The Ginseng Conspiracy (A Kay Driscoll Mystery) (6 page)

John snickered. “Should be pretty easy to figure out.”

“Wouldn’t be looking forward to that meeting if I were you. After we figure out what to do with him, we should figure out what to do with you! I’m out of here!”

A quick look through my closet uncovered a pair of dark silk slippers that went well with the fairy costume. I dressed and applied more makeup than normal, extending green eye shadow upward over my lids. A generous portion of blush gave my cheeks a radiant glow. The overall effect was dramatic but tasteful. Enchanting, if I could say so myself. I did a little twirl in front of the mirror.

At seven o’clock, I put on my forest green cloak and headed out into the crisp evening air. It was dark outside, as there was a new moon. It was hard to see the steps as I went down. Phil needed to fix the porch light before the kids came trick-or-treating on Halloween. Ted’s house lights were out. He must have left for the Halloween Ball, I thought. I glanced up at the witch in Ted's tree as I passed. It was especially creepy looking at night.

Half a block before I reached Main Street, I saw a person straight ahead, passing under the streetlights wearing a silk-gossamer hooded robe, just like the one in Margaret's small trunk. It couldn't be Margaret, could it? Had she come back from her sister's already? I almost called out but hesitated. This person had too long a stride to be Margaret. I watched the anonymous figure move along at a quickened pace.

As I turned right onto Main Street, I noticed a second, shorter person with an identical gossamer hooded robe up ahead on the other side of the street. What's up with the costumes? The first person crossed the street, made a sudden left turn, and disappeared. The second person followed, turning left where the first had. Being curious, I picked up my pace, crossed the street, and arrived to where the hooded strangers had disappeared.

I stood in front of a vacant storefront, once a furniture store, half of a block down from Sweet Marissa’s Patisserie. A dusty FOR RENT sign rested behind the spider-web cracks in the window. I peered into the store. The building was dark inside. Just for a second, I noticed a light flicker in the back. For an instant, a storeroom full of boxes and dust covers sprang into existence before being swallowed back into the blackness. Moments later, the light flickered once more. I made out a freeze-frame image of the second person in the costume going into a back room before the store darkened again.

What was going on? Who were these people? Was this a pre-Halloween party before the main one? It felt like something sinister was going on, but what? I supposed I should have kept going and minded my own business, but when had I ever done that? My curiosity kept calling me. I had told Elizabeth and Deirdre that Phil and I would meet them at seven-thirty. It was seven-fifteen, and I was just two blocks away. I had plenty of time to find out what was going on. It was a bit creepy, but I could just take a peek. Not knowing was killing me, so I made the decision to check it out.

I ducked into the dark alley and went around to the double back door of the store. The entire area looked shabby and desolate. I'd never been in the alley behind the stores before. This presented new territory for me. A smell of wilting trash prevailed. Trashcans on their sides spilled their ancient contents into the rutted pavement. Piles of old wood and broken pallets leaned against the side of the building. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be here after all, but I continued on to satisfy my curiosity.

I pulled open one of the unlocked doors, entered, and heard faint voices coming from behind an inner door down a hallway. Slowly, careful to not make a sound, I opened the inside door and just as silently closed it behind me. A curtain blocked my view into the room, so I moved forward to peer around its edge.

Six people stood in a storage room in a circle, all of them wearing the same silk gossamer hooded robes. It was a bizarre scene. No party atmosphere here. Fresh footprints from the mystery people scattered around the thick dust on the floor. Cobwebs covered the walls. This was becoming much more like
The Da Vinci Code
than I would have liked. All that was missing was a body. I was beginning to think I had been right in the first place. I shouldn't be here. Way past having a bad feeling about this, the hair on my body stood on end. But I didn't move for the door. I was determined to stay and find out what was happening. The robed people all gazed down at the floor. Stepping onto a low box in front of me, I strained my neck to see what they were looking at. Lying on the floor was a person. Had someone passed out? I could see a man. He was someone I knew, the professor we saw on our morning walks, who passed our home on his way to the college, whom Elizabeth hadn't introduced me to yet. I couldn’t believe it. The professor was lying there, looked lifeless. My skin tingled. I held my breath as my heart raced.

