Polterheist(19)

"We were coming from over there." Satsy pointed toward the North Pole, and I realized that from their angle, he and Jeff wouldn't have seen the tree's face. "And Jeff was in front of me, so all I really saw were some branches waving around and people fighting and ducking and screaming . . . Then splat! Jeff hit me like a giant bowling ball, and we both flew into that old display of penguins and baby reindeer playing in a snow bank . . . I think I blacked out for a few seconds. Anyhow, by the time we could inhale without coughing up fake snow and managed to stagger to our feet, the whole thing was over and Jingle was shouting that you were all right. So I staunched the bleeding on Jeff's lip before we did anything else."

"Hmm." I thought it over. "Well, maybe it's just as well that no one saw-or, at least, no one really recognized and processed-what I saw. It might be hard for Max to look into this if there were too much other scrutiny being applied to it now. As it is, what with the NYPD prowling around in search of hijackers, and maintenance looking for electrical problems-"

"Oh, I don't think we need to worry much about Fenster's maintenance," Satsy said darkly. "They'll probably just make sure the tree won't burn down the store, and not bother doing much else. They're not going to repair it with only three days left in the season."

I realized he was right. Slack safety measures seemed to be standard operating procedure around here. Moreover, with Preston Fenster determined to shut down Solsticeland for good after this season ended, and with the rest of the family seemingly less organized than a random street riot, I suspected the homicidal tree might never get properly examined or repaired.

Satsy said, "So you are going to talk to Dr. Zadok about this situation? Good. That's such a relief!"

"Yes, I'll go over to his place after Detective Lopez is done interviewing me."

"Oh, the detective is looking very hot, isn't he?" Satsy said, enthusiastically distracted. "I think navy blue is really his color, don't you? It brings out those blue, blue eyes with those thick black lashes . . . He doesn't even use mascara, does he?"

I snorted involuntarily at the mental image this gave me. "No, I don't think so."

"But the poor man! A phobia can be so traumatizing."

"He says it's not a phobia." But I was skeptical that anything less serious than that could make a brave man as jumpy as Lopez was around Father Christmas.

"He's in denial," Satsy said. "That's understandable. People can be very judgmental, you know."

Looking at my three hundred pound, purple-lashed friend who usually dressed as a woman when he was working, I assumed he was speaking from experience. "I know, Satsy. And although Lopez didn't show it, I'm sure he appreciated that you were sensitive to his problem."

"Maybe you should encourage him to talk to Rick, even though he was resistant to that idea," Satsy suggested. "Rick is a good listener, and his training gives him insight into people's little foibles. It might be a non-threatening way for Detective Lopez to start confronting his fear of Santa Claus."

"We'll see," I said vaguely. "Meanwhile, do you want-"

"And, girlfriend, there are obviously still sparks between you and the detective!" Satsy gave a little shiver of delight. "I mean, zing, zing, zing!"

"Satsy-"

"I really think you should go for it, Esther! Just grab that man by the-"

"Focus, Satsy," I instructed. "The subject on the table right now is the Evil at Fenster's, not my shipwreck of a love life. Do you want to come with me to Max's to tell him about what happened to you this morning? I could wait for your shift to end."

"Oh, I can't," he said. "You'll tell him for me, won't you? I have to go straight to the club to get ready for my first show as soon as I get off work here."

"That's a long day, Satsy."

"The show must go on." He added, "But I do think this is my final year here. It's not as much fun this year. And now it's dangerous, too!"

"Actually, I think it could be everyone's last year of doing this." I told him about the Fenster family quarrel over Solsticeland. "I wouldn't want to bet on how it'll be settled. Freddie Junior has got the deciding vote, for all practical purposes, but Preston's probably got more determination than the rest of the family put together. I think that may be the quality he inherited from his mother, more so than the other Fensters, even if he's not nearly as shrewd as she was, and probably not as ruthless."

