The Pink Pumpkin Party

by Vella Day

  To my surprise, I actually slept last night, but that was only after an hour of trying to figure things out. I failed, of course, mostly because I couldn’t reconcile what Iggy saw with what might have happened. I believed there were at least four Spidermen who came to the party yet only one left as one. It was as if those three men that Iggy saw, whoever they were, were involved somehow.

  Something clawed on my arm. It was Iggy. “Go away.”

  I was still in bed, wanting the chance to think things through for another few minutes.

  “It’s after ten. We have a crime to solve. I’m heading over to the office,” Iggy said.

  Ten? I bolted upright. I never slept in that late. “Tell Jaxson I’m on my way.”

  I was out of bed and dressed in less than fifteen minutes, which just might be a new record for me. When I exited my apartment, noise rose from downstairs meaning the restaurant was open for business. Whether Aunt Fern was running things, or her substitute cashier, Bertie Stillwell was, I didn’t know. I feared that if I checked in, Aunt Fern would ask me to stay and do something. As much as I wanted to help, my time would be better spent if I worked on solving this crime.

  Focused on doing just that, I slipped out the side entrance and nearly tripped on a garbage bag. “Really?”

  Had Rihanna left it there? Or had the clean-up crew forgotten to put it in the dumpster? Ugh. Hating any kind of trash, I grabbed the bag to dispose of it when I happened to glance down at the ground. I halted. A red glove that had a blue and white spider pattern on it was crushed against the wall. My mind raced. Had this belonged to the killer? Iggy saw the men dump their costumes in their truck, so how was this left behind? I had to assume it was dropped by mistake.

  It didn’t matter how it got there. This might be evidence. Using only my nails, I lifted it up. Steve would need this. In case the bag didn’t contain trash from the party, I set it inside. I’d check it out later.

  When I entered the sheriff’s office, I dangled the glove in front of Pearl. “Can you get me an evidence bag?”

  “Oh, my. What is it?”

  I thought she’d figure it out. “It’s a glove that came from a Spiderman outfit.”

  Pearl’s eyes widened. “Did the killer drop that?”

  I was glad she could put the pieces together. “I don’t know.” I looked over her shoulder. “Is Nash or Steve here?”

  “Nash is with Hunter Ashwell, but Steve is here.” She called him.

  A moment later the sheriff appeared with an evidence bag. “Where did you find this?” he asked as he opened the bag. I dropped it in.

  “Next to the outside door to the Tiki Hut that runs along the alleyway.”

  He glanced at his grandmother and then back at me. “Come into my office.”

  I wasn’t sure what more I could tell him, but I’d share what I could. On the way, I texted Jaxson to say I found a clue and was now with Steve. I would have been more specific, but it would have been rude to text once in his office.

  “I know I asked you not to get involved, but I’ve learned that no matter what I say, you never listen. So, what have you figured out?”

  He wasn’t mad then? Interesting tidbit. Since I wanted to make certain Nash was aware that he might have been the target, I discussed what the group of us did or didn’t figure out. I was curious to hear Steve’s reaction.

  “Let me get this straight. This killer might be a werewolf or possibly a warlock who was able to block his ability to be noticed, or he might have been a human who meant to harm Peter Upton. Either that, or he goofed and was really after Nash because my deputy arrested someone this killer cared about?”

  “That about sums it up.”

  “And the glove? What do you make of that?”

  I told him what Iggy saw. “It’s possible these men took off their Spiderman costumes in the side alley and then dressed in other costumes before returning.”

  “I thought you said they were wearing street clothes when they were at their car.”

  I had to think about that. “I did say that, but come to think of it, I don’t believe Iggy claimed one way or the other. I might have assumed it.”

  “Just so you know, no one came back in street clothes.”

  “That means they might have changed somewhere.” I found that odd.

  “Did your iguana tell you the make and model of the car where they stashed their costumes?” I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or sincere, but I’d answer him, nonetheless.

