The Empress's Tomb (20 page)

“You're saying that Oona could be causing the haunting?”

“It is within the realm of possibility. But before we draw too many conclusions, let's see if there is indeed a spirit on the other side who would like to speak with your friend.” Oskar's eyes rolled back and his head fell forward until it rested on his multiple chins. “There is someone here with us.” Oskar's voice was garbled, and I wondered if he was finding it difficult to breathe. Behind him, the clouds pressed against the windows as if we were racing through the sky. “A lovely woman of Asian decent. She died many years ago, but she has not found peace.” I glanced over at Oona, who was sitting bolt upright in her chair. “She insists that you change your laundry detergent.”

“Are you kidding? Laundry detergent?” Oona muttered.

“Silence!” Oskar roared. “The spirits say what they need to say. Umm-humm? Umm-humm. She wants you to know that you are not alone. Someone is always listening.”

Oona leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Do you think this spirit writes for Hallmark?”

“Oona, shut up,” I mouthed, hoping Oskar hadn't heard her.

“There's something more,” he continued. “You have found yourself faced with a decision. You must choose what to keep and what to let go. If you choose wisely, you will have everything you've always desired.”

Oona was serious once more. “Can the ghost tell me about my father? Does he really want me as his daughter, or is he trying to lure me into a trap?”

A deep crevice appeared in the fat on Oskar's forehead as he concentrated. “The message is not entirely clear,” he said. “The spirit says that you must not look to your father for answers. You will find them only inside yourself. The time has come for you to grow up and do your duty. When you accept someone's love, you accept a great responsibility. Now the spirit is fading. She has said her piece.”

“That's it?” Oona couldn't believe it.

“Wait a moment. There's another spirit entering the room. An older woman with dark glasses. I believe she may be blind. She has a message for the other girl in the room.”

“Really?” I blurted. My great-aunt Beatrice had met her end in August shortly after entering the record books as the first sight-impaired senior citizen to reach the
summit of Mount Everest. Later that month, two climbers had come across her corpse sitting upright in the snow, a radiant smile on her frozen lips.

“She says you should be doing your homework,” Oskar announced. “Wait a moment. I suspect she may be joking. It's very difficult to tell with the dead sometimes. She wants you to know that the answer to your dilemma lies under the temple. Now she, too, has vanished.” Oskar's eyes rolled down and he blinked rapidly as they adjusted to the light. “The spirits are fickle today. At times they'll ramble for hours and hours. Other days, it's a merely a word or two. Did you hear what you needed to hear?”

“Maybe.” Oona's voice lacked emotion.

“Thank you for your time,” I said as Oona bolted for the door.

•     •     •

As soon as we were in the elevator, Oona grasped my wrists like a castaway clutching a life preserver.

“We have to go the Shadow City,” she insisted.

“You mean right now?” Her grip was tight enough to leave bruises, but I managed to wriggle free.

“I need to know if my father's behind the kidnappings. We've got to get Kiki and take Yu down to the tunnels. Maybe he can lead us to the other kids.”

“Oona, Yu's still weak. And Kiki won't be able to come. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Verushka may be dying. Kiki needs to stay with her.”

The doors of the elevator slid open, and I stepped out, but Oona didn't budge.

“Verushka's dying?” she uttered as the doors began to close. I shoved my arm between them and received a painful pinch before they opened once more.

“The bullet in her leg was poisoned.”

“We've got to get Mrs. Fei over to their house right now! She'll know how to save her.”

“Kiki's already hired a doctor. He's got the personality of a Gila monster, but he's supposed to be good.”

Oona's breathing began to sputter and her eyes wouldn't settle. “Oh my God!” she wailed. “Everything's falling apart!” I suddenly realized why Verushka had kept her sickness a secret. I'd just pushed Oona over the edge.

“Calm down,” I urged, feeling a little panicked myself. “There's still a chance that Verushka could recover. And you having a nervous breakdown isn't going to help anyone.”

