Read Bonfire Masquerade for Free Online

killed Daniel?”
    â€œI don’t know! I mean, he seemed nice. A little arrogant. We only talked for, like, fifteen minutes, though, so I have no idea.”
    â€œWell, hopefully you can find out some more tomorrow. George, that puts you and me on research and Nicole.”
    â€œShe seemed pretty suspicious,” said George.
    â€œOr at least totally weird,” chimed in Bess.
    â€œShe was definitely a big fake. And it’s interesting that she runs a bunch of voodoo shops—didn’t Danielsay something about the warehouse site being cursed?”
    I yawned and looked at the clock. Three a.m.! How had that happened? “Wow, it’s late! All right, let’s figure this all out in the morning.”
    My dreams were full of crazy costumes, fires, and scary music. It felt like I’d spent six hours watching a horror movie that didn’t make any sense. By the time I showered and got down to eat breakfast, Dad was already gone for the day.
    â€œSleep well?” Bess asked at the table.
    â€œBlargh,” I responded.
    â€œMe too,” she mumbled into her cereal. Somehow she still managed to look perfect, while I was pretty sure the bags under my eyes were bigger than my suitcase.
    â€œSo what are you doing with Aaron?” I asked Bess.
    â€œHe’s going to show me around the French Quarter, and then we’re going to dinner. He said there’s a lot of great stuff to see in the area. Don’t worry, I’ll listen for anything suspicious.”
    â€œI’m going to give Nicole a call now and see if she’ll agree to talk to me.”
    I fumbled in my bag for my cell phone. Man, was I not a morning person.
    I called information and got Nicole’s office number.
    â€œHi, Nicole? This is Nancy Drew—I was at Daniel’s party last night?”
    â€œOh, you poor girl! How are you doing? This is terrible, just terrible. My cards saw it coming, you know. I tried to warn him.” Nicole sounded like a bad actress in a movie about New Orleans.
    â€œWe’re all in shock here. It’s been really hard. My dad, Carson Drew, is assisting Daniel’s sister, Yvette, with his estate, and I said I’d help them. Do you have some time later, maybe we could talk?”
    All right, it was a little bit of a lie. But only a little one! I was helping them. They just didn’t know it yet.
    â€œOh, Nancy, I wish I could! But today is the first day of Mardi Gras season, and I’m afraid it’s just impossible. But I would be honored if you took a free cemetery tour with my company, Haunted New Orleans!”
    Well , I thought, at least we’ll get a chance to be near her, and maybe I can pump her for some information.
    â€œThanks, Nicole, that’d be great. Can my friend George come along too?”
    â€œOf course. And if your father would like to join us, he is most welcome.”
    The tour was set for three o’clock. We were to meet up on the corner of Esplanade and North Rampart Street.
    The tour was easy to find, especially because the woman leading it was wearing an all-black Southern belle outfit, complete with a black lace parasol.
    â€œRats!” I muttered. The tour leader was strange—but she wasn’t Nicole. “So much for that plan.”
    â€œWe might as well take the tour anyway,” said George. “It looks like it could be interesting.”
    I looked at the sun and nodded. The next thing on my sleuth agenda had to wait until after sundown, anyway.
    And George was right. The tour was pretty interesting. I never knew one city could have so many freaky ghost stories! Serial killers, witches, voodoo curses, ghosts, haunted mansions—it was all to be found in New Orleans’ French Quarter. But my favorite were the graveyards, which seemed to be everywhere throughout the city. They were beautiful and creepy and very Victorian.
    â€œAnd here, in St. Louis Cemetery Number One,” said our