Chapter 45

A week later, Audrey Hudson received an anonymous note, penned in old-fashioned feminine handwriting.

Dear Audrey,

I regret that you cannot write an article about the true nature of the Algonquin guest book, which now resides in a sealed case at the hotel. However, there is another book with similar powers. It is on the top shelf of a tall curio cabinet in a home in Queens, New York (address below). I urge you to ask the owner, Edie Coates, to allow you access to it.

Do note that Miss Coates may be hesitant to let you take it from her home. However, once the book is closed, she will gladly hand it over. I promise you this.

Audrey had a pretty good idea that Dorothy Parker had written the note. Or maybe it was someone pretending to be Dorothy Parker. In any case, it seemed like some kind of trick, so she crumpled it in a ball and threw it away. Later that day, she thought better of it, removed it from the trash, and smoothed it on her coffee table, where it remained all week while she graded the final papers of her Columbia students. At least once a day she looked up from her work to ask Jim Beam, “What do you think I should do about this, boy?” He never had much of a response.

After turning in the students’ grades, Audrey realized she had no freelance work on the horizon and a whole summer stretching before her. She decided the anonymous lead was worth the risk, and took a subway to the address in Forest Hills.

The woman who answered the door was oddly dressed in a teal bell-bottomed jumpsuit that was much too tight. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“Are you Edie Coates?”

“Who wants to know?”

Audrey introduced herself as a freelance reporter who was researching a story. “I understand you own a book of signatures that might have paranormal powers.”

“I gave that back to the other lady. I don’t want anything to do with that Algonquin book. I hate ghosts. Hate them.”

“I understand,” Audrey said. “But I’m not here about the Algonquin guest book. I’m here about a second volume—one that’s in your house.”

“Really?” Edie Coates furrowed her brow. “There’s a second book?”

“You haven’t seen it?”

“I don’t think so, but there’s so much stuff in this house it’s hard to know what I have.”

“Do you mind if I come in and have a look? I promise I won’t take long.”

Edie hesitated for a second and then shrugged. “Why not,” she said. “I’m kind of curious myself.”

She led Audrey from the dark entryway into a strange living room that was packed with oddities. Audrey glanced around until she spotted a large piece of furniture that could be described as a tall curio cabinet.

She approached it and stood on her toes. “Do you know what’s on the top shelf?” she asked.

Edie stepped back to see if she could get a look. “Hang on,” she said, and scraped over a rickety, cane-bottom chair.

“You’re not going to stand on that, are you?” Audrey asked.

“It’ll be fine,” Edie said, and Audrey wasn’t so sure. She held the chair in place as Edie climbed up on it.

“Careful,” she warned as the dry old caning creaked under the stress.

“I’ll be a son of a gun,” Edie said. She pulled a book from the shelf and the seat gave out at the same time. Her foot went right through it, and the chair tumbled over, taking Edie and Audrey along with it. They both landed on their bottoms.

“Are you okay?” Audrey asked.

“I think so,” said Edie. Her foot was still in the broken chair and she pulled it out. “How about you?”

Audrey wondered if she should tell Edie that the seat of her jumpsuit had ripped wide open, but something else caught her eye—the book had landed right next to her. Audrey picked it up and flipped through the scant pages, which bore only one signature.

“Who’s Gavin Coates?” she asked.

Edie looked terrified. “My brother. Why?”

Remembering the specific instructions in the letter, she slammed the book closed. At that moment, a colorful silk kimono seemed to appear out of nowhere, hovering overhead. They watched as the satin floated gracefully toward the floor. When it landed, Edie gasped and got to her feet. She lifted the kimono and looked under it.

“He’s gone!” she said. Then she laughed and laughed. She helped Audrey up and hugged her.

“What did I do?” Audrey asked.

Edie smiled, crying. “You saved me.”