“But what should I do? I don't know if my father wants to spoil me or kill me, and now some porky medium tells me I have to
do my duty?
What if Lester Liu hasn't gone legit? What if he
did
kidnap those kids? Am I still supposed to play his doting daughter? Do I owe him something just because we're related?”

“Are you sure that's what the spirit was trying to say? It was all a little confusing, if you ask me.”

“My mother's ghost said that if I made the right choice, I'd have everything I ever desired. Don't you think that means I should accept Lester Liu's offer?”

I hoped not. If Lester Liu gave Oona everything she desired, what would that mean for the Irregulars?

“I think she said that you should already know what to do.”

“Well, I
don't.
Who knows—maybe Oskar Phinuit made the whole thing up. Some of that stale old mumbo jumbo could have come straight from a fortune cookie. And that stuff about the laundry detergent—what was
that
about?”

“I don't know, Oona, but I think you should listen to what he said. The second spirit did sound a lot like my great-aunt Beatrice.”

“Yeah, and the answer to all your problems
lies under the temple.
Where's the answer to
my
problems? It's not in the detergent aisle at the grocery store, I know that much for sure. Please, Ananka. Can we just have a quick look around the Shadow City?”

I checked the clock on my cell phone. At eleven thirty I'd told my mother I'd be gone for two hours, and now it was almost four o'clock.

“All right, Oona. Let's go back to the salon. If Yu is feeling up to it, we'll take him down to the tunnels.”

“Thank you.” Oona sighed with relief. I couldn't remember if I'd ever heard her use those two words before.

•     •     •

Betty and DeeDee pounced on us as soon as we entered the Golden Lotus.

“I'm so glad you're back!” Betty couldn't stand still. She had been pacing the floor and was finding it difficult to stop.

“Where's Yu?” asked Oona, barreling past her.

“He was working too hard,” DeeDee explained, as Oona frantically checked the waxing rooms. “He nearly fainted. Luz took him home in a cab.”

“Oona, come back,” Betty called. “Something's happened.” It was then that I nearly sat on a Malaysian giant squirrel that had curled up in one of the manicurists' chairs.

“Did he come to pick you up for your date?” I teased.

“What's that thing doing here?” Oona snapped. “This isn't a zoo. Get your boyfriend's beast out of my salon.”

“He's
not
my boyfriend. Would you listen? I'm trying to tell you something. The squirrel snuck through the door while we were helping Yu into the taxi. It came to deliver
this.”

Betty handed me a scrap of paper that was still damp with squirrel spit. On it were written the first few lines of a love letter that ended abruptly with one scrawled word:
Help.

“I think Kaspar's in trouble,” said Betty. “The squirrel won't leave. We've tried to let him out, but he won't go.”

“Squirrel boy lives in Central Park. If he didn't know how to take care of himself he'd be buried with all the John Does on Hart Island by now,” said Oona dismis-sively. “He's probably just trying to get your attention. It doesn't matter, anyway. We don't have time to worry about him right now. I need your help.”

“Oona,” I said in my most soothing tone. “We've got to look into this right away. We can go to the Shadow City later. Yu isn't even here. What do you expect us to do?”

“I
expect
you to get your priorities straight. Who's more important, Ananka? Me or some kid who let a bunch of squirrels attack Luz?”

“Of course you're more important,” DeeDee tried to
explain. “And if you were in trouble, we'd drop everything. But if your problem can wait for a little while, we've got to help Kaspar.”

Oona's energy disappeared in an instant. “Whatever. Do what you want. What good are you guys, anyway? You're never around when I need you. Kiki doesn't even show up half the time, and the rest of you are more interested in a kid you barely know. So go ahead, get out of my salon.”

“You're kicking us out?” Betty muttered in disbelief. “You're not going to help us find Kaspar?”

“I've got my own problems,” Oona announced, stomping toward her office. On the wall behind her desk, the mural of the Irregulars was almost complete. “I've always had to do things on my own, and I guess I always will.” With that, Oona slammed the door. Betty, DeeDee, and I traded incredulous glances.

