Ghastly Glass (28 page)

“No. That’s okay. I’ll get her later.” Rafe hung his head.

“No, you won’t,” Chase demanded. “The feud is over. You both did terrible things to each other. You’re even.”

“That’s right,” Crystal agreed. “This is it.”

“Fine,” Rafe said.

“Okay,” I agreed.

Crystal inclined her head toward Chase. “I give you thanks for your help this eventide, Sir Bailiff. Perhaps a latte in the morning to talk over old times?”

Chase bowed handsomely. “It would give me great pleasure, Your Majesty. Seven at Sir Latte’s?”

“I look forward to it.”

Chase took my arm and ushered me out of the pirates’ lair. The harvest moon was coming up over the castle, a deep golden yellow with orange highlights. The werewolves were howling, and there was some kind of groaning going on in the streets. “It’s the zombies,” he told me before I asked. “I guess that’s why they were putting in the cemetery yesterday. They needed zombies.”

“So what’s with you and Crystal?”

“No
Thanks for saving my butt
, or
Glad to see you after spending all day with the pirates
?” He sighed. “This is getting to be a thankless job.”

“No, I was really glad to see you.” I kissed him, then looked into his dark eyes. “Really, what’s with you and Crystal?”

“It’s old stuff, Jessie. Like you and Rafe. We had something together for a while, but she met another guy and they got married. She was off having a baby when Rafe took over. Now she’s back with a baby daughter. I suppose she’ll groom the girl to say
Argh
at an early age.”

“Okay. I can live with that.” I jumped on him and wrapped my legs around his waist. I started the difficult process of kissing every inch of his face when two zombies walked past. They were super yucky with great makeup and missing body parts. It was a little past closing time and they were chasing scared visitors toward the main gate. “You know, I don’t think the Village will ever be the same again after Halloween.”

“Never mind them.” Chase shifted me in his arms and started walking toward the large Swan Swing usually reserved for children during the day. But sometimes, residents used it after hours for other things. “I was worried to death about you all day.”

I glanced at the Swan Swing and smiled at him. “Didn’t you hurt your back the last time we tried this?”

He kissed me again and laid me down in the bottom of the swing. “I’ve been working out. Let’s try it again.”

 

 

 

We spent the rest of the night in the dungeon (after getting past the banshee). Of course, that was after getting past the zombies. This Halloween thing was too complicated. I like my Village time simple. All these zombies, witches, and ghosts sounded like a good idea, but in practice, having them wandering around was kind of like letting the guilds patrol the Village. Things tended to get out of hand.

Anyway, we were both tired of sleeping somewhere other than together; me with Debby and Chase on her sofa. We watched the moon go down, talking about everything that had happened, before we finally fell asleep in each other’s arms. There were no late-night shrieks or mad bombers so we slept through the alarm going off and had to scurry to visit Roger.

Before we left the Village, Chase used his master key to get into the Glass Gryphon so we could pick up a solid glass rod to bring with us. Detective Almond and the assistant medical examiner were meeting us at the hospital to decide if my idea had any merit.

Chase told me he’d tried his best to find anyone else with a complaint against Marcus (in between looking for me) but had come up empty-handed. Short of irritating the Black Dwarf and trying to get him to hit someone, Chase wasn’t sure what else to do.

The Village was quiet and sleeping for the most part when we left. A few shopkeepers were up and around (thankfully not Henry). One or two fools or madmen were already practicing their new routines for the day. Adventure Land had decreed that all fools, varlets, and madmen were to become zombies after five P.M. each day. I guessed they didn’t think zombies came out in the daylight. (Zombies aren’t vampires. They don’t have to wait until the sun goes down. Everyone knows that.)

Detective Almond was waiting for us at the hospital. I handed the glass rod over to the assistant medical examiner. He examined it, then looked at the welts still plenty visible on Roger’s body. He held the rod against one or two of the welts, measured it, and mumbled something.

In the meantime, Roger looked extremely uncomfortable. Who could blame him? “So you think Henry was the one who attacked me? I can’t believe he’d do it.”

Detective Almond finished cleaning out under his fingernails, then put his pocketknife away. “Why not? Maybe the girl is right. Maybe it isn’t enough that you’re letting him take over the other shop.”

“Jessie,” I added. There’s something about being called
the girl
that’s worse than being wrapped in a smelly blanket.

“Yeah. Whatever.”

“I can’t believe that little weasel would dare do such a thing,” Roger growled, visibly agitated. “And I’m not letting him take over the other shop. Just run it for me, that’s all. He’s flesh and blood, for God’s sake. When I tell his mother, she’s gonna have a heart attack.”

“If you could hold off on that until we get some real proof, Mr. Trent.” Detective Almond gestured in my direction. “Maybe the girl can get back in and find the rod he used to beat you. Otherwise, it’s just conjecture unless he admits it. Frankly, I wouldn’t confess if I were him.”

“Jessie,” I corrected again. “He probably already melted that rod. I don’t know what good I can do.”

“I agree.” Chase stepped in. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to send her in to spy on him anyway. If he catches on, she could be in a lot of trouble.”

“No worries, mate.” Detective Almond laughed at his little (very little) Australian humor. His smile faded when he saw none of us were laughing. “Look, there’s the hard way and the easy way. If we find something with Mr. Trent’s blood on it and his nephew’s fingerprints, that’s the easy way.”

“What’s the hard way?” Chase asked.

“I guess hoping he’ll do the right thing and turn himself in.” Detective Almond looked at me. “You work with him. Does he seem like the honorable type?”

“I’ll rip him from limb to limb,” Roger continued raving. “There won’t be a scrap of his stupid hide left when I get done with him. No woman will even look at him again.”

