“Very funny.”
“You have a cat flap. Go and use it, if you need to answer a call of nature.” I flopped back into bed and drew the blanket over my head, only to have it slide off.
Cosmo jumped up, next to me. “Stop wasting our time. People might drop in to see how you are, and we’ve barely touched on the basics yesterday.”
Grumbling, I wrapped myself into my dressing gown, silently daring him to comment on its ratty state. I used it to keep me warm, not to win a fashion pageant. Together, we padded into the kitchen.
My four-legged taskmaster graciously allowed me to fill his bowl before I had my much-needed coffee and a serving of egg and bacon. Cosmo had limited me to one egg, which surprised me, until I remembered that I was supposed to continue with our baking lesson, and unless I improved fast, our egg supply might run out.
Today I’d prepared for any flour disasters. My travel toiletries bag held a few plastic shower caps, which I kept for emergencies (I’d stayed in a few motels where they came in handy). I put one of them on a less than pleased cat and threw a travel rain-poncho over my jeans and sweatshirt. The flour might hit the fan again, but I was ready, and so was the rest of the kitchen. Taped down newspaper on the floor and clingfilm on the worktop should do the trick.
My preparation for messes was the only thing that worked. In the space of two hours, I managed once to infuse the spice mix with a weak glow. Once! My arms ached, my back hurt, and I bit back tears at my failure.
Cosmo jumped off the stool and rubbed himself against my legs. The shower cap fell off. I put it back on his head.
“You’re blocked,” he said.
“I’m hopeless.”
“You’re not. There’s the proof.” He pointed with a paw at the still glowing mix.
“It’s not enough.”
Without warning, he flexed his muscles and landed on his bar stool, fixing his gaze on me. “What did you dream of?”
I shuddered. “I had a nightmare.”
“Tell me more.It could be important.”
I reached for the cookie tin, only to remember it was still empty.
“There’s a box with emergency chocolates in the pantry,” he said.
I discovered it on the top shelf, filled with artisanal chocolate bars and truffles. I unwrapped a ball of dark chocolate with the tiniest amount of chili flakes. A welcome warmth spread through my body, not like a hot flash, more like the balm of a summer’s morning. I felt my body relax.
With the box in my hand, I returned to Cosmo and the interrogation.
“It’s the letter,” I admitted. “I’ve been dreaming of Aunt Violet writing it. And then I saw Jake, only he was dead, and standing over my bed. He was screaming at me;you did nothing to stop this.”
The nightmare had been so vivid, I had to tell myself again and again that it wasn’t real. Unless – no, please no. “Is he a ghost? Has he come back to haunt me?”
“No, he hasn’t. At least, not in the way you think.”
I stuffed a second chocolate ball into my mouth and gulped it down with the least amount of chewing. “What do you mean? And is there a way to renounce my inheritance? I could get rid of the blue hair.” My teeth chattered.
“You’re not being haunted. Do you hear me? Everything will be fine. Your energy will no longer be blocked.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
“There’s only one small thing we need to do first.”
“Great. What is it? Do we need to perform a smudging? There’s a book about it in Aunt Violet’s bedroom.”
“Smudging is good. Smudging is excellent.” He held me back with his claws before I could run to fetch the book. “Only, that’s not the task.”
“Okay. Then, what is our job?”
“We need to solve Jake’s murder.”
