“Yes!” Pita said.

Elizaveta did too. A knock on the exterior of the hut. A chill iced her spine, but she quickly chided herself. It was nothing but a doll blowing in the wind, a limb striking the wall. She didn’t know whether the dolls had been making these noises all along, though she suspected they had been; she simply hadn’t been listening for them. Yet Pepper would have been. It was likely why he suggested this method for communication.

“Ask her another question,” Pepper said. “She might not remain for long.”

“Our beloved Candelaria, is your spirit trapped on this island?”

There was no response.

“Ask again,” Pepper said.

“Beloved Candelaria, is your spirit—”

Knock.

Pita gasped.

Elizaveta opened her eyes. Everyone else had theirs closed now. Rosa’s were not merely closed but squeezed shut, as if she was terrified. Jack appeared bored, while Nitro and Jesus seemed to be biting back smiles.

Pita’s face was a mask of concentration.

Elizaveta closed her eyes.

“Beloved Candelaria,” Pita went on, “are you responsible for the murder that occurred on this island?”

More knocks.

“Was that three?” Pita breathed.

“It was two,” Elizaveta said.

“It was three!” Rosa said.

“Ask again,” Pepper said.

“Beloved Candelaria, are you responsible for the murder that occurred on this island?”

Two raps on the wall.

“Beloved Candelaria, is the killer still on this island?”

Silence.

“Beloved Candelaria, is—”

A clap of thunder, the loudest yet, exploded above them.

At the same time a doll began to cackle.

3

Everyone, Jesus with his sprained ankle included, sprang to their feet. Although dusk had descended while they’d participated in the séance, claiming the last of the daylight, Pepper’s LED lamp continued to illuminate the hut. Elizaveta was able to zero in on the laughing doll. “It’s that one!” she said, pointing a finger at a doll clad in a blue dress with white polka dots. Its lips seemed to be smeared with red lipstick.

“Don’t touch it!” Pita said, her voice jumping to a soprano level. She backed toward the hut’s door. “It’s possessed! She’s in it! The girl’s in it! Don’t touch it!”

Ignoring her hysterics, Nitro went to the doll.

Jack grabbed Pita’s wrist as she passed him. “Calm down!” he said.

“Don’t touch it!” she wailed.

Nitro lifted the doll away from the wall and turned it over. He cried out and stepped back.

Everyone started shouting, asking what happened.

It was instant chaos.

Pita tore loose from Jack and disappeared outside.

Nitro was flapping his hands madly.

“What happened?” Jack demanded.

“It’s covered with spiders!” he said.

Not understanding Nitro’s Spanish, Jack reached for the doll.

“Jack, don’t!” Elizaveta said, hurrying toward him. “There are spiders!”

He tugged his hand back. Together, they bent close to examine the doll. Dozens and dozens of tiny black spiders were scrambling out from beneath the dress.