SWAN

39

THE EASIEST WAY TO TURN a funeral into a grand spectacle is by having a closed casket.

It allowed for some mystery, and cut down on the worry something might happen to the body. And it was something kept in mind for the future.

Hetty stood in the hallway, greeting people as they entered the Duval home and guiding them to the parlor, which had been rearranged for the event.

They had enough chairs for forty, split into two blocks with an aisle in the middle, and five rows. The chairs faced the casket, which was on a slightly raised platform. The parlor’s usual decorations had been moved and changed around as needed. And the need was great, given what they had planned.

Though it would have been easier to do back on Juniper Street, they were doing the funeral at the Duval home because of the mirror tucked in the back of the room. The large oval mirror was covered with a white sheet and placed just behind the casket. Hetty had worried she might have to risk using magic to keep it hidden from sight, but luckily with so much to look at in the room, no one was giving it attention.

Of the many things they had to plan, this was the most crucial part, and the one Hetty fretted about the most, even as everyone assured her it would go well.

Still, even though Nathan Payne was dead, Emily Jacobs was safe, and the elusive treasure out of reach, Hetty didn’t relax fully until Eudora Mason walked into the house.

She was accompanied by Horace Duval as always. While Hetty had her doubts about the man’s innocence, they couldn’t find anything that connected him to his uncle’s death. He was a greedy snake, but he’d been used just as much as anyone else that came into Eudora’s direction.

Eudora drifted past Hetty as if they had never met, her attention and conversation focused on Horace. The pair settled on the middle row on the left side, with Eudora taking the seat on the center aisle. As she settled, the fake medium glanced back at Hetty with a stern glare, as if questioning if Hetty would hold up her end of the bargain.

Hetty ignored that look, of course, as she entered the parlor.

“I thought she wouldn’t come.” Temperance Murray’s voice was quiet as she stepped next to Hetty. “It would have been smart to leave town.”

“People never do the most reasonable thing.”

Hetty had gambled on that, as well as Eudora’s desperation to find the treasure. Surely she knew by now that Payne was dead. And judging by those dark circles under the woman’s eyes, she had been out looking for Emily herself.

This was the biggest gamble they were undertaking.

They didn’t know what Eudora knew about them. Whether she believed the stories or made up her own based on what was said around town.

They did have one thing in their favor.

Help.

Her friends were placed in different spots in the audience. Darlene and George were in the front row on the right side, with Penelope and Rosie seated directly behind them. All had vials and flasks at hand.

Oliver sat in the back on the left side with the alleged sword cane at his side. He leaned back, his slumped position hardly showing how nervous he was. Thomas sat on the opposite end of the room, the wind elemental pistol with him.

Sy milled around, settling people into their seats. While Rosie and Sy were the only ones of the Caldwell cousins to come, Maybelle had sent her son Gabe, which turned out to be a boon.

Adelaide, of course, was in a place of prominence, and thankfully had chosen calm stoicism to ride out the funeral instead of the boisterous tears she had first suggested. Cora was at her side, vigilant and prepared to whip out her pistol if needed. Jay was making idle conversation with some of the guests who had yet to take their seats. Of everyone, he was the person most at ease, since he had the easiest job.

Benjy was settled at the piano, off to the side but not out of reach. His soft playing filled the room, as the rest of the people in the audience were mostly made up of strangers—another request by Adelaide, either out of a desire to keep people she knew out of harm’s way or to keep her disliked relatives out of the house.

Sy shut the door and nodded at Hetty. Everyone expected to be there had come.

“Looks like the show is about to start,” Temperance said. “Let’s hope this plan of yours works.”

Hetty didn’t bother answering.

Hetty went over to Jay and whispered: “Showtime.”

The pastor made his way to the front, next to the closed casket. A silence fell over the room.

He opened the wake with the usual greetings he did for funerals. Then, quite easily, Jay moved into a personal story about Raimond Duval, with such skill that Hetty almost missed him saying “spirits abound.”

Rosie didn’t.

She twisted her handkerchief around and the magic Hetty had sewn into it came to life.

Nearby, the sheet slipped off the mirror and fell to the floor. It did this quietly, so that only those nearest even noted it.

