Lou Lou and Pea and the Mural Mystery

by Jill Diamond

  “We don’t want your money. We want to do the right thing, Tía,” Rosa said.

  “Hacerlo correcto,” Elmira mocked Rosa. “You made a bad decision, niña. If you’d accepted my money, I wouldn’t have taken your pet to ensure your silence. And I know about those tricks you played painting the murals. Too bad no one really pays attention to the details except for those silly little girls.”

  Lou Lou had had enough. It was one thing for Elmira to dismiss all the troubles she’d caused in El Corazón as “little pranks.” It was quite another for her to call Lou Lou and Pea silly or little. Without bothering with her chrysanthemums, Lou Lou raced up the stairs. Pea was right behind her and Helado bounded at Pea’s heels. Lou Lou threw open the sótano door and was met by three very surprised faces.

  “Now you listen here, Elmira the Candle Lady. We know everything! You ruined Magdalena’s dress and stole Danielle’s necklace. You embarrassed Ella Divine and melted all the sugar skulls. You bunnynapped Helado. And worst of all, you killed Pinky! You’re the silly one if you think you are getting away with this, because we have proof that you’re the Mural Mystery culprit!”

  As if he knew that proof was his cue, Helado jumped from behind Pea straight into Rosa’s arms. The surprise on Rosa’s face changed instantly to a beaming smile.

  “¡Mi mascota!” Rosa kissed the bunny’s ears. “I can’t believe it’s really you, safe and sound.”

  “We have photos and evidence of your other crimes, too, Elmira,” Pea said. Lou Lou fished Danielle’s necklace and her camera from her satchel.

  “You’re busted, Tía Elmira!” Jeremy said.

  The color drained from Elmira’s face and she looked crumpled, like someone had let all the air out of her.

  “Give me the keys to the shop, Tía,” said Rosa. It was the first time Lou Lou had heard her raise her soft voice. “Leave now and maybe you will suffer no further punishment for your bad deeds.”

  Jeremy closed Elmira’s suitcase and handed it to her. “Good thing you’re already packed.”

  Elmira faced the small group. Lou Lou swore she saw the Candle Lady’s eyes watering. She dropped the keys to the shop on the floor and edged toward the exit.

  “I am truly sorry about your camellia, Lou Lou Bombay,” Elmira said, actually sounding sincere. With that, she turned and bolted, banging the door behind her.

  Lou Lou stared at where the Candle Lady had been. She felt a little bad for Elmira but only a little. She may have been a good person once, but now she’d inflicted too many tragedies on El Corazón.

  Pea picked up the keys to the shop and handed them to Rosa.

  “So Elmira is your aunt?” Pea asked Rosa and Jeremy.

  “You got it!” Jeremy said.

  “This candle shop has been in our family for years,” Rosa explained. “Our grandfather left it to me when he died and Tía Elmira was supposed to manage it until I was old enough to take it over. At first, she was a great candle lady, but when business was slow, she started spying on people to find out about their problems and sell them candles.”

  “That makes sense. I always wondered how she knew about Uno and Dos’s feline feud,” Pea said to Lou Lou.

  “Then it got worse when she started hurting people,” Rosa added.

  “Hurting people and plants.” Lou Lou made sure Pinky was not forgotten.

  “Right, people and plants and animals, too,” Rosa said.

  “And you didn’t tell anyone about her crimes because she was threatening your bunny?” Pea asked.

  “Exactamente. She told me I would never see my pet again if I revealed her secrets. She was always watching me and Jeremy. We didn’t even dare to speak her name out loud. And we also didn’t want to bring shame on our family’s candle shop by telling the world that our tía was a bad person. Our beloved abuelo worked hard to build this business. It wouldn’t have been fair to him to tarnish the shop’s reputation.”

  “Plus, it would have been difficult to convince our family to believe us without proof,” Jeremy added. “Elders like Tía Elmira are respected in our family. We couldn’t just go around accusing her of things. We had no idea she was keeping all the evidence in a secret cellar until you two popped out of it!”

  “But you thought if someone could figure out for themselves that Elmira was the culprit, they could help you without her suspecting and without making a big fuss that would hurt the shop.” It was all making sense now. “That’s why you changed the murals,” Lou Lou said.

  “Yes!” replied Rosa. “And my primo, Jeremy, thought up the riddle.”

