Once Upon a Crime (The Sisters Grimm, Book 4) (7 page)

Mustardseed landed next to Granny. "You must leave here," he said. "I will take my brother."

"Forget it," Sabrina said. "Puck stays with us."

"I'm not arguing with you, child," Mustardseed said angrily.

"Then don't. I'm not letting him anywhere near your mother," Sabrina said.

"I'm confused," Granny said to Sabrina. "You're talking as if Puck is with us."

"He is," Sabrina said, pointing at the cocoon Moth was holding.

"This is Puck?" Daphne said, placing her hand on the cocoon's skin. A sticky trail of goo clung to her fingers when she pulled it off. "Oh yeah, this is Puck all right."

"Mustardseed, as Puck's fiancee I will look after the crown prince," Moth said.

"Fiancee?" everyone cried.

Mustardseed thought about this for a long moment, seeming to weigh his options, then nodded reluctantly. "You may take him," he said to Granny, "if you take Moth, too, and keep them both safe. But do not take Puck from the city."

"Sorry, buddy. We're out of here now!" Sabrina cried.

"Do not leave the city!" Mustardseed roared.

Granny Relda nodded. "We'll stay."

The fairy looked relieved. "I must go to my mother," he said, and he turned and flew back toward the restaurant, disappearing in a blink.

Granny took the opportunity to usher everyone out of the park. When they were several blocks away, she stopped to catch her breath.

"We should go back to the car and drive away from here as soon as possible," Sabrina said, shivering. "We have Puck. There's no reason to stay. If we stick around, someone is going to get hurt."

Mr. Canis removed his suit jacket and wrapped it around Sabrina to keep her warm. Daphne, who was also without a coat, squirmed inside, too, wrapping her arms around her sister.

"I agree with the girl," Canis said.

"We can't go! This is a mystery," Daphne said. "They might need our help solving it."

"Another good reason to leave!" Sabrina said.

"Daphne's right," Granny said. "We'll check into a hotel. We all saw the mark on Oberon's chest. The Scarlet Hand is behind his murder."

Before Sabrina could argue, Tony Fats buzzed the group and landed next to Bess.

"I'm glad you got out OK, Bess," he said.

"No thanks to you," she replied. Then she sighed, turned to Mr. Hamstead, leaned in close, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks, cowboy," she said. "What do they call you?"

"My name's Ernest," Hamstead said, as he turned pink.

Tony Fats grumbled, snatched his girlfriend by the wrist, and dragged her back down the street as Hamstead looked on wistfully.

Granny raised her hand and a taxi pulled over. "We need to find a hotel with a parking lot for a car," she said to the driver. He shook his head and told them if they had a car to leave it where it was. "Parking is insane, lady," he explained.

Granny shrugged and helped Sabrina, Daphne, Moth, and Puck's cocoon into the back of the cab, then climbed into the front passenger seat. She rolled down the window and said to Mr. Canis and Hamstead. "Can you two find your own cab?"

"Relda, I believe I'll walk," Canis replied. He looked shaken and out of sorts. "The winter air will help my condition. I can follow your scent."

"I'll go with him," Hamstead said. "I'd like to see as much of the city as I can before we have to head back. I'll see you at breakfast?"

Granny nodded. "Take care." She rolled up her window and the cab pulled away.

"Is that the thing that is stinking up my cab?" the driver asked, looking at the purple orb in his rearview mirror.

"It's a school project," Sabrina lied. "Science fair stuff."

"What's the project? How quickly can you make a full grown man lose his lunch?"

"Hey, it's no rose garden back here, either," Sabrina said. "You ever clean this cab?"

The driver grumbled and turned his attention back to the road.

Soon, the cab pulled up outside the Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel and the women clamored out. The hotel was a tall, old-fashioned building with an emerald-green awning. The smell of tobacco drifted from inside. A doorman invited them into the warm lobby where several tourists sat in front of a crackling fireplace, looking out the window at the falling snow.

"My goodness," one of the tourists cried as she pinched her nose. "I think the sewers are backing up."

"Ugh, it smells like someone died," another complained.