But Jay kept going as he related his story. “My friend always said that his son—”

The mirror rattled against the wall, and at the proper moment, Valentine Duval himself appeared framed in the mirror.

The reactions came at once.

People got up, others pointed, and Thomas cried, “His spirit got caught in the mirror!”

But Hetty locked her eyes on only one person.

Eudora Mason had grown rigid, her head frozen and upturned toward the sight before her.

Just when the noise rose to a fever pitch, a voice cut through with chilling ease.

“My killer sits among you.” The ghost of Valentine Duval leaned forward inside the confines of his mirror. “I know the truth, and I come to speak it.”

Curtains billowed at the window, seemingly in reaction to his words.

The ghost lifted a hand, pointing into the crowd. “He’s coming for you. Run all you like. You’ll never be free of the truth.”

Hetty stepped into the aisle, moving toward Eudora.

She was almost there when Gabe reminded her why he was never offered a role in their little plays.

Where there should have been silence, the young man added new lines that were not in the script Oliver had written.

“And I’m not alone. We only have to wait. The worst part is that you would have gotten your answers.”

The ripple effect was clear at once. Penelope, ready to toss her first vial, fumbled at these words, missing her cue. This caused George to drop his. It hit the ground with an audible thump, but didn’t break as it should have.

But it broke the spell that had fallen across the room.

“I should have expected this.” Eudora stood. She held up her hands, basking in the attention in the room. “Ghosts return to the place where they dwelled while living. Let me take care of this.” She turned in a slow circle, her hands spinning around, clearly preparing for her next spell. She glanced over at Hetty, and her dark eyes gleamed with malice. “Don’t want things ruined.”

“I’m afraid they already are.” Hetty pulled out a sapphire from the cache they’d found the previous night. She angled it so it glittered in the light.

Eudora froze.

Then she did the one thing Hetty hoped she would do.

She flung magic in Hetty’s face.

But Benjy’s magic sealed Eudora’s orb in midair. The angry red magic bubbled, pressing against a ward that would not break.

Quietly, Benjy rose from the piano, one hand keeping the magic in place. For this plan to work, he could do no more than that.

Their goal was to rip the gloves off and reveal the blood staining Eudora’s hands. They needed Eudora to act as vicious as she could be to make that clear.

Jay coughed, stepping off the dais and out of the way.

Hearing this, Darlene cracked the seal of the vial and dropped it to the floor.

Smoke spilled out, filling the room with fog.

Temperance ran for the side door at once, her footsteps covered by the outcry in the room. But the smoke didn’t last long.

At the right moment, George dropped the diffusing vial.

All magic vanished from the room. The orb and Benjy’s protective magic around it popped out of sight. The smoke evaporated, and the coy wind that moved the curtains stopped. The lights floating above their heads blinked out, leaving only sunlight streaming through the room.

And then the fake Valentine Duval stepped out of the mirror.

He walked around the casket and stood on the dais.

Eudora shrieked, falling back.

“You’re alive!” she cried as Horace Duval and half the room stood up, gaping at the sight. “You’re supposed to be dead! I was told. I was promised!”

Gabe laughed, his voice echoed in the room as if coming from afar. Then he stopped, his face as blank and cold as the grave. “Don’t you know that when you call, ghosts answer! And they are coming for you!”

Eudora’s eyes fluttered, and she fainted, collapsing onto the floor.

Not part of the plan.

But it would work.

Hetty pushed her way through the crowd to Eudora’s side. Luckily, people were moving as far away as they could from the fake medium.

Hetty was reaching for Eudora when a memory of a previous occasion made her take a hasty step back.

Just as she did, a burst of magic exploded in front of Hetty.

“I see I got your answer!” Eudora’s hands were lit with flames as she stood. “Hand over the sapphire or I’ll burn this place down!”

Hetty looked for Benjy.

Their eyes met across the room, and he nodded at her, answering her silent request.

A dome appeared around Hetty and Eudora, placing them apart from the rest of the room.

“Think that’s going to stop me?” Eudora laughed.

“No,” Hetty spat. “That’s my job!”

She opened her hand, revealing the star sigil she hid. Sagittarius charged at the fake medium. With a swing of her bow, the centaur fired glittery arrows of stardust right at Eudora.

