Page 55 of A Seer and Present Danger

“It’s all going to work out.”

She frowned, curious. “Is that you looking into the future?”

“No, that’s me knowing there hasn’t been a crime that’s hit this town that you and your sisters haven’t solved.”

“Here’s hoping we keep the streak going.” She strolled over to Delaney who was reading through a ledger.

“Yes, okay,” I said.

“What?” Jules asked.

“Oh. I thought you were going to ask if you could take me home.”

“I was! You just got ahead of me. How about we get you a nice cup of tea on the way?”

“I have some at home. Would you stay for a little bit? I don’t want to take up your day, but I could use a friend right now.”

“Please take up my day. I’d rather have tea with my friend than worry by myself. Come on. And bring Teddy. We can have a picnic.”

* * *

“Why did I think I could do this?” I’d left the teddy bear in the back of my car. Smuckleberry was curled up on my lap, a warm purring comfort. We’d been sitting here for hours.

“Drink tea?” Jules asked.

I chuckled. “No, solve the murder.”

“Because you have a good heart, you’re smart, and you want to see justice served.”

“Or I thought, since I can look into the future, it would be easy.”

Jules hummed. “You don’t often look ahead for the big stuff, and you’ve never used your gift as a get-out-of-jail-free card. I suppose it’s never easy to solve a murder, no matter what abilities we have.”

“But why did I think I could…I mean, catch a killer? C’mon.” I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “This was a mistake.”

“Maybe you just need to talk it out. You’ve done all of this on your own.”

“Not really. I’ve talked to people. You were…well, you were there when I talked to Jean.”

“And you’ve done the rest on your own. Share the load, friend. Let me help. Tell me about finding the body.”

“Which one?”

“Hugo. Slowly, what did you see?”

I took a sip of tea, then dragged my fingers through Smuckleberry’s fur.

“He was face down, his jacket pulled back like someone had grabbed him from behind. Like he had tried to walk away. He had a wound in his back and blood all around him. Then I saw Jean.”

“Who was at the diner then?”

“Me, Buzz. Aggie had just left. A couple regulars were eating. They’d sat for over an hour and were still there when I went back inside.”

“What about Shelly?”

“She’d gone home hours before.”

“So…how well do you know Aggie?”