Skull Screw Up: A Halloween Helper's Cozy Mystery Page 14

She continued to drone on until she felt a tug on the back of her shirt. At first, Vinnie thought maybe a breeze had just ruffled it, but then she felt it again and realized that it was a sign. She called for another water break and before she could even take a sip of water, Diggy dropped an information bomb on her.

  "Wayne is glowing the same color as my orange."

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Vinnie's mind was racing, trying to fit all of the clues together in a way that made sense. If the orange specks were Wayne, then he had definitely been in the ceremony room and all the way at the front of the room where Bram's body had been found. But what about the clasp? The clasp was gone from Tucker's cape, so how did that factor in? And where was the skull?

  She swept her eyes across the room, trying to look at Wayne without actually looking at him. He seemed nervous. Maybe he realized that the trap was closing in on him and he didn't have much time left. He was nervously drumming his fingers on his legs, swaying back and forth. All around him, people were chatting, but any time someone tried to talk to him, he seemed to only grunt in return. The one thing that made Vinnie nervous was that he seemed to be slowly moving towards the door.

  "I have a quick announcement," Vinnie said. "Which is just to say that Bram's killer is in this room. He is here with us."

  The room seemed to almost roar with whispers. Now they knew that the killer was male so they were all trying to make a guess about who it was. Vinnie was still trying to watch Wayne without looking at him when she realized that he was staring right at her.

  The strange, halfway handsome vampire was studying her face to see if she was going to mention him by name. Wayne was slowly inching towards the door, slow enough that he wasn't raising any suspicion from the people around him. Even Tucker hadn't noticed that Wayne was slowly slipping away.

  But one person had. Thistle was slowly making her way around the perimeter of the library, coming from the opposite direction from where Wayne was looking. Thistle was moving in between all of the vampires, beautiful enough that she looked like she was one of them.

  Just as Thistle was within reach, Wayne sensed her and snapped his head in her direction, baring his fangs at her before he turned to run out of the door. Thistle hesitated, not wanting to rile up a vampire.

  "Tucker, stop him," Vinnie cried, pointing at Wayne.

  Tucker was the only one Vinnie could think of to stop the strange vampire because not only was Tucker the de-facto leader, but he was the other suspect. If he had a hold of Wayne, then maybe neither of them could go anywhere. Not that anyone could actually leave the house. But the last thing they needed was for this to turn into some strange race around the house.

  Wayne was about to run out the door when Tucker caught him by the arm and muscled him up to the front of the room where Vinnie had been speaking from. Tucker seemed like he wasn't exactly sure why he had been asked to bring Wayne up to the front of the room, but Wayne's sneer told Vinnie that he was definitely the murderer. Now they needed to get to the bottom of how and why he did what he did.

  "Everyone quiet down," Tucker said. "We need Wayne to tell us everything."

  The vampires did as Tucker said and they quieted down, but not without throwing confused glances at each other. Vinnie got the feeling that out of all of the guesses for who killed Bram, no one had guessed it was Wayne. In fact, some of the vampires didn't even seem to hardly recognize him.

  "Wayne, tell us why you murdered Bram," Tucker said.

  "I...I...I didn't?" Wayne stuttered.

  Tucker's glare intensified and Wayne cowered from him. Vinnie wasn't sure if she should do something about it or let Tucker handle things. It wasn't like Vinnie could do anything different to make him talk.

  "Tell us the truth," Tucker said.

  Wayne clamped his mouth shut, determined to not say a word that would incriminate him. He seemed to have dropped the whole "used car saleman" confidence act that he had been pulling earlier. Vinnie decided she needed to do something.

  "Okay Wayne, I've been giving a long drawn out explanation about the investigation, but here is the biggest bit of proof: your magical impression was found next to Bram's body," Vinnie said. "And yours was the only one found there."

  "What?" Wayne asked. "What is a magical impression?"

