The Bloodwater Mysteries: Skullduggery (8 page)

“He said—ouch!” Roni whirled on Brian, who had just slapped her on the butt. “What was that for?”

“Mosquito,” said Brian.

“Did you see anything
interesting
while you were in the cave?” Jillian asked.

Roni said, “There was a—yow! Cut it out!”

“Another mosquito,” Brian said. He turned to Jillian. “It was really dark in the cave, and Dr. Dart wasn't making much sense. We came back to take another look inside, but I guess that's out, now that the entrance is sealed up.” He gave Jillian a suspicious look. “What do you know about it?”

Jillian shook her head. “Andrew's head injury has him a bit confused,” she said. “But I know he was searching the area for Native American artifacts. I wondered whether he had found anything, so I thought I'd survey the area. So far, I haven't seen anything of interest.” She looked up at the bluff. “Why would anyone seal off a cave?”

“To keep people out,” said Brian. “And by the way, did you know that you're knee deep in a patch of poison ivy?”

“She seems kind of upset,” Brian said as they watched Jillian gallop off toward the river.

“I don't blame her,” said Roni, thinking of her own calamine-lotioned legs. “Maybe if she washes up quick, she'll be okay. Fels Naptha is supposed to be the best.” She pulled a bar of soap out of her backpack, then tucked it back in. “Now I don't go anywhere without it.”

They started walking up to the road.

“I wonder what she—ow!” Brian ducked away from Roni, who had just slapped him on the back of the neck.

“Mosquito,” said Roni, lifting one eyebrow. “They seem to be everywhere.”

“I just did that so you wouldn't spill the beans!” Brian said.

“What beans? You heard her—she
knows
Dr. Dart. She called him Andrew. And you scared her off. She might be the only person in town who's on our side.”

“Yeah, but Dr. Dart warned me about her. He said, ‘Don't tell Jillian.' ”

“You didn't tell me that.”

“I forgot. Who knows, she might be the one who blew up the cave.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Seriously—she said she was down by the river, but I saw someone wearing red running down the coulee. She could have planted a bomb in the cave, then run back down the coulee to watch it blow up from below.”

“But why would she do that?”

“Who knows? Maybe she's a psychotic-likes-to-blow-things-up woman. Or maybe she's secretly working for the developers to keep anybody from finding the skeleton. She might even have been the one who attacked Dr. Dart!”

“I thought you didn't believe he was really attacked.”

“I'm keeping my options open. The bottom line is that
somebody
wanted to seal off that cave, and she just happened to be here. That's kind of a huge coincidence, don't you think?”

“
We
just happened to be here, and
we
didn't blow it up,” Roni pointed out.

“Yeah, but I don't believe in coincidences. Everything is connected.” Brian slapped himself hard on the forehead.

“What?” said Roni. “Did you think of something?”

“No. That was a real mosquito. Let's get out of here.”

“Okay. I think it's time for a sugar boost. Something to charge up our brain cells.”

“Bratten's or DQ?”

“Your call.”

 

Brian changed his mind about six times on the way downtown. Ice cream or donuts? He wished there was a good place where he could get both. A scoop of chocolate ice cream served on a glazed donut. With sprinkles.

They ended up at Bratten's Café and Bakery, where Roni ordered her usual: three chocolate-glazed French donuts.

“You never get anything else,” Brian noted.

“Why attempt to improve upon perfection?” Roni asked as she took a bite from her second French donut.

Brian was working on a bear claw. He had already wolfed down an apple turnover. “So what's the plan, Stan?”

“If you call me Stan again, I'm gonna smoosh this donut in your face.”

Brian opened his mouth wide, inviting her to do so.

Roni laughed. “Not a chance, my dear Watson.” She finished her donut, then took out her notebook and pen. “The plan is this: we find out who blew up the cave, and what really happened to Dr. Dart, and then we stop the condo development.”