Obviously we were not only upsetting Roger but also provoking him into acts he probably wasn’t capable of doing. It seemed we all realized this at the same time that Mary showed up for a visit. Without much explanation as to why we were all in Roger’s hospital room, the four of us went into the hall and left her with him.

“He won’t turn himself in,” I said without any hint of doubt in my voice.

“Then whatever you can get for us will be better than nothing.” Detective Almond took his assistant medical examiner and left the hospital.

“In other words, it’s all up to us, as usual,” Chase said. “I’m glad I had those sixteen hours of training to be a police officer. This way I know
exactly
how to run a murder investigation.”

“Murder?” I looked at him. “Roger’s not dead. A little feeble maybe, and kind of slow on the uptake, but not dead.”

“I’m talking about Ross,” he explained as we left the hospital.

“Whoa, Perry Mason! How do you ever get anywhere? This is like a road map going from one place to another. But it doesn’t lead to Ross. It may have happened at the same time, but Henry isn’t a killer.”

“No?” He asked. We had reached the car, and he climbed in behind the steering wheel before continuing. “You know so much about him because he groped you a few times?”

“That and because I can knock him down,” I replied with confidence as I sat down in the passenger seat. “Henry is weasel enough to sneak up behind Roger and whack him a few times. No doubt. But whoever killed Ross wasn’t as sneaky. Two different people.”

“Care to make a wager on it? Because my Spidey sense is tingling and it’s telling me Henry has done all of this leading up to what he
really
wants to do. Note the words in red on his uncle.”

“No way. It was the other way around. Henry took advantage of what happened to Ross and everything else to get Roger. And yeah, I’ll put my money where my mouth is.”

“Not money. Let’s be creative.” Chase started the engine in the BMW and pulled into traffic. “If I win, I want a full body massage by Joan of Arc.”

I’m sure my face mirrored my disbelief in his wager. “I can’t believe you with that suit of armor. I never knew you had a metal fetish, Chase. But if that’s what you want, fine. I’ll have a very large hot fudge sundae with whipped cream, cherries, the works, served by a naked bailiff.”

“Anyone I know?” He grinned at me. “Don’t you think you should make it something unpleasant for me?”

“You didn’t make it something bad for me.” I smiled and leaned back in the seat. “Why should I be evil to you just because you’re wrong?”

“Done!”

We agreed on the bet, which started my brain working overtime to prove I was right. I’m nothing if not competitive. I always have been. Competing with Chase isn’t too bad. Either way, I seem to win.

“Don’t take any stupid chances.” He pulled the Beamer into the Village parking area for residents. “Take the two-way with you and make sure you keep it on my channel this time. I’ll have all the other security guys set up to come running in case something happens.”

“I won’t take any chances at all if I can help it,” I promised. “Although I don’t think Henry would hurt anyone, except Roger. I think he’d be afraid to take me on again.”

He shut off the car and turned to me, putting his hands on my arms. His eyes were so sincere. I loved him so much at that moment. “A little bit of self-defense can be a dangerous thing. Let the professionals handle it.”

“You mean after I find the evidence the professionals are worried they can’t find.” I played with the end of his dark braid, painting pretend mustaches on his face. “Don’t worry. I won’t take any chances. I’ll wait until Henry goes out for something, probably to chase some woman, then I’ll spring into action. There’s only the two of us there now. He can’t be everywhere.”

“Okay. I don’t like this, but I guess we’re going to do it anyway.” He kissed me for such a long time, I thought we were going to have to climb into the backseat for a few minutes. Finally he let me go and gave me the radio. “I love you, Jessie. Take care. If anything happens to you, I’ll kill Henry, then end up in a cell with a guy named Bubba for the rest of my life. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

“Would we get conjugal visits?”

“No. You’d be dead, remember? Don’t let that happen.”

“You worry too much. Henry isn’t a killer.”

We parted at the gate. Several security guards met Chase there. There was always something he needed to do. It was a demanding job.

I stopped for a snack at the Monastery Bakery. Things were about the same there. Brother Carl was still playing the subservient role. He was scrubbing an oven when I ordered brioche and mocha. I smiled at him, but there wasn’t much I could do since he didn’t want to upset the applecart. Brother John was still lording it over him. You know, the more I saw Brother John, the less I liked him.

I walked with my snack through the street toward the Glass Gryphon thinking about how I was going to prove that Henry hadn’t killed Ross. Bart (always in his Death robe) dropped in beside me with a little wave of his huge hand. “Hello, lady.”

“Hi there. Brioche?” I held out the bread to him.

“No thanks.”

“I thought you were overhauling the employee files on the computer?”

“I was.” He made a face beneath his hood. “I am. What a mess! I shouldn’t have volunteered. People don’t think when they set up databases. Something like this can be important. No one cares. Just give them a few zombies after dark and they’re happy.”

“I know. I mean, what’s up with zombies after dark, right? They can come out whenever they want to. I’m surprised the Knave, Varlet, and Madman Guild hasn’t complained.”

“You’re funny.” He giggled. No joke. The giant giggled.

“I’m on my way to burn some glass,” I explained, keeping my secret assignment a secret. “Are you looking for victims to claim?”

He held out his scythe. “Yeah. They want me to haul in some dead souls a few times a day. Don’t ask me why. I’m a frightening mythological figure, don’t you think?”

“Definitely. Maybe that’s why they want you out when they think the zombies can’t be out.”

“That’s probably it.”

We’d reached the glass shop. I could see Henry inside with two Renaissance ladies visiting for the day. “I guess I better go. Good luck finding your victims.”

“Good luck to you, too, lady.” He smiled at me and waved. “There might be more frightening figures than me stalking the streets. Be careful where you walk.”