Page 11 of Real Fake Hauntings

She went inside the store and put the demon dog down, then closed the door on it. The dog jumped, trying to peer over the high metal bottom of the door. A few more barks escaped through the glass.

Giving Fluffy a fast squeeze of gratitude for being the best, I set her back on the sidewalk.

“This way.” Janet led us around the corner into a narrow side street.

The foot traffic was lighter than on the main street, but still too much for my comfort. The less attention the pentagrams attracted, the better.

The pentagram itself looked exactly like the one at Bosko’s, but the runes and symbols had changed. They were less consistent and more hurried. Depending on how the other two pentagrams looked, it was possible Bosko’s had been the first one, then the culprit had gotten sloppy as they ran out of time. The difference in the symbols also made it more likely that they were gibberish meant to waste the time of whoever was investigating.

I took photos of the whole thing, along with some cool, smaller graffiti on the side. The wall had been obviously repainted not long ago, so I imagined it was a common spot for tagging.

“When did you find it?” I asked as I put my hand on one of the pentagram points.

Detect.

A tiny spark of magic coursed up my arm and into my hand, and a familiar response echoed back. Magic had been used here too.

“I didn’t find it,” Janet said.

“Who did?”

“Jonas. He runs the pie shop.”

Hmm, pie. I’d definitely need to ask him some questions. “He called you?”

“Yeah. He’s human, so he thinks it’s just a prank. I thought the same at first, but the more I looked at it, the more bothered I got, so I called Officer Brooks.”

“You did the right thing,” I assured her. I went through the same questions I’d asked Lydia and got about the same responses: too many weirdos around Halloween to notice anyone special, no repeat customers of notice, and how dare I ask for an alibi.

“No security cameras?” I asked.

“What are they going to secure? The dahlias?”

“You can never be too careful. What if someone runs off without paying?”

Speaking from experience.

“Then I’ll set Angel on them.”

Excellent point. The demon dog would probably chase someone to the depths of hell and make them sorry they’d ever been born.

“And you’re sure nobody that gave you a weird feeling has been around? Nobody who might have it in for you?”

“No—wait, yes!” Janet’s eyes grew wide with recollection. “Crane walked by right before Jonas came into the shop.” Her expression darkened. “Asshole probably saw the pentagram and didn’t even think of telling me.”

Desmond Crane, Olmeda’s one and only paranormal business accountant. Jerk by actions and jerk by reputation. Not only did he hold an unshakable grip on everyone’s returns, but he also liked to dabble in the illegal magic market as an information broker.

Could he be the one who had drawn the pentagrams? An image of him in his usual tailored suit popped into mind. I couldn’t see him getting his hands dirty with a can of paint and a brush in people’s alleyways.

That didn’t mean he hadn’t been involved, or that he hadn’t seen anything of importance.

Janet couldn’t tell me much more, so I told her she could go back to the shop and arrange for the pentagram to be cleaned whenever she wanted. I wouldn’t fault her if she decided to keep it around for a few days for the sake of drawing attention, though, and I almost recommended she tape an advert for the shop on top of it.

As Grandma liked to say, free advertising opportunities don’t come by every day.

Paraphrasing.

Once Janet was out of sight, I called Crane’s office and got an automated reply, so I left a voice message letting him know it was urgent I speak to him.

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