6
Corbin
We met up with Toby and Dexter for a late lunch, at which point Toby was beyond thrilled to hear all about the ghost that was currently haunting us. She popped in every hour or so, although after the first time when she’d interrupted us, she asked from outside the door before coming in. Toby started a list of everyone who I’d figured out was in the room. We left a line labeled “Lisa?“
because I had sensed someone in the room who hadn’t been at breakfast. Maggie thought it was her granddaughter, but that didn’t mean it was. Until I saw her, I wouldn’t know for sure.
After our late lunch, we sent an email off to Liam, another one of my brothers and our resident hacker, to ask him to look into Maggie. Maybe he’d have some information on the situation. We had a full day at sea, even though we’d slept through half of it. I was sincerely hoping we could get the murder solved before we landed in the Bahamas. I knew Sebbie and Toby had rented a cabana and had plans for snorkeling, and I really didn’t want any of that to be ruined.
We went back to the room to go through the list of relatives that Toby had handed over, and when we opened the door, of course the tarot deck was sitting front and center on the small counter—not where I’d left it. Crow was also in the room, and she cawed in greeting. She flew over, landed on the deck, and knocked it over.
I shot her a look. “I swear, you and that cheeky deck are in kahoots.”
Sebbie laughed. “Kahoots?“
He walked over and rubbed Crow’s neck. “They’re our psychic sidekicks, ready to help solve mysteries!”
I grumbled a bit, but I walked over to see which card was face up.
The high priestess, and the card was reversed.
“What does it mean?“
Sebbie asked.
“A lack of connection to the subconscious or inner wisdom. Not following intuition. Someone is ignoring a gut feeling or not listening to their inner voice.”
Sebbie sighed. “Probably me.”
I looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that no one at breakfast struck me as a murderer. They seemed like a perfectly normal family, and I didn’t get killer vibes from anyone. Did you?”
“No one was rotten, but that doesn’t mean that no one was a killer. Killing doesn’t always lead to damnation.“
I thought about it for a moment before adding, “But no one struck me as overly gray, either.”
“So maybe we’re looking for this mystery person who wasn’t at breakfast. Maybe it was Lisa, and maybe it wasn’t, but I think we need to find her,“
Sebbie said.
Maggie popped into existence next to me. “No, there’s no need to see Lisa.”
Sebbie looked at her. “Okay, do you think someone not in your family was in your room?”
Maggie looked thoughtful, then she said, “You know, I think maybe I fell. The balcony railing isn’t that high, and I think I was leaning over to look at the water, and… Oopsie! Into the water I went.”
“Oopsie?“
Sebbie asked.
“Oopsie,“
Maggie answered, nodding her head.
“Maggie, you were murdered,“
I told her. “That isn’t an oopsie.”
“Nah,“
she said, waving her hand. “Not murder. An oopsie. That’s all.”
Sebbie and I stared at her. She smiled, waved her hand, and said, “Oopsie,“
one more time.
“Did you find out good things about all your family members?“
Sebbie asked.
It seemed unrelated, but I wondered if Sebbie was having the same thought as me. Maybe her death had been an accident, and maybe now that she had kinder feelings toward her family, she didn’t want us to figure out who’d been involved.
“I did,“
Maggie answered. She sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, which was interesting since she wasn’t corporeal. “I love my family. I really do, and I always have. I wouldn’t have been on a cruise with them if I didn’t. I suppose sometimes I just forget…”
“To be nice?“
Sebbie asked.
Maggie sighed, but she nodded her head. “Especially since my husband died. He was always the one who reminded me.”
“It was your missed opportunity,“
I said. I thought both Sebbie and Maggie would need more explanation than that, but they both nodded their heads. I was thinking of the tarot card, and I’m guessing Sebbie was, too, but Maggie didn’t know about the card. “Why?” I asked her.
She sighed again. “This was an opportunity to bond with my family. To have final moments with them and enjoy their company. Instead, I spent most of it being hypercritical, and despite that, my family loves me. They love me, and they miss me, and they’re starting to worry about me. It’s all rather sad.”
Sebbie sat on the bed next to her, and I sat next to him and put my arm around him. He leaned against me, and I squeezed him tightly. Crow flew in through the balcony, which we’d left partly open, and she landed on Sebbie’s shoulder. She began preening his hair, and he reached up and scratched her neck gently.
“I think I know what’s going on,“
Sebbie said.
Both Maggie and I looked at him.
“Draw a card for me, Corbin. Please,” he asked.
So, I stood up and got the deck, because apparently my cheeky deck was more adept at solving murders than we were.