A Bird's Eye View of Murder by Jacqueline Vick

Author:Jacqueline Vick
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781945403026
Publisher: Jacqueline Vick

ELEVEN

Bright and early the next morning, Auntie shook my shoulders. “Wakey, wakey!”

She pulled open the front room drapes, and I threw my arm across my face to ward off the sunlight.

“What time is it?”

“Saguaro Studios opens at eight. We need to get the jump on Heather before she forgets her promise to talk to me about my tarot card reading idea.”

I rolled on my side and buried my face in the couch cushion. “The minions get there at eight. Celebrities like Heather probably wander in at ten or so. One of the perks.” I opened my mouth to yawn and choked on a dog hair.

“Not our Heather. That woman looks ambitious, and you don’t get places by sleeping in.”

She nagged me into the shower, but because I had to take Chauncey for his morning walk, and because I demanded breakfast before left, we weren’t on the road until 8:30.

This time, we didn’t have a handy invite, so the security guard—according to his nametag, Howard—wasn’t about to let us on the lot. Auntie leaned over me and put on her best aw-shucks grin.

“Howard!” Auntie called out to him as if they were best buddies. “Heather Ozu will be so upset if I don’t show up. You’ve heard about that awful murder business?”

“That’s why I’m not letting anybody on this lot who isn’t on the list.” He jabbed his clipboard to make his point.

“Well, I’m a consultant she’s, er, consulting with to save the show. Here’s my card.”

She handed him a Queen of Hearts tarot/business card, and after studying it both front and back, he looked at her with newfound respect.

“You’re that woman from the paper? The one who’s working with the police?” When his gaze landed on me, he raised a bushy brow. “What about her?

“She’s my sidekick. She tries to help out when she can.”

I folded my arms and muttered, “I’ll give you a sidekick right in the—”

“You’ll vouch for her?” Howard asked.

I couldn’t imagine why a homemade business card and a critical article in The Wolf Creek Gazette would raise my aunt in Howard’s esteem, but I went with it and gave him a toothy smile as I endured his inspection.

A young woman exited the car behind us and wandered up. “What’s the holdup, Howard?”

It was Linda. I almost didn’t recognize her out of her page uniform. When she saw Auntie, she gushed about how great her Skype appointment had been.

“Skype appointment?” I asked, but Linda had already rushed to the passenger window and leaned in to hug Auntie.

“It was just like being in the room with you! And you remember the problem I had with you-know-who? Your solution worked like magic.”

“When did you have time for an appointment?” I asked Auntie.

“Not everybody needs eight hours of sleep, lazybones. Some of us are night owls.” She winked at Linda.

Linda’s approval gave Howard all the validation he needed to let us through, but I got out of my car and escorted her back to her hatchback.

“Detective Bowers said that you saw my Aunt Gertrude and Elvira Jenkins arguing the night of the murder.

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