Ghost Of A Chance Part 13

Meredith belched after taking a swig of what appeared to be whiskey. "A man's dead, Vanna. I think that's more important than some flaky ceremony you want to do."

"It's not just a ceremony, and it's not flaky," she answered, turning to me, her hands spread wide in entreaty. "You're the expert on poltergeists. You'll explain it much better than I could."

Yes, I was the expert...But why did Savannah, who was apparently so badly informed about polters, know about one of their more obscure ceremonies? "Circ.u.mambulation simply means to walk a circle around something-an object, or even a person. It's an act performed in some religions, but it also refers to a special ceremony that poltergeists perform when someone has died within their domain."

"Thrillsville." Meredith yawned, his eyes hostile as they moved from person to person.

"It has to do with them being guardians, doesn't it, Karma? People who die where poltergeists live can't move on to the next plane of existence until the poltergeists release them?"

Adam stood silently in the doorway, watching everyone. Pixie was slumped on the couch, her iPod in her hands. Dad was moving around the room in his usual restless manner. Evidently I'd been nominated official polter spokesperson. "It's a bit more complicated than that. Without going into the whys and hows of polter caretaking, it means that the soul of the deceased person is bound to its body until a circ.u.mambulation ceremony has been performed by a shaman."

"Good G.o.d, you're all a bunch of crackpots, aren't you?" Meredith lurched to his feet and headed toward the sideboard.

"I think that's enough for one night," Adam said, moving to intercept him.

"Back off, freak boy. It's not your liquor; it's Spider's." He paused for a second, awkwardly pointing toward me with his gla.s.s. "I guess it's hers now.

Either way, I'm going to drink to Spider, and no one can stop me."

"Drunkenness isn't going to help the situation," his wife chastised as he slumped back down into his chair, spilling a bit of whiskey on himself.

"Oh, shut up."

"Meredith!"

"I think we'd better get on with it before he's too sloshed to talk," I said to Adam.

The imps, evidently awake, heard my voice, burst forth from their box, and came running for me with arms outswept.

"All right, who opened the box?" Adam asked as they ran over his feet to get to me. I shuffled past him, my feet being used as transportation devices by the six imps. "If those little devils have harmed any of the furniture ..."

"They're fully housebroken," I a.s.sured him, giving in to the inevitable and sitting in the nearest chair to de-imp my feet. "They don't start fires or potty outside their litter pan, and they pick up their toys without being asked. Most of the time."

"I don't want them running around my house, getting into trouble!"

I sighed and accepted the box he brought me. "Easier said than done."

"Oh, leave me alone, woman! I'm not drunk. Yet." Meredith suddenly stirred in his chair and shouted at Savannah. She gave him a haughty look and strode dramatically to the middle of the room.

"These negative emanations are so damaging. It's too much for someone as sensitive as myself to endure!" She shuddered delicately. "A man has been murdered. Murdered! Right here in this house, and now his soul is bound here, and other spirits are trapped with him, and who knows what sorts of negative ent.i.ties are going to be attracted by all that! It's so upsetting. So harmful to the psyche. I don't know how long it will take me to recover from this terrible experience...Karma, do you think I could have one of those imps as a little pet?"

11.

"I think there's something wrong with me," I told Adam in a low voice.

His eyebrows rose as he looked me over. "I don't see anything obvious.

You have only two arms. You don't apport. You don't even exhibit the restlessness unusual with our kind. Do you speak Poltern?"

"Yes, but not easily. The clicking I can do well enough, but the raps give me a bit of trouble. My toe joints aren't very limber, and I hate making my finger and toe knuckles pop. That wasn't what I meant, anyway. I was referring to the fact that my husband is dead and I'm not crying. I'm not overwhelmed by the tragedy of his death. I'm not feeling much of anything, to be honest."

"That's normal," he said, giving my shoulder a little squeeze. "It's shock.

You feel kind of numb, right?"

I struggled for a moment to put into words the odd state of my emotions and finally decided his description was as close as possible. "Numb would be a good way to put it, yes. Worried, as well."

"Worried we won't figure out who the murderer is?" he asked, glancing around the room.

I bit my lip again. "I'm praying that won't be so. It's just that we have this one chance, and after the seal is lifted and it's in the hands of the watch...well, that kind of changes everything."

