A Deep and Dark December(21)

“The what?”

“An Irish symbol of love, friendship and loyalty. Guys often propose to their girlfriends with a Claddagh ring. My mom has one. How big was the tattoo?”

“About as big as a quarter or half-dollar, why?”

“Just want to put things in perspective. Text me the photo, will you? We’ll want to find the shop that did the work. Maybe someone there will remember her and why she got the tattoo.”

“Sure.”

While Pax worked on sending the text, Graham took another look around the kitchen. The stack of papers on the table and Deidre’s purse were gone. “When you bagged Deidre’s purse and the papers on the table, did you move the furniture?” he asked Pax.

Pax looked up from his phone at Graham and then at the table and chair set. He frowned. “No. I only touched the things I bagged. Why?”

“Deidre’s purse was on the floor next to the chair on the other side of the table. The divorce papers were on table, facing the chair. Why would she put them there like that if she didn’t sit down at the table?”

Pax eyed the chair in question. “It’s pushed in.”

“Right. Someone pushed the chair in. Could’ve been Deidre.”

“Could’ve.”

“Could’ve been Greg or someone else.”

“No one touched that chair since I got here. If not Deidre or Greg then someone else did it. Maybe a third person? The real killer? This is looking less like murder/suicide, isn’t it?”

“Maybe. Too soon to tell. We’ll need to talk to everyone the Lasiters knew. Who are Greg and Deidre’s next of kin?”

Pax flipped through his notebook. “Greg’s brother’s in prison, as I’m sure you know.”

He didn’t know. He should’ve known. Would everyone assume he’d kept in contact with Greg and the others after all these years?

“He has an uncle on his mother’s side in Sacramento,” Pax continued. “Deidre has a sister, Denise, who lives in San Luis Obispo and a brother, Darrin, who lives in North Carolina. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Day, also live in San Luis Obispo. I guess they’d be the next of kin.”

“You’d better call Vera and let her know you won’t be home for dinner.”

Pax closed his notebook with a sad sigh. “I’ve never done a death notification.”

“I have.” And he could remember every single detail about every single one. Right down to the noise in the background as he informed parents, siblings and friends that their loved one had died. And now he’d have to tell the family of his old friend that Greg had killed himself and possibly murdered his wife.





“What is happening?” Erin asked her aunt, whispering into the phone so Keith couldn’t overhear from the other room.

“I don’t know. Your father thinks… bah! I can’t even say it.”

“What?”

“He had to pay full price for his lunch today at the Do or Dine and now he’s convinced someone is purposely manipulating our abilities.”

“He never pays full price. For anything.” The only time her father used his ability of suggestion was when money was involved.

“I know! And Tera was his waitress. Her mind’s so open to suggestion that her name badge should read: Suggestion Box. Then he went down to Fine’s to pick up a few things for his woodworking club and paid full price again! He’s so discombobulated he’s sure there’s some great universal conspiracy cooking.”

That would explain why all of their abilities had been affected. But… “By who and how?”

Aunt Cerie sighed into the phone. “I don’t know. This whole business has me twisting and turning like a wind chime in a tornado. How are you doing, chicken?”

“I’m okay… I guess.”

“You’ve had a heck of a day. I’m sorry.”

“The premonitions are always the worst for me. I hate not being able to change anything.”

“If you change even one little thing, you could change everything. You know that.”

Erin had heard this lecture before. At least a thousand times. “I know.”

“We were given our abilities for a reason. It’s a great responsibility. I don’t like that your father uses his to get discounts, but at least he doesn’t give people the suggestion to give things to him for free. That would be irresponsible. It’s like if I told Paul Webster that his wife is having an affair with her best friend Gina, I’d be changing the natural order of events. Either Paul will find out or he won’t. Although—between you and me—if Paul did find out, he’d want to turn the whole thing into a threesome. That guy is into some seriously kinky stuff.”

“Aunt Cerie,” Erin warned.

She hated it when her aunt told her more than she ever wanted to know about the people around her. Cerie saw nothing wrong with using her ability and wasn’t shy about sharing what she learned. She’d supported herself for years off her ‘readings’, which were really just Cerie telling people what they wanted to hear. Cerie’s antics and Donald’s uncanny knack for never paying full price fueled the rumors that there was something strange about the Decembers.

“You know I don’t want to hear about that kind of stuff.” Wait. What if her aunt heard one or both of the Lasiters’ thoughts. She might know whom Deidre was having an affair with. Goodness knew Cerie knew about every other affair in town. “Did you ever overhear anything about Greg or his wife?”