One month after the murders at the Whispering Creek Theater, the family gathered at a small service in Edinburgh. Afterward, Morag Ferguson-Raj’s musician friends played music at a ceilidh, her husband, Ashok, cooked a feast, and hundreds of friends gathered to celebrate the lives of Elspeth and Emma Raj.
Six weeks later, pop-up magic show flyers blanketed Hidden Creek and the details were shared online. Tempest took to the stage of a sold-out performance at the Whispering Creek Theater, this time with multiple professional videographers recording the show. Her dad, Ivy, and Gideon had built the set, her grandmother was accompanying her on the fiddle, and Sanjay filled the role of Tempest’s assistant on the stage. With lifelike shadows from paper cutouts dancing across the background, Tempest told the story of the Raj family curse as it began on the southern tip of India, across the ocean to Scottish lochs, and to Hidden Creek’s mysterious underground creek, where it was finally laid to rest. Tempest hadn’t yet figured out which of Nicodemus’s stories she’d reveal, but she felt his influence in her own work as she carried on the tradition of bringing pop-ups and shadows to life.
One of the people in attendance at her show was Lenore Woods, who’d forgiven Tempest for her accusation, and had come to thank Tempest for her vision for the puzzle room at the Whispering House. Along with Lenore’s own renovations to restore the home to its original beauty, Tempest’s architectural sleight of hand had won over the local architectural society.
In addition to her role in creating architectural misdirection for Secret Staircase Construction, Tempest was working on plans to build her own house on the site of the Secret Fort at the edge of Fiddler’s Folly. The mystery that had dominated her life for years hadn’t turned out the way she thought it would, but she was now ready for whatever came next.
Well, almost ready. Someone was walking up to the tree house deck where she was enjoying a cup of jaggery coffee with Ivy.
“Enid?” Tempest stood and leaned on the railing. What was the owner of the Locked Room Library doing at Fiddler’s Folly?
“Your dad buzzed me in.” Enid shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up at Ivy and Tempest. Dressed in a polka-dot swing dress and peep-toe pumps, Enid was decked out in her usual 1940s-style attire.
“I’m so sorry, Enid.” Ivy joined Tempest at the edge of the deck. “Did I miss a shift? I haven’t been looking at my phone since I thought I had the day off.”
“You didn’t miss anything.” Enid bit her lip and turned her contorted face to Tempest. “I’m no good at asking for help. I thought it would be easier to explain in person.”
“Do you want to come up?” Tempest asked.
“I’d rather you come with me, Tempest. If you can. Something really strange has happened at the library, and it looks impossible … I know you’ve been through a lot, but you’re the only one who can help.”
Tempest took a deep breath. She hadn’t even had time to strike the set of her show, but that could wait. “I’ll be right down.”