"More people involved, you mean?" He nodded. "It would be far easier for everyone if we have the murderer ready to hand over when the seal lifts. If we don't...I'm afraid my captain will tell me that we'll have to call in the mundane police, and that's not going to be good for anyone. I can set your mind at ease about one thing, at least. I've seen your sort of reaction to death before, and I can a.s.sure you that it's common with family of murder victims.

As for not being overwhelmed by the tragedy of Spider's death..." His lips thinned. "You'll have to talk to someone else about that. I don't particularly view his death as a tragedy."

I looked him in the eye. "But that's my problem. I don't, either."

"I don't think anyone would blame you for that." His cell phone rang. He glanced at the number displayed before moving to a quiet corner. "It's my captain again. I'd better take this."

My father, correctly interpreting my eyebrow movements, flitted over to where I stood. "I a.s.sume you have something to say to me?"

"Quite a few things, actually, but most of them can wait. Adam has deputized me."

"So?"

I expected at least a bit of surprise. "He wants me to help him talk to everyone here about Spider's death. He doesn't think it was an accident."

"Accident...miracle...they're the same thing in this case."

"That's not the point." I fretted. "I'm worried Adam won't have enough time to figure things out before the seal is up."

He stopped fidgeting and gave me a long look. "Why does it have to be before then? So long as the murderer is caught, what does it matter if they figure it out today or tomorrow, or even a couple of days from now?"

"Don't you watch any of those crime reality shows?" I asked, aiming for a light tone. "The first few hours of an investigation are always critical."

"Hmmph." Dad snorted. "If that's what's got your panties in a bunch..."

"It's not just that." I glanced at where Adam was standing with his back to the room, and dropped my voice lower. "Think of it from the point of view of an outsider: if Spider's death wasn't an accident, doesn't it strike you that the person here who benefits the most from his death is Adam?"

Dad recoiled as if in horror. "Karma Phoenix Marx! How can you say something like that about one of your own kind?"

I shushed him before anyone could overhear us. "I'm one of Spider's kind, too, remember? Besides, that's neither here nor there. I'm not saying that Adam killed Spider; I'm just saying that someone in the watch might remove him from the case because he could conceivably have a good motive for killing Spider. There are polters who are just as capable of murder for their own gain as mortals are. Adam must surely know that I will inherit Spider's possessions, and that I'm not likely to hold on to a house I rightly consider his."

"That doesn't mean he killed him."

"No, it doesn't. I'm just worried that whatever investigation he does will later be tossed away because of the circ.u.mstances." I struggled to put into words one of the worries that had been swirling around in my brain. "There's another thing. If Adam was very smart-and he seems intelligent to me-he could use being in charge of the investigation to set up someone innocent by manipulating the facts, evidence, et cetera."

"Do you think that Adam is that sort of man?" Dad asked, one eyebrow c.o.c.ked.

"I don't know. I suppose not," I sighed, glancing over at the subject of conversation. "It's possible. I just don't know how I'm going to catch him if he's manipulating the investigation."

"I don't see that he can do much of that," my father answered. "If Spider was murdered, there aren't very many people who could have done it. The house is sealed, which means only those of us here now could get to Spider.

You and I didn't do it. Savannah was here with me most of the time. Her husband was bashed on the head and knocked out."

"Adam thinks Pixie might have done it."

"She's a kid."

"I don't like it any more than you do, but you have to admit, from the watch's point of view, he may have a point. She's a child, yes, but she's a polter-one who apparently has a history of emotional troubles, not to mention possesses the strength necessary to throttle a grown man. What if Spider sneaked up on her and attacked? She might have defended herself and accidentally killed him. And we both know how the League deals with children who unintentionally kill."

My father gave me a jaded look. "That's stretching."

"I know. I don't really believe Pixie did it, but she could still be considered a suspect. There's something about her...Dad, does she strike you in any way odd?"

"Odd?" He frowned for a moment. "Odd how?"

"It's hard to define. Kind of ... clueless."

"She's a teenager, Karma. They tend to be that way."

"I don't mean in a normal way. It's as if she's new to everything polter, but that can't be. Unless..."

"Unless what?" The conversation was losing interest for my father. He had moved a few steps to the sideboard and was rearranging the bottles and gla.s.ses.

