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

Chapter 21

"Hi, Sylvia," Mahogany said, offering her hand to the other woman.

Sylvia started at Mahogany's hand but didn't take it.

"All right then." Mahogany lowered her hand. "How did you get involved with this whole End Halloween endeavor?" Mahogany made a sweeping motion with her hand to the crowd in Nancy's backyard.

Sylvia pressed the clipboard to her chest and folded her arms over it as if it were a child in need of protection. "Nancy is the mastermind behind the project. Her son goes to the local high school, but she wanted to get him into the private school instead, but the administration denied his application."

"Hippolyte is a private girls' school," Mahogany said. Hippolyte's School for Girls had been a fixture in Pandemonium since the town's inception. Begun and run by a group of displaced Amazons, Hippolyte boasted an outstanding equestrian program, and their archery coaches had churned out more Olympic medalists than any other.

"It's discrimination," Sylvia said, blinking rapidly.

"It is, though?" Mahogany asked. "There has to be more to this End Halloween thing than her son getting rejected from the girl's boarding school."

Sylvia's gaze lingered on Mahogany's pink kinky hair. "Of course, there's more to it. His rejection from Hippolyte was the breaking point."

"So, where were you when the murder went down the other night?" Mahogany asked. Behind her, Guy folded his arm over his chest and narrowed his gaze at Sylvia.

"You're joking?" She shook her head when it was clear Mahogany was severe. "I was with Nancy planning this meeting," Sylvia said, and while her voice was confident, she blushed from the collar of her lavender blouse to the roots of her bottle red hair.

Mahogany smirked. "If I were to go over and ask Nancy where you were, she would corroborate your story?"

"Of course, she would." Sylvia nearly spat the words.

"All right," Mahogany said and started over to Nancy, who was downing another glass of chardonnay next to her favorite server.

"Wait," Sylvia said, her eyes wide. A thin film of sweat beaded her upper lip.

"Got her," Guy said.

Mahogany turned back to Sylvia. An eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"I wasn't with her. I was with." Sylvia peered around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. "Brian O'Malley."

"So you were with the town cobbler?" Mahogany said, her eyebrow arching high on her forehead.

"Keep your voice down." She glanced around like a plumber sifting through a panty drawer. "We were in a private room at Tipsy O'Lush's getting dinner."

"Let me get this straight," Mahogany said. "You were out with the town cobbler, a local, having dinner at Tipsy O'Lush's in a private room."

Sylvia nodded, her blush darkening. "Nancy would kick me off the End Halloween Committee if she knew."

"If I knew what?" Nancy said. Her tidy bun had come loose. She swayed on her long, thin legs from what Mahogany concluded was chardonnay poisoning.

The blush drained from Sylvia's neck and cheeks as if she was the victim of a vampire attack. "Oh, um, I, uh," Sylvia stammered.

Nancy placed her hands on her hips and glared at Sylvia. The remainder of her wine spilled into the grass. "I'm waiting."

Sylvia's shoulders slumped, and she closed her eyes. "I've been seeing Brian O'Malley."