Lark ignored her protests, tucked her in again, and came back to the kitchen for lunch.
Cookie joined us soon afterwards.
“I don’t know what enchantment you gave her, but it’s really had an impact on her personality. Like, she almost has one now,” Lark said, sliding into a seat at the island.
Cookie cackled.
Today my grandmother was wearing stockings falling down around her ankles, a long black skirt, and a cape to complete the look. At least she hadn’t added a witch’s hat to the ensemble.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked.
“House is open tonight. Lizzie can’t work, so I offered to dress up as a witch and help out,” Cookie explained.
Having the haunted house open meant we’d all be busy. I just hoped nothing went wrong at Edmund’s while I was occupied at the mansion. If it did, Grant would get to handle it by himself.
“What was Lizzie going on about all day?” Cookie fixed her eye on me.
“What do you mean?” I said, hoping I looked innocent.
“Don’t try to lie to me. Audrey’s not here. Tell me why Lizzie is so fixated on the closet,” she said.
“She wants to create a love potion,” said Lark.
“It doesn’t usually work on family,” said Cookie dryly.
“She didn’t want to use it on us,” said Pep.
“Clearly we’re lost causes,” I said.
Cookie raised her eyebrows. Now she actually looked kind of interested.
“Oh, really? Then who did she want to use it on?” She pulled apart her sandwich and started eating it in small bites.
“She’s had a crush on Kip for ages,” Lark said. “She thinks he’s beneath her, so she wants to use it on him. Somehow that makes sense to her.”
Just then Grant came into the kitchen. “Hey,” he said to all of us, then turned his eyes on me for an extra special “Hey.”
I said hi back and hoped he hadn’t heard our conversation about Lizzie.
“Is Corey around?” he asked.
“He’s in his lab. Why?” said Cookie.
Grant held up an official-looking black plastic bag. “We’ve been testing evidence at the lab, but my technicians say it’s strange stuff. I thought he might be able to take a look and let me know what he makes of it. My tech guys are great, but they have a system. Given that Corey works outside that system and has been a haunt hunter for years, I was hoping he might be able to think outside the box about this case,” he explained.
My eyes fell on the black bag with excitement. I wanted desperately to know what was inside it. Part of the trouble with being a private investigator was that you didn’t usually get your hands on official evidence.
“I’ll take you out there,” I told him eagerly, and stood up.
“Thanks,” he said. “I’d like him to look at it as soon as possible.”
“The Undead are no joke. If that’s what you think is going on here, that’s all the more reason to solve this case in a hurry,” said Cookie.
“We always try to solve cases in a timely manner. But I do agree that speed is all the more important when a murderer is on the loose,” said Grant as I led him out the back door.
When we emerged outside and I saw the storm door, I was reminded that I needed to contact Down Below again, and soon. I needed to fill Jefferson Judge in on everything that had happened. I knew he’d be worried about his brother, and glad to know that Edmund was still safe and well.
Grant and I walked the distance to the barn in silence, but I was aware of his nearness all the way. Despite the happiness, another feeling was lingering on the edges of my awareness, that of eyes somewhere nearby, watching. The left side of my body tingled more than the right, and I tried to turn surreptitiously enough not to alert Grant to the fact that I thought something might be wrong. I didn’t want to look like an idiot if I was mistaken.
Of course he noticed anyhow.
“Your grandmother is shifting from window to window spying on us, never staying in one place too long,” he said through the side of his mouth.
Amusement burned in his blue eyes, which were wide and expressive.
I had never noticed how full his lips were before.
A blush stained my cheeks. I hadn’t planned on the way he seemed to know my exact thoughts, even when I took pains to conceal them.
If he didn’t know how crazy Cookie was, he was braver than even I gave him credit for.
And maybe more foolish.
I didn’t bother knocking on Corey’s lab door, but before we went inside I turned just once to look back at the mansion.
Cookie wasn’t expecting me to turn around so quickly, and I caught her staring, her large, ugly nose pressed to the glass. I gave her my best mind-your-own-business ferocious glare before turning back to the door.
She disappeared from the window with a pop, leaving a streak on the windowpane that someone would have to clean.
“You sure did tell her off,” Grant chuckled.
At first I didn’t see Corey in the dim interior of the lab, but I heard the stomp of lots of skeleton feet overhead, where the supernaturals had their woodworking shop.
When my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I located Corey sitting with his back to us, his head bobbing to the music he was listening to.
“Corey?” I asked.
There was no response.
I went over and put my hand on his shoulder, conscious that Grant was following close behind me.
Corey let out a yell and threw up his hands. It was a good thing he was only writing notes instead of working on a delicate experiment; as it was, he left a slash of ink across the paper he’d been working on.
“Wow, it’s you. Sorry. I wasn’t expecting anybody,” he explained, his thin chest rising and falling rapidly.
“We didn’t mean to startle you,” I said.
His eyes slid past me to Grant. Until that moment he hadn’t seen His Majesty of Magic standing there.
Corey stood up, his chair scraping the old floor. Scrubbed his hands off on his pants, he asked, “What brings you two here?”
