Chihuahua of the Baskervilles (22 page)

“Cool!” Suki said.

Ellen put a hand on Charlotte’s shoulder, as if to pull her away from Ivan. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s late, and Charlotte needs to sleep.”

Charlotte looked into Ivan’s dark eyes for a few more moments. Then she said, “Let’s do it. I’m too worried to sleep anyway.”

“I will prepare.” Ivan released her hands and rolled his shoulders.

“Take your time. I need to eat something.” Charlotte went down the hall and knocked on Cheri’s door. She waited a moment, head bent, before turning to go downstairs.

Ellen followed her, speaking urgently. “Charlotte, I really think that paying attention to this will make it go on that much longer.”

Charlotte shook her head impatiently as she started down the stairs.

“Ivan,” Angus said, as the Russian started toward his room. “Would you like us to film the séance and put it on our Web site? It would be good exposure for you—as well as practice for television.”

Ivan pursed his lips as he thought. “I will get ready and let you know.”

“What does it take to get ready?” Michael asked. “Making sure you have a tippy table and some clear fishing line?”

Ivan gave him a cold look. “It requires meditation. I will commune with wolf spirits.” He went into his room and closed the door.

“He’s good,” Angus said admiringly.

Suki turned toward the stairs. “The kitchen is pretty much the only place to have it. I’m going to scope out places I can put a tripod.”

They followed her downstairs and found Charlotte seated at the kitchen table while Ellen made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Ellen gave them an unfriendly look as she put the plate and a glass of milk in front of Charlotte. “I have to wonder if having magazine people in the house is the best idea. It’s as if whoever is behind this is showing off for them.”

Charlotte picked up the sandwich. “I saw Petey before they got here.”

“But things have gotten steadily worse.” Ellen fumbled the lid of the jelly jar as she tried to put it on. It fell to the floor with a small metallic clatter, and she made a frustrated noise.

Angus picked up the lid and put it in her outstretched palm. “We don’t want Charlotte to get hurt any more than you do.”

“Really? I’d think it would be good for business. Now that I think of it, maybe you people are behind the whole thing.” She gave the lid an angry twist and put the jar in the fridge.

“Ellen,” Charlotte chided, but Ellen left the kitchen without acknowledging her.

Angus turned to Charlotte. “If you think it would help, we’d be happy to go back to the motel.”

Charlotte shook her head as she swallowed a bite of sandwich. “I feel safer with you here.” She plucked a napkin from the jaws of a ceramic Chihuahua and dabbed at her mouth.

Angus pulled out the chair next to her and sat. “We weren’t much help this afternoon.”

Charlotte shuddered and took a gulp of milk. “I
hate
spiders. My brothers locked me in the basement once. I walked through a web in the dark and a big spider got on my face. Now it’s an actual phobia.”

“Who knows that?” Angus asked.

“I’m not sure. Thomas did, of course, and I told Ellen when she wanted to use fabric printed with spiders for a dog costume. I don’t talk about it, because people don’t understand real phobias. They think it’s all right to tease you.”

“Charlotte,” Angus said gently, “given how few people know about your fear, do you think it might be someone close to you who is behind all this?”

“I don’t know.” Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose, then let go and took a deep breath. “Anyway, it may have had nothing to do with my phobia. I’m sure there’s no shortage of people who are afraid of tarantulas. Poor Cheri certainly was. Which reminds me, have you seen her since you got back from the castle?”

“No,” Angus said. “Have you tried calling her?”

Charlotte nodded. “It went straight to voice mail. I’d call Jay, but she made it clear that they weren’t even speaking. Surely the police aren’t still talking to her.”

“She left before I did,” Suki said.

“I’ll tell you what,” Angus said, resting a hand on Charlotte’s shoulder. “We’ll take a quick walk down to the Happy Mountaineer and see if she’s there.”

“Would you? She and Jay went there all the time.”

“We’ll be back soon. Don’t let Ivan start without us.” Angus left the kitchen, followed by Michael and Suki.

“Hold on,” Michael said. “I want to get some fresh batteries for my recorder.” He started up the stairs, two at a time.

“And I think I left my coat up there,” Angus said. “We’ll be right back, Suki.”

Upstairs, Michael unplugged his battery charger from the wall. “I don’t know why we’re bothering with the Happy Mountaineer. Cheri’s probably over at Bob’s, getting hammered on strawberry schnapps.”

