I pulled off my seatbelt and leaned forward to look through the front windshield. "I'm guessing this was built later than most of the other buildings."
Orion nodded. "Much later. About forty years ago."
"What happened to the bodies before that?"
Orion grinned and opened his door. "They buried them faster. Now let's go in."
My mate led the way through the plain gray door and into a white hallway with plain gray floor tiles. I was starting to see a pattern. The hall ran down the entire depth of the building, and on either side were more plain gray doors. There were no windows. Ambigo met us halfway down the hall.
He looked at Orion. "How are you feeling?"
"A little soulless." Orion nodded at me. "We managed to get the spirit into Trix here."
Ambigo arched an eyebrow. "How?"
I stepped in front of Orion. "A reporter never reveals their sources, but what's this about a runaway corpse bride?"
He jerked his head over his shoulder. "See for yourself."
Ambigo led us through one of the doors on the right. It was the autopsy room complete with every mad doctor's medical devices, including a nice assortment of knives on a cart beside the white-paper covered table. The only problem was that, except for a layer of brown dust and some scraps of cloth, the table was empty.
A man in a white lab coat stood near the table. He had white frazzled hair that stuck out in every direction. The man was a good head taller than me, and a few inches taller than Orion. He was lanky and his cheekbones were so pronounced I wondered if the autopsy room was being run by one of its own cadavers. His dark eyes studied us as closely as I scrutinized him.
Beside him was a woman a little younger and shorter than me. She also wore a lab coat and her long brown hair was tied back in a tail that ran down her back to her waist. Her face was bright and there was a nervous smile on her lips.
She arched her eyebrow at me. "Going as a sexy soldier?"
I glared at her. "Does this look like camo?"
Ambigo coughed and half-turned to us before he gestured to the pair. "This is Dr. Calavar and his assistant, Miss Anna Hall. It was she who discovered the body missing."
Dr. Calavar scoffed and spoke with a halting accent. "Missing nothing. The body vas stolen."
"Are you sure it didn't walk away?" I asked him.
He sneered at me. "The dead do not rise until I am done with them."
My reporter curiosity was overridden by my fear to know. Instead, I glanced around the room. There was a single tall, wide window on the wall opposite the entrance.
I nodded at the window. "Is that how the thief got in?"
Ambigo shook his head. "We don't know. Dr. Calavar was filling out the paperwork for the skeleton to be transferred to his funeral home after the autopsy when Miss Hall alerted him to its disappearance."
"Talk about cornering the market. . ." I murmured.
Orion elbowed me in the ribs and glanced at Miss Hall. "About what time was that?"
"A little before three. I'd just finished cleaning the tools and left, but I forgot my coat on the hanger-" she nodded at a pair of hangers beside the door, "-and went back to get it. That's when I found the body gone."
"She was out of the room less than ten minutes," Ambigo added.
I walked over to the table and swept my eyes over the dust. "That's not very much time to swipe a body, even a skeletal one. Whoever stole it must have known what they were doing."
Ambigo nodded. "That's what I suspected, but the entire police department and several of the town witch doctors know how Dr. Calavar schedule."
I glanced at Ambigo and arched an eyebrow. "Witch doctors?"
Orion grinned. "There's a thriving practice in natural medicine in the area."
I held up my hand. "Fill me in on the voodoo later. Who knew there was a body here?"
Ambigo pursed his lips. "Everyone who reads a paper. The Daily Brew printed the story this morning."
I folded my arms and sighed. "Well, that rules out the younger generation. Besides, I don't know what they'd want with an old stiff, anyway."
"Maybe for a Halloween decoration?" Miss Hall spoke up.
Calavar frowned down at her. "That vould be a vaste of a perfectly intact male skeleton."
"So it was male?" Orion asked him.
Calavar nodded. "Yes. The skeleton vas male and vas about twenty-five vhen he died."
"And the cause of death?" I wondered.
A sly grin slipped onto Calavar's cadaverous face. "There vas no obvious trauma, but a sample of his bones showed there vas a foreign substance in his body at the time of death. It vas a dose of hawthorn."