Someone started to talk. He motioned toward the professor. “How can this keep happening? You were warned, John. This is the last time.” Where had I heard that voice before? I knew that voice. Al? From the post office? Yes! Oh, my gosh! I peered at the others but couldn't see any of their faces. The curtain wavered in front of me. I must not have closed the doors tight enough. Damn! One of the members of the group glanced over at the curtain. It was Bill Murphy, the police officer who stopped me for speeding when we first moved to town and gave me a warning. I didn't think he could make out who I was, or even if he could see someone behind the curtain at all, but I wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

I stumbled as I stepped down from the box that I stood on. Backing away from the curtain, I swung the door open wide and ran toward the alley door. Footsteps sounded in the hallway as I slammed the back door shut. I grabbed a thick piece of wood lying beside the door, shoved it though the door handles, and raced through the dark alley behind the stores. I got about a block away before I heard the sound of splintering wood. It was only a short distance to get to the Vermilion Pathway where Elizabeth, Deirdre, and I walked each morning. I hoped to lose myself in the wooded area.

I reached the pathway, removed my slippers to make it easier to run, and sprinted down a short distance before I made a sharp left turn up an embankment. I heard hurried voices coming in my direction on the path. Halfway up the embankment, I hid behind an old gargantuan oak tree I had often admired on our walks. I pulled the skirt of my cloak tight around my legs and held my breath. My heart pounded so loudly in my chest, I thought for sure they would be able to hear it. The pursuing group passed without slowing, within twenty feet from where I hid. The moonless night concealed me. Why the chase? What had I interrupted? Everything spun out of control. I couldn't believe this was happening to me...in Sudbury Falls!

I waited until I no longer heard their voices and then continued up the embankment and ran through backyards that were parallel to Main Street. I put my slippers back on. I needed to head for the safety of home where I could process the adrenaline-fueled events of the last several minutes. In the middle of the block, with no direct streetlights overhead, I dashed across Main Street and through two backyards. I kept in the shadows, running between the houses.

This was a night of shadows. I could see a woman through her back picture window standing over at the stove as I ran through her yard. Her dog, tied up in the backyard, started barking as he saw me. But I was already gone before I heard her backdoor slam shut. I crossed Elm Street, hoping not to be seen in the streetlights. Eerie Jack-O’Lanterns leered out at me from the corner house. Phil and I had just laughed about them last night when walking home from Jo's, but now they were unwanted eyes watching me as I tried to move undetected through town. Their sneers looked fixedly at me as I passed. Stretches between the yards seemed longer. Running under brooding trees on Maple Street, I reached the entrance to the alley behind our house.

I stopped in the shadows, searching the night for any signs of movement, making sure I wasn't followed. It was creepier back here than I expected. A cat screamed. I jumped and bolted down the alley, through our squeaky gate, and let myself in the back door, locking it behind me.

Keeping the lights off, I made my way to the living room. I looked out the front window before closing the drapes. No one was out there. I sat on the floor for a few minutes catching my breath, my heart throbbing. The living room light suddenly turned on, and I let out a bloodcurdling scream. The lamp timer on the end table had turned on.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and laid my head on them. What was going on? What had I just witnessed in the vacant store?

* * * *

I called Phil on his cell phone, but he didn't pick up. Where was he? I sat on the floor for a short while longer, waiting for my heart to stop its frantic thundering. I still needed to go to the Halloween Ball. With all of my talking about the Ball to everyone around town, including Al, I didn’t have a choice. Besides, Phil would be looking for me there, making my absence even more apparent.

I went into the bathroom and sprayed off my feet in the shower. I leaned against the edge of the sink and looked at myself in the mirror. I gasped. A haunted, frightened, face stared back at me. I cringed and splashed cold water on my face. I needed to find the strength to make it through this evening and do it without acting too suspiciously. I took in some deep breaths and put on fresh makeup, adding extra blush.