“I was just being diplomatic,” Angus said, taking his coat off the back of a chair. “We’ll check Bob’s first.”

Downstairs, they found Suki peeking through a gap in the curtain that covered the window of the front door.

“I heard a car pull up,” she said. “Take a look outside.”

Angus pulled the eyelet curtain to one side. Michael leaned in so he could see.

Jay’s Explorer sat at the curb in front of the house. As they watched, the headlights shut off, but no one got out.

“I can’t tell if there are two people in there or one,” Michael muttered. “Maybe he’s stalking her.”

Ivan’s voice, behind them, made them all jump. “What is outside?”

“Jay’s car,” Angus said. “We’re wondering if Cheri is in it.”

“Let us find out.” Ivan opened the front door.

The others followed him onto the porch. As they did, the front passenger door opened.

Cheri slid down from the seat, dressed in jeans and a jacket and holding a plastic bag. “Just shut up. I’m not doing it, and that’s final. See ya.” She slammed the car door and started down the sidewalk, but halted when she saw the group on the porch.

On the other side of the car, the driver’s door opened and closed. Jay stalked around the car. “Cheri, don’t be stupid.”

“Shhhhh!” she hissed at him, as Ivan strode down the sidewalk. To Ivan she said, “Grandma left me a message that she was home. Is she okay?”

Ivan crossed his arms. “Charlotte is as well as she can be when her family is not here to help her.”

Cheri put a hand on one hip. “Speaking of family, I don’t see where you get off scolding me, Ivan. You’re an employee.”

“Sometimes that is better than family.” Ivan drew himself up. “We are having séance tonight. I will contact Petey to ask who is responsible for the evil influence on this house. Charlotte would like you to be there.”

Jay put his hands in the pockets of his coat. “Can I come?”

“You’re not invited,” Cheri said, turning to glare at him.

Ivan studied Jay for a moment. “Yes, he is.”

The sound of footsteps pattering down the sidewalk made them all turn.

Bob Hume slowed to a walk when he saw everyone’s attention on him. “I was just out for a walk. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Ivan started toward the house.

Cheri’s mouth turned up in an evil smile. “We’re having a séance, Bob. Do you want to come?”

Ivan stopped, his back hunched.

“A séance? Wait…” Bob’s forehead wrinkled. “Charlotte didn’t die, did she?”

“No, she’s fine,” Cheri said. “Are you in?”

Bob bounced on the balls of his feet. “When is it?”

“Tonight. Come on.” Cheri linked her arm with Bob’s and walked with him toward the house.

Jay followed hard on their heels.

Angus looked at Suki and Michael. “This should be interesting.”

Twenty

As Suki had predicted, Ivan decided that the large kitchen table was the most logical place to hold the séance.

Michael squeezed a folding chair into the last remaining space. “It’s going to be a tight fit.”

“The vibrations will travel better.” Ivan, already dressed in black, hadn’t changed clothes. He had taken off his boots, saying that they interfered with spiritual impulses. Now he padded around the kitchen in his socks, looking short.

He straightened the last chair and nodded to Suki, who stood by the door to the hall. “You can bring them in now.”

Suki had changed and now wore a red velvet housecoat over her long black skirt and ruffled white blouse.

Michael trotted after her, leaning in and whispering as they went through the hall. “Did Ivan say you could take video?”

“No, but he’s okay with a still photo.”

“Huh. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t set up any props or tricks. He took his shoes off, so maybe he’s going to pop his toes to make noise, but other than that, I’ve been in there the whole time.”

“Except for now,” Suki pointed out, as they reached the door to the parlor.

“Shit.”
Michael darted back toward the kitchen.

Suki opened the door to the parlor.

Inside, Charlotte sat in her usual velvet chair, Ellen beside her. Bob sat next to Angus on the chaise, extolling the virtues of the açaí berry.

Cheri and Jay stood at windows set in different walls, looking outside. They glanced at each other, then looked quickly away.

“If you’ll all follow me.” Suki led the way through the hall and into the kitchen.

Ivan sat facing them as they filed in, his hands spread flat on the table. “Thank you for coming. Please quiet your thoughts as you sit.”

Suki ushered them to their places. “Charlotte, you’re here on Ivan’s right, I’ll be on his left.”