  “No, and I doubt he’d know. Iggy isn’t a car person. Besides, it would have been too dark to tell a color, but I will ask him.”

  “Good. And this trash bag you found. What was in it?”

  “My hands were full at the time so I couldn’t look inside. Not wanting anyone else to pick it up, I put it inside the restaurant. When I get back, I’ll check.”

  “You do that. In the meantime, I’m going to make sure that no one wanted Peter Upton dead before moving on to another conspiracy theory.”

  “Just because I have no proof doesn’t make it a conspiracy theory. Levy Poole thinks it’s possible. In fact, he’s talking to his coven members to see if they have heard any gossip. Do you have any tangible proof that Peter was the target?”

  “No.”

  There you go. “My goal is to make sure this guy doesn’t harm Rihanna or Levy.”

  “I’m sorry if I came off as being insensitive. I do think you might be on the right track. It’s why Nash is with Hunter. They are trying to figure out if someone from their past is after them.”

  My heartbeat soared. “That’s great. What about the photos? Did they recognize anyone?”

  “No,” Steve said. “That doesn’t mean someone from their past wasn’t involved, however. Their clan in Montana could have hired some thugs to carry out their revenge.”

  That made sense. “Jaxson said he’d be happy to help anyway he could. The man is a wizard when it comes to computer searches.”

  “I appreciate that, but I gave half of the list of names that I didn’t recognize to Misty to see what she could come up with. I have a feeling this guy doesn’t have a record though.”

  “Which means he won’t be in the system.”

  “Correct.”

  “You might want to show Levy the photos of the partygoers. He might recognize an angry coven member.”

  “I’ll consider doing that,” Steve said.

  I’d done my civic duty for the day. “I’ll check out the trash bag. If it contains three sets of street clothes, I’ll let you know.”

  He smiled. “I appreciate it.”

  Turning over the glove had been the right thing to do, but Gertrude or Rihanna might have gotten a reading off of it. I worried that after the lab processed it, the essence of the person might be gone. Regardless, I would ask to borrow it and see what our resident psychics had to say about it.

  I returned to the Tiki Hut, anxious to check out what was in the garbage bag. When I opened it, my nose told me right away that someone had dumped their trash in the alley. Not wanting it in the hallway, I tossed it. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

  I hadn’t been gone more than half an hour, but in that time, I hoped Jaxson had learned something. I raced up the office staircase and found Hunter inside. That was a surprise.

  “Hi. I thought you were with Nash.”

  “I was. How did you hear about that?”

  I told him and Jaxson about the glove and how I’d turned it in to Steve. “It was definitely a Spiderman glove.” I looked around. “Where’s Iggy?”

  He popped out from under the sofa. “Here I am.”

  “The sheriff was very interested in your sighting of the three men, Iggy.”

  Naturally, he puffed out his chest. “Yes?”

  “Do remember what they were wearing?” I asked him.

  His eyes faced away from me. “No.”

  He was no help. “Could they have been wearing other costumes or were they in stree
t clothes?”

  “It was dark.”

  That was his way of saying he had been focused on what they’d tossed in the car and not on what they had on. “That’s okay.”

  “Glinda, Hunter has some news.”

  I hadn’t been thinking. Hunter wouldn’t be here if something hadn’t happened. “What is it?” I sat down across from him.

  Chapter Eight

  “We found a man mauled to death in the woods,” Hunter said.

  My mind splintered at the word mauled and what that might mean. “Another murder? How horrible. Was he a werewolf?”

  “I don’t know. He was in his human form when we found him. Considering he wasn’t wearing any clothes, I suspect he was one.”

  “Are you saying that when a werewolf dies, he turns back into his human form?” Since my dad was a werewolf, I should know—only I didn’t.

  “Yes.”

  Jaxson leaned forward. “Did you know this man?”

  “His face was so severely damaged that it was impossible to tell if we did or didn’t know him.”