Brian was impressed. “You think big,” he said.

“If my guess is correct, all three things are connected. Who benefits the most from having that cave sealed off?”

“Bloodwater Development?”

“Exactly! Fred Bloodwater wants his bulldozers to start tearing up Indian Bluff this Friday. If we could have taken some pictures in the cave, the college might have refused to finalize the sale until they investigated the site, and his project would be delayed. Or maybe even canceled.”

She wrote in her notebook. Brian, who had trained himself to read upside down, read:
Suspect #1: Fred Bloodwater.

Roni said, “Fred Bloodwater might also be behind the attack on Dr. Dart.”

“Don't forget Jillian Greystone.”

“She didn't seem like the mad bomber type.”

“What type is that?”

“Well . . . like
you.
”

“I never bombed anything!”

“You stink-bombed the school last year!”

“That was an accident!”

Roni laughed and bit into her last donut.

Brian said, “Anyway, I think we should check her out. She could be secretly working for the developers. Until we find out differently, she should go on the list of suspects.”

Roni brushed donut crumbs from her notebook and wrote down
Jillian Greystone.
“Who else?” she asked, pen poised.

“Eric Bloodwater,” Brian said.

“Eric?” Roni's voice rose three octaves. “Why?”

“Because he knows where the cave is, and he's his father's son. And don't forget, during the field trip he ditched Gennifer and disappeared. He could have attacked Dr. Dart, too. Also, he's a Bloodwater, if you know what I mean.”

“You're prejudiced against Bloodwaters?”

“Everybody knows all the Bloodwaters were nuts. Like the last ones to live there. Crazy Farley Bloodwater tried to kill his brother Zeb, then disappeared, and then Zeb built a pair of wings and tried to fly off Barn Bluff. My dad knew them, you know.”

“He did?”

“He was their newspaper boy. They still owe him two dollars.”

“What's that got to do with Eric?” Roni asked.

Brian sighed. Most of the time Roni was one of the smartest people he knew, but when it came to good-looking boys, she could be as dense as lead.

“Look, I know you're in love with him, but that doesn't—”

“I am NOT in love with him,” Roni interrupted, squinting her eyes dangerously.

“Whatever, I just think we should keep an eye on him.”

Roni said, “I'm sure he didn't—”

“What is with you?” Brian interrupted. “I thought you were a turn-over-every-stone-to-uncover-the-truth investigative reporter. Just because you like Eric doesn't mean we can't investigate him!”

Roni sat back. For a few seconds, Brian thought she was going to launch herself across the table and strangle him, but slowly her expression changed. She shrugged and gave him a half smile.

“You're right,” she said, adding Eric's name to the list.

Brian practically fell off his chair. He was right? Roni Delicata was telling him he was right? Was he dreaming?

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“That explosion concussed me, I think.”

“I'm the one who fell off the rock.”

“I was closer to the shock wave.”

“That would be a good name for a band—Shock Wave.”

“Back to the digging, Watson.” She tapped her notebook. “We should try to talk to Professor Dart again. And investigate the Bloodwaters. And find out who Jillian Greystone is.”

Brian looked at his watch. “Class doesn't start for another couple of hours. Let's go to the hospital and see if Dr. Dart is making any sense today.”

Roni said, “I've got a better idea. Why don't
you
go see Dr. Dart, and
I'll
investigate the Bloodwaters.”

Seeing the expression on her face Brian thought, Uh-oh.

Riding up Riverview Terrace on Hillary, Roni was relieved not to have Brian Bain clinging to her backpack. Much as she liked him, the kid could be a real pain in the butt. All that stuff about her being in love with Eric Bloodwater . . . ridiculous!

Let Brian listen to Dr. Dart's senseless babbling. Roni would go straight to the heart of the matter. She pulled over to the curb and looked up at the mansion known as Bloodwater House.

