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Josie didn’t reply right away. From the glint in her light blue eyes, I got the impression that she’d be all too happy to blame him for everything she could. “Maybe,” she said at last, reluctance clear in her voice.
“Besides,” I went on, “Tom’s business is plumbing supplies, and if he says a noise couldn’t possibly be a plumbing issue, then it’s best to listen to him. Whatever’s happening in the Bigelow mansion, it’s something much bigger than a minor mechanical issue that Al Loomis might have overlooked.”
“I suppose so.” She paused there, then said, “It’s just awful that that man from Sedona died in the house, though. Does Chief Lewis have any theories?”
“Not really. He’s waiting for the medical examiner’s official report.”
She nodded. “Well, it sounds like a terrible accident and nothing more. Those stairs are quite steep — the house was built before that sort of thing was standardized, of course. I was glad I didn’t have to show the place too many times before your parents expressed interest, just because the steps aren’t much fun for someone short like me.”
I hadn’t noticed, but then, at five foot eight, I had a good six inches on Josie Woodrow.
Her phone buzzed, and she reached into her cobalt-blue purse and drew out her iPhone in its sparkly red case. A frown creased her brows, and she said, “Oh, dear. One of my clients is having issues with the title company, and I have to jump in and save the day.” She returned the phone to her purse, then reached across the counter to give my hand a reassuring pat. “You take care, Selena. And let your parents know that I’m here for them if they want to have any additional inspections performed on the house.”
“I will,” I replied. Awful as the situation was, it always felt good to know that I had Josie in my corner. She was probably the most capable person I’d ever met. “Thanks so much, Josie.”
After she sailed out, I went into the stockroom and got out a few more packs of Tarot cards to add to the display. For some reason, there had been a real run on them the week before; I got the impression that Tarot was the latest fad among some of the local high school girls. It seemed odd to me that schools were already back in session in Arizona when it wasn’t even the middle of August yet, but they did things differently here from what I was used to back in California.
A few customers came and went, and then a little after twelve, my mother and Tom walked in. Judging by the way they gazed up at the mural my friend Hazel had painted on the ceiling, and looked around at the displays of books and crystals and clothing, they were duly impressed. I couldn’t quite help feeling relieved; it wasn’t that I needed my mother’s approval or anything, but it still felt good.
“Why, Selena, it’s beautiful!” she exclaimed.
“I sent you pictures,” I returned, and she shrugged.
“Oh, that’s not the same. It’s so much better to be able to experience the store in person.”
“It is very nice,” Tom agreed. “For some reason, I didn’t think it would be this big.”
Even though he was too polite to say it, I got the impression that he’d thought my store must have been some hole in the wall, despite the pictures I’d sent my mother. “Well,” I said diplomatically, “it’s about the same size as my apartment, and so that means it’s just a little over seventeen hundred square feet.”
He nodded, and wandered off to inspect one of the bookcases. My mother came closer to the counter so she could look at the jewelry and crystals locked away under the glass.
“Are you okay?” I asked in a low voice.
That question got me one of her sparkly, too-bright smiles. “Oh, we’re both fine,” she said. “I’m not saying it doesn’t feel good to get out of there for a bit, but Tom and I have both agreed that we need to put this behind us. It’s really a beautiful house, and I’m sure we’ll get the whole thing sorted out eventually.”
Demonic infestations weren’t always the kind of thing you could “sort out,” but I didn’t want to argue with her.
“How was the house after I left?” I asked instead.
“Quiet,” she said at once. “We waited to leave until a little after twelve, just because we wanted to see if there was going to be a repeat of the disturbance we had at noon yesterday, but nothing happened. It felt…peaceful.”
That reply made me frown slightly. Was it possible that the infestation was over, that, once the demons had managed to get someone killed on the premises, they’d decided their work was done and had moved on to the next place?
No, it couldn’t that easy. Then again, we were talking about demons here. It wasn’t as if they had to function by normal rules of human logic.
“That’s great news,” I said. “Are you two hungry? I can close up for a bit, and we can walk over to Cloud Coffee.”
“Yes, we’re starving,” my mother said, now looking a bit more chipper. “We never ate any breakfast because of…well, what happened.”
“Then you definitely need one of Kris’s world-famous Monte Cristos.”
That suggestion only made her shake her head. “Oh, I think that’s way too many calories for me. I’m sure there must be something else that would be a bit healthier.”
Considering that my mother had managed to hang on to her size-six figure into her fifties, I thought her worry was a little misplaced. I wouldn’t argue with her, though. I only said they had a great chicken salad wrap, too, and after that we scooped up Tom and headed out.
The day was sunny and bright, the air warm but not uncomfortably hot, extremely pleasant for August. It was hard to believe that someone had died earlier that morning in the house Tom and my mother had bought. But no matter how cheerful Globe’s downtown looked right then, I knew the mystery of Brant Thoreau’s death would continue to hang over us.
Well, until someone managed to figure it out.