Orion frowned. "How quick was death?"
Calavar shrugged. "It is too difficult to say, but I vould guess the young man was dead in an hour after taking the dose."
I raised my hand. "What's so deadly about hawthorn?"
Orion pursed his lips. "It's one of the most deadly common poisons and effects everything from vampires to werewolves. A cup full of the stuff will kill just about anyone in five minutes, and there's no known cure."
Calavar nodded. "Yes. It is called the Bane of Us."
"It's been shortened to Baneus," Hall added.
Calavar glared at her. "Must you children make everything so simple and inelegant?"
She shrank from his look and nervously smiled at him. "Sorry."
"Is there any way the hawthorn could have been introduced after death?" Ambigo suggested.
Calavar turned his nose up at the suggestion. "I know how my poisons vork, detective, and this poison vas taken before death."
I cupped my chin in one hand and furrowed my brow. "So somebody stole a sixty-five year old skeleton that showed signs of poisoning. I'm pretty sure this is pointing to murder."
Orion frowned. "Our laws are a lot like those outside of the valley. A person can't be convicted of murder without a corpse."
"Could you identify the age of the skeleton since the time of death?" Ambigo asked the doctor.
Calavar nodded. "Yes. It vas about the age the young voman said, sixty-five years, but I cannot be sure unless the body is recovered and more tests are performed."
"Thanks for the info, Dr. Calavar. Miss Hall," Ambigo replied. "Now if you'll excuse us we'd like another look around the room."
Calavar pursed his lips, but bowed his head. "As you vish, but be very careful around my medicine cabinet."
I glanced at the white box that hung from the wall. A large black skull-and-crossbones insignia was painted on the front. "What's in there?"
Calavar gave me a crooked grin. "My specimens and collection of poisons. But good day."
Hall and he left, but his haunting demeanor remained.
CHAPTER 18
Ambigo turned to us. "I'm afraid I have to ask you two where you've been the last few hours."
"Asleep," Orion replied.
He glanced at me. "And you?"
"Ditto," I quipped.
He pursed his lips. "Can anyone outside of the two of you substantiate your alibis?"
I shrugged. "Our sheets and the bed, but I wouldn't ask the curtains. They're a little shady."
Ambigo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I see. Now what's this about the spirit being in Miss Lyal's body?"
"We figured the spirit wasn't happy where he was and needed a change of scenery," I replied.
He dropped his hand to his side and lifted his head. "Bentley didn't inform me of any change."
"We didn't go to Bentley," Orion told him.
Ambigo sighed. "Listen, this isn't about a spirit anymore, this is about murder. You're going to have to trust me with your information, or something more serious than a possession could happen to the two of you."
Orion glanced at me. I sighed. "It was Bertha. She's the one who changed bodies."
Ambigo arched an eyebrow. "Bertha Aude? She has that ability?"
I shrugged. "With a little help from some crystal balls,
but what's so bad about having that power? Can't half the town levitate stuff and the other half grow a fur coat?"
He pursed his lips. "Something like that, but abilities must be registered with the Librarian, and he didn't mention anything about that when I went to ask him about her earlier today."
"Maybe it slipped his mind," I suggested.
Ambigo shook his head. "Nothing slips his mind and nothing is known that he doesn't know."
I snorted. "Sounds like my mom when I've forgotten to pay her back a twenty."
Orion looked to Ambigo. "Where's her file right now?"
Ambigo's eyebrows crashed down. "The Librarian wouldn't let me even look at it. He said there were too many checked out already."
Orion grinned. "Then I say let's go check out the resources at the library."
Ambigo drove us to the library. The dark sky warned of the coming night. I checked my watch. Four-thirty on the afternoon of Halloween. The anniversary of William Mallory's murder.
Children freed from that day's scholarly prison scampered across the park lawn and climbed the trees. Several had their Halloween costumes on early, or at least I hoped they did. There were white-sheeted ghosts, caped vampires, and more recent terrors like an IRS official and a politician handing out fake buttons.
