Skull Screw Up: A Halloween Helper's Cozy Mystery

by Linnea West

  So they were right, Bram had hidden the skull. They would have to question Francine again because she hadn't mentioned the note at all. Maybe she hadn't said anything because that would point to a motive for murder on her part. Maybe she had been so mad about the skull and Bram's antics that she had killed him. It also sounded like perhaps Francine was running around on Bram with his own brother. Between the supposed note, the earring, and the motive, a case was shaping up against Francine.

  "I just figured you all should know about the note," Wayne said with an innocent shrug. "Right after Francine told Tucker about it, she left the library again. She said she was going to go find Bram and confront him about it."

  Bingo. Well, hopefully a bingo. Vinnie didn't feel like she could trust Wayne as far as she could throw him and judging by his squatty appearance, that wouldn't be far. But it was a start. It was a lead to work from which was what they needed. Hopefully the rat faced man wasn't just telling some imagined story because if everything he said was true, it may just be the lead they needed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Once Wayne actually left the library, which took a while because he just wanted to chat with the witches about his entire life story and every single detail about vampire life, the witches both breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting in the comfortable armchairs, they relaxed for just a moment in front of the fire while they regrouped their thoughts.

  "This place is messed up," Diggy finally said, pushing a wavy lock of brown hair out of her face.

  Vinnie giggled. Leave it to a teenager to perfectly break the tension.

  "It really is," Vinnie said. "Everyone has such broken personal dynamics."

  "I was thinking more of the fake library," Diggy said, gesturing to the walls and walls of empty books.

  Vinnie had to agree. What was the use of a library if none of the books could be read? It seemed more like a nightmare to her. The vampire pack also seemed like a nightmare and not just because they had all started out by drinking blood. More so because none of them actually seemed to be friends. They all seemed to tolerate each other just for the protection of being a part of the pack.

  To Vinnie, it seemed like being part of a group should be comfortable and loving. She was welcomed into her ancestral witch family even though she wasn't magic. It seemed like it was the opposite for this group. They were welcomed in simply because they were vampires, not because they actually got along with anyone else.

  "What's our next step?" Diggy asked.

  They had interviewed all of the vampires in the pack, although only Francine, Tucker, and Wayne seemed to have interesting stories that made them into suspects. All of the rest of the vampires had simply said they stayed in the library (although apparently many had left to use the bathroom, but didn't feel like mentioning it.) And they all had said they didn't care one way or the other about the skull or that Bram was the leader. They kept their head down and stayed out of the drama because they knew they were better off in the pack than out of it.

  "I'm not actually sure what our next step should be," Vinnie said. "I think we have two good suspects and one great one. But I'm not sure how to distinguish which one actually did it."

  "Which suspect is the great one?" Diggy asked.

  "Francine," Vinnie said. "But only because we found her earring there. I think if there was any more physical evidence, it would make this case a lot more confusing again."

  They had only worked one other case so far, but it had provided more physical evidence right away. They only had the earring for this one and even that wasn't a great clue. It could have fallen off at a totally different time, not necessarily just during the murder.

  "The next thing we have to do is find more physical evidence," Vinnie said. "I think that's the only way we can make a solid case against one of our suspects. I'm just not sure what to do. Can we use any of Lavender's gadgets on vampires? Or do they only work on witches?"

  Diggy thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers. Her face lit up and she jumped out of her seat.

  "The Magical Impression Sensor!" she squealed. "Okay, it might not work right away, but let's go try it and then maybe I can tweak it to work with vampires. It isn't just about magic, but more about sensing paranormal stuff, so I think it could work."

  Diggy was talking fast, excited about the possibility of not only using one of her mother's magical gadgets, but also being able to improve upon it. She was pacing back and forth in front of the armchairs as she muttered to herself about what exactly she could do to make it work for them.

  "If I just adjusted the sensor to also pick up other magical frequencies, it should work," Diggy was saying. "I'd need to go back to the workshop to use the flamjammer, but that would be the fastest way."

  Her face broke out into a wide smile that filled Vinnie with happiness also. There had been too much sullenness around their house lately. With Lavender gone, there was a hole that they just couldn't fill which made it hard to be happy. But being given a specific project that, unlike the murder case or the puzzle clue, had a specific endpoint was thrilling.

  "First let's just go down and see if we can make it work," Vinnie said. "Maybe it will work right away and we won't need to do anything to it."

  Diggy giggled and practically dove into the bag that they carried the magical objects around in. After a bit of a racket where it appeared Diggy was wrestling something inside the bag, she emerged with the silly looking Magical Impression Sensor.

  When Lavender invented a magical object, it was quite obvious that she didn't focus on making it look good. They were useful and worked well, but they tended to look like she had pulled a bunch of junk out of a trash heap and attached them all together.

  The Magical Impression Sensor was a hard hat with a metal arm coming out of the top center of the helmet. The pole bent down and was attached to a piece of plexiglass that hung in front of the wearer's face. It looked utterly ridiculous but as they had found out at the coven during their last investigation, it worked well.

