All day, Lou Lou had the distinct feeling that the unfortunate and mysterious events of the past few weeks were coming to a climax. It was Día de los Muertos, they had solved the riddle, and they were going to expose the culprit behind the Mural Mystery! She wasn’t sure how they were going to pull off the last part, but Lou Lou was confident she and Pea would figure it out.
Pea lived on the other side of El Corazón in a blue house with a big picture window and a cherry tree in the front yard. The Pearl residence was closer than the SS Lucky Alley to the start of the procession, so Lou Lou and Pea decided to get ready there. After school, Lou Lou stopped at home to pick up Pinky’s altar, the procession outfits, and flowers from her garden. On the drive to Pea’s, Lou Lou tied the flowers into a colorful crown.
She couldn’t wait to talk to Pea about the Mural Mystery, but when Lou Lou arrived, she remembered her Pearl-house niceties. Lou Lou removed her shoes, washed her hands, and said a polite hello to Silvia and Henry Pearl before she rushed to Pea’s room. Dos yowled at her from the end of the neatly made bed, but Lou Lou ignored him. As Lou Lou took their procession outfits from her bag, she explained her theory that Jeremy was Elmira’s partner in crime.
“They have to be working together, Pea. I think Elmira is in charge, but Jeremy is helping her with the evil deeds!”
“That’s possible,” Pea said.
“Elmira must have staged the candle shop robbery so we wouldn’t suspect her,” Lou Lou added. She had thought this through during Math. “Remember how none of the glass candleholders were broken? That’s because the shelves weren’t pushed over by a thief. Elmira did it herself and was careful not to damage anything!”
“No wonder she wanted to clean up the crime scene before the police came,” Pea said. “I just thought she was being tidy, but now I am sure she never actually reported the robbery since it wasn’t real!” After a moment, Pea added, “It’s sad that Elmira is a criminal. I always thought she was kind.”
“I know. Me too,” Lou Lou replied. “I still don’t think she has only mean bones in her body.” It was difficult to admit this about Pinky’s killer, but during Social Studies, Lou Lou had thought about all the nice things Elmira had done for them. Like how she’d given Lou Lou a Feliz Cumpleaños candle for her seventh birthday. Or brought Pea a Sanar candle to speed up the healing when she’d broken her arm. “But I guess we never saw all sides of the Candle Lady.”
“So what should we do next?” Pea asked as she changed into her colorful butterfly skirt and blue sweater.
“We definitely need to find evidence of her crimes so we can expose her!”
“Maybe we can even get Helado back for Rosa,” said Pea.
“Elmira always goes out during the procession to sell candles from her cart.” Lou Lou pulled on her flowered dress. “That would be a good time to sneak into the candle shop. Can you zip me up?”
“We will have to be careful,” said Pea. “She can’t know that we’re on to her before we can prove she is responsible. Otherwise she’ll try to cover everything up so no one believes us. Remember that’s what happened in the mystery we read during the summer? The jewel thief hid all the rubies and diamonds before the police came!”
Lou Lou nodded. “Let’s bring Pinky’s altar and start walking in the procession, at least until Twenty-Third Street.” As eager as she was to catch Elmira, she wanted some of the evening to be dedicated to Pinky’s memory. “Then we can make up an excuse to tell Magdalena and go to the candle shop.”
By now Lou Lou and Pea were dressed, so it was time to transform into skeletons. First, a wash of white makeup turned their faces to bones. Pea carefully colored her lips black and drew on dark eye sockets with the black liner, which made the blue of her eyes pop.
“Now do me,” Lou Lou said when Pea’s makeup was complete. “You’re so good and I always mess it up.” Pea used the liner to make Lou Lou’s face a mirror image of her own. They added the finishing touches to their Día de los Muertos outfits—Lou Lou’s hat, Pea’s parasol, and Pinky’s altar. Lou Lou handed Pea the flower crown she’d made.
“So you have something pretty for your hair,” Lou Lou said. Pea placed the crown on her head and smiled.
“¡Gracias, Lou Lou! It’s beautiful. You made it exactly the way I taught you!”
Lou Lou grabbed her satchel and her little green camera, which had been a tenth-birthday present. They went into the living room where Pea’s parents were reading.
“Oh my! Look at you two!” Henry exclaimed. He took a quick photograph with Lou Lou’s camera.
“Lou Lou, that is a beautiful way to honor Pinky’s memory.” Pea’s mother pointed at the altar. “¿Tienen hambre? I made fresh tamales for Día de los Muertos.” Lou Lou fidgeted. She loved Silvia’s tamales, but she was eager to get going.
“Gracias, Mamá, pero no tenemos tiempo,” Pea replied.
“I thought you might be in a hurry so I made you cucumber sandwiches just in case.” Silvia held out a paper bag, which Lou Lou put into her satchel.
“Thank you!” she said.
“De nada,” replied Silvia. “We will be watching the procession from the Padillas’ balcony with the Bombays, so call if you need anything.”
“Claro. Hasta luego,” Pea said to her parents, kissing each of them on the cheek.
“Yes, hasta luego!” Lou Lou chimed in.
When they opened the front door, Magdalena was already waiting on the porch. She wore a long dress and carried marigolds and a white candle. Magdalena flashed her gold-medal smile.
“¿Listas, chicas?” she asked.
Lou Lou took a deep breath. Her ears were already tingling.
“Ready,” she and Pea answered together.
