The Girl and the Clock Tower Murder: Pandemonium Cozy Mystery #2

Chapter 22

Mahogany pushed the door open measure by measure, peering into the dim interior of, quite possibly, the murderer's home. From where she stood, Mahogany saw the house's front entryway. To the right of the front door in a sunken living room, a lamp shaped like a teapot stood on an end table next to a blue and white striped sofa. The bright yellow living room walls met the hardwood floor painted a shocking red.

Staining to hear, Mahogany listened for any sign of life, human or otherwise, but the house remained silent, making her ears ring.

Mahogany peered around the closet door and spied a brightly tiled hallway. She crept from the closet, her head swiveling between the living room and the hallway.

"Who's house is this?" Evelina whispered as she tiptoed into the entryway, followed by Tony.

"I have no idea. Look for pictures." Mahogany crept further down the hall, sticking close to the wall. When she got to the end, she peered around the corner. A large kitchen opened before her, which appeared to double as a greenhouse. Nearly every surface was filled with cascading foliage. Two large skylights bathed the plants in afternoon sunshine.

Mahogany glanced around the area, searching for signs of who the occupant might be. But finding nothing, she turned back to the living room. "Anything?" she asked.

"Not yet," Tony said, inspecting a bookshelf. "These are all on gardening."

"That would explain the kitchen," Mahogany said, going to the curtained window behind the couch and pushing the drapery aside. A long table set for tea took up most of the yard, lush with flowers. "I think this is —

"My, my, my, you found me."

Mahogany swung around. Lilac Delldini stood near the front door, a large croquet mallet in her hand.

On her head, Bazgul tensed and hissed.

"Hi, Lilac. Nice mallet," Mahogany said, nodding to the makeshift weapon. "Is that what you used on Matt to knock him senseless before strangling him?"

Lilac twisted the mallet. The filtered light from the draped window caught a set of jagged and twisted nails hammered into its head. "It is nice. I modified it myself. I am finding that I'm handy with a hammer. But to answer your question, no. I didn't hit Matt, but I did kill him."

"You tried to kill Blair." Tony's golden skin reddened, and he stepped toward Lilac, hands balled into fists.

In response, she raised the deadly mallet. "Watch it there, hero. Don't do anything stupid."

Tony's rigid shoulders lowered, but his hands remained clenched at his sides.

Mahogany eyed Lilac, her eyes pulling into a squint. "You're hair."

"What about it?" Lilac shifted her gaze from Tony to Mahogany, tossing her shoulder-length hair with a jerk of her head.

"At first, I thought I'd been mistaken," Mahogany said. "The day before the murder, your hair was shoulder-length, then when you entered the bookstore, you wore it in a bob, now it's long again. Just how many wigs do you own?"

Lilac's eyes narrowed. "I was wondering if you'd noticed." She ran a hand over her long hair. "Wigs have come a long way. They look so natural these days."

Evelina glanced at Mahogany. A deep furrow ran between her eyebrows. "I don't understand."

"You used the dress forms in the garage and one of your wigs to make the neighbors think you were home when Matt was a murderer," Mahogany said, glancing from Evelina to Lilac. "It took me a while to piece it together, but after you found the glove in your garage, I felt that someone had planted it there."