The Black Heart Crypt

Zack held up his right hand like he was taking an oath.

“I promise. I did not take a ‘sealing charm.’ ”

“Did you happen upon a black stone shaped like a heart?” asked Aunt Ginny.

“Oh, you mean the 3-D puzzle?”

“You could call it that.”

“It had all sorts of interlocking pieces and a smaller, even blacker heart hidden in the middle?” Zack said.

“That’s right. And what did you do with this black heart stone, Zack?”

“Malik, who’s really good with puzzles and junk, he took it apart.”

The three sisters nodded. The cats meowed.

“And thus the spell was broken,” said Hannah. “Zachary, we need it back.”

Zack remembered what Mad Dog Murphy had said in the corn maze: Little Paulie’s a pal of mine. Now Paulie wants out. So give his people what they’re looking for.

The black heart stone!

“Um, I don’t have it.”

“Oh, dear,” said Aunt Ginny. “Who does?”

“Oh my goodness,” said Judy.

Something on the TV news had caught her eye: security camera footage of a man robbing a diner.

And not just any man.

Norman Ickes. Malik’s friend at the hardware store.

“Turn it up,” said Zack. “Hurry!”

Judy pressed the volume button.

“Police are searching for North Chester resident Norman Ickes in connection with the robbery of the Hi-Way 31 Eat and Run, even though, while committing the crime, Ickes attempted to throw police off his track by using an alias.”

The shot moved in tighter on the footage and captioned what Norman was saying:

“Nobody rats out Crazy Izzy Ickleby. Nobody!”

“Ickleby?” said Judy.

“Oh, dear,” said Ginny, holding on to the counter so she wouldn’t faint. “This is worse than we could have imagined. They found a body. A blood relation.”

“That’s right!” said Judy. “Father Abercrombie told us Norman Ickes was actually an Ickleby!”

“Oh, my,” gasped Sophie. “They’ve gone dybbuk on us, too!”

“Zack,” said Ginny, “we need to retrieve the black heart stone. We need to do so immediately.”

“Who has it, Zack?” asked Judy. “Malik?”

Zack shook his head and pointed to the face on TV. “No. His friend. Norman Ickes.”