I plunged ahead. “Ever hear of a shadow going rogue?”
“A shadow? Like a person’s—” She demonstrated by lifting her arm to produce a shadow on the pavement.
“Yes, like that.”
“Why?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“You said you had hot gossip.”
“I said my question involves hot gossip. I didn’t promise to share that gossip with you.”
Meemaw lifted her visor and looked down her nose at me. “Is that how Darlene died? A shadow killed her?”
I sighed. I should’ve realized Meemaw already knew about Darlene’s death. The crone seemed to have a direct link to the morgue. “I can neither confirm nor deny.”
“Peter Pan’s shadow could function independently of him.”
“I’m not talking about a story.”
“Where do you think those stories come from, Maya? You should know better than that.”
She wasn’t wrong. So many of the stories we passed down as fairy tales or myths contained kernels of truth, if not the whole bag of popcorn.
“Zach resurrected Darlene because of an inheritance issue. During their conversation, she claimed she was killed by a man’s shadow. We assumed she meant she only saw the man’s shadow, but now I have reason to believe it might have been an actual shadow.”
Meemaw closed the cover on her Kindle and set it on the small table beside her. “Now thisisinteresting.”
“Please do not repeat this to anyone. I’m serious. If Neighbors hear there’s a killer shadow on the loose, they will melt down.” I couldn’t afford mass panic on the island, certainly not while I was the only member of the security team.
She took a relaxed sip of her margarita. “Deal. Trust me, I have no incentive to share this news. Margie is already locking herself indoors. I don’t know what her reaction would be if I told her that inside the condo wasn’t safe either.”
“I was wondering if you had any experience with shadow magic.”
“In other words, have I practiced it? The answer is no.”
“Do you know anything about it?”
“It’s dangerous and downright foolish. Do you think someone sent their shadow to kill Darlene?”
Darlene kept to herself. I found it hard to believe someone targeted her.
“I was thinking more of a shadow that broke free of its physical body, but I suppose your theory is also a possibility.”
Meemaw adjusted her visor to block the shifting sunlight. “Why would a rogue shadow decide to break into Darlene’s condo and kill her unless there was a reason?”
“What kind of reason could there possibly be?”
“Have you spoken with her neighbors? I usually have at least two gripes against my neighbors at any given time.”
“What’s the current beef? Do I need to get involved?”
She gave my leg a dismissive pat. “I can handle the horses in my own stable, dearie.”
I added Darlene’s immediate neighbors to my mental task list.
“Look who we wrangled outside!” Catherine Weyland’s cheerful declaration effectively ended our conversation. The blonde-bobbed witch opened the gate to the pool area, followed by Margie, Louise, and Joan.
