Deal With the Deviled Eggs

Chapter 2-3

Dom had a beer. He figured he’d earned it, after everything, and took it out into the living room to mingle.

“It’s my favorite ace detective,” said a familiar voice. “Sherlock?”

“Elena,” said Dom, turning and spotting her. “Or should I say…Willy?”

“It’s Willy Wonka,” said Elena, decked out in purple and flourishes. Elena owned the chocolate shop in town. “You have to use the full thing.”

“But I’m just Sherlock.”

“Of course.” She sipped at her eyeball sangria. “You tour the haunted parts yet?”

As if on cue, a shriek ripped through the air from somewhere above, followed by laughter. Dom shook his head.

“I’m still working up the courage,” said a nearby woman, one of the vampires. She wore greenish makeup, so she wasn’t whoever Travis was after. The man with her looked reluctant to lose her undivided attention, but was obviously enough into her that he wasn’t going to let her get too far.

“We got all night,” the man, dressed like a zombie hunter, said. Dom noticed Elena’s lips tighten in amusement as he put an arm around the vampire’s shoulder. There was no point in him being possessive around either of them.

“It’s different every year, isn’t it, Spencer?”

“Dani’s been away for a few years, before Owen started. She only moved back to Mount Angus nine months ago,” said Spencer.

“Six months here,” said Dom.

“A few years,” said Elena. “It changes, but there’s always a few things you can count on—the black cats, the creepy guy, the bathtub always filled with—”

“Don’t ruin it,” said Spencer. “Come on, let’s grab something to eat. I could use another beer.”

He and Dani wandered off.

“Huh, weird,” said Elena. “I guess some people have to be in control all the time.”

She plucked a grape out of her drink and popped it in her mouth. Dom could feel the tingle of excitement creeping up and again wished Kiko was here with him. After all their deadly adventures together, he wondered how they would handle a haunted house. He decided to indulge himself, even if only for a few hours.

“The creepy guy?” he asked, and Elena turned back to him.

“Looking for a mystery, Holmes?” she asked. “You could guess what the bathtub’s filled with this year. Something different every time—there were worms last year, all squirming around.”

“Brains,” said Dom. “Who’s the creepy guy?”

“Hmm,” said Elena, trying to peer through the crowds. “You might be able to see him somewhere…I think he’s a scarecrow corpse murderer this year.” She squinted. “Yep, there he is, off to get some refreshments.”

She and Dom began to wander over in his direction.

“Owen hires people to dress up and act upstairs, just people from around town. But nobody knows who the creepy guy is, and Owen won’t give away his identity. We think he’s maybe from New Slough?”

The kitchen was packed when they got there. The smell of ham was wafting around; it seemed Owen was getting ready to serve it. The other actors from upstairs were down having a beer and a little food, wearing sweatshirts to try to mask their disguises. Dom guessed it would be less of a surprise later, but they were down for the food. He strained his eyes, but couldn’t spot the creepy guy.

He wondered how annoyed Kiko would be if he picked up another mystery.

Probably very, considering he still hadn’t solved the case of how to get Travis out of the house. He felt guilty about that and annoyed with Travis too. He could see the man standing near the purple and red vampire, fresh drink in hand. Dom had taken Travis at his word when he said he’d fallen on hard times and could use a little help, had felt indebted to him. He hadn’t expected the guy to still be stuck—mentally—in college. That explained a lot.

“Is this what you’re wearing to the Halloween Parade on Friday?” asked Elena, and he turned back to her. “I’m going as Willy Wonka again. I’m just tossing out cheap chocolates with my store info on them, though—none of my good stuff!”

“Not sure I’m going,” said Dom, thinking of all the things that could change before Friday. He might have to lend a hand to Travis simply to get him to leave. “But why no clever name? There was the Eggstravaganza, the Knee High 4th of July Festival, but only the ‘Halloween Parade’? Not the Spooky Spectacle or something?”

“You know,” said Elena, “I never even noticed.”

Owen went at the ham with a knife and began plating the slices immediately. The actors moved forward, apparently the first people to get to eat, and although Dom tried his best to thoroughly examine them as they accepted their ham and moved to the table to fill up the rest of their plates, he couldn’t spot the creepy guy. Elena seemed disappointed in that, too.

“Sorry, Dom, I have no idea where he went. I’m sure you’ll see him around upstairs.”

“Yeah, I’ll have a look.”

For now, he wanted to nab some food, maybe one of Kiko’s eggs. He put his beer bottle in the recycling bin and picked up a plate, tucking the plastic pipe into his back pocket again. Damn, the thing was annoying to carry around. He began loading up a plate and somehow ended up closer to Spencer than he cared to. While he was trying to move away, the zombie hunter turned and knocked into him. Spencer’s plate landed face down on the floor.

“Well, s**t,” said Spencer as Dani passed her drink to him and knelt to pick up the plate. Elena had appeared at Dom’s side so he passed his food to her to bend down and help Dani clean up. It was a mess; Spencer had really piled his plate with food. Dom saw one of Kiko’s eggs, sadly uneaten, and felt a pang of guilt again.

Tomorrow. He’d talk to Travis tomorrow. Again. If the job in New Slough was as much of a certainty as Travis said, Dom would find him a place to rent out there himself if he had to.

Dani plucked the egg up and paused. When Dom noticed how she had frozen he looked up. The filling in the deviled egg had only partially come with the white when she had grabbed it. In what remained stuck to the floor, something long and thin glinted.

“Is that…” began Dani.

“A razor,” said Dom. Someone had stuck a razor in the deviled egg.