  “I love riddles!” Jeremy said, and made a funny face. Lou Lou rolled her eyes at his goofiness, but she couldn’t help smiling. It seemed she and Jeremy had something in common after all.

  “That’s why he had Rosa’s phone number. Because they are cousins,” Pea whispered to Lou Lou. And the phone conversation that she’d overheard must have been with Rosa, not Elmira, thought Lou Lou.

  “So when I saw you at the crafts store you were buying paint for Rosa?” Lou Lou asked.

  “Spying on me, eh?” said Jeremy. “Not very neighborly.” He winked good-naturedly. “That’s right.”

  “And our plan with the murals seemed to be working.” Rosa picked up her story where she’d left off. “We were relieved that you two noticed them and wanted to solve the mystery on your own! But at the end, I suspected Tía Elmira knew what was going on. That’s why I asked Jeremy to keep an eye on you during the procession, to make sure you were okay.”

  “I think it’s my fault that she knew,” Lou Lou said. “I told Elmira about the murals because I wanted her advice.”

  “She fooled everyone into trusting her,” said Rosa. “What’s important is that you stopped her from committing more crimes—and you saved my dear mascota. Thank you so much, Lou Lou Bombay and Peacock Pearl. I will be forever grateful to you.”

  “Yeah, thanks!” Jeremy said.

  “De nada,” said Pea.

  “It was no big deal,” Lou Lou added, even though she knew it really was a very big deal.

  They all stood silent for a moment. Lou Lou’s stomach was growling since she’d forgotten to eat her sandwich. Her eyes stung from the black skeleton makeup that had run during their earlier game of dodge-Jeremy, and she was exhausted from all the excitement.

  “Head home for cake and cocoa?” Lou Lou asked Pea just as Pea’s phone rang.

  “¿Magdalena?” Pea answered. “¡Lo siento, lo siento! No, I didn’t hear my phone ring before. Sí, estamos en the candle shop.” Pea hung up. “We’d better go. Magdalena is coming to walk with us. Would you care to join us for a snack?” she asked Jeremy and Rosa politely.

  “That’s very nice of you, but we are supposed to meet up with our family,” Rosa said. “Perhaps another time.”

  Lou Lou and Pea said goodbye to Rosa and Jeremy. Rosa even put Helado down to hug them both. Lou Lou fetched her hat, Pinky’s altar, and Pea’s parasol, and they were heading for the candle shop’s back door when Pea turned around and called to Rosa.

  “What’s the bunny’s real name?”

  Rosa smiled. “I was calling him Ralph. But I like Helado much better. Yes, he will be Helado from now on.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  PSPP

  During the week after Día de los Muertos, Lou Lou and Pea did their best to discreetly remedy the harms caused by Elmira. Lou Lou slipped Danielle’s necklace back into her purse. During lunch she saw Danielle pull it out and squeal with pleasure.

  “It worked!” Danielle said. “The Encontrar candle helped me find my necklace!”

  Lou Lou and Pea told Ella Divine that she wouldn’t have to worry about any more broken records, and the singer assured them she would never lip-synch again. They informed Magdalena that her future gowns were safe from suspicious stains, and told Sugar Skulls Sarah there would be no meltdown before next year’s Día de los Muertos. When Elmira’s victims asked Lou Lou and Pea how they knew these things, Lou Lou
said, “Tengo la intuición.”

  * * *

  Now it was 3:37 p.m. on Friday, and Lou Lou Bombay was where she belonged—in her sunlit garden, lovingly tending to her plants and flowers.

  She heard a knock at the backyard gate. A small brown-haired girl wearing a crisp school uniform was standing outside.

  “Hi, Pea! I mean, welcome to my humble garden, Miss Peacock Pearl!” Lou Lou remembered to greet her best friend with the customary PSPP formality.

  “Thank you, Miss Lou Lou Bombay! I am very pleased to be here,” Pea said.

  “I do hope your journey was not long,” said Lou Lou.

  “Not at all,” Pea replied with a dismissive wave. “Shall we?”

  And so began another PSPP. Lou Lou and Pea sat down to tea and scones. Now that they’d solved the Mural Mystery, Pinky’s killer had left town, and the rest of El Corazón was safe from Elmira, Lou Lou felt happy in her horticultural haven behind the SS Lucky Alley. All was quiet and calm. At least until a spiky blue head poked over the fence.

