“I did not.”
Alice waved her away. “Well, it’s nothing to concern yourself with.”
I’d started to wonder about little TVs in the basement when Lucky flickered.
“Hurry,” he said.
“Okay, is everyone ready?” They all nodded. I laid my hands flat on the table and began to speak. “Oh great Zelda, you have just crossed over, have just joined your brothers and sisters on the other side—”
“Zelda didn’t have any brothers or sisters, did she?” Luis asked Lemon.
Lemon scoffed. “Of course not. Wouldn’t you have known if she did?”
“Well, I don’t know,” he remarked smartly. “I didn’t even know that Zelda had little TVs in the basement.”
“How could you not know that?” she demanded.
Luis shot her a fierce look. “Do I look like the sort of man who wanders around in basements?”
No, I would have said. Absolutely not.
“Can we get back to it?” Roan asked.
“Yes,” Luis answered with a flick of his hand. “Let us discover who this murderer is.”
I cleared my throat and started up again. “Oh great Zelda, please come to us. Return to us and show us who sent you to the great beyond. We know that someone at this table is your killer. Show us who they are. Tell us who has done this to you.”
Quiet filled the room. Sweat trickled out from under the band onto my cheek.
Come on, Zelda.
What if this didn’t work? What if she stayed away and left us hanging? How long could I afford to wait, with Lucky looking as badly as he did?
I closed my eyes and focused harder. “Zelda, you told me once that this helmet would force a spirit to come to me. Now I’m using it on you in the hope that you will appear, that you will come to me and show yourself! Tell us who did this! Make them pay for what they’ve done!”
A small round table in the corner fell over with a bang. Lemon gasped. So did Luis—surprise, surprise.
Alice whispered loudly, “Do you think she’s here?”
Then Zelda’s voice filled my ears. “You know, I was in the middle of getting my back rubbed by the nicest new pool boy when you interrupted me.”
Tex’s jaw dropped. “Zelda?”
What Lemon had said about the helmet turned out to be true. Others could see Zelda. It probably also helped that sometimes folks could see spirits because my gift ended up making them more visible.
No, that hadn’t happened at the earlier séance, but it wasn’t an exact science.
“Mother?” Lemon said, her eyes filling with tears. “You’re here.”
Zelda raked her fingers through her hair. “Of course I’m here. I wouldn’t miss my own séance for the world.” Her eyes widened when her gaze landed on me. “Oh, Blissful! You’re wearing the helmet.” She floated toward me and, in a blink, was through the table, standing in front of me. “Tell me, do you like it?”
Tex pressed his handkerchief to his mouth. “Ugh. I think I’m going to be sick.”
Alice pulled a bottle of Tums from her purse. “You’ll be fine. Take one of these.”
Zelda pressed me. “Do you like it? It works beautifully, doesn’t it?” She hefted her legs onto the table and floated atop it, poised like a pin-up girl. “I assume that’s how you got me here?”
“Yes. Zelda, there’s much we need to discuss, but we have to hurry. There isn’t a lot time.”