  Ouch. “Are you thinking the destruction of his face was done on purpose?” I asked.

  “That was our guess. When a werewolf goes for the kill, he tries to rip out the heart. Harming the face would be an afterthought. I imagine the medical examiner will be able to determine if the defacing was post mortem or not.”

  I shivered at that thought. “Could this man have been someone who attended the Halloween party?”

  “Nash is working on that angle, but it’s not like he can compare this man’s face to the photos they took.”

  What kind of person would do that to another human being? “Have there been a lot of werewolf killings around here that we haven’t heard about?” That would be scary if it were true.

  “Werewolf killings are rare. The last time was that fellow from our bowling league. What was his name?”

  “Diamond Dirk Draper.”

  Hunter pointed a finger at me. “That’s the one.”

  “Do you have any idea who might have killed the new man?” Jaxson asked.

  “No. All we know is that he was killed by two werewolves,” Hunter said.

  “How could you tell?” Jaxson asked.

  “Just like no two people have the same fingerprints, each werewolf’s claws are different. The marks on this man’s chest were different from those on his back.”

  I grunted. “What a horrible way to die. Who found him?”

  “My new assistant was driving around when she spotted some buzzards overhead. That led her to the body.”

  “Poor woman. I bet she never thought she’d find a dead body during her first week on the job,” I said.

  “It’s not the best way to start, for sure, but Heather is tough. She’s no stranger to death.”

  I glanced over at Jaxson, but he was staring off into space. “Remember that Iggy saw three men from the party together outside after the lights went out,” I said. “If—and that’s a big assumption—this guy was one of the three werewolves, why would his friends attack him?”

  Hunter shrugged. “I think speculating at this point is a waste of our energies. We’ll have to see what both Nash and the good doctor come up with. I just stopped over to let you know about this new development.”

  And not to have some prolonged session of what if. I totally understood. “I appreciate you letting us know, but aren’t you scared, especially after what just happened?”

  “Me, why?”

  “You and Nash worked together. Who’s to say these men aren’t on a killing spree, and you or Nash are next?”

  “For starters, Peter wasn’t a werewolf, assuming you’re implying they are after my kind. Secondly, I don’t think two werewolves would go around eliminating every werewolf. That makes no sense. And thirdly, if they are after Nash, that doesn’t necessarily involve me.”

  “How do you know?”

  “We didn’t cover the same cases, but don’t worry, we will be careful. Until we know for sure that the killer meant to take out Peter Upton and not one of us, we all need to be vigilant.”

  “I totally agree.” I held up a finger. “Let me ask you this. If the dead man had been a werewolf, wouldn’t you have been able to tell by his scent?”

  “Not after he was dead.”

  “Oh.” We were back to step one. That meant Rihanna couldn’t let her guard down either. Once Hunter left, I turned to Jaxson. “Your thoughts?”

  “Probably the same as yours. We need to wait until Nash learns if this man was at the party.” He grunted. “We should have asked Hunter if they found the man’s clothes.”

  “To see if he had any ID on him?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “If there had been, Hunter would have told us his name.”

  Jaxson nodded. “True.”

  “I think our best chance to learn something will be after Dr. Sanchez cleans up the face. I remember reading somewhere about scans that can compare eye widths and the distance between the nose and the mouth and stuff. If she had access to one of those, Dr. Sanchez could compare it to the photos of the partygoers.”

  Jaxson chuckled. “If this were a big city maybe, but I doubt Witch’s Cove has one.”

  He was right. Our tiny town couldn’t afford such sophisticated equipment. There hadn’t been enough murders. “This is turning into a nightmare.”

  “All the more reason we have to find out who did this. Personally, I’m leaning toward a werewolf being responsible for Upton’s death, even though Peter wasn’t one,” Jaxson said.

  “As much as I want to believe that for Rihanna’s and Levy’s sake, I don’t want them to become complacent. Any idea what our next move should be?”

