Two of wands.
Clearly, I needed to make a plan of action. I just wasn’t sure what that plan was supposed to be.
Well, first things first.
After showering and getting dressed, I headed down to the store, even though it was only a little past ten and I had some time before my “official” opening. However, I’d already learned that people operated on their own schedules in Globe, and if I wanted to get an early start to my day, why not?
Just like the day before, the sun shone down brightly on that particular corner of Arizona. Probably on the whole state; Josie had told me how summers could often be cloudy and turbulent there, with spectacular monsoon thunderstorms, but those days were still months off.
It didn’t feel quite right that the day should look so cheerful when people appeared to be dying right and left, but I knew the weather often had very little to do with what was actually going on in people’s lives.
Or deaths.
I really wasn’t expecting many customers on a Monday, and so I was surprised when Fiona O’Neil, a crony of Josie’s, popped in almost as soon as I opened my doors. She was as slender as Josie was plump, with gorgeous thick white hair she always wore back in a smooth ponytail.
“Hi, Fiona,” I said politely. “Can I help you with something?”
“That citrine cluster,” she replied, pointing to the impressive chunk of rock that had a place of honor inside the locked glass case that contained my showiest — and most expensive — specimens.
“Sure,” I said. “Just let me get the key.”
I retrieved the key to the case from its place beneath the cash register, then opened the sliding door on the back of the display. The chunk of citrine was heavy, weighing almost eight pounds, and so I had to use both hands to extract it from its spot on the shelf and set it on top of the case.
“Is it all right if I touch it?” Fiona asked.
“Of course,” I told her. “You need to be able to feel its energy.”
An embarrassed little flush rose in her cheeks. “Is that — is that really a thing? Feeling vibrations off crystals, or whatever?”
“It’s definitely a thing,” I responded. “People react to different stones in different ways. But citrine is known for its positive energy. It also can help to attract financial success and wealth.”
“Oh, really?” She put her hands around the chunk, fingers lightly resting on its myriad points. “I suppose that can only be a good thing. I just know I saw it in the case at your opening on Friday night and thought it was beautiful. And then I kept thinking about it all weekend….”
“Well, if you couldn’t get it out of your mind, that means you connected with it,” I said. “I think stones know who they’re supposed to be with.”
Her expression turned half hopeful, half skeptical, as if she wanted to believe me but didn’t know whether she should. “Really?”
“Really,” I echoed. “I have this gorgeous — and huge — piece of quartz I got from a mineral show a year ago. The minute I touched it, I knew it needed to go home with me. I didn’t know if I could justify the expense, but I went ahead and bought it. And ever since then, I’ve had really good luck.”
Like having Lucien Dumond gunning for you? passed through my mind, although I squelched the thought as quickly as I could. Everything happened for a reason, even if we couldn’t always see the pattern at first. I had to believe that the universe wanted me in Globe. Whether that was so I could hook up with Calvin Standingbear, or so I’d be in the right place at the right time to solve Lucien’s murder…or even just so I could open my shop and dispense metaphysical advice to the town’s residents…I couldn’t say for sure.
Maybe all of the above.
“I’ll take it,” Fiona said. She spoke quickly, as if she knew she needed to lay claim to the stone before she changed her mind.
“Wonderful,” I said. “Let me wrap it up for you. Credit card?”
Since the chunk of citrine was nearly three hundred dollars, I sort of doubted she would pay me in cash. And she did hand over her card, although it was a platinum debit one and not an actual credit card.
Even better. I didn’t like the thought of people going into debt to purchase the pieces they wanted.
I processed the transaction, then got out several sheets of brown wrapping paper and did my best to make sure the citrine would get home safely. After carefully placing it in a heavy-duty gift bag, I set it on the counter.
“Here you go,” I told her. “I hope you enjoy it.”
“Oh, I will,” Fiona replied. “I have the perfect spot for it picked out on my mantel.”
She went out after that, carrying the bag in both hands so there was no chance of the bottom ripping out. I watched her go, feeling oddly happy. And no, it wasn’t just that I’d managed to sell one of the most expensive pieces in my shop. It was more that I knew the citrine had gone exactly where it was supposed to go. Also, Fiona’s husband was a manager at the Fairport mining company, which still operated a huge plant on the outskirts of Globe. I knew she probably hadn’t even put a dent in her discretionary spending for the month with the purchase, so I could bask in the afterglow of the sale guilt-free.
Unfortunately, that afterglow didn’t last very long. About fifteen minutes after Fiona left — and just a little after eleven, the time the shop was officially supposed to open — Chief Lewis came through the front door, wearing the scowl that seemed to be perpetually fixed on his hard features.
Or maybe that was just the expression he always wore whenever in my presence.
“Good morning,” I said politely. “Looking for something in particular? Incense? Essential oils?”
He managed to look even more annoyed, if that was possible. “Tell me what you were doing at the crash site last night.”
“Calvin asked me to come with him, since I knew the victim,” I replied.
His eyes went from flinty to positively glacial. Maybe it was the way I’d referred to Calvin so casually, or maybe it was simply that he didn’t like being reminded that the chief of the tribal police had just as much jurisdiction in the matter, if not more. “Are you a detective, Ms. Marx?” he rasped. “A police officer?”
“No,” I said sweetly. It was a lovely morning and I’d just made a huge sale, so I refused to let him put me off my stride. “But I am a psychic.”
He sniffed. “So you say.”
“It’s more than just ‘saying,’ Chief Lewis,” I told him, picking up exactly why he seemed to be in an even more foul temper than usual. “You’re in a bad mood because you forgot it was your wife’s birthday and she read you the riot act before you left for work this morning.”
His hard gray eyes widened, flickering with disbelief before the familiar scowl clamped back down again. “Josie must have told you that.”
“No,” I said. “Actually, I haven’t even seen her today. And there’s no reason to get that information from her, because I can feel it coming off you in waves. Maybe you should try to make it up to your wife by getting her a nice present. I have lots of lovely jewelry in the case here.”
“Becky isn’t into all this woo-woo stuff,” he retorted. Actually, he practically snarled the words, nostrils flaring in dislike.