Eudora aimed her flames at the arrows. They overwhelmed the spell. But the arrows were only just a distraction.

A tap at the band of Hetty’s neck brought to life the rest of the magic left in her stitches. The Aquarius star sigil appeared and dumped a bucketful of water on Eudora. The water bearer winked right at Eudora even as a scorpion’s pincer shot through it, exploding the spell.

Scorpio lunged for Hetty, but while the spell was well crafted, it never had a chance. It ran headfirst into the wall of Hetty’s personal protective wards, every thread stitched into her clothing coming to light. Contained in the bubble around them, the light was even brighter, masking the quick work Hetty put in as she created and fired off a series of spells.

And when the light faded, Eudora was surrounded by a glittering menagerie of star sigils.

“Give up yet?” Hetty asked.

“Never!” Eudora’s hand slashed across Canis Major, disrupting the spell. “You will not take what’s rightfully mine! My father died for that treasure! I’ll pry it from your hands.”

“I have only that one,” Hetty said. “My husband has the rest. You’ll have to get through me to get to him, but that’s never going to happen.”

Eudora screamed. It echoed loud enough that Hetty’s concentration broke and the star sigils that surrounded Eudora faded—a bloodcurdling scream that showed the depths of the woman’s soul, of the sorrow, of the loss, and of the righteous anger. A scream that might have plucked at Hetty’s sympathy, if she forgot that not only had Eudora gotten someone to do her dirty work, but she’d hired someone that didn’t care who he killed as long as he got what he wanted.

Hetty dodged the first burst of magic flung at her, but the second she let bounce off her personal protections.

Rage overtook Eudora’s features then, and her magic became formless, erratic—and in the end, ineffective.

With ease, Hetty moved and ducked around Eudora’s attacks, until she got under Eudora’s guard.

A twist of Hetty’s wrist sent Eudora hovering in the air, then pressed her up against the curve of the dome. “Do you give up?” Hetty asked.

Eudora’s eyes burned with the hatred of a thousand flames. “You don’t listen, do you? No wonder you lose people in the end.”

“Don’t try that trick on me again. You’re not a real medium. No ghosts speak to you!”

“But I can see your past. There’s no trick in that. You lost people, and risk losing people all the time.”

“That’s life. People are here for a moment, passing through your life. It’s why it’s better to enjoy what time you get and worry about everything else later.”

“Such pithy phrases,” Eudora said, her hands twitching.

“Are you trying to distract me as you work a spell?” Hetty declared. “I’m Henrietta Rhodes, and I’m the best practitioner of magic you’ll ever meet!”

“I know. That’s why I’m taking you with me!”

The telltale glow was just enough for Hetty to react. She shoved Eudora away and flung herself backwards, moving as far away from Eudora as she could.

Hetty pounded just once on the dome before she fell through. Penelope and Darlene caught and pulled her out of the way as the dome resealed itself.

“Below,” Hetty gasped, but Benjy had already taken care of it.

Although a sheen of sweat shone on his forehead, Benjy cast another spell that turned the dome into a bubble, firmly encasing Eudora all around as it lifted her into the air.

Through the transparent shielding, Eudora’s enraged face disappeared in a pop of bright light.

The bubble shook and something spattered inside. But the bubble held.

“Someone get the door!” Benjy called.

Sy jumped into action, the light from his spells flinging the chairs strewn about out of his way as he ran for the nearest door.

Knowing that nothing else was needed from her, Hetty sank to the floor, panting as she caught her breath.

“You’re a fool, Henrietta Rhodes!” Darlene shook her. “Do you know that? You could have died!”

“I wouldn’t have,” Hetty gasped.

“Why are we friends with you,” Darlene bemoaned. “Why do we put up with this?”

“Because if we don’t, no one else will,” Penelope added rather grimly.

Hetty shooed them away, but her friends hugged her, squeezing her from both sides.

Hetty patted them both on the back, touched and a bit overwhelmed.

“Were you wearing a brooch earlier?” Penelope asked. She had let go of Hetty and pointed to a small hole in the collar of Hetty’s dress. Penelope frowned at it, clearly puzzled. As she should have been, since Hetty had slipped the brooch on when neither of her friends was looking.

