Maude's face puckered up and she looked off into the distance for a few minutes and then looked back at Mitch. "I'm not sure. I remember leaving the house, but I don't remember anything after that until I got back home at ten P.M."

"Are you sure? Think really hard."

"I wish I could help, but I can't. I'll take a lie detector test if that would help."

"You'd pa.s.s with flying colors, Mrs. Sampson. We don't question that you're telling the truth. It's not much help if you can't remember."

"I'm sorry. I wish there was some way we could know for sure."

"There is," I spoke up.

Mitch looked at me in question, then his eyes narrowed as his grump-o-meter went off and Detective Grumpy Pants took over. "Oh, h.e.l.l no."

"Just because you're a nonbeliever doesn't mean I'm not the real deal," I muttered.

"What is it?" Mrs. Sampson asked. "I'm open to anything. I just want to help."

I knelt down before her and looked her in the eye as I said, "I could read your tea leaves."

Mutters of mixed emotions broke out throughout the room, my parents being among the loudest.

"No," Bernard said rather firmly from beside Maude. "I won't have it."

"Why not?" I asked curiously. "I might be able to help clear your wife's name, Mr. Sampson. Isn't that what we all want?"

"Help? I doubt that will happen. Look at what happened the last time you read someone's tea leaves," he sputtered.

My eyes shot to Mitch's for a brief moment as I thought of the vision I'd had and the kiss that had followed. I knew Bernard was talking about the time I'd read Amanda Robbins's tea leaves, but Mitch's reading hadn't helped, either. My readings always came true, but they sometimes caused more trouble than they were worth. For the first time, I considered giving up my pa.s.sion. Maybe I was doing more harm than good.

"Yes, I'll do it," Mrs. Sampson said, surprising us all.

"But-" Mr. Sampson started to speak.

"You don't get to decide everything, Bernard," Maude announced with conviction. "I believe the decision is mine, right, Detective?"

The detective looked from her to me and back to her. "If you think it will help, we'll do this thing," he said to Mrs. Sampson and then locked eyes on me. "But I want to be there."

"Good. We'll meet tomorrow at noon in my sanctuary, and I'll introduce you to my world," I stated.

He rolled his eyes. I vowed right then and there that no matter the outcome of this case, I wouldn't rest until I made that man a true believer.

Tomorrow was only the beginning.

19.

I opened my front door to find Detective Stone and Maude Sampson on time at noon the next day. I made eye contact with Detective Stone and raised my brows questioningly. He glanced at Maude and then gave me the thumbs-up sign, meaning today was a "good" day for her.

"Where's Bernard?" I asked, glancing beyond them.

"He's at work. I told him not to take the day off because I didn't want him with me." Maude nodded once, sharply. "No negative juju at my reading."

"Hear that, Detective?" I arched a brow at him. "No negative juju. Think you can handle that?"

He held up his hands. "I won't say a word. I'm here to observe."

"Good." I stepped back and let them in. "Follow me."

I led the way into my sanctuary. Everything was set. I'd already fed my fish, watered my plants, and started a fire in the corner fireplace. I sprayed lavender around the room and flicked on some new age music, then gestured for Mitch to have a seat out of the way. After he sat, I pointed to the chair across from mine at the old-fashioned tea table in the center of the room.

I dimmed the lights until the constellations on the ceiling glowed their mesmerizing hue and the blue paint on the walls turned a bit deeper, calmer. Setting the mood and getting the seeker to relax was imperative for the seer if they wanted to produce a good session.

I gathered my tea leaves and kettle from my supply shelves in the corner and carried them over to the table, setting them down in the center. Taking the seat across from Maude, I held her hands in mine gently. "Ready to begin?"

She nodded, looking more curious than afraid.

"Good. I normally get an indication from the person whose fortune I'm about to read as to what psychic tool will work best in helping me see the prediction clearly. In your case, you're a tea leaf person just like Amanda Robbins was."

"Why, that sounds lovely." Maude leaned forward as if telling me a big secret. "I think tea is wonderful, you know." Her eyes sparkled.

I smiled and leaned forward as well. "Me too." I winked.

She giggled, and Mitch arched a brow. But staying true to his promise, he didn't utter a word.

"Okay, the first step in the process is for you to brew the tea yourself. I've already boiled the water, so all you have to do is place the loose tea leaves in the cup."

She did as I told her, with precision, I might add. "There, all done. I really do hope this works."

"It will," I said with conviction, and I could have sworn I heard a soft grunt from the far side of the room. I tipped my head to the side and narrowed my eyes at him, but he just whistled softly and looked around the room-everywhere except at me.

Grrr.

"Now you pour the water into the cup in front of you and stir the tea leaves as it brews," I said to Maude.

