I thought about what Cherise had said earlier, about Ve confronting problems only when she had no other choice.

Stealing Sylar had been one thing, but Dorothy went too far when she took Ve's signs.

"I heard you're accusing me of stealing," Dorothy said. "I'm outraged. Simply outraged. What in the world would I want your signs for?"

"Why do you do anything you do? You're crazy. Certifiable. Loco." Ve made a twirling motion with her finger near her ear.

"Embellish much?" Dorothy shot back. "Even if that were true, I'm no thief. I have standards."

The crowd oohed.

"You stole Sylar," Ve returned.

The crowd gasped.

"No," Dorothy said. "You gave him away."

Another ooh.

"I feel like I should have popcorn," Starla said.

"I could go for popcorn right now, too," Cherise said. "With extra butter."

Starla looked at her. "Is there any other way?"

"Not in my world," Cherise said.

Ve jabbed a finger. "Be that as it may, my signs are missing and you're the only one with a motive."

Dorothy rolled her eyes so far back in her head that for a moment I feared she was going to lose consciousness. "It's a good thing you're not the detective in the family."

Whoa, whoa. This was getting mighty personal to be discussing in front of mixed company. There were bound to be mortals around. "Maybe we should take this ins-"

Both glared at me and I snapped my mouth closed.

The crowd continued to grow. Great. Wonderful.

"The Toil's going to be ticked that I'm not getting these shots," Starla said.

"It's probably best this isn't immortalized," I said. I snapped my fingers. "But that reminds me . . . Do you have access to the photo archives at the Toil?"

"Sure, why?"

I told her how the microfilm at the library had been misplaced. "Those photos put a personal spin on the story that's invaluable."

"I'll see what I can find," she said.

"Thanks."

Ve said, "I want them back."

"I don't have them." Dorothy stamped her foot. "I'll sue, Velma. Slander. Libel. Something. As You Wish will be mine if you're not careful."

Ve laughed. "Have fun trying."

This was getting ridiculous.

Dorothy snapped her fingers. "You know what?"

"What?" Ve said testily.

Dorothy stepped toward Ve and said sweetly, "I wish I knew where those signs were. So I can prove to you I didn't take them."

Ah crap. I glanced at Starla. She said, "I don't want to do it. You do it."

One of us had to. Ve couldn't with the crowd looking on.

Resigned, I covered my mouth and cast the spell. A moment later, Dorothy brightened.

Apparently, the Elder had approved the wish.

"I think I know exactly who took those signs." Dorothy laughed. "Oh, this is too good. Karma, that's what this is."

"What are you talking about?" Ve asked, exasperated.

"Come with me." She sashayed away, her heels clicking on the pathway. We all followed, like the rats behind the Pied Piper.

"Where's she going?" Starla asked.

I wasn't sure. It looked like she was headed to As You Wish.

"Where are you going, Dorothy?" Ve demanded. "This is absurd, even for your standards."

"Just hold your horses, Velma Devany. You'll see."

In front of As You Wish, Dorothy suddenly took a sharp right and then marched straight up Terry's driveway. We all followed, and I heard Archie making whooping sounds. His warning noise.

I had a bad feeling.

Dorothy stormed toward Terry's garage as Archie's whooping grew louder. I glanced up and saw him sitting on the peak of a window dormer.

A very bad feeling.

Dorothy lifted the garage door, and sunlight spilled across a pile of political signs. Ve's banner had been scrunched into a ball and tossed in a corner. Dorothy made a sweeping motion with her arm, a la Vanna White, and then cocked a hip.

"Uh-oh," Starla said.

Cherise grabbed my arm. "What are those doing in there?"

"Terry," I whispered. "He's never been too keen on this whole election thing."

Dorothy smiled arrogantly at Ve. "I do believe you owe me an apology."

Ve's face had lost all color. She looked upward toward Terry's windows and pursed her lips. Her hands stayed clenched at her sides.

"I'm waiting," Dorothy said.

Ve didn't say anything. She simply stomped away, and the crowd parted, letting her through. She stomped up Terry's front steps and threw open the front door. A second later it slammed behind her.

I winced.

Dorothy stepped up beside me. "I'll be expecting a written apology or you'll be hearing from my lawyer." She walked off, her hips swaying the whole way.

Starla said, "I have to get back to work. You'll tell me how this ends up?"

I nodded.

The rest of the crowd slowly dispersed, leaving Cherise and me standing alone in the driveway. She continued to stare at Terry's house. Her hands, too, were clenched at her sides.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Cherise asked.

I tipped my head back and forth. "Either she's killed him by now or broken up with him."

Cherise's face lit. "Really?" She coughed. "I mean, really?"

Laughing, I grabbed her arm and headed back toward As You Wish. "Dorothy's going to milk this incident for all its worth."

"Yes she is," Cherise said. "She's . . . I don't even have words."

I stopped and looked at her. "She's not the Elder, is she?"

Cherise burst out laughing. "The Elder? Oh heavens no. That's the funniest thing I've heard in forever. Dorothy, the Elder." She kept laughing.

I didn't think it was that funny.

"No, no. She wishes. Or maybe not, because that would mean she was d-" She abruptly cut herself off. Eyes wide, she clamped her lips closed.

"Mean she was what?"

"I've got to go. Tell Ve to call me!" She bolted.

"Mean what?" I shouted.

She waved.

I stared after her, wishing her lips were as loose as Finn's. I'd been so close to finding out a vital piece of information.

Yet I'd never felt further from knowing the truth.

Chapter Twenty-two.

"Higher," I said, jerking my thumb upward.

Perched on a ladder, Nick lifted the curtain rod. "Here?"

"Higher still."

He moved it up a tenth of an inch.

"Don't make me get up there," I threatened.

"The top of the window is here," he said, motioning. "Why do we want the rod a foot above it?"

"Men," Mimi murmured from her spot on the couch. She was flipping through one of the mythology books she'd checked out of the library. Higgins snored at her feet, and Missy lay curled next to her.

The little dog finally wandered home shortly after Ve's showdown with Dorothy, none the worse for her latest jaunt. One of these days I was going to put a tracker on her to see exactly where she went.

"It gives the illusion that the window is bigger than it is," I explained. Outside, rain splashed against the pane, and the only light came from the lamppost alongside the front walkway. A glowing beacon in a very dark night.

Ve still hadn't returned from Terry's by the time I left for Nick's house and it made me wonder if she was busily cleaning up a crime scene or if they were . . . reconciling. I left her a note reminding her that I wasn't going to be home tonight, and told her to call immediately if she needed me.

"Why don't I just put in a new window?" Nick asked.

"Because lifting the rod is much more affordable."

Laughing, he said, "Okay, okay."

After marking holes, he grabbed a drill and in no time flat he hung the new curtains we'd bought hours ago.

Standing next to me, he tipped his head this way and that as he contemplated the finished product.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you sure about the fabric? It's a little flimsy."

I glanced at Mimi. I was pretty sure the expression on my face mirrored the one Scott Whiting had been shooting me the past couple of days. Help me.

It turned out Nick wasn't one of those guys who had no opinion on home decorating. It had taken us several exhausting hours to find a shower curtain and accessories for the master bath, curtains for the living room and Nick's bedroom, and a throw rug for his bedroom floor. He liked dark. I liked bright. He liked heavy textures, I preferred lightweight. Much bickering and compromise had taken place.

"I like them," Mimi said, giving me a sympathetic look.