  "Every paranormal creature gives off a magical impression that we can pick up with our Magical Impression Sensor," Vinnie said, gesturing to the helmet that Diggy was now holding. "All of you leave behind traces of your paranormal self and we can follow them to figure out where you've been. In the ceremony room, we only found a few traces. It showed that both Francine and Tucker had visited, but they had both only come halfway into the room. Your magical impression was the only one that we found next to the body."

  "Is that what you were measuring with that stupid helmet?" Wayne said. "Well then maybe you got it wrong. I didn't do it."

  "Don't make me cast a truth-telling spell on you," Thistle said. "Because I'm ready and willing to case it right now."

  Wayne looked nervously at Thistle, who had her hands on her hips, staring him down and daring him to call her bluff. He was shifting his weight from side to side, swaying back and forth while everyone else stood still and watched him. If this wasn't the behavior of a guilty man, Vinnie didn't know what was.

  If Wayne wasn't going to confess, Vinnie wasn't sure what she was going to do. The other evidence either didn't link to him or didn't make much sense. Without a confession, Vinnie would have to do a bit more detective work. But now she had publicly outed Wayne, so hopefully he would realize he was caught and do the right thing.

  "Tell the truth," Tucker hissed. "It will be better for you in the long run."

  "Okay fine, I did it," Wayne said. "I didn't really mean to, but I can't really say it was an accident. I was just tired of Bram bossing us all around and telling us when to use the skull. Look at me! I obviously need to use it a bit more frequently than once a month. I don't even look handsome enough to be a vampire!"

  There were a few coughs from the audience that seemed more like they were covering snickers of laughter instead of being real illnesses. Most of the audience was glaring daggers at Wayne. It was becoming apparent that while Bram was not a great leader and he needed to work on how he got along with others, killing a fellow vampire was not the answer most of the vampires had been going for.

  "When I heard that the skull was missing, I was so mad," Wayne said. "I've been talking with Bram for a while about using the skull more frequently because I am a special case. When I was bitten and became a vampire, I was a little excited just because I know that vampires are supposed to be super cool and handsome except nothing happened to improve my looks. It didn't help that Bram was being so stingy with it. So when it went missing, I was not happy with Bram."

  Vinnie wondered why Wayne's looks were so different. Every single other vampire in this room, both male and female, looked like they had just walked off of a magazine cover while Wayne resembled a cute guy that delivered chips at the grocery store. Wayne was a regular sort of approachable handsome while the others were visions of artistic beauty.

  "Anyway after the witches came and we were all supposed to come in here, I saw Bram leave so I snuck out after him to confront him about the skull," Wayne said. "He was acting all shifty and I was guessing that he had hidden the skull for some reason. But before I could confront him, first Francine and then Tucker both went into the ceremony room and did it first. I hid behind one of the pillars in the entrance hall, but they were both so mad that they didn't even realize I was there."

  Wayne seemed to be a bit more comfortable now. He had stopped swaying back and forth, even though he still looked nervous. He cleared his throat and continued his story for the rapt audience of vampires. One of the best skills a vampire had when they converted was the ability to be silent and if Vinnie had her eyes shut, she could only have guessed that three people were in the room. Somehow she, Thistle, and Diggy made way more noise than the tw
enty or so vampires in the room.

  "When I went in, Bram had this stupid smile on his face," Wayne said. "It was like he was happy with what was going on. He didn't care that people were upset about the skull. He just liked having control over us and making us squirm. So I told him all of the things I'd been thinking. I called him names and told him exactly what we all thought of him. Bram just laughed. He said 'People only feel that strongly about good leaders.' I wasn't sure what to do, so I grabbed the wooden stake."

  The air in the room seemed to move in one collective gasp shared by witches and vampires alike. Even though everyone knew that was how Bram had been killed, it was different hearing it from the person who had done it.

  "I told him that he needed to tell me where the skull was," Wayne said. "He laughed and said 'do you really think that an ugly vampire like you can overpower me? Your lack of looks probably means you're weak too.' I showed him how wrong he was. While I am not a looker, I did gain more than enough strength to overpower almost any other vampire in this room. I grabbed him in a chokehold and showed him how I was going to stab him, but I told him I'd let him go if he told me where the skull was."

