Fat Tuesday Fricassee by J. J. Cook Read Free Book Online

started cleaning it. “How weird is it?”
    â€œReally weird. And bad.”
    â€œHow bad, Zoe?” Ollie asked. “What could happen at a masquerade ball?”
    â€œSomeone died.”
    â€œLike a heart attack?” Ollie tried to pin it down.
    â€œWith those societies and krewes, maybe you shouldn’t say anything else, Zoe,” Miguel counseled. “I’ve heard terrible stories about people who give away their secrets. If one of their important members had a heart attack and died, they might not want people to know.”
    â€œIf your father said to keep quiet, you should keep quiet.” Ollie nodded.
    I pursed my lips, a little annoyed at their fatalistic attitudes. They didn’t even know yet how bad it was. “Come on. This is the twenty-first century. It’s not like it was back in the 1800s. I’m not scared of them.”
Not much, anyway.
    Miguel washed out his coffee cup and put it on the drain board beside the sink. “I suppose it all depends what it is. Is it something illegal?”
    â€œYes.” I got out the marshmallow and chocolate. “It involves the police.”
    â€œDon’t share.” Ollie shuddered. “I don’t want to know what a crazy mystic society is doing behind closed doors.”
    â€œEven if it involves murder?”
    Ollie looked up from drying the countertop. “Especially if it involves murder.”
    Miguel sat again. “Just say it, Zoe. Neither one of us is going to take it out of the diner. It will help if you tell someone. I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems.”
    So while I covered the counter in waxed paper and loaded all the crushed graham crackers on it, I told them about the dead man in the garden and the visit from the police commissioner. I even told them that Commissioner Sloane was a member of the Mistics of Time.
    Ollie whistled. “Your father is a member of the Mistics? That’s one of the oldest societies in the city!”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œWere you a debutante and everything?” Ollie grinned. “I’d like to see
that
picture!”
    â€œNo. I was never a deb. Or a queen. Or even a princess. I wasn’t interested. Daddy might have talked me into it, but Mom was against it.”
    â€œI’m sure the police are handling the situation.” Miguel studied the marshmallow. “Just because they didn’t do anything right away doesn’t mean they aren’t going to do anything at all.”
    â€œHave you heard or seen the news today? The dead
Times
reporter was the man in the Death costume at the ball. I saw his face when I took off his mask. He wasn’t found in the alley. But I’m not supposed to say anything. Daddy was very serious about it.”
    â€œThat sounds really bad,” Ollie said with a frown.
    â€œI don’t believe the police would purposely hide where they found the reporter, unless it was information that could lead them to the killer,” Miguel said. “I can understand that your father would be nervous about you getting involved in it.”
    â€œThat wasn’t the Mistics or Daddy on TV this morning,” I reminded him. “And Commissioner Sloane was there with someone named Detective Frolick. They know where the reporter was found.”
    â€œMaybe they’re trying to keep your name out of it, too, Zoe,” Miguel said.
    â€œOr the police just out and out lied to protect the Mistics of Time,” Ollie remarked. “I think they’re capable of looking after their own.”
    I stirred the chocolate in the double boiler so it would melt evenly. “What do you think I should do?”
    â€œYour Daddy knows best,” Ollie said. “Don’t get involved. What difference does it make where they found him? He’s dead, right?”
    â€œOllie’s probably right,” Miguel agreed. “The police are investigating. If you get into it they’ll