Granny ignored the reaction to the cocoon and approached the front desk, requested three rooms, and asked that sets of keys be left for Mr. Hamstead and Mr. Canis. A bellhop looked at the family with an odd expression when he was told they had no luggage. He took them up to their room on the fourth floor. Inside they found two queen-sized beds, a bathroom with a marble tub, and a pamphlet on the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.

"This is unacceptable," Moth said before they had even t

urned the lights on. "I am royalty and accustomed to refinements. We need to find a more suitable room for the prince and I! One that is private!"

Sabrina rolled her eyes and flipped on the light switch.

"Hello, Mrs. Grimm," a voice said from across the room. The women let out a shriek and nearly fell over themselves. There, sitting in a chair by the window was Mustardseed. Oz stood behind the fairy prince. "I hope that none of you was harmed this evening," Mustardseed said. "I'm sure you can understand that my mother's actions were due to stress and heartbreak."

"Well, she nearly flame-broiled us back there!" Sabrina cried.

"Yeah, she's a jerkazoid!" Daphne added.

Oz stepped forward. "But she was the only one of us who was thinking clearly at the time. Her only choice was to run everyone off. She had to allow the killer a chance to escape."

"Escape?" Granny cried. "Why on earth would she want to do that?"

"To protect the new king," Mustardseed said. "Otherwise, the killer might have hurt the heir to the Faerie throne."

"What's an heir?"

Daphne asked.

"Someone who inherits something from a relative," Sabrina explained, then turned back to Mustardseed. "But I thought there wasn't a Faerie anymore."

"Faerie exists in our hearts and hopes," Mustardseed explained. "Some day we will find a way to rebuild it. Then we will need our king."

"So you're saying your mom was trying to barbeque us so she could protect you?" Daphne said.

"You are confused," Mustardseed said. "I am not the heir to the crown of Faerie. That honor falls to Puck."

"Puck is the new king?" Granny said, astonished.

Mustardseed nodded. "Protecting Puck was my mother's greatest concern. I knew you could be trusted to keep my brother safe. After all, you brought him here."

"Well, I hope Titania doesn't think we killed Oberon," Granny said.

Oz nodded. "We know that. Oberon was poisoned."

"With a concoction only a fairy could make," Mustardseed added. "It takes something very powerful to kill an Everafter. The ingredients for this particular poison came from the original fairy homeland and the recipe is one passed down within our kind. Only fairies and a few Everafters know it."

"And do you have any suspects?"

Mustardseed shook his head. "My father had many enemies."

"We suspect it was a fairy, or someone aided by one," Oz said.

"Unfortunately, whoever it was is now free on the streets of New York City. We know your reputation as detectives. We could use your family's help in finding the murderer."

Sabrina tried to wrap her head around this task. New York City had over eight million people living in it. It encompassed five different boroughs, linked by hundreds of miles of subway lines. Sure, Sabrina had grown up here, but there were so many streets and neighborhoods, no one could know them all. This wasn't Ferryport Landing, where they knew everyone. They didn't know these urban Everafters or even where they lived in the city. The job seemed impossible.

"This is not going to be easy," Granny said, obviously sharing similar thoughts.

"If you are half as resourceful as Veronica, I will have no worries at all," Mustardseed said.

"Folks, I'm afraid we've got one more favor to ask," Oz said. "Puck might be the killer's next target and after today's fiasco, we're pretty confident that you people can handle just about anything, including guarding him. He won't be safe at the Golden Egg."

"Of course, he's like one of my own grandchildren," Granny said.

Mustardseed rose from his seat. "Moth, you will stay with the Grimms. You will watch over your betrothed and assist the Grimms in any way they might need."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," the little fairy said with a deep bow.

"Oh, this is just getting better by the second," Sabrina said sarcastically.

Mustardseed turned to Granny Relda. "I want to be kept abreast of every development. I will be quite busy, so you can report your findings to Oz at the store in which he works." He bowed deeply, then turned to the window, opened it, and leaped out into the night. Above the howl of the wind, Sabrina could hear the sound of mighty wings flapping. Oz turned and closed the window tight.

"Any idea where we should start?" Daphne asked him.

