I jammed my hands in my coat pockets. “You said you weren’t going to threaten to throw me in jail anymore.”
“Yeah, well, that was before you threatened my teeth.”
Cornelius caught his Russian Cossack hat as the wind tried to snatch it away and pulled it down tighter. “I’m hungry. Did anyone bring a protein bar with them?”
I dug one out of my purse and handed it over to Cornelius. At the raised brows from the other three, I shrugged. “I’m a mom. I grabbed some snacks.”
Doc caught my arm, tugging me toward the front porch. “Come on, Killer. We might as well see why Prudence called this meeting.”
As we climbed the steps, I glanced back at Cooper. “Natalie is with the kids.”
“I know.”
“Did Zelda tell you that, too?” I joked, noticing the curtain in the living room window move.
“No.” He copied me, burying his hands in his coat pockets. “Natalie did.”
“Is she staying with you tonight?”
He scowled. “What is this, Parker? An interrogation?”
“Maybe. Is she?”
“That’s none of your damned business.”
“Fine, I’ll just ask her later.”
The five of us stood on the porch, nobody making a move to ring the doorbell.
“What is that thing?” Cooper asked, looking at Doc’s hand.
Doc held up the wrapped mirror. “It’s the mirror from Zoe’s workshop. We’re trying to find out if this will help Violet catch the lidérc.”
“Why would a mirror help?”
“If it’s a magic mirror,” Cornelius said, “it could be used to trap an entity.” He stroked his goatee. “The problem is it might trap the wrong entity.”
Harvey snorted. “I knew this hippie girl years back who said the same thing about doors. She’d get real skittish if you pulled your fishing pole out to—”
“Harvey,” I interrupted.
“What? I was going to say go to the bathroom while the door was shut. It made things sort of awkward, if you get my gist. I know some folks are into golden showers, but—”
“And on that note,” I butted in again, “let’s do this.” I opened the screen door and reached for the doorbell.
Zelda beat me to the punch, opening the door. Thankfully, her eyes were their usual green selves at the moment.
“Hello, Violet. Your eye is looking better already.” She tightened her long gray sweater around her as the wind swirled around us. “I hope you didn’t mind me calling in Detective Cooper. Prudence insisted he join us, too, along with your friend, the Collector, but he has to leave his followers outside.” She must be referring to the ghost “pests” Prudence had complained about before.
Zelda’s gaze passed over the others, widening when she saw Doc. “Oh! Who is this? Prudence didn’t mention a fifth for this morning.”
“This is my boyfriend, Doc.” I patted his arm. “He’s a medium. Prudence met him a couple of times back before you bought the place. I hope you don’t mind me bringing him, but I needed him along to help.”
“Your boyfriend is a medium? How interesting.” She smiled up at Doc. “How long have you been able to interact with the dead?”
“All of my life.”
“How exciting!” She clapped her hands together.
Doc and I exchanged wry glances. Funny, I’d had the exact opposite reaction to that bit of news the first time Doc had shared it with me.
“I would love to pick your brain sometime,” Zelda continued, stepping back to make way for us. “Come in, all of you.” As we filed inside, she added, “I hope you’re hungry. When I found out that Violet and Mr. Harvey would be coming, I threw together some honeybuns. They’re just out of the oven, but should be cool enough to eat shortly.”
“Well, I should smile.” Harvey rubbed his belly. “I’m hungry enough to eat a bear with the hair still on it.”
I frowned back at him. “We just ate, Harvey,” I whispered, although the smell of fresh baked honeybuns was making me drool a little.
“So what,” he whispered back. “I get hungry when I’m nervous, and Zelda knows her way around the kitchen.” He shook one of his legs. “There, now I have room for more.”
“Where is your phantom friend?” Cornelius asked Zelda while shrugging off his coat. He eyed the other end of the foyer warily as she led the way into the living room. I had a feeling he was remembering what happened involving Zelda the scarecrow last time we’d been here.
“Oh, she’s around,” Zelda said, light and airy, as if Prudence didn’t like to slam people against doors, give them black eyes, and threaten to tear out their canine teeth on a semi-regular basis.
Doc handed me the mirror and then ushered me in front while Cooper closed the front door behind him and brought up the rear. I didn’t really want to sit anywhere too close to anyone after my past bruisings, so I walked over to stand by the window that overlooked the Open Cut. Harvey and Cornelius took the couch, while Cooper stood wide-legged over by the window that looked out onto the porch. Doc moved to the fireplace, warming his hands above the flames.
“You all make yourself comfortable while I bring the honeybuns and some plates and napkins.” As she walked toward the kitchen, she said over her shoulder, “I’ll bring some warm milk, too. Prudence says that Mr. Harvey prefers it with his honeybuns.”
“I’d like some, too,” Cornelius called while the rest of us turned to stare at Harvey.
Harvey grimaced, holding up both hands. “She’s right. My mama always gave me warm milk with sweets.”
“How does she know that, though?” Cooper asked.
I thought about things I’d experienced in this very room in the past. “Were you thinking about warm milk before Zelda said anything about the honeybuns?”
Harvey pursed his lips, scratching his beard. “No, I was thinking about Bessie.”
“Your shotgun?” Doc asked.
“Yep. I was wishing I’d brought her along.”
I growled at him, including his nephew in my scowl. “You two and your firearms. I swear, one of these days I’m going
