The Diva Haunts the House (24 page)

“We might learn more by sticking around Frank’s neighborhood. Maybe we’ll bore our stalker and he’ll leave.” She pulled open the door to a trendy restaurant and motioned me inside.

We settled at the bar and Nina ordered an Immortal Kiss.

The bartender, a young fellow with a bohemian goatee, said, “Mrs. Norwood, I have no idea what that is.” Nina rose, and he held up his outstretched palm. “Hold it! I got into a lot of trouble the last time you came behind the bar to mix your own drink.”

“Then you’ll have to make it for me.” Nina rattled off the ingredients as the bartender raced to keep up. “Parrot Bay Passion Fruit Rum and Absolut Raspberri. Oh! And a splash of ginger ale. Don’t you want one, Sophie? Soph?”

The din in the room faded, and I was only marginally aware of Nina’s question. She might have moved on to fun drinks, but my mind still focused on the person who attacked me and killed Patrick. Right in front of me, at the other end of the bar, one of the suspects lifted his glass to me in a toast.

TWENTY-ONE

I shivered even though he was just being sociable. Red flags jumped up in my head, warning me that someone had been tailing Nina and me, and that it might just be the guy at the end of the bar. Leon collected his drink and napkin and made his way through the crowd toward us.

“Sophie, what’s wrong with you? Give her an Immortal Kiss, too.” Nina nudged me. “What is it?”

By that time, Leon had reached us. I did my best to hide my angst. “Have you met Leon? He’s Natasha’s new assistant. This is Nina Reid Norwood. She lives on our block.”

“Natasha’s assistant? You poor thing!” Nina clapped a couple of fingers over her mouth. “Or are you one of her adoring minions?”

“Is Nina friend or foe?” he asked me.

“Friend.” I chuckled at his question and some of my fears abated. He seemed like a nice guy.

“Let’s get a table so we can talk.” Nina moved us all to a tiny table in the corner. I sat with my back to the wall, just in case another suspect showed up.

The bartender followed with our drinks.

“So give us the dirt on Natasha.” Nina sipped her drink.

“She’s frantic about Patrick’s murder and the impact it will have on her reputation. Honestly, I hope the boys in blue catch the killer before she does because I think I’d rather face the law than Natasha’s wrath.”

“She’s looking for the killer?” Nina asked.

“Mostly lip service. It’s all she talks about.”

I sipped my Immortal Kiss, surprised by the fruity flavor. “Who does Natasha suspect?”

“She’s obsessed with Maggie. One of these days I’ll walk in and find she has fashioned a chart of Maggie’s movements that night. Frankly, though, I think it’s because she’s still irritated that Maggie wore a Morticia Addams outfit and stole Natasha’s thunder.”

Nina giggled. “I’m sorry I missed that! Ohhh, I wonder if I could find a Morticia Addams dress by tomorrow night. I bet Natasha will wear hers, and it would aggravate her to no end if I turned up in one, too.” She leaned toward Leon. “We’re having a midnight buffet at Sophie’s house tomorrow night. You have to come. It’s potluck, so bring something.”

Leon sat up straighter. “Really? I’d love to come. But I can promise you one thing—I’m not dressing as a vampire this time. I was mortified to see so many other vampires at Natasha’s party.”

A perfect opportunity to find out about Frank. “What was Frank Hart wearing that night?”

Leon lifted his eyebrows. In a dusky tone, he said, “Frank, eh? You know, I remember him talking with Patrick.”

“What was he wearing?”

“De rigueur for men in attendance, vampire deluxe.”

Nina signaled the bartender for another round of drinks. I clamped my hand over the top of my glass. I needed my wits about me.

“Did you know Patrick?” I asked.

Leon shifted in his chair uncomfortably.

“You can tell
us
!” A stranger listening in would have thought Nina was an old confidant of Leon’s.

“Promise you won’t inform Natasha? She’d fire me if she found out.”

Nina pretended to zip her lips with her fingers.