Bloodwater House was the biggest home in Bloodwater, and one of the oldest. It had been built in the 1890s by James J. Bloodwater, the son of Zebulon J. Bloodwater, who had founded the town back in 1867. Built entirely of native limestone, Bloodwater House had four enormous pillars on either side of the front door. There were more than thirty rooms inside. The house was completely surrounded by a ten-foot-tall wrought iron fence. Each vertical bar was topped by a large iron spear point.

Roni shuddered. Bloodwater House held some very scary memories for her. It was there that she and Brian had solved the mystery of the Alicia Camden kidnapping. Alicia and her parents were gone now, but the sight of the house still sent a chill up her spine. Everyone who had ever lived there had come to a bad end, and now, for the first time in half a century, the home was once again occupied by Bloodwaters.

Roni walked up to the front gate and rang the bell. A few seconds later the front door opened and two identical blackhaired heads looked out at her, blinking blue eyes. The two boys stared at her for several heartbeats, then pushed the heavy door all the way open and ran down the walk to the gate.

“Who are you?” they asked with one voice.

Roni smiled down at the two boys, obviously twins. “My name's Roni,” she said. “Is Eric home?”

“Eric is our brother,” said one of the twins. They looked to be about seven years old.

“I thought so,” said Roni. “What are your names?”

“SamOwen,” said the twins. She couldn't tell which boy had said which name.

“Okay, SamOwen, is your brother home?”

One of the twins unlatched the gate, and both of them tore back down the walk to the house and disappeared inside, leaving the door open. Roni walked up to the house and looked in through the door. The twins had disappeared.

She stepped into the cavernous marble foyer. The house smelled like moist stone and old dust. “Hello?” she said.

“Bet you can't find us!” A voice echoed down the hall.

Kids, Roni thought. Brian would fit right in here.

She crossed the foyer and entered a long hallway. Most of the doors lining the hall were open.

“Hello?” she called out. Her voice sounded small. She moved deeper into the house, peeking into each doorway as she passed. Most of the rooms were empty—not even a stick of furniture. She supposed that it would cost a fortune to furnish a house of this size.

She raised her voice. “Eric!”

She heard laughter that seemed to come from inside the walls.

Roni continued through the house and eventually reached a large room with windows from floor to ceiling. Several dozen potted plants were clustered near the windows, which overlooked the five-sided swimming pool in the backyard. Roni had once fallen into that pool. She shivered, remembering the cold water closing over her head. But now the pool was dry, its sides green with dry algae.

“Hey.”

Roni whirled, startled by the voice. It was Eric.

“How'd you get in?” Eric asked. He was dressed in baggy shorts and a red tank top. His hair was tousled and off-center, as if he'd just awakened from a nap.

“Your brothers let me in,” Roni said.

“They're not supposed to do that,” Eric said.

“Oh. Sorry. I didn't know. Are you babysitting?”

“Not really. My mom's upstairs taking a nap. What are you doing here?”

“I . . . um . . .” Roni realized that she hadn't quite thought out a good excuse for her visit. “I'm writing an article on Bloodwater House. You know, about how the Bloodwater family is taking over the old homestead?”

“Oh. Cool. You should probably talk to my dad. He's all interested in history and stuff. But he's not home.”

“Actually I was hoping I could talk to you. Get the youth perspective.”

“Oh.” Eric shrugged. “It's like living in an airplane hangar. I mean, these ceilings are thirty feet high. We have birds in the house.”

Right on cue, a chittering sparrow flew over their heads and landed on one of the plants.

“Have you ever been in here before?” Eric asked.

“Just once,” Roni said. “I got lost.”

“Yeah, that can happen here. You want a tour?”

“Sure.”

As Eric walked her through the house, Roni asked him questions about the architecture and about Bloodwater family history. He didn't seem to know much, so she decided to enlighten him.

“Hasn't anybody told you about the Bloodwater Curse?” she asked.

Eric gave her a confused look.

“What curse?”