  Diggy scurried out the door holding the helmet in her hands. Vinnie was barely able to keep up with her as she ran towards the ceremony room. Once they were outside the door, Diggy jammed it on her head and made it turn on.

  "Okay, open the door," she said seriously.

  Vinnie pushed the door open and Diggy walked inside. The room was still dark except for the spotlights shining on Bram's body. Vinnie waited, figuring that it didn't take two people to search the room that had already been searched since the helmet could only be worn by one person.

  Diggy seemed to be taking a long time and Vinnie let her thoughts wander off. She thought about Lavender and hoped she was safe. Vinnie shut her eyes for a moment and sent out good thoughts to her sister hoping that even though Vinnie wasn't magical, maybe Lavender was so extra magical that she would receive them.

  Norhand said Lavender was well taken care of and as happy as she could be as a captive, but Vinnie doubted that. Lavender would be much happier at home and Norhand didn't seem to be the type of person to take care of anyone well, especially not himself. She needed to solve this clue so that they could move on to the next one, even if Norhand was trying his hardest to stop them.

  Why was he trying to stop them? What was in it for him? Norhand seemed to be doing as much as he could to slow them down from solving these crimes and getting Lavender back, but why? Ever since they had figured out that Norhand and Lavender knew each other from Ravenwood Camp for Ancestrally Magical Children, things had made a little more sense.

  But Vinnie needed to know what Norhand wanted. Lavender was a beautiful woman. Did Norhand want to keep her all to himself? That wouldn't fly even if it was some sort of rule with these stupid tests. Was there something in it for him that Vinnie didn't know about? He wasn't being very clear about everything that was going on. Maybe there was something else that was supposed to come along with this Halloween Helpers job that he wanted. Vinnie would need to find a way to research all of this more. />
  Diggy walked out of the ceremony room with the helmet in her hands, her shoulders slumped forward. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it wasn't good news.

  "It isn't set for vampires," Diggy said. "I tried, but all I could see were traces of orange from me. I'll need to take the sensor home to the workshop so that I can tweak it."

  "Will you be able to fix it quickly?" Vinnie asked. "Like if you took the travel orb home, would you be able to fix it and meet me back here in, say, an hour?"

  "I think so," Diggy said. Her face lit up with the prospect of a challenge.

  "Good, then that will be our plan," Vinnie said. "You get that thing tuned up for vampires and I will stay here and snoop around a bit more."

  Diggy smiled and tucked the helmet under her arm. The travel orb was waiting for them in the corner of the entrance hall. Diggy put her hand on it and after muttering a few words, she disappeared back to their house. Now it was Vinnie's turn to make a discovery. If she didn't make one soon, she wasn't sure they'd be able to solve the case.

  Chapter Twelve

  Vinnie went back to the library to think about what she wanted to do. She only had an hour which wasn't much time. If only she knew what to do about it. The biggest missing piece right now was the note that Wayne said Francine had been talking about. If that was real, then the motivation for killing Bram would change.

  With the skull being missing and taken by someone other than Bram, that meant that the motive for murder could be almost anything, like Tucker's desire to be the leader. But if Bram had hidden the skull and someone found out, the motive would be the skull. And as it sounded, Francine had figured out that Bram had hidden the skull.

  Vinnie's head felt like it was spinning. So much drama for a group that numbered under two dozen members. She couldn't imagine living somewhere where she didn't get along with everyone. Sure Lavender was notorious for spilling her tea and not wiping it up and Diggy just didn't understand the necessity of cleaning the mortal way when she could just use magic, but they all loved each other and respected each other. Most of all, they could all trust each other with their lives and their happiness.

  The thought just made Vinnie's heart ache more for her sister. Besides the handful of summers that Lavender had attended summer camp, they had always, always lived together. And now, this was the first time since they were teenagers that they had been apart for more than a day.

  As a twin, she felt incomplete. It was good for them, in a way. Vinnie often worried that they had a codependent relationship. Which they did, but she didn't feel like it was unhealthy like those twins that would be featured on TV shows who always dressed alike and had two toilets installed in their bathroom so they never had to be apart. They just liked to be in close proximity with each other.

  Even back when Lavender had been in love with Diggy's father and he had moved into their house, they had still been there for each other, even if their happy relationship had weirded out the man who had soon after disappeared into the night, leaving the twins to raise the infant who had still been growing inside of Lavender.

  A slamming door made Vinnie come back to reality. Francine and Tucker had pushed the library door open and were just as surprised to see her there. Francine's long flowing hair was loose around her shoulders, accenting the off the shoulder gown she was wearing. Tucker was dressed much more casually in a short sleeve button down and khaki pants. The two of them together looked like they had both received party invitations with vastly different dress codes listed.

  "Oh, the travel orb was gone so we figured you had left," Tucker said. "We were just coming to, ah, make sure you put the furniture back."

  He shifted his weight back and forth, nervous about something that Vinnie couldn't quite discern. Francine, on the other hand, looked nonchalant. She leaned against the door frame as if she were waiting for someone to take her picture.

  "Diggy had to go run an errand," Vinnie said. "But I stayed behind to continue our investigation."

