A bell went off in my head. And I realized I’d been missing something all along. “When did Lucinda go to California?”
“I don’t know.”
“She was working as a librarian somewhere in this area, and she knew Helena. Then she quit and went to California to work in television. She told me when that was, but I don’t remember. Can you find out when she actually left?”
“You think it matters?”
“I don’t know what matters until I know.”
“You could ask her.”
“She might not tell me the truth.”
“Margaret Hurley is our class record keeper. She kept track of us as much as she could, wanting our contact information to organize events and keep us in touch. She might know.”
“Can you ask her, please?”
Bertie reached for her phone. She scrolled through her contact list, gave me a nod, and then made the call. I could hear the tinny voice on the other end that indicated she’d reached a recording. “Hi, Margaret. It’s Bertie James here. I have a question for you about our class. Give me a call when you get a chance. Bye.”
“Let me know what she has to say,” I said. “As for me, I’m off to the gardens.”
“Enjoy,” Bertie said.
I turned around and collided with Louise Jane. I let out a screech, and Louise Jane threw up her hands.
“For heaven’s sake,” I said, “don’t sneak up on people like that.”
Charles jumped off the filing cabinet and landed on the edge of Bertie’s desk. Louise Jane stroked him, and he purred happily. The traitor.
Louise Jane made a poor attempt to hide her smirk. “Sneak up? I’d hardly call walking down a corridor in a public building in the middle of the day, sneaking up. What are you two talking about anyway? More developments on the case? Isn’t today your day off, Lucy?”
“I was just leaving.”
“You shouldn’t spend so much time here. I’ve been reading up on the importance of a proper work–life balance. You’re not married, Lucy, so your job is just about all you have in your life, but …”
“I have a perfectly fine work–life balance, thank you, and a good group of friends. Bertie and I were discussing … non-library business.” Too late, I realized I’d once again snatched the bait.
Louise Jane reeled in her catch. “My point exactly. You need a larger group of friends. Now to the purpose of my visit. Sheila and I put our heads together, and we’ve come up with a plan to help Lucy get to the bottom of the murder.”
“Help me?”
“Everyone knows you’ve been asking questions all over town Lucy. If you want to be a detective, you need to be more discreet.”
“I’m not going undercover!”
“Louise Jane,” Bertie said. “I doubt very much I want to hear what you and Shelia have decided, but you’ll tell me whether I want to hear it or not, so you might as well go ahead.”
Louise Jane dipped her head. “Thank you, Bertie. After our adventure in the marsh on Tuesday night—”
“What adventure?” Bertie said.
“That doesn’t matter now. We had no luck summoning anyone except for a couple of young lovers who didn’t seem at all happy at being summoned.”
“What lovers?” Bertie asked. She must have read my face, which wouldn’t have been hard as I’d turned a bright scarlet, and she quickly added, “Oh. Never mind.”
“The police are going to allow Sheila and the others to go home tomorrow—”
“How do you know that?” I asked. “Watson left here a few minutes ago. He hasn’t told them.” I snapped my mouth shut as I realized, too late as usual, that I’d just confirmed what was probably only a guess on the part of Louise Jane.
She smirked. “Haven’t you figured out by now, Lucy, honey, that I have my sources? The police station is a modern building, but the ground on which it stands has been occupied for a long, long time.”
More likely than an unworldly informant, I thought, Louise Jane has a friend or a distant cousin working for the police who keeps her up to date about goings-on there.
“Anyway,” she went on, “as they will be leaving, we have one night, and one night only, to attempt a re-creation.”
“I hope you noticed,” I said, “that I haven’t asked what you meant about ‘summoning.’ I don’t want to know.”
“And I don’t want to know what ‘re-creation’ you’re talking about,” Bertie said.
“Sure you do.” Louise Jane gave Charles a final pat. He strolled across Bertie’s desk and settled on the computer keyboard for a nap.
“Tonight, we’ll gather together the people who went on the walk on Friday to reenact the events of that night. Including you, Bertie, plus Lucy and Ronald. My cousin Jolene is about the same age and height as Helena, although quite a bit heavier come to think of it. Never mind, it’ll be dark. Jolene will play Helena. I, of course, will be on high alert, prepared to speak to any of the marsh spirts who want to help us understand what happened.”
“Why would they want to do that?” I asked.
“Do what?”
“Help us understand.”
“Because I’ll ask nicely, Lucy, honey. Now, you tell Ronald, and I’ll get Sheila to call Lucinda, Mary-Sue, and Ruth. We won’t tell them what’s happening, of course. We’ll say it’s a farewell party. Hmm, come to think of it, you’d better make the call, Bertie.”
“I’m not tricking my friends into participating in one of your wild fantasies,” Bertie said. “And that is that.”
“I suppose you’re right. Besides, women of”—she coughed and avoided looking at Bertie—“a certain age don’t usually start parties after nine. It’ll be better coming from Sheila anyway. She’ll invite them to join her on a pleasant evening stroll on the library grounds. No one can object to that.”
“I don’t know …” Bertie said.
“Fortunately,” Louise Jane said, “I do. What harm can it do? If nothing happens, we’ll all drive into town for a farewell drink at the Ocean Side.”
“Very well.” Bertie reached for her phone.
“Who are you calling?” Louise