“Was it the deadly butterfly?” Darlene whispered. “Did you use it on Eudora?”

Hetty looked at them both. “Do you really want that question answered?”

Darlene’s face said yes, but her mouth said no, and it was left at that.

Hetty got up off the floor and took stock of the room.

The only major damage in the room was within the circle where she and Eudora fought. It smoked with a bit of the magical aftereffects, but it could be fixed with ease, just like the wall that needed a splash of paint to cover the scraping from the chairs.

Most of the guests had fled, so it was only the people she knew that were still there. Some were explaining things to the curious, while some were tidying up. Horace Duval was nowhere in sight. Which was a good thing, because Hetty didn’t want to deal with him. Gabe Lewis was rubbing at the makeup that had altered his features to resemble Valentine Duval, looking rather pleased with himself, even as Oliver fussed at him for going off-script.

Sy slipped back into the room, and a few moments later, Benjy was there.

Hetty supposed there would be words about nearly getting herself blown up, but for now, he smiled at her, just happy to see their plan had come together in the end.

Then his smile faded and he quickly hurried to her side.

Hetty turned around and she was hardly surprised to see Bernice Tanner.

“I have learned never to play the odds with you, Mrs. Rhodes. Your plan worked.”

“I told you it would.”

“And I should have known. You’ve done the impossible before. Temperance,” Bernice said without looking back.

Temperance Murray, standing quietly in Bernice’s shadow, took a half step forward.

“Take Henrietta’s friends out of earshot. Distract them with conversation.”

Temperance barely blinked. “Miss Tanner. They’re right before you—”

“Temperance, I may be blind, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on. I know they’re right there. I just have no mood for pretense and veiled meanings.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Temperance inclined her head, and her gaze fell on Penelope. A smile made its way through Temperance’s stern, if indifferent expression. “I don’t believe we were introduced properly. Which one of you is a fan of baseball?”

“It’s my favorite sport in the world!” Penelope declared. She was on her feet, and half ushering Temperance away, blathering on about baseball facts that Hetty knew were wrong. Darlene followed after, shaking her head.

Benjy made it over to her by then, and he helped Hetty up. His arm remained wrapped around her shoulders, though whether to give support or to hold her back from striking the old woman was yet to be determined.

“I like to think I know everything in this town, but you two reminded me, that’s not always true,” Bernice said. “One question. How did you get her to come? A woman like Eudora Mason must have known better.”

“She probably did. But she didn’t hear all the stories about us,” Hetty said. “Somewhere along the line, she heard such tales that were less exciting, with several details changed. It’s why she set her sights on Darlene at first, before she realized her error far too late. Can’t imagine how that happened.”

“Neither can I,” Bernice said easily.

She tilted her head, and those dark lenses of hers seemed to dare them to ask.

The older woman had never apologized for the trials she put them through over the years. And Hetty might never forgive her for only giving empty promises. But this was a small step in the right direction.

“Greed brought Eudora here,” Benjy said. “We found the treasure.”

Bernice’s mouth opened slightly, and then lifted into a rather amused smile. “Well then, you must tell me how you managed to solve the cipher.”

“Emily Jacobs came to us.” Hetty relished in the not unsignificant amount of shock that passed over the woman’s face. It was a detail they worked hard to keep from Bernice and her rather efficient assistant. “The girl had knowledge of the key text that would unlock the cipher and a charm to help find the treasure. This is what people chased after Sarah Jacobs for, and Eudora must have guessed Emily had in her possession.”

“And what of the sapphires? Do you have them?” Bernice asked. “You could set yourself up rather prettily with those in your possession. Never have to worry about money again.”

“Now, why would we tell you what’s happened to them?” Hetty asked.

Bernice went quiet for a long moment, and then she laughed. The sound was so unexpectedly full of sheer delight that it drew some alarm from Hetty.

Bernice turned away, swinging her cane around. “May we meet under kinder stars. And may your next adventure be just as thrilling!”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Benjy whispered into Hetty’s ear. “She’s going to have another mystery for us to solve!”

Hetty watched Bernice move to speak with Cora and Jay. From the expressions of bemusement that passed between the trio, Hetty found herself viewing the prospects differently. “I wouldn’t worry. We can handle anything she throws at us!”