  "Good, I was afraid that you were ready to throw in the towel," Francine said. "You know, we really need that skull."

  "I am well aware," Vinnie said. "And you're in luck because I wanted to chat a little bit more with you, Francine. Why don't you come sit with me over here and Tucker can leave us to talk."

  Francine's eyes shifted to Tucker, who seemed to give her a small shrug. Her eyes seemed to blaze red as Tucker took a few steps backward into the hallway. Vinnie wasn't sure if she was upset about being questioned, Tucker leaving or both.

  "I'll leave you guys to it," Tucker said.

  He gave Francine a little push into the library and quickly grabbed the door handle to slam it shut behind her. Tucker looked all too relieved to not be a part of this interview. Vinnie had to wonder if that meant anything.

  "Come on over," Vinnie said. "This time you can sit in the other comfortable chair since Diggy is gone."

  Francine faked a small smile and Vinnie could see that she really was a terrible actress. It was like she was forcing her mouth to smile, but all of the other muscles in her face were rebelling and forcing it to look more like she was baring her teeth at Vinnie. It would have looked comical if her fangs didn't look so sharp.

  Slowly, she strode through the room, weaving between tables and chairs. Francine was walking slowly, like she was on the runway for some big modeling show. Except she was walking to a murder investigation in a library full of empty books. But Vinnie had a firm policy of letting people do what makes them happy as long as they weren't hurting anyone else. And even if Francine was the killer, she currently wasn't hurting anyone with her little strut show.

  "I'm so glad you bumped into me because I've been looking for you," Francine said.

  She was nodding in an exaggerated way that made Vinnie wonder if that was part of the little trick vampires could do to sway mortals into doing things their way. She didn't believe for a second that Francine had been looking for her. More like Francine had been looking out for her.

  "Good, then we probably both know what I wanted to talk to you about, right?" Vinnie asked.

  Francine lowered herself daintily onto the other armchair and turned to face Vinnie. She carefully tucked one leg behind the other, crossing her feet at the ankles like princesses are supposed to do. Francine folded her hands in her lap and turned her head at an odd angle, as if she were convinced a camera was going to record their interaction and she wanted to make sure to get her good side on film.

  "I think I know what you mean," Francine said. "But I'm not sure how helpful I can be for you."

  Francine's speech was slow and clipped. She seemed to be guarding the secret of the note very closely, as if she wasn't quite sure that Vinnie knew exactly what she was hiding. It must have been an incriminating clue if Francine were willing to guard it so closely.

  "I think it will be very helpful for us," Vinnie said.

  She put a gentle smile on her face, hoping to show Francine that she was only really there to help. Francine instead scowled at her. She didn't seem angry, but more like she was upset that she was not the one to stage manage this scene.

  Vinnie got the idea that not only did Francine dress and move like a movie star, but she seemed to live as if she could always direct the action around her. If she wanted to show Vinnie the note, Francine wanted to be the one to set up the interaction. The idea that Vinnie was calling the shots was souring it for her.

  "Francine, I need to see the note that you got from Bram," Vinnie said. "It could help us solve this case."

  A tear ran down Francine's cheek and Vinnie wondered if it were real or not. Francine was a terrible actress, but even terrible actresses can cry on cue.

  "I would give it to you," she said, pausing for dramatic effect. "...if I still had it."

  She collapsed into sobs, covering her hands with her face. Vinnie couldn't tell if her cries were real or fake, but all she knew was that they were loud.

  "What do you mean?" Vinnie asked. "Where is
the note?"

  "I lost it," Francine said. "That's why I hadn't given it to you yet."

  Vinnie took a deep breath, exhaling quietly so as not to disturb the loudly crying actress even more. One thing that she was learning from being a Halloween Helper was that paranormal people were weird and it had nothing to do with the fact that they weren't mortals.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Vinnie stood up and searched around for the box of tissues that Diggy had made appear earlier. She finally unearthed them from under her chair and handed them to Francine, who gratefully took an entire handful out. As Francine wiped the tears from her face and blew her nose into them several times, Vinnie tried to be as patient as possible. She wasn't going to get anywhere by rushing Francine out of her dramatic outburst, even if it was fake.

  Finally, Francine wiped her face one more time and set the giant wad of damp tissues on the coffee table in front of them. She turned to face Vinnie and once more took her pre-practiced stance.

  "I understand you don't have the note anymore, but that's okay," Vinnie said. "I think it would be just as helpful if you could describe what the note said to me."

  Francine flashed a million watt smile her way, her two fangs sticking out slightly over her ruby red lips.

  "Of course," she said. "I'm always a pro at memorizing my lines and I'm so good at it that I memorize practically everything I read. Give me a moment and I'll have something for you."

  Closing her eyes, Francine inhaled through her nose and shimmied her shoulders a few times. Then, with her eyes still shut, she started to do a few vocal warmups. As she me-me-me'd her way up and down the musical scale, Vinnie tried not to laugh at the absurdity of her life. Boy would she have a lot of stories to tell Lavender once they were able to spring her from wherever she was being held.