Great. I shake my head ever so slightly. Sounds like we’ve got a fake psychic on our hands. It’s good to know she takes advantage of people for a living.
“Hey.” Molly shrugs my way before her eyes steady over my features and grow in size. “Is it you?” she howls in an accusing tone.
Fish sinks back into her pouch. Let me know when you need me to claw her eyes out.
A sign to the left catches my attention. Palm reading, first ten minutes free. I tip my head curiously at the woman.
“Oh? Are you the palm reader?”
She gives a stunted nod.
“My friend was hoping to talk to you.” I force my mouth to fall open. “Hey, wait a minute. You’re the girl from the other night, aren’t you?” Honestly, this couldn’t have worked out better if I had planned it.
Molly glances to Brad in a threatening manner, and he lifts his hands before heading to the front to help the customers congregating around the cash register.
She takes a step my way and Fish pokes her head out once again.
Something tells me I’d better keep an eye on this one.
I give Fish a little pat on the head because I’m afraid she might be right. There’s just something off about Molly, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
She nods me closer to the table where Georgie seems to have lost herself in one of those self-help books.
“So they haven’t arrested you yet, huh?” Molly’s lips curl my way as if she thought it was funny.
“No,” I say. “And they won’t. I didn’t do it. How are you holding up?”
She takes a full breath and her bright crimson lips quiver as if she were about to say something but decided to hold back. She gives Fish a quick scratch between the ears instead.
“Cool cat. I’m thinking about getting one.” Come to think of it, I should have gotten a cat instead of a boyfriend. Cats don’t jerk you around. And if they reject you, it’s because they want space—not because they’re done with you.
I nod to myself. “You should definitely get a cat. There’s no better unconditional love. I’m surprised you’re at work. I can’t imagine losing someone close to you like that and then being able to concentrate.”
She gives a few rapid blinks. “Wyatt was everything to me. Too much of everything.” She slams the book in her hand down hard onto the table. “He was always trying to weasel his way away from me. So passive. Always so kind on the surface but ready to bolt the second a skirt walked into the picture.”
Georgie lets out a husky laugh, and I shake my head at her.
No, no, Georgie. I beg of you, do not interject. The woman is speaking to me, and I am on a roll.
Fish mewls. Don’t worry, Bizzy. I have a feeling good things will come from this.
I wish I shared the furry feline’s delusion.
“I hear you, honey.” Georgie heads over. “All of my exes left me for a girl in a shorter skirt. Men can be such dogs. They’re insults to the entire canine community.”
Juni rushes over with a stack of books in her hands. “Don’t you go men bashing without me. And you leave innocent pet pooches out of this. If any of my dogs were men, they would have all shared the remote with me. Don’t get me started on sitting in front of the TV watching sports while a stack of dirty dishes waits for me in the kitchen.”
Molly nods knowingly. “My ex did that, too, and I hated it. I felt like some indentured servant running the house.”
Juni cocks her head with a look of slight confusion. “I was the one watching TV, but it’s the same principle.”
Good Lord.
I shoot a weak smile over to Molly.
“Say!” Georgie howls so loud, ten different people crane their neck this way. “Weren’t you at Killer Books the night of the murder?”
“Georgie.” I tick my head.
Molly shrugs. “No, that’s okay. Wyatt was my boyfriend. I thought we were going to get married and have two point five children, a white picket fence, the whole nine yards—but then he had to go do this to me.”
Fish twitches her head my way. She’s not talking about the fact he died, is she?
My mouth squares out because I sort of think she is.
Juni leans in. “How exactly does one have two point five children?” Her body jerks. “Oh, I get it. You send one away to live with Grandma. My mother did that.” She shoots a quick look to Georgie.
“And it did you a world of good.” Georgie winks over at Molly. “This little stinker had it coming.”
“So Molly”—I say, trying to wrangle back the conversation in an investigative direction—“does the sheriff’s department have any answers for you? What do you think happened?”
Molly all but growls. “It’s obvious what happened. Someone got ahold of the knife and went after Wyatt like a human piñata.”
Fish rises from her pouch a notch. Sounds as if she’s trying to make light of it. Maybe that’s how she grieves? Or maybe she’s cold and unfeeling because she’s the one that used him as the human piñata.
I give a slight nod, affirming her thoughts.
“But it was so very brazen.” I shake my head. “If someone had a vendetta against the poor man, why choose that night? With so many witnesses around.”
Juni shakes her head. “It was dark. We were playing a game that centered on murder. People were expecting a horrible death. People were practically cheering for it. If you ask me, it was the perfect crime.”
Molly shifts as she straightens the books before her. I couldn’t agree more.
And just like that, Molly Shay bumps up to the top of my suspect list.
“Molly”—I step in close—“what about Thomas Dean? Do you think
