I didn’t disabuse her of her story. I was pretty sure that by the end of the day, Thomas died from half a dozen arrows and had his face eaten off by rats. Like anywhere else, stories always grew over time. Despite the stories, I was still a bit shaken. Thomas was not exactly a friend, but he was an acquaintance. And as flirts came, he was pretty harmless.
The gentleman who bought an antique ink pen handed back the extra five I had managed to give him.
“Your books aren’t going to balance,” he said with a smile.
“I apologize,” I said. “It’s been a long morning already.”
“Don’t I know it,” he said.
I watched him leave, and I wanted to march across the room and tell Roxanne to cut it out and be quiet. I had had enough of her wailing and weeping. Orchid and Zephyr were doing their best to keep Roxanne somewhat quiet, but they weren’t having much luck. I might have done it if Gwen hadn’t walked into the store.
Gwen was my older sister, and like me, she was a witch. People said we looked alike, and I guessed that was true, except for the eyes. Hers were brown. Gwen liked mental magic, using spells to nudge people toward certain behaviors. As a psychologist and therapist, her nudges helped in her work. Her patients always seemed to get better, but she did not push too hard. Spells could not replace a change of attitude. People had to heal themselves. And when she sometimes worked the antique shop in my stead, I strictly forbade her from using spells to sell merchandise. I hated handling the returns when the buyer realized they really didn’t want that old leather bag.
“Have you heard the news?” Gwen asked.
“What news is that?”
“Why that Thomas Jamison died. I heard he had an arrow through his eye. And that his face was covered with blue Chinese runes.”
“There was no arrow in his eye, and his was not covered in blue Chinese runes,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“I found the body.”
“You’re joking.”
“Nope. I was walking home, and I spotted his blond hair behind the dumpster.”
“Well, that’s wild. You have to tell me all about it.”
I gave Gwen the details as I knew them. And I didn’t know much. The lone arrow had been in his chest, and his face was covered with red lipstick kisses. Gwen frowned at that. She thought her version of the body was substantially better than mine, and I had to agree with her. The only thing was her version wasn’t the truth.
“So, who did it?” Gwen asked. “Jennifer?”
“Jennifer certainly had reason,” I said. “As Thomas’ wife, she couldn’t have been happy with his flirting and drinking.”
“Oh, she wasn’t. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard clients talk about Jennifer’s language. It seems that she has hated her husband for a long time. But Jennifer isn’t the only suspect. I imagine there are more than a few women who would like to get even with Thomas Jamison.”
“Not to mention husbands,” I said. “Thomas was pretty harmless really, but he did make some rather shameless passes.”
“We have our share of jealous men. After all, New Orleans has always been a place of honor and duels.”
“It wasn’t a duel, unless it was a very strange one. Bow and arrows at twenty paces?”
Gwen laughed. “It wasn’t suicide either. I can’t imagine a more difficult method of suicide.”
“You’re right there. You know Jennifer. Did she ever take archery in school? I don’t remember her ever doing any shooting.”
“All the more reason it could be her. I mean, it’s not that difficult to shoot an arrow, is it?”
“Not if the person is standing right in front of you. But I don’t see how Jennifer could shoot him and then plant kisses all over his face.”
“No, that doesn’t sound like Jennifer, does it?” Gwen looked at the threesome in the corner. “Are they still at it?”
“You know Roxanne’s history. She’s not going to quit until she finds that lost necklace.” I nodded at the ceiling. “I like to send them upstairs, where they can’t cause a problem. But Roxanne likes to see everything that’s sold, just in case, someone discovers the missing necklace.”
“Don’t look now, but here comes your knight in shining armor.”
I looked at the door, just as Jacob entered
Jacob Brody had been my friend since sophomore year in high school. He was the nerd who knew everything but rarely shared that knowledge. Shy, thin, with those inevitable black rim glasses, he always sat close to me—when he could. Sometimes, the jocks muscled him out of the way. He was too shy and too weak to fight them. Then, he started seeing.
It started with Lawrence, a troubled boy with a lisp and a stutter. He was hounded by a lot of kids, and, not being a strong, personality, he managed to find his father’s pistol and fire a bullet into his skull. Jacob and Lawrence had been friends, sort of, and Lawrence stayed behind to talk to Jacob. And once, Jacob sort of learned about spirits, he started seeing and talking to them all the time. He was pretty sure he was going crazy. He couldn’t believe that there were real ghosts. I found him behind the bleachers after school one day, and he was talking to Lawrence. When he saw me, he tried to cover up what he was capable of doing. That was when I said “hi” to Lawrence. That changed everything for Jacob. Once he was sure he didn’t have a brain tumor or was absolutely bonkers, his life became almost easy. We became fast friends, and I sort of showed him how to handle spirits. After high school, I went to LSU, and he became a policeman. Rising through the ranks, he had become a detective, the best detective on the force...and not bad looking either.
“Jacob,” Gwen said. “What brings you here? As if I didn’t know.”
Gwen winked, and Jacob smiled. He had been taking ribbing from Gwen for years.
“I need to talk to Helga,” he said.
“Go ahead,” I said. “I’m all ears.”
“Privately,” he added.
“You two go have fun,” Gwen said. “I’ll handle everything in here.”
Jacob held the door open for me, and we walked out into the New Orleans heat. In the summer, the temperature and humidity combined to make things more than a bit uncomfortable. Those of us who grew up in the city complained mightily, but we were generally thankful when someone mentioned Minnesota in January.
“What do you want?” I asked. I always enjoyed talking to Jacob. He was the kind of friend everyone wanted, as loyal as the day was long. No one could ask for someone better.
“It’s about last night,” he said. “We need to go over it.”
“Finding Thomas? Is that what you’re talking about?”
“I am.”
“But I told the police all I know.”
“I know you did, but I’m the detective on this case, and I always interview everyone involved. That includes you.” He smiled for a moment. “Look, Helga, I know you had nothing to do with the murder, but you didn’t give the police any kind of alibi.”
“Because I don’t have one,” I said. “I closed early because of the storm that didn’t happen. Then, I did some work and walked home in the near-dark. I spotted Thomas behind the dumpster and had to investigate.”