'Blackie's doing fine,' Uncle Henry said as I walked in. He handed me a glass of white wine.
'I just checked on him. Thanks. He certainly seems like his normal self.'
'Did you find out what was wrong with Blackie?' Eric asked. I turned to answer him and he grimaced catching sight of my lovely bruises. 'Ouch.'
'Whoa, Thea! What happened to your face?' Juliet shoved her wine glass into Eric's hand and sprinted across the room to get a better look.
'Greg did that,' Aunt Vi said, all lightness gone from her voice.
My sister and her boyfriend looked shocked.
'Why?' Juliet examined my face closely.
Aunt Vi jumped in before I could draw a breath. 'Because he wanted to hurt Blackie and your sister wouldn't tell him where he was.' She proceeded to relate the story, but with her own twist, saying that although she didn't know it at the time Blackie's odd behavior meant I was in trouble and needed help. The moment she sent Paul to me, my horse knew I'd be fine and settled down. Therefore, Blackie was the reason they weren't all visiting me in the hospital tonight.
'Wow,' Juliet said. 'I've heard of dogs having a psychic connection to their owners, but never a horse. How cool.'
Eric caught my eye and raised an eyebrow. I studied the ceiling. The exchange didn't escape my aunt.
'All right for you, missy,' she huffed in a proper British manner. 'But I'll be the one saying I told you so.'
I sipped my wine and laughed. 'If we find out you're right, Aunt Vi, I'll buy you a new set of Tarot cards.'
'Humph,' she said, and disappeared into the kitchen, chin in the air.
Once we sat down to dinner the conversation returned to my encounter with Greg.
'So what happened? Greg knocked on your door and then what?' Juliet handed me the burden of the conversation along with the gravy boat. Unfortunately, the gravy boat was easier to pass along.
I related brief details, but they only seemed to intensify Juliet's interest, so I cleverly segued into Thurman's news clearing Blackie of fault in Valerie's death.
'You must have been sobbing with relief,' she said.
'Well, no, not sobbing.'
'Then dancing in the hall.'
'No.'
'Ha. I'll bet you threw your arms around that detective and kissed him.'
'Hardly. Not when the next words out of his mouth were telling me I was a person of interest.' Whoops.
Jaws dropped and eyes bugged around the table. Aunt Vi found her voice first.
'Theodora! You said
I stammered an incoherent string of 'uhs' and 'buts.'
'You?' Juliet burst out laughing and fell into Eric. Aunt Vi reached over and smacked her shoulder. 'Ow!'
Uncle Henry jumped in. 'Thea, why didn't you -'
'I got the name of an attorney from Jonathan,' I spewed. 'But I really don't think I'll need him.'
'Let's hope you don't,' he finished.
'I can't believe anyone could think my sister -'
'Why do they think you were involved? Because she took your horse?' Eric cut off a still-guffawing Juliet. He laid his arm across the back of my sister's chair and tapped her shoulder with his fingertips. She glanced at him and he shushed her.
'Just because Blackie was at her farm doesn't mean she was the one who took him,' Uncle Henry said sharply.
Eric ignored my uncle's remark and squeezed Juliet's shoulder before picking up his knife and fork again. Evidently he thought she would keep her mouth shut. Foolish man.
'Are they going to arrest you?' Juliet asked, with a touch too much enthusiasm.
Eric's shoulders sagged.
'Is this attorney any good?' Aunt Vi's cheeks flushed pink with anxiety. 'It's time to call your parents -'
'No, please -'
'You mean you haven't told Mother and Dad?' Juliet thumped Eric's arm and whooped.
'You should call your parents,' Eric said, then shot an annoyed look at Juliet.
'No! I'm not calling them.'
'Why didn't you mention this earlier?' Aunt Vi sounded hurt.
Guilt gave me a good slap.
'Well, after Andrea called and Valerie's father stopped by…' My excuse trailed off into silence. 'I guess I neglected to mention I had a visit this afternoon from Valerie's father, too.'
Everyone, including my sister, stared at me with identical, anxious expressions.
'I guess you did,' Aunt Vi said, weakly. 'What did he want?'
Uncle Henry and Eric exchanged quick glances. They both sat up straighter.
'Not much.' I tried to downplay my blunder. 'He asked me what I knew about Blackie being stolen.'
'He probably wanted to size you up to see if you were capable of killing Valerie,' Juliet said, then looked around the table. 'What? I heard he's a scary guy. So,' she turned to me with an eager spark in her eye. 'What'd he say?'
I glossed over our brief conversation and didn't mention the big guy in the dark glasses.
'I hate to say it,' Eric said, with a glance at my sister. 'But Juliet's probably right.'
'What do you mean, 'I hate to say it'?' Juliet snapped back.
'I mean,' Eric said patiently, 'sizing her up is probably what he was doing, and it makes me nervous.' He added a smile.
'Oh,' she said. 'All he'd have to do is take one look at Thea to realize how harmless she is.'
'I look harmless?' Her observation was a good ninety degrees out of line with the new me.
'Totally,' she said. 'You look like a strong breeze could knock you down.'
'I do not.'
'Do so. You've got this 'I'm so delicate' thing going on, with the cute little haircut and the big green eyes.' She batted her gray eyes at me. 'And you're short.'
'I am not. Why does everyone think I'm short? I'm a good five-foot-two. And what's wrong with my haircut?'
'Well, excuse me, Xena, Warrior Princess, you're well off the national average. Besides, if Valerie's dad was checking you out, you'd better be frickin' glad you are minuscule, and so darned adorable.' Her voice rose to the timbre one would use when talking to a baby, just before she reached over to pinch my cheek.
I batted her hand away and gave her a skinny-eyed look.
'Ohhh, aren't we fierce,' she taunted.
'Juliet.' Eric's voice held a warning, but my sister continued to smirk.
I decided to drop it since Uncle Henry and Aunt Vi still seemed a bit shell-shocked over Mr. Parsons's visit. Neither one had made any effort to staunch our sisterly bickering.
Eric assumed the mantle of peacekeeper and steered us back on topic. 'I'm sure the sheriff has things well in hand. We're probably worried for no reason.'
'You will remember to call this attorney fellow Jonathan told you about, won't you, Thea?' Uncle Henry asked. I knew it wasn't a request. More like a politely framed order.
'Yes, of course.'
'First thing in the morning?'
'Yes.'
'I expect he opens his office early.'
'Yes, Uncle Henry. I'll call before I start work. I promise.'
'See that you do.' He didn't return my smile.
'So Eric,' Aunt Vi said, clearing her throat. 'How are your university classes going?'
Eric took up the hint to change the subject, and normal dinnertime conversation resumed. The subject of Valerie was dropped. However, as I gathered dishes from the table after dinner I caught Uncle Henry, deep in thought, standing in front of what Aunt Vi called their Rogues Gallery – one wall in the living room covered with
