Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines by Jennifer J. Chow

Author:Jennifer J. Chow [Chow, Jennifer J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

twenty-two

WHAT ARE YOU doing?” I asked, gesturing to the smoking branches in Amy’s hand.

She tried to hide the bundle behind her back, but I could still see the smoke snaking up in the air. A heavy earthy fragrance filled the house.

“Kind of smells like, er, Mary Jane.”

She sighed and brought the branches back out. “It’s sage. Meant to clear the air of vengeful spirits.”

Spirits? I didn’t believe in the supernatural much, but owning a psychic cat had definitely expanded my beliefs. I missed Marshmallow; his dry wit would’ve alleviated the tension at the service today.

“Do you have some sort of haunting?” I asked, peering around her home, particularly at her television. Did she have a poltergeist lurking behind the screen?

“It’s not that.” She pointed to the living room, where the chairs were still set up for the memorial service.

“Wait, are you talking about . . . Helen’s ghost?” I stared at her in disbelief. Then again, the woman did carry a lucky clover keychain and had practically hissed herself when she’d spotted my cat.

Amy crisscrossed the house, all the while waving the sage. “I just don’t feel like Helen’s at peace.”

Was she saying that as a general comment, or had she witnessed something untoward the day of Helen’s death? I stepped into the middle of her weaving path. “Do you know anything that might help the case?”

She stopped moving the bundle of sage, and her left hand stroked her stomach. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. I belly knew her.”

“You what?” Even as an untrained psychologist, I’d caught her Freudian slip. “Did you say ‘belly’?”

“Ha.” She laughed it off. “You must have misheard me. I said I barely knew her.”

Nice try, Amy.

Her free hand fluttered in the air. “Anyway, why’d you come back?”

Gesturing to her backyard, I said, “I left my favorite platter.”

“I’ll go get it for you.” She placed the sage down in a decorative glass bowl on an end table and bustled outside. It felt like she had wanted to get away from me—and my probing.

While I stood waiting, I wandered over to a nearby bookcase in her front room. I loved checking out what people read. Their taste in books often gave me insight into their character. I myself read young adult fiction. Did that mean I was a teen at heart? Amy’s shelves were lined with tomes on the esoteric: the magic of Stonehenge, voodoo rituals, and ancient Egyptian animal familiars.

She soon returned with my jade platter and thrust it at me. “There you are. Bye now.”

How awkward to end the visit this way. “Thanks again for hosting the service,” I said.

She shifted from one foot to the other. “It was the least I could do.”

I said goodbye, and she shut the door behind me. What secret knowledge could she have? Amy had mentioned the word “belly,” and it didn’t seem like a coincidence that Helen had suffered an upset stomach the day she’d died.

I found Josh still sitting in the car where I’d left him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.