Mountain Ice (David Dean Mysteries)

Edith pirouetted, as she had the last evening. "I feel so different when I wear her clothes. Something magical happens. I'm transported back in time. Just as you said." She turned to Claire, as if acknowledging she was in charge. "What will you do with the dress?"

"I don't know. I haven't given it a thought. Why?"

"May I buy it?" she asked excitedly "And the comb and brush?"

Dean caught the look on Fred's face as Edith handed the items to Claire.

"They're part of it too?" Claire asked with a scowl directed at Fred. "What else are you holding back?"

Before he could answer, Edith replied, sheepishly. "I'm wearing her underthings, too. It didn't feel quite right, with a bra and new lingerie."

She turned and looked to Claire. "But, please, I'll pay whatever you feel is a fair price."

"Three hundred dollars," Claire snapped. "But just for what you're wearing. I'll keep the comb and brush."

"Oh, Claire!" Effie protested. "Three hundred dollars seems much too high. We only paid-" Claire cut her off and repeated the amount.

Dean hoped Edith would tell the old witch where to stuff it, but instead she looked as if she had just won an auction bid for a coronation gown.

"Oh, thank you! That's so kind! I'll get the money now!" She turned and hurried up the stairs as Donnie stood by the table, torn between curiosity and following his mother.

"About the comb and brush...." Fred said. "We never discussed anything but the letters and the clothing."

Claire ignored him as she examined the comb and brush. "Do you have a knife?" she asked Dean.

"Yes," Dean answered. "Why?" He hoped she wasn't going to play a King Solomon and cut the damn thing in half but he withdrew a Swiss Army knife from his pocket. It was a gift from a young lady whom he'd helped when Bird Song first opened. Donnie looked at the impressive impalement and Dean started to show it to him but Claire grabbed it from his hands.

"It feels as if there's something in the handle of the comb," she answered, shaking it. "There's a seam here." She inserted the blade in a crack along the edge of the brush and it separated into two pieces. A small packet wrapped in tissue fell to her lap. The others stepped near for a closer look. She unwrapped the paper to reveal seven gold coins.

"Well, my, my! Isn't this my lucky day!"

There were four five-dollar gold pieces and three two-dollar and fifty-cent coins. Each was dated in the eighteen-nineties. Everyone bent close and examined them as Claire continued to hold them in her hand. Dean figured, This bitch isn't going to let go of these newly discovered century-old coins without a hell of a fight. He was right on the money, so to speak.