Heading out once more to walk to the Halloween Ball, I saw shadows everywhere. I made sure I didn't look up at Ted's witch. Jack-O'-Lanterns on the porches gloated menacingly as I passed them. My heart was beating fast again, and I half-walked, half-ran most of the way there. Once I reached the block of the Civic Center, I slowed down and composed myself.

It was just before eight-thirty when I arrived. I went in the side door, not wanting to make a grand entrance. The dimmed ballroom had taken on the guise of a cornfield. Cornstalks stood everywhere as a backdrop. Dozens of monstrous and comical Jack-O’-Lanterns were strategically placed throughout the room. Stars hung from the ceiling. Strobe lights flashed to make a lightning effect in the “sky.” At the main entrance, the people coming in walked through a dry ice fog. As they emerged from the mist, a scarecrow hung overhead to greet them with a devilish grin. Papier-mache ravens were everywhere: on the tables, perched on the cornstalks, hanging from the ceiling mid-flight. Life-sized witches hid between the cornstalks, sat around a glowing cauldron, or flew among the ravens on their brooms above the dance floor.

The party was in full swing. Guests holding drinks circulated around, mingling in the open or wandering through the forest of cornstalks. Laughter and chatter rang everywhere. Deirdre and Mike stood over by the hors d'oeuvre table. I smiled. Relief swept over me. So much had happened in the past hour. I walked over to greet them, feeling safe in their company.

“Kay, what took you so long?” Deirdre asked. “You're an hour late. I tried calling you. We were worried. We just started eating.”

“Arrrrr, that’s what I do when I’m worried,” her husband, Captain Mike, said with a chuckle, and Deirdre laughed.

“It took me longer to get ready than I expected.” I tried to keep the panic out of my voice. “Great decorations. I see what you mean about the committee going all out.”

“They're fabulous. And you look great. Your fairy costume is so retro, especially with the netting.”

“Deirdre, I can’t believe you sewed yours. It's beautiful. You look radiant. Your yew wand is a nice touch,” I added to prove that I had listened to her explain about the mystical wood. Elizabeth was right about the wand, glittery and gem-bedazzled.

“Where's Phil?” Mike asked.

“Working late at school tonight. What else? He should be here any minute.”

My eyes swept around the room to see if anyone was wearing the gossamer robe, but I didn't see anyone in it. I saw Elizabeth wearing a tight, low cut ruffled blouse, a short plaid skirt and a 1950s veiled hat, dancing with John Harrison, a co-worker. I thought she was joking about coming in that costume. I should have known. She was without doubt a sexy Miss Marple.

“Elizabeth looks like she's having fun,” I said.

“She’s a mighty powerful force in that costume,” said Mike. “Men just keep lining up.”

I smiled. “Must be because she's a great dancer,” I said.

“She's been out on the dance floor for every number since the music started,” Deirdre said. “Haven’t gotten a chance to say more than hello to her since then.”

“I need to get something to drink. Phil and I will meet up with you later.” I walked toward the bar and passed a photographer from the newspaper taking a picture of Jeff and Rebecca, our friends two doors down, who came as Austin Powers and Felicity Shagwell. The photographer was going around the dance floor taking photos of all of the couples. I saw Ted and Beth dancing The Twist. Beth was dressed as a cocktail waitress complete with fishnet stockings and wearing a small lace half-apron over her short dress. Ted had on a loud shirt opened down to his waist, showing his hairy chest. He had thick gold chains around his neck.

The beat of the band reverberated in the floor as I walked past the stage. A member of the band dressed as Jack Skellington from
The Nightmare Before Christmas
pointed at me singing “I Put a Spell on You.”

Just as I reached the bar, Phil walked in through the fog wearing his deerstalker hat and holding the largest magnifying glass I had ever seen. There's my handsome Sherlock Holmes, I thought. Let's see if he can help me solve this mystery. Phil smiled at me from afar and came over.