“I have something of yours,” the little girl said, digging into her overalls. She pulled a tube of lip gloss out of her pocket and placed it into Sabrina’s hand; then she walked into the hallway and closed the door behind her.
Sabrina bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. She wanted to cry but couldn’t anymore. Puck had been right. He had warned her that the truth would come out and when it did, it would be ugly. That’s the only thing he got wrong—it wasn’t just ugly, it was horrible.
The next morning, Robin and Little John arrived bright and early.
“We’ve got some bad news,” Little John said when Granny asked them in.
“The tape is missing,” Robin explained. “Everything Hatchett said is gone. We’ve got no evidence!”
“What happened?” Sabrina cried.
“We don’t know, but we have our suspicions,” Robin said. “You know that snail on the jury, the one with the Scarlet Hand mark on his chest?”
“Sure!” Daphne said.
“Well, this morning when I woke up the tape was gone, and there was a trail of slime leading to the front door. The place smelled like apple tobacco, too.”
“We don’t have a lot of hope if the jury is trying to sabotage our case,” Little John replied.
“Worse still, Bluebeard is calling Red Riding Hood to the stand today. I’m sure she’ll back up Hatchett’s story,” Robin said.
“Maybe not,” Daphne said as she removed the kazoo from her pocket. “I have an idea that might put a whammy into Bluebeard’s case.”
“A whammy?” Robin Hood asked.
“It’s my new word. It means something no one saw coming.”
Little John scooped Daphne up into his arms. “Well, young lady. We could really use a whammy right about now!”
Nurse Sprat seemed startled when the group returned to the hospital. She nearly choked on her pork chop sandwich.
“You want to see her again? No one ever wants to see her again.”
She led the group down the familiar hallway and unlocked Red’s door. The child was sitting at the same little table having the same tea party she had had the last time they had visited. Sabrina wondered if Red had even gone to bed. Before Sprat could lock them in, Sabrina turned to her.
“Would you happen to have an empty jar with a tight lid?”
“Why?” Sprat asked.
“Let’s just say it’s going to make your job here at the hospital a lot easier.”
Sprat shrugged. “I’ll check,” she said, then locked the door.
“You came back,” Red said, clapping her hands. “Please, sit, have some tea!”
Daphne sat down at the table. “I’d love some,” Daphne said, as she took the kazoo from her pocket.
Sabrina stood behind her. “Red, do you remember when we said you were sick inside your brain?”
Red nodded.
“Well, how would you like to feel better?”
Red clapped. “Then I can go home.”
Robin joined the girls at the table. “Girls, I’m worried about this. Daphne has never tried to use this kazoo before. If what you say is true, it can demolish a house with one little puff.”
“I’ve used it a couple of times. It kind of does what you want it to,” Sabrina explained.
“Except for the time you destroyed the bank,” Puck reminded her.
“OK, about fifty percent of the time it works like a charm.”
“I’m still a bit confused,” Little John said. “Are you planning to blow this crazy child into the next county? What good will that do us?”
“It does more than blow houses down. Right, Daphne?” Sabrina said. The little girl nodded. “It cures the mentally insane.”
“Uh, maybe you should turn it on yourself, ’cause you sound crazy,” Puck replied.
Sabrina was about to roll her eyes but she caught herself. She looked to Daphne for permission to continue explaining. The little girl nodded again. “Let me start from the very beginning. We know from the story of Red Riding Hood that her mother sent her into the forest with a basket of food to deliver to her grandmother. That part of the story has always been a little odd. Who sends a child into the woods where wild animals live? That is not good parenting.”
“Good point,” Uncle Jake said.
“We think Mr. Hatchett told us the reason, though I doubt he meant to. The truth is Red’s family was at their wit’s end with her. They were desperate. They sent her to the grandmother’s because they were hoping she could do something to help her.”
“My mommy and daddy love me,” Red said.
“They wanted you to get better,” Sabrina said to the girl. Red nodded and hugged a stuffed doll with a missing head.