Page 19 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

‘My neighbour said she saw it.’ Nora licked dry lips. ‘I thought she was lying but now…’ She looked spooked.

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘Can we come in?’

She stepped back. ‘I suppose I have no choice.’

Sidnee, Fluffy, and I started at the back of the house. It was a simple bungalow, not much different from mine: three bedrooms, two that were in use and one that was obviously a spare. There were two bathrooms, a kitchen diner, and a modest living room.

We started in Nora’s room. Sidnee took the bathroom and I looked in the closet. Fluffy had a good sniff around whilst I checked inside Nora’s shoes and rifled through the pockets of her clothes. Remembering the boys who’d vaped fisheye, I checked the same hiding places: under the mattress, under the bed, the dresser drawers, the nightstands, and even the window seat. Nothing.

‘Nothing in here,’ Sidnee noted glumly. We moved to the next bedroom – Aoife’s – which had a bathroom across the hall. This time Fluffy and Sidnee took the bedroom and I took the bathroom. It was much smaller than Nora’s, but I took my time to check the cabinet and between every single towel; I even looked in the toilet cistern. Nothing again.

My certainty that we’d find the gem wavered a little, but just as I was sinking into the doldrums I heard a triumphant bark from Aoife’s bedroom. ‘Bunny, come in here!’ Sidnee shouted in panic as I was searching the bathroom bin.

When I joined her, she was staring at something on the floor on the other side of the bed: it was the metal box that had held the fire gem. ‘Great work!’ I said, but Sidnee’s face was grim. What was I missing? ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked as I took some photographs.

Sidnee sighed and flipped open the lid. ‘It’s empty.’ We stared inside the box. Damn it! ‘This isn’t good,’ she murmured. ‘It’s very not good.’

‘We’ll find it,’ I said with false bravado. ‘It’s got to be hidden around here, or maybe Aoife has it in her pocket.’

‘You don’t understand,’ she whispered. The look on her face was indecipherable as she licked her dry lips. ‘Bunny, the objects, the four gems – they’re cursed.’

I blinked. ‘Gunnar mentioned that. Why is it a big deal?’

‘The boxes don’t hold the gems – they protect everyone from them. While the jewels are in their boxes, their magic powers the barrier. But when they’re outside their boxes? This is bad. Very, very bad.’

‘Is Aoife in danger?’

‘We’re all in danger. Grave danger.’

A chill ran down my spine and I felt the hairs on my neck stand up. I ran to the living room with Fluffy on my heels. Nora was sitting on the sofa, wringing her hands. ‘Where’s Aoife?’ I demanded.

She folded her arms defiantly. ‘I don’t know – and I wouldn’t tell you if I did.’

‘She’s in danger,’ I said urgently. Spreading panic about the stone be damned: Nora needed to understand the severity of the situation. ‘We think that Aoife stole the box with the fire gem inside but then she took it out. The gem is cursed and the box protects us from it. Aoife is in grave danger!’

Nora looked worried for a beat but then she seemed to shrug it off. I waited for her to wail and gnash her teeth but she merely said, ‘She’ll be fine. Not many things can harm a banshee.’

I wanted to shake her; how could she not get it?

Sidnee heard the last bit as she joined us in the living room. She was carrying the metal box in an evidence bag under her arm. Nora’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open at the sight of it. She hadn’t believed me until now. If Nora was shocked to see the metal box then she hadn’t been an accomplice in her daughter’s theft.

‘Not much can harm a banshee,’ Sidnee agreed, ‘but it could hurt someone around her. It’s the fire gem. I’m not sure what the curse is or what it does, but it involves fire. Can banshees burn? And even if you can’t, your house sure can.’

Things started slotting into place. The fires around town: both properties that had burnt down had been unoccupied, but was that by accident or design? Both had been available for rent, and I suddenly wondered if Aoife was house shopping. Had she gone to the empty properties looking for a place to rent and lost control of the gem? If so, she had to be carrying it around with her. The thought of walking around with a cursed gem in my pocket made me touch my nana’s protective charm that hung around my neck.

‘Is Aoife looking to move out?’ I asked Nora.

Aoife’s mum was still staring at the box under Sidnee’s arm. ‘Yes,’ she said almost absently. ‘How did you know that?’

I looked her straight in the eye. ‘Because Portlock has had two houses burn to the ground since the gem was stolen and each of them was empty and up for rent.’

For the first time Nora looked worried.

‘Where is she?’ I asked. Nora said nothing. Bad cop it was, then. ‘Do you think she can afford to replace the destroyed properties?’ I asked harshly.

She pressed her lips together tightly. ‘No,’ she admitted grudgingly. ‘She can’t.’

Unless Aoife sold the stolen gem to make an absolute killing – but how would she go about fencing the jewel? She was nineteen and a student, not a hardened criminal. ‘So, where is she?’ I demanded again.

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