  Vinnie was rapt, so invested in the story that she found she was digging her nails into the palms of her hands. Was Wayne going to tell them where the skull was too? She tried to hold her breath as she listened.

  "I let him go enough so that he could talk and he told me that it was just up in his apartment," Wayne said. "He said that he'd basically just hidden it on his body while they searched his room and then rehid it once they left. He told me I should rush up there and get it so that maybe I could start adding to my looks today because my ugly face needed some work. So I stabbed him."

  For what seemed like a very long time, nobody moved a muscle. That was nothing new for the vampires, but even the witches stood still while they thought about how Bram had died. Wayne had told him that he would let him go, but after Bram upheld his end of the deal, Wayne betrayed him. No one deserved that.

  Wayne had been lost in the story while he was telling it, a fire in his eyes as he replayed the confrontation for them. But now that fire was slowly extinguishing as he saw the confusion and hurt on everyone's faces. It was one thing to hate the leader, but it was definitely another to kill him.

  "Wayne, what happened to the clasp of Tucker's cloak?" Vinnie asked, hoping she was right about this connection.

  "When Bram and I got into the fight, he ended up grabbing my clasp and ripping it off," Wayne said. "After I stabbed him, I panicked and forgot to grab it out of his hands, but I knew I had one other thing I could do about it. Tucker and I happen to have the exact same clasp and since I already knew he would be a suspect, I snuck in and took it from his cloak. I live next door, so it wasn't hard to know when he was going out."

  Tucker's face darkened and for a minute, Vinnie worried that he was about to pound Wayne into the ground. Obviously he was the only vampire that could overpower Wayne and judging by the way he was clenching his fists, he wanted to show that off right now. Instead, he took a step back and spoke instead.

  "What you did was wrong," Tucker said. "But I'm not going to retaliate. Instead, I'm doing what's right and letting the authorities take care of you. If you didn't like all of the rules here, you definitely aren't going to like all of the rules in prison."

  The crowd burst out in a strange, disjointed attempt at applause, like they weren't sure if it was appropriate for them to applaud but they wanted to show support for Tucker. It was pretty obvious that he would be taking over as the new leader.

  But there was still one more thing that Vinnie needed to know. Where was the skull?

  Chapter Thirty

  Whispers started up around the room as people expressed their surprise at everything that had been revealed in the library so far today. Vinnie wanted to whisper right along with them, but while she had solved the murder, she still hadn't solved the original mystery she was here for: where was the skull?

  "Wayne, you haven't told us everything," Vinnie said loudly, hoping to quiet everyone down.

  It worked. The vampires quickly became quiet again, eager to hear more. This was a real life murder mystery playing out in front of them and they were playing the part of a rapt audience very well.

  "Where is the skull, Wayne?" Vinnie asked.

  "Hidden," Wayne said.

  His jaw stuck out defiantly, like he was determined not to reveal the location to anyone. If he couldn't use it, no one could. Vinnie glanced at Tucker, who did not look pleased about these shenanigans.

  "You know where it is and it isn't yours," Vinnie said. "Tell us where you hid it."

  "Why should I?" Wayne shouted. "So that all of you can use it all you want and I can't even though I went through the hard work of getting rid of Bram for all of us? No way."

  "The skull is an ancient artifact that will be treated with respect," Tucker said through clenched teeth. "It will not be used willy-nilly just because you decided to murder the vampire in charge of taking care of it."

  Wayne looked around the room, trying to judge if he had any supporters in the audience. There was a hopeful look deep in his eyes as he studied each face. But no one was leaping to his defense. He was being met with contempt from every single other person in the room. His face fell. It was as if he had just realized that murdering someone was not the best course of action to get what he wanted.

  "Fine, I'll show you where it is," Wayne said. "On one condition."

  "And that is?" Vinnie asked.

  "That I get to use it once more before I go to prison," Wayne said. "I think it's only fair since I will be giving it back and never getting to use it again."

