Page 68 of A Seer and Present Danger

“But it isn’t everyone,” Jules said, catching the note of despair in my voice. “It’s only one person. Or two. I mean, three tops. But probably one. We can figure this out. Opportunity, motive, means.”

I pressed my palms over my face. “Seeing the future hasn’t helped at all.”

“Nonsense.” Jules patted my arm. “It’s important. I can’t tell you how many times you seeing the future helped me.”

“And me,” Dusi said.

“You’ve caught things before they fell,” Jules said, “warned me when I was heading into danger, and helped me make decisions when I was too afraid to pick a direction.”

“Even without seeing the future, you found out Vandre was here to find Pandora’s box,” Dusi said. “Maybe he burned down the storage unit.”

“Or Hugo did, to cover his tracks,” Jules said.

“Or Joanie?” I suggested timidly.

They both made distressed sounds.

“I know, I like her too! But could she have burned it down to cover up having opened the safe and stolen the box?”

“And given the box to Hugo to sell?” Jules shook her head. “I don’t think Joanie would do that.”

“Okay,” I said, letting it go for now. “But why would Vandre still be here asking questions if he had Pandora’s box?”

“Good point!” Jules shifted in her chair. “So. If Joanie didn’t burn down the unit, but Hugo did, how did he know the safe was there, and how did he know how to handle the box?”

“Hugo was good at stealing,” Dusi said. “Maybe he’d always been good at stealing magical things.”

“It might explain why Vandre has been on his trail,” I said. “Is there any chance Hugo was a demigod?”

“Huh,” Jules said. “Since he lived outside of Ordinary, he wouldn’t need to tell Delaney about his powers. But if he used his powers in town, she’d know.”

“He wasn’t a demigod then,” I said.

“Could you tell Vandre was a demigod when you met him?” Jules asked.

“Oh,” I said deflated. “No. He didn’t give me any supernatural vibes at all.”

“Maybe it’s just demigods that throw you off,” Dusi suggested.

That was a good possibility. When I’d met Vandre my radio signals went wonky. Aggie threw me off, too, even though she was human.

Or maybe she wasn’t human, and that’s why I kept getting weird vibes off her?

“What about Aggie?” I said. “She’s new here and loved being in the antique business.”

“Would she commit murder?” Jules asked.

They both looked at me expectantly.

I took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

“Whoever did this was angry enough to kill up-close,” Dusi said. “A lover, a friend, a rival?”

“Aggie kept calling him a thief,” I recalled. “But she wasn’t really angry. She just seemed disappointed she didn’t know what he’d stolen.”

“But with Pandora’s box on the line…” Jules shook her head. “Maybe that was enough to kill for.”

“Or, again,” Dusi said, “it could be as simple as someone who hated Hugo and Kenny and didn’t know about the box, which Hugo may not have even stolen.”