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“Who are you and what did you have to do with Julia Edwards?”
Nettie is pushed off the ledge and belts out a howl like an entire pack of hyenas with their tails on fire.
His lips curl into his cheek on one side and I’ve never seen a cockier expression on a man’s face—not even my ex’s and that’s saying a lot.
“Phineas George, that’s my name.” He frowns, looking that much more like Ransom. “And yes, I knew the deceased. Apparently, that’s what I’m here for.”
“You knew Julia…” My mind reels with the possibilities. Julia was a touch older than me, and according to the denim suit before me, Bess is right. Phineas must have died in the seventies. “So Julia was a little girl when she knew you.”
“Someone is good at math.” He gives a slight bow. “And that someone was me. I was her math instructor, junior high.”
I’m next. Soon enough, I’m quickly harnessed up and promptly pushed off the ledge.
A harrowing scream rips from me as I watch the sky, the ground, and the trees in that tropical canopy whiz by in a dizzying blur. I take a deep breath and ready myself for my second screaming session when a handsome face pops up before me. Phineas wraps his body around mine and I don’t hesitate to scream right through him.
He tips his head back and shudders. “Such a rush.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, squeezing my eyes shut tight.
“Don’t do that, honey,” he says. “Open them up. There are so few delights in the carnal world. And Lord knows the time under the sun only lasts but a moment. Open your eyes and take a look at the kaleidoscope around us.” He leans in and I can feel the warmth of his skin close to mine—something I’m convinced is more of an illusion than it is a reality. Phineas George is not a warm body—because, for one, he doesn’t have a body.
I pry one eye open, then the other, and do my best to take it all in.
“It’s a little bit of magic, isn’t it?” he asks as he brushes his finger across my cheek.
“Yes,” I whisper as I take in the world rushing past me at a million miles an hour. “It is.”
Thankfully, the platform appears and I somehow manage to make my way onto it.
“Wasn’t that great?” Nadine is there to greet me, right along with Bess, Nettie, and Nettie’s little fiery friend.
“It was great,” I pant as I’m loosened from the harness. “So who was it?” I force a smile her way. “Who was the whistleblower who outed Jane?”
Nettie lands that redheaded menace my way.
“Julia Edwards,” he murmurs. “That’s old news, Trix. We found out that little tidbit ten minutes ago. Wait until you hear what we gleaned next.”
Bess steps on Nettie’s foot and Sparky nearly goes flying off the ledge.
“What did you do that for?” Nettie howls, hopping on one leg.
“Because I saw a spider on your shoe,” Bess shouts above the howling. “A lethal spider that has the ability to kill the case.”
I groan as she says that last word.
“So it was Julia.” I nod to Nadine. “I should have figured. And well, I guess that gives Jane a motive. Revenge.”
Nadine shrugs. “Maybe. I mean, she was with Julia all night. But then, so was I and so were a lot of people that night.” She winces. “Even the one person Julia couldn’t stand the most—Travis Weatherly.”
“That’s right. The sportscaster,” I say. “Why couldn’t she stand him?”
“They were together for a while,” she says as we move up on the platform and Phineas reappears from the direction of this new drop-off.
“This one is steeper and longer,” he tells me. “You won’t like it.”
“Boy, aren’t you a ball of sunshine,” I mutter.
Nadine’s mouth falls open. “What’s that?”
