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My best bet for information on the baku was the bookshop owned by the oldest human in Fairhaven. Jessie Talbot was enviably sharp for her age. Pops would’ve liked the old woman. Leather Bound was just around the corner, so I left my truck in its spot, making sure it was nice and legally parked first, and walked to the bookshop with my latte.
Jessie clapped her hands as I entered. “Roll out the red carpet. The queen of the castle has arrived.”
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“You’re a single young woman who bought Bluebeard’s Castle,” Jessie said. “What did you expect?”
A thought occurred to me. “Did you know the original owners?”
“Joseph Edgar Blue III was before my time, but I remember the stories about him trotting out his medium to contact the spirits and entertain his guests.”
“You don’t believe it was real?”
“Not with that fraudulent huckster he hired. History reveals all, my dear. It doesn’t mean I don’t believe in psychic phenomenon, of course. Living here, you can’t help but notice strange occurrences.”
Instead of moving straight to the stacks, I found myself inching closer to the chair where she sat beside the counter. A cane rested against the wall next to her.
“You’ve mentioned that before,” I said.
“I’m not surprised. You name it and someone in Fairhaven has experienced it.”
“Have you had any experiences with strange dreams or even lack of dreams lately?”
She offered a wistful smile. “My dreams are always of the past. Parties and paramours. The vivid ones are my favorite. It’s like my lost loved ones are with me again.”
I knew what she meant. A few specific piano chords and my grandmother was right beside me again.
“I take it you’re not here to learn about my personal history, as scintillating as it is.” She waved a hand. “If you find a book you want and there’s no price, just ask me.”
“You mean it isn’t free?” I joked.
She laughed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? The upkeep alone on your house must cost a small fortune.”
“I have money set aside for the expenses, although it seems to be running out faster than I expected.”
Jessie laughed again. “Money has a way of doing that. What are you searching for today? Maybe I can point you in the right direction.”
“Information on a creature called a baku.”
“Don’t think I’m familiar with that one. Do you know the country of origin? Baku, you said? Sounds Japanese.”
“It is. Very good.”
“Don’t give me too much credit. One of my great-grandchildren likes to draw in that anime style, and I think she may have told me one of the weird creatures she drew was called a baku.”
I froze. “Was this recent?”
“Why do you think I remember? It was yesterday. My grandson brought Kelsey here while he went to a job interview. She wasn’t feeling well, so he didn’t send her to school.” Jessie shook her head. “In my day, we could have snot running out of every pore of our body and we still went to school.”
I smiled. “Is that the medical equivalent of walking uphill in snow both ways?”
“Pretty much.”
“Did Kelsey happen to leave the drawings behind?”
Jessie perked up. “As a matter of fact, she left one of them stuck to the mini fridge in the back room.” She reached for her cane, but I stopped her.
“I can get it, if you don’t mind me going back there.”
