"I don't think Jake was in the military."
"Sentimental value?"
"Possibly."
"Then there's the mystery woman that he and Pamela spotted coming out of the Reiki practice,” I told Cosmo.
"Say that again."
I repeated my words.
"Your aunt had a Reiki session."
"Like most people, from what I’ve gathered," I said.
"Yes, except she only went there once, and she had a funny look on her face when she returned."
I groaned. “Did she say anything about him? Because I don’t see a connection to Brad, or to my recent progress with my energy block. And even if he had it in for my aunt for some reason, Jake died first.And I don't think that a stranger would have been able to know where she kept her pills, what she took, and what to replace them with.”
"That is the important bit," Cosmo admitted. "Which brings us back to the usual suspects."
"It's all confusing."
"Yeah, but once you have sorted out the impossible from the improbable—" His whiskers twitched.
"I think that is not the correct quote from Sherlock Holmes, but I get the meaning," I said.
"The easiest thing would be to get them all here, so we can observe everyone together."
"Easy how? They're not exactly all loyal customers."
"Then you've got to go where you find them."
"Which is?" I asked.
"Your friends would know. They should know everything. You can ask Jimmy. Tell him you want him to bring his son, and he’ll jump at the opportunity."
"That is a possibility," I said. "It's far-fetched, but it might work."
"We're missing one name, aren't we?" he asked.
"Who?"
"Who's the one person best placed? Who knew exactly where the spare key was kept? Who knew her way around this place?"
I stared at him, dumbstruck. "Louisa? That's ridiculous." Or was it?
"You may be right," I said. "I'm convinced that she had something to do with all the rumors that reached the detective’s ears. But the question is, why, unless Jake had something in his will that stood to benefit her or someone close to her, and she only lately realized it."
My head began to pound. "I need a painkiller."
Cosmo started to purr. Louder and louder.
My temples stopped throbbing. Calm washed over me. This purr was the equivalent of a perfectly tempered bubble bath, or a crackling fire at Christmas time.
"How do you feel now?" Cosmo peered at me.
"Never been better. If there was a way to bottle this sort of relaxation, we'd be rolling in money within a week." Maybe it was good that the rules forbade us from taking advantage of certain powers. Or I'd be really tempted. So many good things to do with money, so many bad things too. Which brought me back to the case in question. "Did this also work on my aunt?"