  Vinnie looked at Tucker. Even though she was a Halloween Helper who had been brought in to find the skull, this was definitely not her call to make. Tucker seemed to be weighing it back and forth in his mind before he gave his answer.

  "Fine, you may use it," Tucker said. "Now show us what you did with it."

  Wayne's face lit up with a large smile. Finally, he was getting what he wanted. He had only had to murder someone and then cover it up to be able to do that.

  Tucker took hold of Wayne's arm and let him lead the way, followed closely by the witches, and then all of the rest of the vampires. Halfway up the staircase, Tucker stopped and turned.

  "Vampires, please stay here in the entrance hall," he said.

  Dutifully, all of the vampires stopped and waited. They seemed much more likely to follow directions from Tucker than they had for Bram. Tucker might not be the best person, but he seemed to be the best one for the job. The smaller group made it all the way up to the door of Wayne's apartment. He gestured towards the door.

  "It's in there," he said. "Where else did you think it would be?"

  "But we checked in there," Diggy said. "Twice."

  "Well obviously I moved it each time to make sure you wouldn't find it," Wayne said. "But the spot it is in now is a great one."

  Tucker let go of Wayne's arm. There was only one door in and out of the apartment, so Wayne didn't have anywhere to go once he pushed the door open and went inside. The door swung open and revealed the same, college dorm type apartment that they had already searched. Vinnie took a quick glance around, trying to figure out where Wayne had hidden the skull. Now that she knew it was in here, she was kicking herself for not finding it.

  "I give up," Vinnie said. "Show me where it was."

  A wicked smile curled up Wayne's face, making him even uglier than before. Wicked thoughts had a way of making someone look terrible on the outside too.

  Wayne walked to the corner of the living room and stood for a moment, making sure he had a rapt audience. The way he was playing to their attention made Vinnie sick, but she needed to get the skull back. She had to complete her mission.

  Once he knew everyone was watching, Wayne levitated off of the group until he was floating up by the ceiling. Vinnie had forgotten that while vampires couldn't exactly fly, they co
uld float. Now that would be another useful skill to have.

  Wayne pushed aside a ceiling tile and produced the skull from up above. The skull was covered in shimmering rubies, the brilliant gemstones catching any available light and reflecting it in a dazzling array of red sparkles. It was breathtaking.

  The ugly vampire floated back down to the ground and held the skull out to Tucker. But as Tucker reached for it, Wayne pulled it back into his body.

  "First I get to use it," he said with a sneer on his face.

  His eyes were glowing red and Vinnie felt like she was looking into the face of true evil. His fingers curled around the skull as he smashed it into his chest so hard that Vinnie was afraid it was going to crumble into pieces. Wayne was not going to let anyone pry it out of his hands. Vinnie looked at Tucker. This was his deal. She wasn't going to be the one to determine whether or not a murderer could use the ancient artifact for a ceremony.

  "Let's go to the ceremony room," Tucker said.

  Once again, Tucker and Wayne lead the way out of the apartment and around the hallway to the stairs. All of the vampires were waiting in the entrance hall, watching them come down the stairs. Tucker stopped Wayne part way down the stairs.

  "Wayne has taken the skull out of hiding," Tucker said. "Show them Wayne."

  Wayne glanced nervously at him, wondering whether Tucker was trying to trick him. But Tucker kept hold of the back of Wayne's collar and stared at him, waiting for him to show the artifact to the crowd. Wayne dug it out of his cloak where he had been hugging it to his chest and held it up. The crowd cheered at the return of their artifact.

  "The only problem is that Wayne has demanded we allow him to use the skull one last time before he goes to prison," Tucker said.

  Wayne's head snapped to look at Tucker, looking like the new leader had betrayed him by telling the plan to the entire vampire pack. Tucker avoided his gaze, his eyes scanning the crowd of vampires instead.

  "So what do we say, family," Tucker asked. "Do we allow him to use the skull to give himself one more boost before he is gone from us forever?"