A single car was parked in the lot, and in front of the doors was the back of a familiar back. We walked up the white marbled stairs and joined the person.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Leto," Ambigo greeted the man.
The person swung around and revealed himself as the druggist. Tucked under one arm was a stack of books. He smiled and bowed his head. "Good afternoon, Mr. Ambigo." His eyes fell on us and his eyebrow arched at my costume. "Quite the unusual crowd you have with you today. Going as a dollar bill?"
I slapped a wide smile on my face. "No, I'm going as a guessing game. You get two more guesses before I slap you."
Orion wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back away from Leto. "She's joking. Really."
"Try me. . ." I muttered.
Ambigo nodded at the door. "You can't get in?"
Leto shook his head. "No, it's locked. I've been trying to peek inside, but the curtains are shut tight."
Orion frowned. "But it's never closed after noon."
Leto nodded. "I know. It's rather unusual, and to be honest I'm worried."
"Let me handle this," Ambigo offered.
Leto stepped to the side. Ambigo grabbed the handle of one of the doors and pulled. The door didn't even budge.
Ambigo pounded his fist on the door. "Librarian! Open up! It's the police!" There was no reply.
"So when was the last time this happened?" I spoke up.
Orion's eyes flickered to me. "Never."
Ambigo turned to us. "You all need to step back. I'll have to break the door down."
We three moved halfway down the stairs. Ambigo turned his shoulder to the door and rammed his body into the entrance.
Or he would have if both doors hadn't swung open of their own free will. Ambigo's momentum carried him inside where he lost his balance and fell onto the floor. We hurried up the stairs and gathered around him. Ambigo sat up and rubbed his bruised shoulder. His eyes fell on the doors, and I followed his gaze to see the short Librarian standing behind one of them.
"It is a misdemeanor to destroy public property," the Librarian commented.
Ambigo frowned. "Not for the public good. Why didn't you answer?"
The Librarian pursed his lips and shook his head. "I am busy today, very busy. I cannot be bothered by visitors."
Ambigo climbed to his feet. "Busy with what? And why didn't you tell me Bertha was a spiritualist?"
The Librarian pulled out an old watch attached to a gold chain and frowned. "No time. There's no time left." His eyes flickered up to me. "You're too late."
The sky grew darker outside. I winced and clutched my stomach. It felt like someone had just slugged me in the gut. My wobbly legs buckled underneath me.
"Trix!" Orion yelled as he knelt beside me. His arms grasped my shaky shoulders as I leaned over. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Ambigo hurried to my other side and studied my face. I could feel the color drain from it as the cold over my heart sapped my heat. He looked across my back at Orion. "We have to get her to Madam Bentley."
Orion nodded. He swept me into my arms and carried me to the door.
Ambigo half-turned to the Librarian. "We'll be back."
"It will not be today," the Librarian promised. He opened his arms and waved his hands as he herded all four of us toward the door. "Now off with you! Everyone must leave!"
Leto stumbled along with us and held up his books. "But I've come to donate these-"
"No time!" the Librarian screamed.
Through my pain I saw bright light burst from the Librarian's outstretched arms. It was like a gust of illuminated wind that pushed us out the entrance and slammed the doors behind us.
We left Leto standing despondently at the entrance. Orion jumped down the stairs in one go and hurried to the car with Ambigo at his heels. Ambigo took the wheel as Orion with me still in his arms took a seat in the back. The drive was quick courtesy of the blaring siren on the roof and obedient civilians. The streets were now littered with monsters great and small as the night of the Trick-or-Treating began in earnest.
We reached Madam Bentley's house. The lights were on as we rushed to the door. Ambigo rang the doorbell.
The door floor open and Madam Bentley stood on the other side with a broom and a wild look in her eyes. "I said I don't-" She paused and blinked at us as she lowered her weapon. "I thought you were more kids asking for treats. But what's this about?"
Ambigo nodded at me. "There's something wrong with her."
"Deathly wrong," I muttered.