“I want to sit beside Ivan,” Michael said.

Ivan ignored him. “Angus, you sit beside Charlotte. Then Cheri,
then
Michael, Bob, Ellen, and Jay.”

Cheri scooted her chair up to the table. “I read about this. You sit boy-girl because of the energy or something.” She looked around. “Except, don’t we have one extra guy?”

“Trust me, it will not matter,” Ivan said, sneering at Bob. “And it is good that our number can be divided by three.”

Nine people made for a tight fit around the table. Suki was the last to take her place. Before she did, she put a camera on the kitchen counter and checked the viewfinder. Then she pushed a button and took her seat. “The timer’s on. Everyone hold hands and look mystical.”

As the red light blinked, they groped quickly for each other’s hands. Ivan closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

The flash went off, and Suki got up and checked her camera. “Thanks, Ivan.”

“You are welcome,” he said. “Switch off the light, please. It will be easier to see any spirits in the dark.”

“And harder to see how you make them appear,” Michael muttered.

“What was that, dear?” Charlotte asked.

“Nothing. Just repeating my spiritual mantra.” Michael held Bob’s hand loosely in his right hand. On his left, Cheri changed the position of her fingers yet again.

Despite Michael’s complaint, it wasn’t truly dark in the room. Light from a streetlight filtered in from the window behind Ivan, leaving his face completely in shadow but casting a dim light on most of the others.

Ivan waited until everyone’s fidgeting calmed before intoning, “We invite the spirit of Charlotte’s beloved Petey to enter our circle. All dogs are spiritual children of Anubis, god of the underworld. Anubis, please guide Petey’s spirit to us, so he can fight the shadow that torments his mistress.”

Angus looked at Suki across the table.
Good stuff,
he mouthed at her.

She lifted her brows and nodded.

For a while, nothing happened. Cheri fidgeted some more. Bob cleared his throat. Ellen shifted in her chair, kicked something, and muttered, “Sorry.”

Ivan began to rock back and forth. “I feel something,” he gasped, his accent becoming thicker. He panted, swaying faster and faster. Then he stopped.

The sudden silence was broken by the sound of a dog’s faint howl, ending in a yodel. It seemed to come from Ivan’s general direction, but his shadowed face betrayed no movement.

Seated next to Ivan, Charlotte gasped. “He’s here! I felt him nose my ankle!”

“Petey,” Ivan said, his voice calm, “Charlotte needs your help. Will you help her?”

Two enthusiastic yips, sounding faint and distant.

“Should I say something?” Charlotte whispered.

“Ask for the winning lotto number,” Michael suggested.

“Hush,” Angus said. “You might ask who was behind that spider trick.”

“Right,” Charlotte said. “Petey, who put the spider in the coffin with Cheri?”

Out of the dark came a series of whimpers and barks, now louder, now fading away, but all sounding somehow worried.

Ivan began to sway again. “He says … He says there is someone nearby who means you harm.”

In the dim light, faces turned and looked at each other, then looked away.

“How nearby?” Charlotte whispered.

“Close. Too close.” Ivan’s head lolled back and forth, his chin almost on his chest. “But do not lose hope. There is a man, from the east. He will … protect you. Keep you safe.”

“Why can’t he just say who it is?” Jay asked, from the other end of the table.

A doggy whine came in answer.

“Petey is afraid,” Ivan said.

“Of what?” Michael asked. “It’s not like he can get any deader.”

“He is afraid of what might happen to Charlotte.”

“What might happen if he tells who it is?” Charlotte asked.

A series of high excited barks, still faint, was the answer.

The refrigerator clicked on.

Ivan’s silhouetted head tilted to one side. “What? I can’t hear you.” He turned this way and that, as if searching. “The refrigerator—the electric field is interrupting my contact.”

Jay scooted his chair back slightly. “I could pull it out from the wall and unplug it, but we’d have to turn on the light.”

“Petey?” Ivan groaned. “Where are you, Petey?”

“Turn the thermostat down and it should click off,” Angus whispered. “Cheri, you’re closest.”

Cheri’s chair was jammed between Michael and Angus. She scooted out enough to get her legs over the side of her seat and stand. “Where’s the thermostat?” she asked, opening the fridge door. Cold white light illuminated the room.