Five more books this time.

“You stop that right now!” I walked over to the growing pile of abused books on the floor and reached down to pick one up. “Some of these are really old.”

Just as my fingertips brushed the cover of an early edition of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I spotted something lit up by the streetlamp outside.

I gently picked it up.

A petal.

A petal wasn’t so unusual. We had fresh cut flowers in all the rooms. But it was a rose petal. I twirled it in the faint light. A yellow rose petal.

That was all wrong.

Nora hated yellow roses. Like really, really bizarrely loathed them. I asked her several times why she hated them—I knew there was a story—but she would always brush off the question with a glib answer like, How do you not hate them? That was Nora. But regardless of the reason, my aunt never would have brought yellow roses into the house. And, as far as I knew Constance hadn’t left the B&B when she had been staying with us, so she couldn’t have brought it in.

“Is this what you wanted me to see?”

I stared at the silky petal in my hand, a big question swirling in my mind.

If none of us brought a yellow rose in the house, who had?

• • •

I managed to get out into town alone the next morning. I think my aunts were overwhelmed from the previous day’s events and the worry of what today might bring. I knew I needed to tell them everything, but Nora was still locked in her room and Izzy appeared to be sleeping in. That was a rare event, so I thought it best to leave her to it. I wanted to talk to Gideon too, but I had fallen asleep in the Rosewater Room waiting around to see if Constance had any further messages she wanted to convey—she hadn’t—and by the time I woke up, it was morning. I knew Gideon would have gone to bed. He was mostly nocturnal.

Either way, I set out feeling galvanized. Finding that rose petal had given me the boost I needed. Constance was still at the B&B. She hadn’t gone into the light, and that could only mean one thing. She wasn’t at peace. She wanted something, and it didn’t take much to figure out what that was. More than ever, I needed to find out what happened that night.

Given the apple orchard was a good distance away, I opted to take my bike. And while I did find it easier heading into town the second time, I couldn’t help but notice there were a lot more people taking notice of me. Word must have spread that the police had searched the B&B.

And that wasn’t the only thing I noticed.

Most of the citizens of Evenfall enjoyed decorating their homes for the season, and while it was still early for Halloween decorations, mini pots of chrysanthemums and other fall flowers were just about everywhere this time of year. And there were lots out today too. The only problem was they were all sitting at the ends of people’s driveways. Dead.