“I worked for Patrick. One painfully long month, I worked in his candle shop. Now, I’m not saying I’m a clever businessman, but, honey, I understand retail, and I know how to set up a display. Patrick had no imagination whatsoever. He thought candles should be stacked like cat food cans in a grocery store.”

Nina took a long swig of her drink. “Why shouldn’t Natasha know that?”

“Because he fired me. If she finds out, she’ll do the same.” Leon’s chest heaved. “He was supposed to pay me every two weeks. He didn’t pay me after the first two weeks, but I let it go because I knew we didn’t sell much. I figured he would pay me as soon as he could. When two more weeks passed, I had to tell him I couldn’t continue to work without a paycheck. That louse accused me of stealing cash from the register. Nothing could be more untrue. It just isn’t in my nature to do anything like that. All he had to do was compare inventory to receipts to prove it. I might poke fun at people and enjoy having a good time, but I’m not a thief. Heaven knows I’m not perfect, but my momma did not raise any sticky-fingered children.”

“Did he ever pay you?” asked Nina.

“The crook blackmailed me. I went back to the store to insist he pay me, and he threatened to tell everyone I’d stolen from him. What could I do? How do you prove you didn’t do something? I couldn’t force him to do an inventory or show me his books. It was cowardly of me, but I backed away. I didn’t know how to fight him. He had a lot of clout in this community, and I couldn’t afford to be known as a thief—even if it wasn’t true.” Leon emptied his drink in one long gulp. “Oh dear, I’m sure I’m cursed now that I’ve spoken ill of the dead.”

If that was the case, Leon wouldn’t be the only cursed resident of Old Town. “Did you ever see Patrick argue with anyone else?”

“He must be turning in his grave like a rotisserie chicken with all this nasty gossip about him.” He paused and leaned over the table as though he was speaking confidentially. “Ray from next door came in all the time. At first I thought he was snooping, but it turned out that Patrick hadn’t paid his rent, and the old coot wanted to see if we were selling anything. It’s quite ironic, really. Have you seen Ray’s shop?
Ugh.
If he sells one item, I bet it’s a great day. If Ray didn’t own the building, he would be behind on the rent, too. That old man is such a character. He acts like he just rode in from the Wild West. The way he ranted, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to find out he did Patrick in.”

“Was he invited to Natasha’s party?” Somehow I couldn’t imagine Natasha putting Ray on her guest list of Old Town’s elite.

“Are you kidding? He most certainly was
not
on the guest list. I can assure you of that! I do wonder, though, if he has an alibi. How could we find out?” Leon addressed his question to Nina.

“Sophie and I will pay him a visit tomorrow morning.” She finished her second drink.

“Be careful,” warned Leon. “You can’t come right out and ask or he’ll be onto the fact that we suspect him.”

Nina giggled. “Oh, darlin’, Sophie and I know how to handle an interrogation. He won’t know what hit him.”

I wondered if Leon realized that he’d just been the victim of one of our interrogations. I whipped out my wallet and paid our check before Nina could order more drinks. “I think we’d better be on our way. I’m so glad we had this opportunity to chat with you, Leon.”

“We’ll see you at the Halloween party!” Nina waved and followed me out the door. “What a great guy! I feel like we have a spy in the enemy camp!”

We giggled like silly schoolgirls as we walked up King Street. “You do know that he’s a suspect?” I turned the corner so we were headed east.

“No!” Nina’s giggles subsided. “Do you think he was telling the truth about being fired?”

“We’re about to find out. I thought we might drop in on Maggie to see how she’s doing. She would know the scoop about Leon and Patrick.”

“Unless Patrick lied to her. He might not have wanted her to know his business was such a shambles.”

“True,” I said. “But Blake told me his mother paid the rent at Patrick’s shop. She must have realized something was wrong.”

“But we women can be blind to the faults of the men we love.”

Nina was certainly right about that.

She slid her arm under mine so they linked at the elbow, and drew me close. “He’s following us again.”

I slowed and was turning my head when Nina whispered, “Don’t look!”

“Would you rather he caught us off guard? We have to know where he is and cross the street or something.” We’d already arrived on Maggie’s block and left the hubbub and crowds of King Street behind. The only soul outside was someone parallel parking a car.

