4
Corbin
Crow and I could both confirm that numerous other people had been in the room, but that didn’t explain who murdered the woman. Not only that, but none of the scents were rotten. Someone had murdered Maggie, and they’d managed to not damn themselves to hell in the process. That meant that they were redeemable in some way.
“We’ll have to leave this up to the human authorities once we find the murderer,“
I told Sebbie and Maggie.
“Well, of course. What else would you do?“
Maggie asked.
Sebbie and I looked at each other, but we didn’t tell Maggie I usually killed hellbound souls. Probably not something she needed to think about. Yes, she’d been murdered, but people had strange connections to family, even in the face of them committing horrible crimes. I had no doubt that Maggie wouldn’t want to see any of her relatives tortured for eternity. She seemed nice like that.
“Let’s get started then, shall we? Do you boys have something to write with?“
Maggie asked.
What followed was an intensive lesson on all things related to Maggie. Her ex-husband, three children and their spouses, brother, niece and nephew, and a few friends and acquaintances were all on the trip. Maggie was very wealthy, and apparently they all stood to gain from her death. She’d also been rather “spicy,“
in her words, to her family lately.
“I’m old, and when you get old, you get tired of dealing with bullshit. I think I’ve had a Come-to-Jesus talk with each one of them at some point in the last few weeks,“
Maggie told us.
I looked at Sebbie inquisitively.
“It means she told them to get their shit together,“
Sebbie told me. “Now, we’ve got a list, but it would be helpful if we could rule people out. Corbin and Crow, can you guys tell who’s been in the room?”
I hummed thoughtfully, and Crow cooed. “Probably? That would require meeting everyone, though, and sniffing them out.”
Maggie clapped her hands. “Perfect! It’ll do me good to check in on them anyway. We all gather for breakfast at nine, and it’s just about time for that.”
I looked at the clock in shock—we’d spent most of the night talking to Maggie, and I guessed our day wasn’t done yet. I looked at Sebbie, but he seemed alright. I could go without sleep easily, but Sebbie was… well, he wasn’t just human, but I thought he might still need sleep.
“I’m okay,“
he responded, obviously sensing my concern. “No offense, Maggie, because I know this really sucks and all, but it is kind of exciting to be playing detective.”
“Exactly!“
she cried out. “That’s the spirit! Embrace the role. Now off we go, and I’ll fill you in on all the juicy gossip for everyone.”
We were in the buffet area of the cruise ship, which was packed with people. Luckily, all of Margaret’s family and friends were together in one area. I insisted that Sebbie get some food, and I loaded up a plate as well, and then we sat as close to the group as we could.
“Look at Martina. I have told that girl that she needs to eat better. And Daniel doesn’t even look like he brushed his hair, for god’s sake. Is that a stain on Meredith’s sweater? That girl couldn’t find fashion if it bit her in the ass,“
Maggie griped.
I was starting to understand why she said her family might have wanted to kill her. She continued criticizing her family all throughout breakfast, until I finally had enough.
“Hush. We can’t concentrate on figuring things out with your very unhelpful diatribe about what’s wrong with every member of your family.”
Maggie looked shocked at that, and Sebbie gave me a small smile. We had finished eating, so I grabbed his plate and mine and made my way to the garbage can, cutting directly through the throng of family members.
I inhaled deeply, and there was definitely no rotten soul. There were quite a few gray souls spread out, so it could be one of them. I could also narrow down who had been in Maggie’s room. Although, as I matched scents from memories, I realized at least one scent was missing from the dining room.
When I got back to our table, I asked Maggie, “Is anyone not here?”
She looked surprised, but she dutifully gave her attention back to her family, who were also getting up to dispose of their trash and head out to enjoy the cruise ship. I found it interesting that I hadn’t heard a single person comment on her absence. Either they didn’t miss her yet, or they thought she’d slept in after her night of dancing.
“Oh,“
Maggie said, looking surprised. “Lisa isn’t here. That’s my granddaughter. But there’s no way she killed me. She’s a mousy little thing. Art student or something like that.”
“Well, we’ll have to go check her out, along with your son, his wife, your other granddaughter, and your niece,“
I told her.
Maggie looked thoughtful, but she was at least blessedly quiet on the walk back to our cabin.
Sebbie was also quiet, and I could tell he was more than a bit aggravated at Maggie. I put my arm around him, pulling him close as we walked and kissing the top of his head. He smiled up at me, and I kept my arm around him the rest of the way to our room.
Maybe we could solve this quickly and get back to enjoying our cruise, because I had an idea of exactly how we could figure out who killed Maggie.