The Wizard shook his head. "We don't exactly have an Everafter phone book."

"Then how did you get them all to meet at the Golden Egg tonight?" Sabrina said.

"I use the Empire State Building as a signal," Oz explained. "You may have seen them light it up for holidays. On Christmas they use red and Saint Patrick's Day it's green. When we need to see everyone we use bright purple."

"Perhaps we should try that," Granny said.

"I doubt anyone would show up after Titania's fit. I can tell you this much: I know the dwarfs live in the subway system and I believe Sinbad lives somewhere down by the docks," Oz said. "We Everafters keep to ourselves here in the city."

"That's it? That's all you know?" Sabrina cried.

"I'll ask around about the others and let you know if I find out anything else," the little man said. He apologized, said his good-byes, and moments later he left the room.

"We're in the middle of a mystery!" Daphne clapped, nearly bouncing in anticipation. "Where do we start?"

"Let's make a list of our clues so far," Granny Relda replied. "Sabrina, could you find us an ink pen? I bet there's one in the desk."

"No," Sabrina whispered. "I don't want anything to do with this. We should all just go home."

The room grew quiet. Daphne and Granny Relda stared at her as if she were some kind of algebra problem with no solution. Sabrina had rarely felt so alone. Couldn't Granny see that ever since she and Daphne had gotten involved in the detective business, they had been like two human wrecking balls, causing death and destruction over and over again? They had survived the Jabberwocky by the skin of their teeth and now they were jumping back into the fire. What if someone got hurt again?

What if their luck finally ran out? The sting of tears filled Sabrina's eyes and she quickly turned and ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She sat on the side of the tub in the dark and tried to catch her breath.

After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door and it slowly opened.

"Liebling?"

Granny Relda said as she flicked on the light and entered the room. She sat down next to Sabrina and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Sabrina pulled away.

"I don't want to do this," she said to her grandmother.

"Sabrina, these people asked for our help. It won't hurt us to look around and ask some--"

"No… I'm not talking about this mystery. I don't want to be a Grimm."

Granny sat quietly for a long time and Sabrina prepared herself for a lecture about responsibility and doing the right thing. "You don't have to, Sabrina," Granny finally said. Sabrina was stunned.

"You were deposited into this life against your will. I thought that after some time you would get used to being a Grimm and see what a rewarding life it can be. But I realize now that I'm forcing you to do it and that isn't fair. You do have a choice and I should have explained it. Many in our family have walked a

way from their heritage. If you've ever read any of Douglas Grimm's journals, he often wrote about how miserable he was; even your Opa Basil had his doubts. Obviously, your own father made a choice to pursue a different life. You can do the same if that is what you want."

"Sure, and you'll be disappointed with me. You'll give me that look you give me when you're angry," Sabrina said.

"I'll miss sharing the time with you," Granny said. "And I truly believe you are becoming an excellent detective, but you can retire if you want. Perhaps it is best if you stay at home from now on and keep an eye on your parents."

Sabrina wondered if her grandmother was pulling a trick on her, but the old lady just smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"I can still help find a way to wake up Mom and Dad?" Sabrina said.

"Of course," the old woman said.

Sabrina felt like the sun had come out and was shining just for her. The gnawing pain in her belly subsided for the first time in months.

"I can't wait to tell Daphne we don't have to do this anymore," Sabrina added.

Granny frowned. "Sabrina, you get to make your choice and you have to let her make one for herself."

"She's only seven years old," Sabrina argued. "And you're only eleven, but I'm trusting your decision," the old woman said. "But--"

"Now, unfortunately, we're in the middle of a case to which I have committed us all. So, let's make a compromise. When we get home you'll be done with being a fairy-tale detective, but right now, we have a mystery to solve. Can your sister and I count on you for one more case?"

Sabrina nodded. Still, she was happy; in fact, she was grinning from ear to ear. She hadn't expected her grandmother to understand her choice, let alone support it. She could walk away from the Grimm family legacy. No more Everafters, monsters, and lunatics. Now all she had to do was convince Daphne to make the same decision.

Granny Relda kissed Sabrina on the top of her head. "Let's go join the others."