“I was hoping you could run some experiments for me,” said Grant. “I have some lab technicians working on the problem, but we’d like more eyes on this one. At the moment my people are stumped. I thought you might bring a different perspective.”
Corey nodded, his eyes bright. “Is this about what happened over at Edmund’s? I’d be happy to help. I’ve never assisted in a real investigation before.”
“It is about that, and of course we do require the utmost secrecy. You can’t tell anyone what you find out,” said Grant.
“I don’t really talk to that many people,” Corey pointed out.
I made a face. Corey was the least social of us. Most of the time he was happy to have his nose stuck in a book or his whole head stuck in a beaker on a lab table.
“It’s just that certain members of the household here at Haunted Bluff might try to find out the information,” said Grant.
“I learned a long time ago not to tell Cookie anything,” said Corey, his face flashing in a grin. “When I talk to her, it’s only about things I know she doesn’t care about.”
I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile. Most of us did that with Cookie.
“I appreciate that you’re aware of that particular threat, but I mean one closer home,” said Grant, tilting his head in my direction.
I turned to glare at him and he grinned.
“I won’t tell her anything either. Promise,” said Corey.
I rolled my eyes as Grant nodded in satisfaction.
Taking the black bag from Grant, Corey set it down gingerly on his worktable and reached for a set of gloves and goggles. He put them on and indicated that both of us should stand back.
We did so.
Out of the evidence bag Corey drew a garden trowel and a stick that looked like it had been picked up randomly from the woods. Both objects were covered in black slime.
>
Corey raised his eyebrows. “I take it you want me to find out what that stuff is?”
Grant nodded. “We don’t think it’s dangerous in itself. As in, we know Timothy was killed by blunt force. It wasn’t some poison. But we think the slime was left by the killer. If we could determine what it is, maybe we’d know what kind of killer we’re dealing with.”
Corey nodded. “I’ll get right on it. I’ll tell no one the results but you. Good thing you don’t live far away.”
Grant thanked him and we left. The music of many skeleton footsteps and the noise of woodcutting machines from overhead played us out. I could see why Corey wore headphones, but I could also see that this was a nice place to work.
Grant still wasn’t saying much as we headed back to the kitchen.
“I’m not going to interrogate Corey for information, you know,” I said after we’d walked in silence for a couple of minutes.
“Are you also going to stay out of his lab and not wander in and accidentally look at his notes?” Grant challenged me.
My chin dipped to my chest. How did he always know!
“I will now,” I grumbled. Grant threw his head back and laughed.
In the kitchen we were met with a bigger crowd than I would have liked, which would of course have been no crowd at all. In particular, my mom had come in and was looking at Grant curiously. My face burned so hot when I saw her expression that I had to turn away and busy myself making tea to get control of my embarrassment.
“How is it living here on the estate?” Mom asked him. “I hope you’re finding enough space to do your investigating in peace. I hope no one’s hassling you,” she added, an edge to her voice.
I glanced over my shoulder to see who she was talking about, but apparently she meant me. How she could possibly mean me and not Cookie was a mystery I didn’t have time to solve just then.
“I’m very happy to be living here. It’s much better than my last place. You have to be lucky indeed to live by the ocean,” Grant said. “The work is fulfilling, and the people are my favorite of anywhere I’ve come across so far.”
“I believe what you mean to say is that we are the best people in the world,” said Cookie. “There’s nowhere else like Shimmerfield.”
“You can say that again,” Lark muttered darkly into her coffee. She hadn’t slept well and was slugging coffee to try to make up for it. I had a feeling she was going to continue that all day, given that we were opening the house in the evening.
Again it was all hands on deck. After Lizzie’s ridiculous behavior my mom wanted her to stay in bed for the foreseeable future. That meant we were down a person, so the rest of us had to chip in even more than usual. I was starting to hope that my mom had finally noticed how unreasonable Lizzie was at all times. Mom should never have given my bedroom away, I thought, but she needn’t worry about my making a fuss, like Lizzie did all the time, because I wasn’t the least bit unreasonable.
Grant started to excuse himself on the grounds that he had to get back to work. But before he could leave, my mother shocked us all.
“Don’t forget about dinner tonight. If you do, we’ll have to come find you. I mean really, given that you live just down the road, you’re always welcome to come and eat with us,” said my mom.
With a bright smile Grant said he wouldn’t forget. Then, with a wave goodbye to everyone else and a smile in my direction, he was off.
My mother started putting on gloves and a jacket to go outside, but before she left she turned to me and said, “Jane, I hope you aren’t distracting that man from his work. We really like having him here.”
With those words of encouragement, she too was gone. Everybody else looked after her in bemusement. It seemed that both of my aunts were more in the know about my love life than my own mother. This dinner was going to be great fun.
There were two things I needed to do in the meantime. One was to check on the spindle and the second was to talk to Jefferson Judge. He needed to be updated on his brother’s situation, and I needed more information on Old Leslie.
