"Have either of you seen anything suspicious recently? Strange cars? Anyone out of place watching you?" Mahogany placed the last book on the shelf near the front door.
"Define suspicious," Evelina said, rolling her eyes. "Everything that takes place in Pandemonium is suspicious."
"You know what I mean," Mahogany said. "Being followed, strange phone calls, that sort of thing."
Both Tony and Evelina shook their heads.
Mahogany frowned. "Me neither. Whoever did this has to be watching us but is staying on the down-low."
"Maybe Nancy's special someone Hank Williams mentions did this. If Nancy murdered Guy and Magic Mike to help drive the magical folk from Pandemonium, then maybe she got her secret boy toy to come here and break in while we were at the party," Evelina said. She brushed a sweaty lock of golden hair from her face and sighed. "All right, the living room is finished."
"Perhaps, but we can't discount Jeff Samuels either. He was supposed to be at the barbecue this afternoon and was a no-show. He could have easily broken in here," Tony said. "The kitchen's back to, well, as normal as it could be. I'll have to go shopping again." He peered around the once well-stocked space. Two large trash back sat at his feet, filled with most of the food items he'd bought on his last shopping trip. "I don't understand why anyone would come in and wreck my shopping. It's so unnecessary."
"Guy said this looked like the brownstone after the murders, but I disagree. It's worse," Mahogany said.
"What do you mean?" Evelina asked.
"Both have this undercurrent of rage, but this ransacking feels more personal," Mahogany said.
"More personal than being murdered?" Evelina said, raising an eyebrow.
Beside her, Guy snorted.
"I mean spoiling food, the unnecessary evisceration of the couch, nearly breaking Oleander. It's different." Mahogany gave the wooden owl a loving squeeze and placed him back on the shelf.
"Oleander!" Tony hurdled the garbage bags to Mahogany and took Oleander into his hands. "Hey there, buddy. Did you see anything? Did you see the ransacker?"
The air buzzed around Oleander, making Mahogany's ears itch.
"Thanks anyway." Tony placed the wooden owl housing the spirit of his uncle's familiar back onto the bookshelf. "They wore a black hoodie. He didn't see their face."
Mahogany and Guy glanced at each other. "That's what the murder was wearing when I had my run-in with them at the brownstone."
"What this reminds me of is a police raid," Evelina said. "We've all seen them on TV. Someone gets a RICO charge, and the cops go nuts on their house, slicing mattresses, breaking toilets, etcetera.
"Oh, no!" Tony turned and raced down the hallway.
Mahogany and Evelina exchanged a started glance.
Tony reemerged from the hall, a heavy tome in his hand. "They took them."
"Took what," Mahogany said, moving into the living room.
Tony's almond-shaped eyes met Mahogany's. The emotion held there made her heart beat faster. "The letters," Tony said. "The letters are gone."
"Shit. We forgot about the letters. That was the whole reason we came back here." Evelina threw her hand into the air and flopped onto the sagging couch.
"Are you sure they're gone, and we didn't accidentally clean them up?" Mahogany said, her stomach sinking. They needed those letters. What if they held the key to this whole murder mystery?
"I'm sure. I left them in the bedroom this morning." Tony placed the tome on the counter. "I found this book on magical ciphers and masking inks in my uncle's study. I was sure the answer would be in here."
"We could try and steal another letter from Thad's room," Evelina suggested, but her voice didn't carry its usually optimistic lilt.
"I need a drink," Tony said. "Either of you want to join me?" He walked around the counter and into the kitchen, pulled open a cupboard, and filled Bob's food dish with fresh kitty kibble. "At least they took pity on you, Bob."
"I can't," Mahogany said, checking her phone. "I told Neema I'd help her in the store this evening."
"I'll go," Evelina said. "I do have to work early, so I can't stay out too late." She grabbed her purse and headed to the door.
Mahogany suppressed a burp of irritation as Tony grabbed his car keys and joined Evelina near the door. She held out her hand, and Bazgul, who was eying Bob as he ate, crawled onto her palm.
______
A/N: Oh no! Not the letters! Those may have been the key to solving this murder mystery. Thad might have all but confessed in them. What will our sleuths do now?
I've dedicated this chapter to seven_hues whose inspirational poetry keeps giving long after you've stopped reading. Blue Waves is one of my favorites. With any collection, you should start it with one of your best pieces, and seven_hues does just that.