  “Hiya, Lou Lou and Peacock,” Jeremy said. “Just wanted to tell you that I’m not gonna be your neighbor for much longer. The old guy is coming back from Toledo.”

  “What? You’re moving already?” Lou Lou asked. “I mean, okay, whatever.” She tried to sound like she didn’t care, but Lou Lou was sad about losing Jeremy as a neighbor. Sure, he was strange, but he was also amusing and had turned out to be pretty nice. Not just fake friendly.

  “Don’t be heartbroken about it. My parents found a house a few blocks away. You’re not getting rid of me.” Jeremy winked.

  “We are happy to have met you and we do hope to see you again soon,” Pea said with PSPP politeness. “May I offer you a blueberry scone?”

  “Naw, but thanks,” replied Jeremy. “I prefer currant. I make really good ones, actually. Better than my cookies! Maybe I’ll bake you guys some next week. But I gotta go pack now.” Jeremy looked at Lou Lou. “Take good care of Punky.”

  “I think you mean Pinky. And, as you know, dear Pinky is no longer with us.” Lou Lou wondered how he could have forgotten after all that had happened.

  “Nope, I mean Punky. It’s what I named the rowdy rebel variety camellia that I planted for you under the avocado tree.” Lou Lou stared openmouthed at Jeremy, then ran to the tree and looked closely. Sure enough, a sprout had just pushed its way up through the soil close to where Pinky had once bloomed.

  “Don’t worry, I fixed the hole in the fence I made to get into your yard.” Jeremy pointed at a section of wooden slats. “I left ’em loose in there before so you wouldn’t see the gap. But now they’re nice and solid.”

  “You didn’t just climb the fence?” Pea asked.

  “Gosh, no. You think I don’t care about how I look? I already got bleach on my jeans when I was helping my dad do laundry. I didn’t want to scuff my boots climbing a silly fence, too.”

  Pea nodded approvingly, and Jeremy grinned. “Make sure Punky gets regular water,” he called to Lou Lou. “And remember that the ideal soil pH is within the 6.0 to 6.5 range. You probably know everything about camellias, but it’s all in that book I gave you, Caring for Your Camellia, in case you forget.”

  “Pea, come look at this!” Lou Lou said. Pea joined her under the tree. Lou Lou thought back on past encounters with Jeremy. She remembered the hammer she’d seen when they first met, his dirty fingernails at Sarah’s Studio, and his late-night visit to her garden. What had seemed suspicious at the time, Lou Lou now realized, must have been related to Jeremy’s acts of horticultural heroism. A bit of fence tampering with the hammer to do a good deed, perhaps a visit to Green Thumb for camellia seeds and gardening lessons from Juan, and then some moonlight planting in the backyard of the SS Lucky Alley.

  “So when he told Rosa in the candle shop that he had taken care of the plant, he didn’t mean he killed Pinky,” Pea said.

  “He meant he gave life to Punky!” finished Lou Lou.

  Lou Lou ran back over to the fence to peer into her neighbor’s yard, but Jeremy wasn’t there.

  “Can you believe it?” Lou Lou asked. “All this time I thought … and then he…” For once, Lou Lou was at a loss for words.

  “Guess you’ve got a chance at a future Hello Horticulture! Society Flowering Bushes and Shrubs blue ribbon after all!” Pea smiled. Lou Lou nodded in amazement.

  “Shall we head in now, my dear?” Pea asked formally.

  “Um, yes … yes, of course,” answered Lou Lou, still in shock from the pleasant camellia surprise. She wondered at her budding new friendship with Jeremy as she looked back at the new growth under the tree.

  “Happy PSPP, Punky. Until tomorrow…”

  The girls went inside the SS Lucky Alley and put their dishes in the kitchen sink. Then Pea looked at Lou Lou.

  “Candles or cupcakes?” she asked. Here was the usual dilemma—should they head to Cupcake Cabana for their favorite frosted treats, or should they pay Rosa the Candle Lady a visit?

  Lou Lou looked at a white candle on the kitchen counter. It was a thank-you present from Rosa. There was a picture of a dove on the glass holder and the word Paz. The candle seemed to be working—peace was exactly what Lou Lou had felt since she and Pea had solved the Mural Mystery.

  “Candles,” Lou Lou replied. “Definitely candles today.”

