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

Chapter 20

Evelina and Tony refocused their attention on the bottle blond woman. Evelina made a tiny noise in the back of her throat while Tony crossed his arms and watched Nancy's every move like a bird of prey watching a mouse.

"If you're like me, you moved here to leave the bustle of the city behind. To raise you kids in a safe town with top-notch schools," Nancy addressed the crowd.

Those gathered nodded. Mummers of agreement floated through the smoky, meat-scented air. "Pandemonium could be the perfect place if only it weren't for the strange element polluting the area."

More nods and mutters of agreement followed Nancy's statement.

"Scaly women, selling demon-like lawn ornaments. Crime rates are at an all-time high. People walk around in elves and fairies costumes all year long, drunken rows at that skeevy pub with the ridiculous name, and now murder!" Nancy raised her fist that wasn't clutching her ice cube chilled chardonnay and pumped it in the air.

The crowd cheered and bellowed, and Mahogany was struck by how much the pastel-clad suburbanites resembled a pitchforked mob, the same kind of mob the founding residents of Pandemonium had fled.

Mahogany, Tony, and Evelina stood huddled together, the only people in attendance not frothing at the mouth.

"Do you know how that man died?" Nancy eyed the rapt crowd, pausing for effect. "He was stabbed with a jeweled dagger. What kind of person kills someone with an antique knife?" She paused again, allowing her rhetorical question to spin in the crowd's collective brain. "A freak, that's who." Nancy pulled her shoulders back and gave the group a smug smile.

"Um, excuse me." Evelina waved her hand in the air.

Mahogany and Tony peered at their friend, their eyes wide.

"Excuse me, Ms. Roberts." Evelina gave a little jump.

Nancy raised a dark eyebrow and scowled at the pretty natural blond. "I'm not taking questions."

"Perfect, because I don't have a question," Evelina said. "I have it on good authority Pandemonium's crime rate is the lowest it's been in a decade."

"And how would you know?" Nancy's plastic mask barely concealed her rage bubbling beneath the surface. It was clear Nancy didn't like people contradicting her.

"I work at Hot Brews. The officers come in and brag about how safe Pandemonium is," Evelina said.

"Didn't you say you've lived here your whole life?" Nancy questioned, a dark eyebrow arching on her forehead.

"That's right." Evelina nodded.

"A local?" A man in a powder blue fedora and matching miniature tie said.

"Do you see? These are the types of lies and deceits we need to do away with. We need to eliminate this destructive element if we want to keep our families safe. Halloween Town must come to an end!" Nancy screeched. Several sips worth of white wine sloshed over the rim of her glass in her exuberance.

The crowd flew into a frenzy, jeering and yelling obscenities.

Nancy smoothed her butter-colored jumpsuit and snapped her fingers several times. A short, round woman scampered in from the side of the yard, holding a clipboard stacked with papers.

"Sylvia Stout, the secretary of the End Halloween Committee, will come around with a petition for you to sign." Nancy waved to Sylvia to collect signatures. "If we are going to make real change, we need to get good people on the town council. People sympathetic to our plight."

"I only meant people shouldn't get so worked up," Evelina said, her mouth pulled down in a frown.

"It's OK" Mahogany squeezed Evelina's hand. "But next time, you might not want to refrain from calling out a possible murderer."

Evelina blanched and gave a meek nod. "Right. That was pretty stupid."

"OK, gang. Besides Guy placing Nancy at the brownstone and upping the ante on her being a suspect, does he recognize anyone else?" Tony glanced around the crowd.

"I recognize her," Evelina pointed to Sylvia Stout.

Mahogany grabbed Evelina's outstretched arm and pushed it down as she turned in the direction Evelina indicated.

"Sorry. I did it again, didn't I?" Evelina blushed.

"Her?" Mahogany frowned. "The End Halloween secretary?"

"Yeah, she was the woman who was with Brian O'Malley into Tipsy's the other day," Evelina said. "The woman with the black hat."

Understanding dawned on Mahogany's face, and she slapped Evelina on the arm. "The cobbler's booty call."

"Do you think Nancy knows she slums with the locals?" Guy asked.

"Not a chance," Mahogany replied, shaking her head.

"We should split up and mingle," Tony said. "See what kind of information we can dig up."

"I'll go with Guy. Tony, you stick with Evelina, just in case someone decides to," Mahogany studied the group of budding fascists, "get out of order. Also, keep an eye out for any festering demon bites."

"Festering what?" Tony said, his expression perplexed.

"I'm with him," Evelina said, pointing at Tony. "Did Bazgul bite someone?"

"He jumped at the murderer when we were at the brownstone," Mahogany said. "He may have bitten them or not. Bazgul isn't sure. He closed his eyes." Mahogany remembered Bazgul's mood after they'd returned home and how defensive he'd become. Had she been too hard on him?

"You were there with the murderer?" Evelina leaned away, her face stricken. "You didn't mention it."

Mahogany shrugged off Evelina's concern. "Let's see what clues we can find and get out of here."

Still frowning, Evelina headed toward the house, followed by Tony, while Mahogany and Guy beelined to Sylvia Stout and her clipboard.

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A/N: This plot is getting thicker than pea soup, and Nancy is a piece of work.

I've dedicated this chapter to WanderingSojourner, whose short story, The Trials and Woes of Ms. Matilda Babcock, is a sweet tale of a clumsy witch who can't get a single spell right. But don't take my word for it. Head over and see for yourself.