  “Let’s suppose for the sake of argument that the person who killed Peter meant to kill Nash instead,” Jaxson said.

  “Fair guess.”

  “Nash said he couldn’t sense any werewolf other than Hunter or your dad.”

  We’d gone over this last night. “Which meant the guy either had the ability to cloak his scent, because he was part warlock, or he had a witch put a spell on him.”

  “Exactly,” Jaxson said. “Here’s my point. If he asked to have a spell to cloak his scent, maybe there is a spell to undo it.”

  “That’s a great thought, but I have no idea if something like that even exists.”

  “Which is why we—or rather you—need to investigate,” Jaxson said. “It’s not like we have a lot of options right now.”

  That was true. “I can speak to Gertrude.”

  “Why not Bertha? I thought she was your go-to girl for spells.”

  “Bertha doesn’t know about werewolves. Don’t worry, if Gertrude can’t help, maybe Levy will have an idea. He’s a powerful warlock.”

  Jaxson smiled. “I say go for it.”

  His enthusiasm almost made me believe I could do this. Even if a spell existed, there was still one big hurdle to face—that of who to aim the spell at. If these men could cloak their scent, even Hunter or Nash wouldn’t know who was or wasn’t a werewolf. That little detail wasn’t going to stop me from trying, however.

  I walked over to the Psychics Corner and asked to see Gertrude, but she was with a client. I didn’t mind waiting the half hour since I could use the time to sort things out. I was hoping I’d overlooked some fact that would be the key to unlocking this mystery.

  Once Sarah told me it was my time, I rushed down the hallway to Gertrude’s office, knocked, and then stepped inside.

  “Glinda. Nice to see you. Have a seat.”

  I figured her grandson had filled her in about our discussion yesterday since he said he would seek her counsel. “Have you ever heard of werewolves being able to cloak their scent?”

  “Not before Levy mentioned it.”

  I told her about the man who’d been murdered.

  “I didn’t know there had been another death,” she said.

  I was surprised she hadn’t sensed it or something. “Hunt
er Ashwell and Nash think the dead man was a werewolf.”

  “That is disturbing, but even if I could locate this spell you asked about, how would you know who to put the spell on?”

  “That is the problem.”

  “I will look for one,” Gertrude said, “but for it to work, you’ll need to be able to identify these men.”

  “I know. I found a glove that the killer might have dropped on his way out of the party the other night. I’m hoping that will help.”

  Gertrude’s eyes sparkled. “Now that is something I could use to maybe get some answers.”

  I explained that it was being processed. “I don’t know how long that will take, however.”

  “When you have it, see if you can bring it to me. I might be able to get an image off of it.”

  Wouldn’t it be nice if she could see in her mind’s eye what the killer looked like? “I will do that, and thank you.”

  “Any time, dear. Does Levy know of this new development?”

  “No, I just found out.”

  “I’ll be sure to let him know.”

  I wished she’d been able to come up with some general spell to expose all werewolves in town, but apparently something like that didn’t exist. With a promise from Gertrude that she’d try to help me, I returned to our office.

  “Learn anything?” Jaxson asked.

  “Not really.” I relayed what Gertrude had said. “How about you?”

  “Nothing, which means it’s now a waiting game for the results and such. I was thinking, since no one has asked for our services of late, I might see if Drake needs me to do some ordering or data entry.”

  “I can pick up a few shifts at the restaurant, too.” Unfortunately, business had been slow of late for Aunt Fern, and she might not need the extra help. What bothered me the most was that we had to keep augmenting our struggling business with an income from other jobs. We had talked about the fact that building a business would take work, but I was losing patience. It didn’t help that most crimes went straight to the sheriff’s department, but that was how law enforcement worked.

  It would be a dream if someday the town council saw fit to give us a monthly stipend to be consultants to the department, but I wasn’t going to hold my breath that it would happen any time soon.