Material Ghoul: A Lady of the Lake School for Girls Cozy Mystery by Sarina Dorie

Author:Sarina Dorie [Dorie, Sarina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon.com
Published: 2024-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

A Handy Excuse

“What is that?” Agnes Padilla asked again.

Vega shook her head.

Agnes’s eyes swam with tears. “It looks like a fetus.”

“What?” Vega asked. “No. It’s a rat.”

Agnes stared at the blood on Vega’s hands. “Did something . . . happen to you?” Her eyes crinkled up in genuine concern. “Were you . . . pregnant?”

“No! I found it in the garbage. It clearly is a rodent.” Why any sane person who didn’t hunger for fermenting flesh would want to dig through the garbage for a rat would be difficult enough to explain. Vega had found herself in an uncomfortable predicament yet again.

Even for a ghoul, this was pathetic behavior. Vega needed to do a better job of controlling her cravings. If another few seconds had gone by, Agnes would have caught her feasting on the remaining organs. Carrion dead less than a day shouldn’t have even driven Vega to such extremes. Not if she was taking care to control herself.

A toilet flushed. Malisha came out of a bathroom stall and sauntered over to the sink nearest the waste basket. She eyed the bloody lump in the garbage. Her face held neither disgust nor horror.

“Oh my,” she said in an unenthusiastic monotone.

Vega strode over to one of the sinks and scrubbed the blood from her hands.

Agnes stared down into the tissues and paper towels, tears in her eyes. “Often Witchkin babies resemble goblins and sometimes even reptilian creatures. Mine did. . . .”

Vega looked to Agnes with surprise. She hadn’t known the art teacher had any children. From the way Agnes was shaking, Vega had a feeling that if Agnes had birthed any children, they hadn’t lived. Vega didn’t know Agnes well enough to feel like it was appropriate to pry. Agnes Padilla had only been hired at the end of the last school year to cover for the art teacher who had “mysteriously” disappeared.

Malisha turned to Agnes. “Stop being so maudlin! It’s obviously a rodent, not some female’s dead baby. It was probably eaten by some predator, like a cat. Use some logic.”

Malisha’s callousness was unusual, even for her.

Agnes nodded, but her eyes were distant. She didn’t appear to be listening.

Malisha rolled her eyes and rummaged through her purse for her makeup. She applied pink lipstick that matched her pink pajamas. There was something odd about the situation, but Vega couldn’t quite place her finger on it.

Agnes hugged her arms around herself. Vega knew this situation warranted the consoling kindness of a person who cared about other people and knew how to share it. She was fully aware she lacked that skill.

Awkwardly, Vega wrapped an arm around Agnes and patted her shoulder. “Where are your clothes?”

Agnes looked around in confusion before fixing her gaze on the open curtain of one of the shower stalls where a black bag was located. Vega strode over the tile in her slippers and handed the bag to Agnes.

“Go to your room and get dressed.” Vega steered the art teacher away from the sight of the garbage can.

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