The Last of the Moon Girls(38)

“I didn’t skip supper. I ate with Andrew—sort of. I wanted to talk to him about Fred Gilman.”

“I wondered where you’d got to, then I dozed off. Next thing I knew it was nearly midnight. How’d the meeting go?”

Lizzy put the kettle on to heat, then fetched the tea canister from the cupboard. She really did need to get some coffee in the house. “It went just like everyone said it would. I didn’t get past the front door.”

“And how was supper?”

Lizzy willed her face to remain blank. She didn’t want to think about last night’s conversation with Andrew. “Supper?”

“You said you ate with Andrew.”

“Oh, right. It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. We had a kind of picnic on the floor. Did you know he’s remodeling? He’s put a new deck on, replaced all the windows, and is redoing the entire kitchen. I actually helped him pick the granite last time I was there.”

Evvie’s gaze slid to Lizzy’s. “That right?”

Lizzy was spared a response when the kettle began to shriek. Evvie snapped off the burner. “I’ll do the tea. You go get my paper off the stoop.”

Lizzy did as she was told and headed for the foyer. A draft of morning air greeted her as she stepped out onto the front steps. The birds were up, warbling in the treetops. She stood there, in the shade of the sprawling ash boughs, relishing the chorus of bright, sweet notes. Chickadees, siskins, pine warblers. Althea had taught her to pick out their songs.

She was about to bend down for the paper when she spotted something hanging from one of the lower branches. Curious, she left the Chronicle on the step and padded barefoot across the grass to peer up into the tree. Her stomach dropped when she realized what she was looking at—a crude straw doll wearing a black dress and pointy hat, dangling from a length of filthy rope.

She gave the rope a tug. It came free more easily than she expected, tumbling limply into her arms. She stared at the note pinned to the doll’s throat.

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

She knew the quote—all the Moons did—from the book of Exodus.

A shiver crawled up Lizzy’s spine as she stared at the scrap of white paper. It was heavy and slightly slick, the kind of paper that came on large rolls and was sometimes used by restaurants to cover tables, or by preschool teachers for finger painting. The verse was scrawled in rough red letters, in what looked to be crayon. She peered over her shoulder, scanning the yard, the street, but there was no sign of the culprit. Not that there was likely to be.

Halloween—Samhain—had been a particular favorite for the local children. Althea had always taken it in stride, even managing to chuckle at some of the more imaginative pranks. She’d found the toilet paper pentagram in the front yard particularly amusing. But that was years ago. Was it starting again? Or was this something else? Something more sinister?

“I wondered where you’d gotten to.” Evvie stood in the doorway, untying her apron and tossing it over her shoulder. “What’s that you’ve got there?”

“Nothing,” Lizzy said, shoving the hideous straw doll behind her back. “A prank, probably.”

Evvie’s eyes narrowed. “Let me see that.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Well then, there’s no need to hide it. Give it here.”

Lizzy stared at Evvie’s outstretched hand. There’d be no slipping past her, that much was clear. “It’s probably nothing,” she said again, wanting to believe her own words as she handed the doll over. “It used to happen all the time after the murders. One time someone carved a pentagram into the hood of Althea’s car. Another time we found a dead cat on the back stoop. But nothing ever came of it. This was just somebody trying to be cute.”

Evvie’s jaw hardened as she held up the doll, giving it a shake for emphasis. “This doll is not cute, little girl. This note is not cute.”

She turned then and headed back into the house, leaving Lizzy on the steps.

Lizzy sighed, following her inside. “Please don’t make this a bigger deal than it is.”

“A bigger deal?” Evvie jabbed a finger at the scrawled note. “What do you think this means? Coming the day after you paid that man a visit? I’ll tell you what it means. It means someone isn’t happy about you coming back here and dredging up the past. This wasn’t some young’un from down the street. This was someone grown. Someone dangerous.”

“Or maybe it’s just someone who wants us to think they’re dangerous.” Lizzy paused for a deep breath, groping for some way to talk Evvie off the ledge—and maybe herself too. “Look, I know how scary this must look—”

“Do you?” Evvie parked her hands on her hips, eyes flashing. “Because where I come from, we take nooses pretty seriously.”

Lizzy dropped her head, properly chastened. “Yes, of course you do. But this isn’t that, Evvie. No one’s planning a lynching.”

“We don’t know what anyone’s planning, and we’re not going to find out. You need to call the police.”

“Evvie, the last thing I need right now is the police involved in this. At the moment only a handful of people even know I’m back. The minute I pick up the phone and tell them about that note, it’ll be all over town. And there goes any chance I have of getting anyone to talk to me. Please don’t say anything. At least not yet.” She reached for Evvie’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Please?”