AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When she finished, he glanced over. “She ended with poetry?”
“Yes, but like a spell or a charm? I think. I need to ask Cleo about that. But the fact is, someone I bumped felt it. Like I felt Dobbs that night.
“That’s interesting, to use your word. And it felt like I was wading through mud when I tried to run, to stop Agatha from eating that damn petit four.”
“Her death’s listed as choking, but sounds like poison.”
“It was anaphylactic shock. I’m nearly sure. I knew a girl in college with a peanut allergy. We were all out one night, and something she ate. It was really scary, even though she had an EpiPen. This reminded me of that, only it happened so fast, so maybe some poison with it. Hester Dobbs put something in that cake that caused the reaction.”
As it played back so clearly in her head, Sonya shifted in her seat to face him.
“She couldn’t breathe, Trey.
“She knew I couldn’t stop it—Hester knew. And that just infuriated me. Then I started thinking.”
He parked at the Lobster Cage.
“Is this okay for dinner?”
“Oh yes. I’d like to thank Bree in person for the recipe.”
“Hold on to what you started thinking.”
The same lovestruck hostess seated them in the same corner booth. He ordered wine, then nodded at her. “You were thinking.”
“It’s not her. I mean I don’t think it’s Hester Dobbs jump-starting these dreams or experiences.”
“Why?”
“Why would she want me to see, to have the details? It doesn’t give her any advantage. But it gives me one.”
He gestured to her when the server brought out the wine, chatted with her—an older woman this time—about her new granddaughter.
“Give us a few more minutes, will you, Dana?”
“You bet—but take my word, the lobster risotto is tops tonight.”
When she left them, Trey didn’t miss a beat. “Did you do sketches?”
“Yes.”
“I want to see them. And you’ve made a good point. I don’t see any benefit to her letting you see what she did, or how she did it.”
“How’s murky,” she said, but Trey shook his head.
“You’re an eyewitness, and you see and remember details. So I’m saying you’re right. Why would she want a witness? Do you want the risotto?”
“I really do.”
“That works. I want crab cakes.”
Once they’d ordered, he slid right back in. “I think it’s Astrid.”
“Why Astrid?”
“She’s the first. She was there, obviously, from the start. And since we accept she’s been in the manor since, she’d have seen the rest. She’s a witness, too.”
“That’s logical—in this illogical situation.” And it helped, so much, to have someone who could be logical, someone she trusted, to talk through it all.