  PEA’S

  Pinky Pan de Muerto

  INGREDIENTS

  For the bread:

  •   ¼ cup butter (mantequilla)

  •   ¼ cup whole milk (leche entera)

  •   ¼ cup water (agua)

  •   1 packet yeast (levadura)

  •   ¼ cup sugar (azúcar)

  •   ½ teaspoon salt (sal)

  •   ½ tablespoon cinnamon (canela)

  •   2¾ cups flour (harina) plus a little extra for coating the work surface when kneading the dough

  •   1 tablespoon orange zest (cáscara de naranja) (optional)

  •   2 tablespoons orange blossom water or orange juice (agua de azahar o jugo de naranja) (Pea used orange blossom water in honor of Pinky, but orange juice will work fine!)

  •   2 eggs (huevos)

  For the topping:

  •   3 tablespoons butter (mantequilla)

  •   Pinky-colored sugar (azúcar rosada) (Pea used magenta, but pink, purple, and/or red will look lovely, too!)

  INSTRUCTIONS

  1.    Before you begin, make sure you have an adult assistant, like Pea’s abuela, to help with all the steps involving the oven and the stove.

  2.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  3.    Melt the butter, milk, and water in a small saucepan on the stove. Stir gently. Don’t let it boil! When the butter is melted, remove the pan from the heat.

  4.    Combine the yeast, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and ¼ cup of the flour in a bowl. Add the melted-butter mixture, orange zest, and orange blossom water (or orange juice). Mix well. You can use a whisk if you don’t have an electric mixer.

  5.    Mix in each egg. Slowly add the remaining flour in 3 parts, mixing well after each addition.

  6.    Lightly coat a clean countertop area or cutting board with flour so your dough won’t stick to the surface. Knead the dough for 6 to 7 (seis a siete) minutes. Kneading is hard work! If your arms get tired, ask a family member or best friend to help. Lou Lou sometimes does this part because Pea doesn’t like to get her hands dirty!

  7.    When your dough looks shiny and smooth, separate it into two balls. One ball should be half the size of the other. Put the smaller ball in a bowl in the fridge. You will use this later to make flower-shaped decorations for your bread. Place the larger ball on a greased baking sheet and cover it with a clean towel or plastic wrap. Don’t wrap it too tight—your dough needs room to grow! Leave the wrapped dough in a nice warm place to rise. This takes about an hour and a half—so have PSPP tea, ten
d to your toad lilies, or clean your room while you wait.

  8.    You will know your dough is ready when it has grown to about twice its original size. Take the smaller dough ball from the fridge and break off pieces to make flower shapes. You can mold thin flat petals and round centers or roll out your dough and use a flower cookie cutter. Decorate the larger loaf with the flowers, rubbing a tiny bit of water on the loaf and on the backs of your flower shapes to make the shapes stick to the loaf.

  9.    Time to bake your Pinky Pan de Muerto! Put the bread in the oven and bake for 30 (treinta) minutes. While you’re waiting, you can decorate a sugar skull, make a Día de los Muertos outfit, or finish cleaning your room!

  10.    When the time is up, take the bread from the oven and knock lightly on the loaf. Careful, it’s hot! If your bread sounds hollow (hueco), you know it’s done. If you don’t hear a hollow noise, bake for a few more minutes.

  11.    Now it’s time to make the topping. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter on the stove or on high in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then brush it on the loaf, taking care to avoid touching the butter because it’s hot! If you don’t have a brush, use a flexible spatula or butter knife to spread the melted butter on the bread.

  12.    Sprinkle generously with Pinky-colored sugar.

  Your Pinky Pan de Muerto is ready (listo)! Make sure to let it fully cool before you eat it or place it by your altar.

  LOU LOU’S

  Garden Flower Crown

  MATERIALS

  •   Flowers (Lou Lou used fresh-picked flowers, but fake crafting flowers work well, too!)

  •   Scissors

  •   Wire or structured twine (The thicker, the better!)

  •   Tape

  •   Ribbon (Lou Lou chose blue for Pea, of course, but pick any color you like!)

  INSTRUCTIONS

  1.    Wrap the wire around the crown of your head to measure it (approximately 1 to 2 feet), then cut your wire to that length. If your crown is a gift, like the one Lou Lou made for Pea, you can still use your own head to measure. Just adjust the crown to fit the wearer when you add the ribbon in the final step.