietly sneaking them into the secret passage. After she made her way to the exit in the rotunda bookcase, she decided to leave them inside by the door. Walking down the hall, Mal dragged her finger along the wainscoting. It was covered in dust. Had she become too critical, lately? She watched from Poe’s doorway as the assistant ME and forensics worked the scene, taking photographs and hopefully finding some evidence. Kaden was in front of her on the phone again, presumably with Cody. She heard him say they’d found a small silk handkerchief that smelled sickly sweet. Chloroform. If the ghost was in fact the killer, why would he need Chloroform. None of this made sense.
Ouija, Death & Wicked Witchery Page 9