Page 56 of A Seer and Present Danger

I opened my mouth to say she couldn’t have done it, but stopped. “She’s new to the area. She seems…”

Would I describe her as friendly?

“…she is nice enough. She has a past she wants to leave behind and sometimes she’s a little rude to the customers. But I can understand that. She’s just barely moved here, and a move is always stressful. She doesn’t have many friends.”

“Could she be a suspect?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think she knew Hugo, I don’t think she had any motivation to do it. But she was there that night. I saw her come out of the bathroom.”

“The bathroom is near the back door,” Jules pointed out. “Had Jean left before she came out of the bathroom?”

“Yes. Aggie left on break, then Jean left. Then Aggie returned and left for the night.”

“And,” Jules went on, warming up to the idea, “Aggie would have had access to a kitchen knife. The diner has knives.”

“That’s…well, it’s not impossible for her to have taken one when Buzz wasn’t looking, but it would be hard. Buzz keeps a sharp eye on everyone and everything in the diner, including his knives. But I guess Aggie could be a suspect.” I sighed. “I really thought it was Kenny, though.”

“Who is dead.” Jules sat back. “Why did you think it was him?”

“He called Hugo a thief and a liar. He said Hugo didn’t treat Gail right. Kenny and Hugo were partners but Kenny was going to buy him out of the business for cheap. And Kenny was really angry at Hugo, so he had lots of reasons to kill him. See how bad I am at this?”

“Nonsense. You have great instincts. Maybe it was Kenny.”

“Statistically two killers in this short of a time? Especially since the victims were business partners? It’s more likely the almost ex-wife.”

“Gail.”

“I talked to her at the car wash. She was very…matter of fact about Hugo’s death. She’s been stepping out on Hugo with Kenny.”

Jules raised her eyebrows. “And I thought I heard all the juicy gossip.”

“She’s also part owner of the Wires and Widgets building along with Kenny and Hugo.”

“All the more reason to kill them both and take the profits.”

“She wants to travel,” I said, feeling more excited. “She could sell the business, or the building, and make enough to move to Japan.”

“That’s motive!” Jules said.

“And she was at the diner the night Hugo died. She could have waited for him to show up. Could have called him out there.”

“Opportunity!” Jules said. “This is great!”

I laughed and pressed my fingers over my mouth. “We shouldn’t be happy about murder.”

“Pffft. We’re happy about solving murders. It’s an entirely different thing. Are those all your suspects?”

“Yes. Well, no. There’s one more.”

She sipped tea and gave me a nod.

“Vandre. The detective. Who is also a demigod. He showed up after Aggie got hired. Well, the day before the murder, really.”

“What do you think about him?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s bad.”