I believed Jefferson Judge when he said he didn’t know who Old Leslie was, but I was sure that someone Down Below knew, and it was about time I checked in again and tried to find out.
I left a note in the box for both of my Down Below contacts and headed out to look at the spindle. Lark and Pep were waiting for me at the greenhouse door after working in their respective shops all morning.
Lark’s ice cream parlor was closed for the winter. She had finally been forced to accept that nobody wanted to eat ice cream in subzero temperatures. Since the shop wasn’t open, she kept herself busy concocting new recipes and making improvements. She loved working in the parlor. Pep had an endlessly good time making fun of her about it.
“That was the most awkward thing I’ve ever seen with your mom and Grant just now,” said Pep as I walked up to them at the greenhouse door.
I rolled my eyes. “She really likes him, but I don’t know what she’ll think about my dating him,” I said. The idea that I was dating a warlock at all was revolutionary, never mind that he was the most famous warlock in the world.
“Has anybody talk about the rules yet?” Lark asked.
I don’t know if I paled or just looked terrified, but I shook my head. “I was hoping to put that off. I also think it will be Cookie talking to me if anyone does. Although I suppose Mom might insist on doing it herself.”
“This is the modern day and age. We don’t really think those rules will be followed anymore,” said Pep, but she didn’t sound as sure of herself as I would have liked.
“If there’s a rule Cookie can follow that will annoy the rest of us, she will definitely do it,” I said.
“Do we think Grant will go along with them?” Pep asked, sounding worried and glancing at the house. We all knew how formidable my family could be. Grant might slay monsters and chase bad guys, but that was nothing compared to Meg when she wanted to wear a specific dress to a ball.
“He hasn’t shown that he’s terrified by anything so far. The proof is that not only did he stick around, but he moved here. That requires a brave man. Then again, we don’t really know what his intentions are,” said Pep, wrinkling her nose.
My hand was resting on the doorknob of the greenhouse, ready to let us in, but at that I paused and asked, “What do you mean?”
“He said he can do anything he wants. You’re great, of course, and he clearly knows it, but has he made it very clear what his intentions are?” She said.
Reluctantly, I had to admit that I knew what she meant. Was Grant seeing me casually? Is that why he hadn’t brought up the rules for witches and warlocks dating? They wouldn’t apply if he didn’t plan to follow through with anything, and I had no idea what his intentions were.
Then again, we had only had two dates. Wasn’t it a bit soon to be worrying about it? Maybe, maybe not. Cookie had started match-making almost as soon as he appeared on the property, after all.
I shook my head, suddenly feeling less confident. “I can’t worry about that right now. We’ve only gone on two dates. For all I know there won’t even be a third. I’ll deal with the rules when the time comes. I’ll also deal with Cookie.”
“I hope Grant knows that that’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said,” said Lark.
“She’s never followed any of the supernatural rules. I don’t see how she can insist that we follow them,” I said. Even as I said it I knew it was a fool’s errand to think that. Of course Cookie would want me to follow the rules. Her reasons would be mysterious and she would be drinking wine while she tried to explain them.
“Let’s go take a look at the spindle before we get caught,” I sighed, opening the door to the greenhouse and looking in.
What I saw shocked me.
The light from the spindle had gone out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We stayed for several minutes, but it was no use. The spindle looked like a pile of logs. Even thou
gh there was no dust on it, it gave the impression of having sat there unused for a long, long time.
“What happened to the colors?” Pep wondered. “It just turned off?”
“Maybe something Mom and Cookie did had an impact,” I offered. “Maybe Meg came up with something genius.”
“Everything they do has an impact,” Pep murmured.
“That could be true, but wouldn’t we have heard about it?” said Lark.
“They should have told us if they’d solved the mystery,” said Pep.
“Yeah, right. They don’t tell us anything,” said Lark.
Pep’s lip jutted out. “Well, they should have. We just wasted ten whole minutes looking into nothing. Now we can cross that mystery off the list. The spindle is off and everything is fine. No one will die. At least not from that.”
We left the greenhouse and got on with our work. I needed to start acting like the liaison that I was, and they had to get back to their shops and finish up some chores. We were relieved that at least we didn’t have to worry about the spindle for now; I told myself that Mom had probably figured out how to turn it off. If I was lucky, Peter and Jefferson Judge would have answered my notes and my next task would proceed without any snags.
But there was only one note in the mailbox. It was from Peter, saying he’d be waiting for me. It was now early afternoon, and I wanted to finish up and shower before dinner. No, I didn’t usually do that, but it had been a while since Grant had come and I wanted the evening to be perfect.
I knocked on the door to Down Below.
Shuffling and cursing noises from the other side of the door told me there was a supernatural on the other side of it. I pressed my ear against the door in an attempt to hear more clearly.
“Peter?” I called out.
“Yes? Sorry! Jane! I’m coming,” came the voice of the skeleton. Peter had a distinct, excitable personality, and he sounded as if he’d shaded off toward frantic at the moment.
The door sprang open to reveal a confused-looking skeleton wearing a purple topcoat with a green tailcoat.
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