"Oh, I met that woman, sugar, and I don't think there's a person in this whole city as ruthless as she was." Satsy shuddered a little. "But she did keep Fenster's running smoothly. If she were still alive, you can bet we wouldn't be short-staffed and having equipment problems, or having hijackings and the police prowling around here."

I suspected they also wouldn't be sharing weed down on the docks if Constance were still alive; but I didn't spoil Satsy's nostalgia by mentioning this.

"And you know what else? Evil wouldn't have dared move in here while Mrs. Fenster was still alive and in charge," my friend said. "It would have been too scared of her! Whatever is here now, Esther, I really think it waited for her to die first."

In which case, I supposed I was sorry, after all, that the Iron Matriarch was dead.
                       
       
           



       
8





After Satsy returned to the break room, prepared to swap out with Super Santa at a moment's notice, I told Lopez, who was talking with a uniformed cop, that I was ready for our interview.

He nodded at me, but he was looking over my shoulder; something behind me had caught his attention. "Hang on a second, Esther. It's that guy with the accordion. Finally! What the hell took him so long?"

"Don't say ‘hell' on the floor, detective," I admonished.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

Having passed through the security barrier that was keeping people out of the Enchanted Forest now, Twinkle came trotting over to us, looking a little tired-possibly because he was still lugging around his instrument. He was alone.

"Still no EMTs?" Lopez asked with a frown.

I said, "I really don't need-"

"Oh, they're here," said Twinkle. "But right after they arrived on this floor, they got an emergency call to go up to the sixth floor instead, since there were no serious injuries down here."

"Why were they needed on the sixth floor?" Lopez asked.

"Mr. Fenster had a heart attack!"

"Whoa!" I said. "Just now?"

"Preston Fenster?" When Twinkle nodded in response, Lopez asked, "Did they say what happened?"

"Ms. Fenster-Thorpe said that when they heard about what had just happened down here-the tree going haywire and attacking people-Mr. Fenster went red as a beet and started screaming at the top of his lungs about how that was it, he was going to close down Solsticeland now, he wasn't even going to wait until the end of the season . . . And then he started breathing heavily, clutched his chest, and keeled over."

"Is he alive?" Lopez asked.

"Oh, yeah. Alive and kicking. They're going to take him to the hospital, but he's still upstairs right now," said Twinkle. "Actually, I thought he looked pretty good by the time I left to come back down here."

"You went to the sixth floor with the EMTs?"

"Yeah. I thought you'd want a full report, officer."

"Oh. Thank you."

"No problem. I was kind of curious. I've heard all these stories about the Fensters from Jingle, you know, and I've seen them around the store-Oh! There's one now, in fact." He pointed across the forest. "But I never met any of them before."

I looked in the direction Twinkle had pointed-and I flinched when I saw her.

"What's wrong?" asked Lopez.

"That's Elspeth Fenster," I said anxiously. "Preston's daughter."

"Yeah? What's she doing down here?" Lopez wondered. "You'd think she'd want to be with her father right now."

"Oh, I don't think they're very close," I said.

"They're not," Twinkle confirmed. "I saw her upstairs, too. It would be exaggerating to say she seemed glad to see her father lying on a stretcher . . . Well, no, maybe not exaggerating."

What a family.

"But, actually, none of the family members seem that worried," Twinkle continued. "Not even Mr. Fenster himself. I gather this happens kind of a lot. Him having chest pains and keeling over, I mean."

"Even so," Lopez muttered, "you'd think he'd realize that one of these days will be the last time, and maybe make an effort to change his ways before then."

I nodded, keeping a cautious eye on the goth girl as I said, "Preston Fenster really does seem like a mortality statistic looking for a place to settle down and build a tombstone."

Elspeth looked this way and spotted me. I gasped and edged a closer to Lopez. He was armed; that might come in handy.

"It sounds like her dad might have reason to be a little tense around her," he said to me, "but why does she make you nervous?"