In spite of Nina’s warning, I glanced back. A shadowy figure darted behind a tree. “Our best bet is to jaywalk across the street and head straight to Maggie’s house.” Shivers shuttled along my arms as we changed our direction and jogged across the street and up the stairs to Maggie’s front door. I rang the bell somewhat impatiently and whipped around to see where he had gone.

“I’ve lost him. Where is he?” A note of panic had crept into Nina’s voice. “Oh my gosh! The cat!”

I squinted. “Where?”

“On the other side of the street. He just ducked under someone’s gate.”

“Who is it?” Maggie called.

I pounded on the door. “Maggie! Let us in. Hurry! It’s Sophie and a friend.”

In the quiet night, we could hear a little discussion inside the house.

Nina clamped onto my arm with strength I hadn’t known she possessed. “He’s coming up the sidewalk!”

A man strode toward us with an assured gait.

This time Nina banged on the door.

It swung open, but Maggie’s eyes didn’t focus on us. “No!” she howled.

I was certain the killer must be right behind us. My feet seemed locked in position. I turned my head and saw a vampire, his cape flying out behind him, running along the other side of the street.

Nina screamed like she’d seen her mother-in-law, and the man who’d been striding toward us walked up the steps.

“What’s all the fuss about?” With a fluid movement, Dash used one hand to push back his hair. A stalker he wasn’t.

Nina slammed her hand over her chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“What are
you
doing here again?” Dash didn’t bother to hide his annoyance.

For a split second, I thought he was talking to Nina and me, but then I realized that Karl Corbin clutched Maggie in his arms and was murmuring something soothing in her ear.

“Didn’t you see the vampire?” Karl asked Dash.

Dash pushed past Karl into the house, and Nina and I quickly followed.

“So what? It’s the night before Halloween and some kid ran down the street in a vampire cape. Maggie, you will be the death of me yet.” Dash sucked in a huge breath of air and distorted his stunning features by vigorously rubbing his face with his hand. He disappeared into the kitchen, leaving us with Karl and Maggie, who held her hands over her nose and mouth.

She stretched her arms out to me. “I’m so glad you’re still alive! I thought I would never see you again, well, unless you came to bite me.” She lifted my hair off my neck and examined it with a gorgeous smile.

“Karl, honey, would you be a lamb and open a bottle of wine?” Maggie stroked his upper arm. He smiled at her and headed toward the kitchen.

She showed us to the living room and invited us to have a seat.

Dash stalked in, looking angry. In a low tone, he said, “Maggie, how many times have I warned you about Karl?”

She actually batted her eyelashes and preened. “We’re divorced now, baby. You don’t get to tell me who I can see.”

“Karl is going to be the same kind of disastrous nightmare that Patrick was. Why do you insist on surrounding yourself with pathetic losers?”

Unfortunately, Karl had stepped in, carrying a bottle of red wine, and overheard Dash’s comment. His expression remained the same, calm and irritatingly placid, just as it had the day he tried to shut down the haunted house and take Blake home. “Who is having wine? How many glasses do we need?”

When he’d returned to the kitchen, Maggie whispered, “Do you think he heard? I’d hate for Karl to be offended. He’s been such a help to me.”

I thought Dash might go through the roof. “Of course he heard! I want you to get rid of him, and Frank, too.”

Maggie lifted her shoulders in a coyly pleased motion and grinned at us. “Don’t you just love a jealous man?”

I watched Dash and Maggie carefully. There were stranger things going on between them than between Mars and me. I rushed to change the subject before Karl returned. “Maggie, did Patrick ever say anything about a guy named Leon?”

“The one who worked for him? The man was a nightmare. I know it’s hard to find good help, but Patrick had nothing but problems with him. Patrick couldn’t even get away for lunch when Leon was working because he couldn’t trust Leon to be there alone. And when he let him go! Oh!” She threw her hands into the air. “Leon actually came back to the shop one day and threatened Patrick.” Her eyes opened wide. “You think he’s the vampire! Of course! The police asked me about Leon.”