I decided to let it go. My brain was too confused to try to pick out subtle nuances. "It doesn't matter. I'll just have to make Adam see that she's not really a viable suspect. Which brings me to another subject."

"Savannah knowing more than she lets on? I agree with you on that. She's definitely a ringer. Although she puts on a good act. Look at her now, all gaga over Adam's spirits."

I didn't even look at where Savannah had been emoting like crazy after Adam had had his house spirits appear. "I wasn't referring to her, but thanks for reminding me. I want to mention that to Adam. I was, in fact, talking about you."

Dad spun around to look at me. "What about me?"

"You disliked Spider a lot," I said slowly, watching his face. "You hated his att.i.tude toward polters."

He grinned. "Casting me in the role of first murderer, eh? I'm afraid it won't work, Karma. I was here with Savannah. She was grilling Pixie and me about the life of a polter."

"Hmm." He looked innocent. He wasn't wired or apporting, either or both of which I'd expect if he'd been up to no good. But there was the incident of the apports earlier, when I had come downstairs from being sick...

"Sorry, honey. Other than Adam, there isn't anyone else."

"On the contrary, there are several others who might have done it," I said, going over a mental list of the house's inmates. "Adam's spirits might have felt threatened by Spider's having the power to destroy them. Amanita was hiding behind the heater in the bas.e.m.e.nt. She might have felt threatened enough to kill him. It's not likely, but it is within the realm of physical possibility."

Dad patted me on the arm. "Honey, I think you're just going to have to face the facts."

"What facts?" Adam asked from behind me.

"That sooner or later, just about everyone who ever met Spider wanted him dead."

"I have no doubt of that." Adam glanced at his watch. "My captain is not happy about the events of the evening. We'd better get started with the interviews. The sooner we get this sorted out, the better for everyone."

"Will you be in trouble for not calling the mundane police right away?" I asked, pulling a notepad and pen from my purse. Dad sent me a warning glance as I followed Adam over to the far side of the room.

He shrugged. "a.s.suming we find the murderer before the seal is up, no.

The watch will take care of everything, including fixing it with the mundane police. Karma..."

"Uh-oh. That look doesn't bode well. What's wrong now?"

"It's the captain ... he looked you up."

I nodded and stared at the carpet. I'd known that eventually the captain of the watch would find out about me. "I take it I'm no longer a deputy?"

The expressions on Adam's face were almost comical. "It's my fault, really.

When I first talked to him, I told him you were a TAE. Your position in the League made it natural that you would work with me."

"But then he went and looked me up and now I'm suspect number one?"

I asked lightly, wrapping my arms around myself. For some reason, the air surrounding me felt chilled.

"I told him you didn't kill your husband."

I looked up to meet his pale blue eyes. They reminded me of a photo of a glacier I'd seen as a child. "Thank you for your faith."

"Unfortunately"-his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed-"the captain feels that someone whose a.s.sociation with the League is due to wergeld does not have the loyalty wished for in a deputy."

"I understand. So would you like to interview me now, or should I just go sit over there with the rest of the suspects?"

"I want you to sit down here and take notes for me." He gave me a long, level look. "I deputized you; that stands."

"But your captain-"

"Isn't here, and I am. Sit."

I found a smile and shared it with Adam. In an evening of emotional upheaval and horror, he turned out to be a small beacon of pleasure.

"Everyone!" Adam clapped his hands for attention. "Savannah, please, enough with the pictures. I'm sure Tony and Jules will be happy to model for you another time."

The faint buzzing noise that had been on the fringe of my awareness gave a little jump. I frowned, looking around for an air ionizer or some other electrical device that might have been capable of making the almost inaudible white noise, but there was nothing evident.

I moved an ancient stained gla.s.s Tiffany-like lamp from the center to the far edge of the table Adam had decided would do as our interview area. I carefully flexed the frayed cord, but it didn't make any noise. I tucked it out of the way so no one would step on it and get shocked. Adam wanted to keep everyone under his eye while we conducted interviews, a prospect I found a bit daunting. The room was filled-not only with my own gang of imps, Pixie, and my father, but also with Adam's menage a trois. Savannah was in seventh heaven at the sight of honest-to-G.o.d spirits. It took her a good fifteen minutes to get past the fact that the spirits were real, at which point she began taking picture after picture.