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

Chapter 44

"Ysabel was just a little kid when everything happened," Neema said. She, along with Mahogany and Evelina, sat around Tony's hospital bed. Guy stood near Tony's feet, his torso sprouting from the blankets where Mahogany's phone rested.

They had all made it out of the brownstone relatively unscathed. Ysabel had hit Tony with a marble rolling pin, knocking him unconscious. He'd sustained a concussion, but the doctors were optimistic there was no permanent damage.

Evelina's stint in the brownstone's bathroom had been uneventful yet claustrophobic. Ysabel had aimed a freezing spell at Evelina, but it had backfired onto the door, freezing it instead, trapping her inside. The ice had proved to be an excellent sound insulator, blocking her shouts from being heard by the rest of the house.

Fortunate for Tony and Evelina, they carried the vials of protection decoction Neema had given them. If they hadn't, Evelina would be a popsicle, and Tony wouldn't have survived the crack on the head.

The fall had broken Mahogany's coccyx, the treatment for which consisted of an inflatable donut and 800 milligrams of ibuprofen every six hours for the next two weeks. She knew her injuries would have been avoided if she'd worn her pentagram. Mahogany figured it was a small price to pay for Neema's safety, at least until she got the whole truth from the woman about her abduction, then Mahogany would decide whether to kill Neema herself.

After Guy's phone call had led to the capture and arrest of Ysabel, Neema had been released and ushered to the hospital.

"So, Aurora summoning a demon created a ripple her family never recovered from. That's so sad," Evelina said, brushing her golden hair behind her shoulders. "Imagine being so affected by the death of a loved one you brooded over it for two decades planning your revenge."

"How did she find you?" Tony asked. A massive bundle of white bandages encircled the crown of his head. Wires trailed out from under a blue hospital gown, where they attached to a series of beeping machines that measured his vital signs.

"Do you remember the article in Popular Potions that came out a couple of months ago?" Neema said. "It featured a picture of me in front of the Haughty Hemlock. Since it's a local publication, I didn't think anything of it at the time, but one made its way to Ohio where Magic Mike found it."

"He recognized you after all these years?" Mahogany said. She shifted on her donut, and her bruised tail bone gave a dull ache.

Evelina shook her head. "I've seen those magazines in airports, ferry terminals, and even train stations. If someone grabbed and read it as they traveled, who knows where it could have ended up."

Neema nodded. "Mike and Thaddeus had kept in touch for years under heavy magical encryption. When Mike found me, he told Thaddeus he needed to come clean. All the years of hiding had exhausted him. Thaddeus tried to dissuade him, but once Mike made up his mind, there was no changing it."

"After you were arrested, we spoke to Euryale across the street. She watched you leave the night of the murders. You were at the brownstone with me," Mahogany said.

Neema nodded. "I was supposed to meet Mike in the park at one o'clock, but he didn't show. I knew I got a bad feeling, so I went to the house. When I saw you go inside with Bazgul, I knew something horrible had happened."

"You knew he was dead because I was there," Mahogany said.

Neema nodded, raising her eyes to look at Mahogany.

"Why didn't you say something to me?" Mahogany asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Say what? I was just out for a middle-of-the-night stroll?" Neema shook her head. "If I had known Magic Mike had been murdered and the culprit was still there, I would never have let you go inside. I saw you and Bazgul get out right before the police arrived, so I ran."