“Impressive temper tantrum,” said DeeDee.

“She's just stressed out,” I replied. “She'll come around.”

“Always the optimist.” DeeDee didn't believe it for a minute.

•     •     •

Our first stop was Central Park. Not far from Lester Liu's mansion we heard someone sobbing. The noise appeared to be emanating from an azalea bush the size of a MINI Cooper. I peeked between the branches and found Kaspar's friend Howard Van Dyke huddled in the hollowed-out center of the bush, cuddling a plump, red-feathered
chicken. Curled up next to him were two giant squirrels and a kitten. Howard's tears stopped when he saw me.

“Have you come to take me away?” he asked, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his jacket.

“No, Howard. It's me, Ananka. Kaspar introduced us, remember?”

“Oh yes!” Howard was suddenly cheerful. “This is April,” he said, holding up the chicken. “She's the only friend I have left. I saved her from an evil chef at Tavern on the Green, and we've pledged eternal friendship.”

“It's nice to meet you, April,” I said, trying to sound social. “Howard, have you seen Kaspar lately?”

Howard began to cry again. His chicken squawked when he hugged it to his chest.

“Kaspar's gone. They've taken him back to his cage.”

“What do you mean? Can you remember who took him?”

Howard thought for a moment. “I remember … I remember this morning we were eating beans right over there.”

“Okay, that's a good start. Do you remember anything else?”

“I remember a man with shiny hair. He was wearing one of my old suits.”

My hope faded a little. “How did he get one of your old suits?”

“I don't know. But it was one of the suits I used to wear when I worked on Wall Street.”

“So you're saying it was nice?”

“Three-button Prince-of-Wales-check worsted wool.”

“What did the man in the suit do?”

“He hit me very hard. When I woke up, my friend Kaspar was gone.”

“Do you have any idea why he took him?”

“Yes. They want to make him do tricks like the seals at the zoo.”

“They?” I asked. “You mean his parents?” Howard nodded. I looked back at Betty and DeeDee. We had the information we needed.

“Howard?” Betty poked her head into the bush. “Are you hungry?”

“That man spilled my beans,” sobbed Howard.

“We'll help you get something to eat. Can you step out of the bush for a minute?”

Howard crawled out on all fours, then stood up and brushed himself off. April the chicken stayed loyally by his side.

“Here's some money,” said Betty. “Go get some food and I'll be back to check on you later.”

Howard looked down at the twenty-dollar bill in his hand. “Can I have a chicken salad sandwich?” he asked with excitement.

“Sure,” said Betty. “Just promise me that you won't share with April.”

•     •     •

“Where are we going?” DeeDee asked once we were out of earshot. I was leading them to the other side of the park. Three large black squirrels scampered alongside us.

“I think we need to see some shrinks,” I said.

“What?” DeeDee exclaimed, hurrying to catch up with me.

“We're going to see Kaspar's parents,” Betty explained. “His real name is Phineas Parker. His mom and dad are psychologists.”

“How do you guys know that?”

“I had detention with one of their patients,” I informed DeeDee. “She told me about Kaspar.”

“You think his parents kidnapped him?” DeeDee asked.

“There's only one way to find out.” I pointed above the trees to the top of a building. Jagged towers of stone rose along its edges like the battlements of an enchanted castle. “Their office is in there.”

When we reached the edge of Central Park West, Kaspar's squirrels took one look at the Parkers' building and bolted back through the trees. As cold as the park must have gotten at night, they still weren't ready to leave.

Drs. Parker and Parker shared a space on the first floor of 55 Central Park West. We were buzzed inside and greeted by a young woman dressed in designer jeans, a hoodie, and a Che Guevara T-shirt. Her glasses were self-consciously cool and her highlighted hair pulled back in a playful ponytail. She was clearly paid to put children at ease. It wasn't working.

“Hey, guys!” she sang as if she were overjoyed to see us. “I'm Shiva. Are you here to see Jane and Artie?”

“Who?” I asked. Shiva frowned.