“No. After leaving the bar, everything was murky. I only picked up that she was terrified, but not why. Did the hospital do any bloodwork on her?”
“Yes. But I haven’t seen the results yet.” He glanced over his shoulder and pulled out onto the street. “Do you think she was drugged?”
“Yes… it’s the only thing that makes sense. But what drug would make her forget everything?”
“I don’t know. Rohypnol, or “roofies” are the usual suspect in this kind of case, but they wouldn’t make her forget everything. So it must be something else. If she got a drink at the bar and someone spiked it, that could explain a lot. At least it’s a place to start.”
“True. You should see if you can get the video of the bar to go along with the others you already have. Oh… and you need to make sure Willow knows that Sophie’s not our killer.” I knew that Brock wouldn’t have been there trying to help her if she’d killed him… at least I didn’t think so.
Dimples sent me a sideways glance. “You sure about that? I mean… if she doesn’t remember, and you couldn’t pick it up, then why are you so sure she didn’t do it?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a gut feeling.”
Dimples smirked, thinking that line was right out of Willow’s playbook.
“Hey… not fair.”
“I know… sorry. Okay… I’m going to back you up on this. We’ll go on the assumption that Sophie didn’t do it. Willow’s not going to be happy, but I will defer to your gut feeling over hers any time.”
He sent me a smile. “When she finds out you got Sophie to talk, she’ll be doubly upset.” He was thinking that he could hardly wait to see the look on Willow’s face.
It would be gratifying to see, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be around when it happened.
We drove in silence for a few miles, then Dimples glanced my way. “Thanks Shelby. I knew bringing you in on this would help.” He shook his head. “But what was with that Armani cologne thing? Did you pick it up from Sophie’s mind? That Brock wore Armani? And what about the song? I think that’s what brought her out of it… and I have to tell you—it was pretty freakin’ weird. I felt chills on the back of my neck.”
“Yeah. It kind of freaked me out too.”
“So, he wasn’t really there like you said, right?”
He didn’t look at me, hoping I’d tell him I’d done it to trick her into talking. Since I kept my mouth shut, he continued. “What? You saying he was really there?”
I didn’t want to lie to him, since he’s my friend and all, but I picked up plain as day that he really didn’t want to know I could hear dead people. With that attitude, what was I supposed to tell him? On the other hand, he couldn’t seem to let it go; must be the detective side of him.
“I know you get a little spooked sometimes, but… you didn’t see him or anything, right?”
“No. I didn’t see him, that’s silly. But I may have smelled the Armani.” I blew out a breath. “Let’s just leave it at that, all right?”
“Sure.” He kept his gaze on the road, but I picked up that he was a little shocked. All this time we’d worked together, and I had kept this from him? He’d thought we were close. Partners didn’t keep huge secrets like that. If I could see ghosts, I should have told him.
“I can’t see ghosts,” I said, throwing up my arms. “But sometimes I can hear them… in my mind. It must be part of the whole mind-reading thing. And before you get all upset that I didn’t tell you, I’ve hinted at it… you know I have. It’s just not something I’ve wanted to talk about… mostly because it doesn’t happen very often and it freaks me out.”
His brows drew together. Thinking back, he knew I was right. How could he forget those times when I’d been freaked out at the precinct when I’d worked on cases from the dead files? As that popped into his mind, it all made sense.
It also reminded him of those two skeletons they’d found under that house I’d wanted to buy. At the time, I’d claimed that I was just extra-sensitive, but I must have heard those kids. Deep down, he’d suspected that, but since I hadn’t admitted it, he’d brushed it off as being a little too creepy.
“So if you heard Brock, what did he say?”
I shrugged. “Basically what I told Sophie. I only heard a few words, mostly that he was there and he loved her.”
Dimples shook his head. “Wow… that’s… insane.”
“Yeah… it always creeps me out. But it doesn’t happen often, even when I think it might, so it’s not something I can predict.”
“Hmm… but if you could actually talk to the murder victim… couldn’t he tell you who killed him? That would sure make things a lot easier.”
Oh hell. It was a good question. One I’d considered myself. But it just didn’t work that way. At least not for me. “That would be nice, but it’s not like that. Sometimes I hear a song… and other times it’s a word or two. But what I picked up from Brock today was the most I’d ever heard at once. I think it was because of Sophie’s condition and the intense feelings going on in the room. After this, I doubt that I’ll hear him again.”
“That’s too bad. I mean… maybe not for you, but for finding the killer.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think those small things I picked up could help immensely.”
“Oh yeah… right… of course they could.” He hoped he hadn’t offended me. He hadn’t meant to. Then his thoughts turned to Willow, and he wondered if her abilities included sensing ghosts. It seemed like she may have mentioned something like that… hadn’t she said she was into
