The Girl with the Uninvited Ghost: Pandemonium Cozy Mystery #1

Chapter 33

"Where have you been?" Evelina stood, hands on hips, a glare in her violet eyes. "We just finished hanging the prints so they could dry and develop."

"I had some items to tick off my to-do list." Mahogany kicked off her boots. "Where's Neema?"

"She nipped upstairs to take a shower," Evelina said. She held her hand out to Bazgul, and he hopped into her open palm.

"The librarian, Priscilla Wembley, she's been murdered." Mahogany rubbed her hands over her face. "Or at least she's dead, but I'm pretty sure she's been poisoned."

"What? When? How?" Tony said, getting to his feet from the kitchen table.

"This evening. I just found her in the library," Mahogany said. She placed her backpack on the kitchen island and sat at one of the bar stools.

"How do you know all this?" Evelina said, rubbing the back of Bazgul's head, who purred happily.

"I was there," Mahogany said. "Priscilla left me a message about something she was helping me research." Mahogany pulled the manila envelope from her bag and laid it on the island.

Evelina frowned and grabbed the envelope. "Why kind of research? And what do you mean you were there. This isn't like the brownstone is it?"

Mahogany shook her head. "No. She was lying there, dead." She hopped off the barstool, her mouth having gone dry. She opened the fridge and grabbed the bottle of milk.

"Jeez!" Evelina said. "What if the murderer were still there? You need to be more careful."

"Says the Fae who interviewed a potential murderer alone," Mahogany gave a dry laugh, tipped the bottle to her lips, and drank deeply. "Oh, and Nancy has an alibi for the night of the murder."

"What? How do you know that?" Tony said, moving to stand next to Evelina.

"I stopped by the stones to call the police about Priscilla, I didn't want to call from my cell, and there she was, festooned like a Hot Topic reject with some guy. Ted said they were there last Wednesday when the murders occurred."

"So we're back to no viable suspects," Evelina dropped the envelope and sighed. "This sucks."

"Also, when Guy and I first searched Mike's evidence box, we found a photo." Mahogany took another swig of milk

"What kind of photo?" Tony pulled open the envelope and examined the contents, his face pinched in concentration.

"This photo," Mahogany tapped the printout in Tony's hand, "was found at the murder scene. The murderer placed it in Magic Mike's hand, except someone altered it."

"Altered?" Tony said, meeting Mahogany's gaze.

She nodded and retrieved the image on her phone.

"Oh, that's dark," Evelina said, her eyes growing wide.

"So, who are these people?" Tony pointed to the x'd out faces. "And why are they important?"

"That's Magic Mike, and that's Kassandra Frost." Mahogany pointed to the two figures with the x's over their faces. "The one with the circle is Dorcia Frost."

A creak on the stairs took their attention from the photo. Neema stood frozen, her foot hovering above the next step.

Mahogany's gaze ran up Neema, taking in every inch of the woman she knew and didn't at the same time. "Hello, Dorcia," Mahogany said.

The color drained from Neema's face. "How?"

"You better sit," Mahogany said and motioned to the kitchen table.