Bentley frowned. "Not even to knock that smart mouth off of-" I gasped and clutched my heart. A faint blue glow erupted from between my fingers.
"Coming through!" Orion shouted as he shoved his way into the house.
"What! You can't come in here!" Bentley yelled.
Orion carried me into an old-fashioned parlor complete with black silk lace of the curtains and horse-hair furniture. He spread me out on the couch and knelt beside me before he turned his attention to Bentley who had followed us.
"What's wrong with her?" he questioned her.
Bentley frowned, but strode over and took a seat beside me. "I'd say her outfit, for one."
"If I didn't feel like I was dying I'd kill you," I growled.
"I meant physically," Orion corrected himself.
"Let me see here," Bentley replied. She pried my hand away from my chest and studied the light that emanated from over my heart. Her eyes flickered to me. "Do you feel cold?"
I nodded. "Like an ice cube."
"Keep your replies short," she snapped. She set her hand on the light and closed her eyes. "The spirit inside you is restless. It senses the time of its death draws near."
"Tell me something we don't know," I whispered.
"Shut up," the old woman commanded me. She pursed her lips. "When he awoke this evening he saw something, or someone, that upset him. He wanted to get away, far away."
Ambigo and Orion glanced at each other. I didn't need three guesses to know who they were thinking of: the Librarian. Bertha had mentioned he'd worked for the old man before he died.
"Can you tell why?" Ambigo asked her.
Madam Bentley opened her eyes and shook her head. "No. I can't understand a word he's saying now. He's too excited."
A faint sound of shouting came to my ears, but all I could pay attention to was the pulsing cold in my chest. "Anybody got heartburn medicine?"
The old clairvoyant glared down at me. "The only thing that will permanently cure you will be to put this spirit to rest. I can sooth him for a short while, but-" She snapped her head to the bay window at the front of the house and frowned. "What is that noise?"
The faint sound grew louder. Am
bigo hurried to the window and drew back one of the curtains. I glimpsed a stream of light that followed the path of the main street.
"What is it?" Orion asked him.
Ambigo furrowed his brow and shook his head. "I don't know, but I'd bet my badge it's trouble." He turned back to us and especially Bentley. "Relax that ghost as well as you can. We need to get down there."
Bentley pressed both her hands against my heart and closed her eyes. Her hands glowed a bright blue that pulsed with life, and heat. The warmth sank into me and knocked back the cold, but I could still feel it shifting deep inside me.
She opened her eyes and removed her hands. "That's the best I can do. He's a very powerful spirit, and very scared. That's a terrible combination."
"You're telling me," I retorted as I sat up.
Bentley backed away and glared at me. "Of course I'm telling you. I don't speak for my own amusement."
"We need to go," Orion spoke up as he watched my mouth open.
I squashed my temptation to snark and swung my feet over the side of the couch as I sat up. "All right. Let's go see what new trouble we can find."
CHAPTER 19
Orion helped me out of the house with Ambigo at the lead. We paused on the sidewalk and looked down the hill over the roofs of the houses. The stream of light was a hundred feet long, and now I could see the light flickered like over-sized lit matches.
I glanced at Orion. "I'm guessing this part of the town's celebration."
He pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, it isn't."
"Come on," Ambigo commanded us.
We piled into his car and drove down to the trouble. Road blocks shut off the main street from vehicle traffic, so we parked one block down and walked down to the trouble. We arrived at the corner where Leto's drugstore sat. A glaring skeleton suited in a pirate outfit and eye patch sat in a chair outside his door. It reminded me my costume was yet to be worn. The area to our left was filled with costumed kids and anxious parents who gaped down the street to our right.
I followed their gawking gazes. A quarter of the way up the street marched Mirela and her band of Amazonian gypsy witches. She herself rode a black horse at the front of a long procession of riders and walkers. Half the riders held torches and the other half held their bowls cupped in their hands. The older walking women of the group each carried a pitchfork. The girls held the blazing torches in their hands. Their faces were tense as they marched toward the center of main street.