Page 67 of A Seer and Present Danger

“Is that a future glimpse?”

“No, just me giving some friendly advice.”

“No need for you to rush off. You can stay.”

I laughed, even though he seemed sincere. “My break’s over and there’s a group of eight who are going to show up at the door right…now.”

The door opened and eight women, who looked like they were out for an adventure, piled into the place.

“Nice,” he said. “Very precise.”

“Unless I can get you anything?” I asked knowing he wasn’t going to ask for anything.

“You know I’m good.”

I tipped my head to both sides. “Good enough, I suppose.” And didn’t that make him smile?

I welcomed the group of eight and got them settled at two tables that I scooted together.

I took a minute and dropped off Vandre’s ticket. By the time the table of eight ordered, he was gone.

* * *

“Go over it again,” Jules said.

I’d gotten off work late but knew she was still up and would want to talk things over, so I’d driven straight to the little cottage she was living in right next to the Rookery.

Dusi was there too, with her baby otter Tufa, who was a golem.

Jules’ kitten, Oolong, was fascinated by the otter’s cavorting, but was staying safely ensconced on Jules’ lap.

“Buzz didn’t see anything and doesn’t know anything. Detective Vandre can’t see the future as precisely as I can, but he can make the futures pause. Aggie was on break before the murder, in the bathroom resting, then left. There’s a tiny possibility she had access to a knife since the Blue Owl is a diner.

“I talked to Shelly too. She wasn’t there that late, and she hasn’t heard or seen anything, which she was very disappointed about. And Gail seems really upset Kenny’s dead.”

“So maybe none of them did it,” Jules said.

“It doesn’t seem like it. But I don’t think Jean did it either even though I guess she had access to a knife, too.”

“No,” Jules said. “Jean did not steal a knife and kill Hugo.”

Dusi made a sound and Jules sent a surprised look her way. “You can’t possibly believe Jean would kill someone. Tell me you don’t believe that.”

“I don’t think Jean would kill someone. But I know magic and magical beings. If there was a way to use magic to pin a crime on someone else, they would do it.”

“What are you suggesting?” I asked.

“Possibilities,” Dusi said. “Could someone have possessed Jean and used her body to kill Hugo? Could someone manipulate her memory and erase that they had been there? Could someone change reality or time to cover up their tracks, or to change the future so they erase themselves from the past?”

Jules sighed. “Maybe. The gods and supernaturals outside of Ordinary don’t have to follow the rules we have inside Ordinary.”

“But Kenny was killed inside Ordinary,” I said. “Assuming it’s the same killer, it wouldn’t be a god, right? Because if a god used powers to kill in Ordinary, Delaney’s alarms would go off and she’d arrest them, throw them in jail, kick them out of town.”

“Absolutely,” Jules said. “So, we can rule out gods.”

Dusi made a sound like she never ruled out gods when trouble was afoot, but I thought Jules had the right of it.

“Other supernaturals, though,” I said. “It could be almost anyone.”