"Okay, I'm good at stirring. I love to cook." Maude's bright smile faded a bit. "I don't get to cook as much these days now that the girls are gone, but Bernard still needs to eat. He doesn't have much of an appet.i.te lately. I worry sometimes that there's something wrong with him, too. It's no fun getting old."

"Now I'd like you to drink the unstrained tea," I said, steering her mind back to the task at hand and away from her depressing thoughts. Then again, I wasn't sure what we were about to discover wouldn't be just as depressing. "Think about exactly what it is you wish to know. In this case, where you were on the night of Amanda Robbins's murder."

"Okay, dear. I can handle that." She sipped daintily. "Oh my, this is simply divine."

"Thank you. I grow my own, you know." I smiled, and she kept sipping. "When you only have about a teaspoon of liquid left, stop."

"All set." She held up her cup. "This is exciting. What next?"

"Well, now you hold the cup in your left hand, and then you swish three times in a counterclockwise motion." She did as I said. "Now tip the cup upside down on the saucer, and let the leftover liquid drain." Again she did as I said. "Okay, now you hand me the cup, and I read your future, well, past in this case."

She stared down at her cup, looking nervous. "I'm not sure I want to know what you see, but I know it's the right thing to do." She slowly handed me the cup and nodded. "Okay, I'm ready."

I carefully took the cup from her hands and pointed the handle in her direction. "It will be okay," I said rea.s.suringly to her.

I looked down at the cup and turned the cup in the opposite direction from what I normally would. Clockwise. Leaves to the right of the handle represent the future, which we didn't need to know just yet. I was more concerned with first looking at the leaves to the left of the handle, which represented her past.

Images in the white s.p.a.ce were positive and good, while images that appeared in the tea leaves were negative and bad. I breathed deep and stayed focused, so I could concentrate on the shapes that appeared before me. There was the love, happiness, and contentment she and Bernard had shared throughout their marriage when their girls were little. Maude smiled fondly as I retold the story she already knew. Then her smile faded, as I knew it would, when I got to her recent past, which was filled with nothing but tea leaf images, the negative and bad.

"I see a cloud that would explain the health problems you're going through," I said gently. "Headaches, mental problems, the mind, thoughts, a serious trouble. There's also a mountain indicating the many obstacles you must overcome. Followed by a wavy line showing the uncertain path you must follow." I hesitated.

"What is it?" she asked.

"A mask. You stumbled upon something hidden. Wait, there's a lamp at your side."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

My eyes met hers and then moved beyond her to lock on Mitch's as I said, "Secrets revealed."

"Am I responsible for Amanda Robbins's murder?" she asked in barely more than a whisper.

"I'm getting a strange reading of both yes and no."

Mitch rolled his eyes, shaking his head. I ignored him.

"That doesn't make any sense," she said.

"I'm thinking it means you're somehow indirectly involved."

My vision blurred into tunnel vision and I stared into the past, looking through Maude's eyes on the night of Amanda Robbins's murder. I was outside, wandering aimlessly until I reached the librarian's house. I could feel Maude's concern for Amanda because she'd gone to the doctor that morning.

I lifted my hand to knock, but I heard shouting from inside. Someone was arguing. I walked around to Amanda's bedroom window and looked inside. I could see her trying to get a man to calm down, but he wouldn't listen. I couldn't see the man clearly, but he was angry at her because she wouldn't be reasonable. She was the one who wouldn't listen.

Suddenly, he shoved her hard. She tripped and fell back, hit the side of her head, and collapsed on the floor, blood seeping out all over her carpet. I could feel the man's alarm, as though he hadn't meant for that to happen. He left the room and came back with digoxin and a towel. He added some of the heart medicine to Amanda's teacup and then poured the liquid down her throat, breaking her cup on the carpet when he was finished. He wiped down everything with the towel, erasing his fingerprints, and then left through the front door as though he'd never been there at all.

I snapped out of my trancelike state and retold exactly what I had just seen. "The digoxin was just a cover-up. I couldn't see the man's face, either. It was blurry. But I'm pretty sure it had to be Pendleton. Amanda wouldn't change her mind on the bookstore deal, so he got angry and shoved her out of frustration. He hadn't planned on her dying. So he found and used the digoxin she must have picked up for Maude." I looked at Mitch. "Don't you see? This proves I'm innocent and Ms. Robbins was killed by a man like I first claimed."

"That doesn't prove anything," Mitch said. "You could have made the whole thing up just to clear your name."

"Are you kidding me?" I stared at him, seeing the doubt all over his face. "This also proves Maude's innocent. You already have your man locked up. At least give him a lie detector test, then you'll see I'm not lying."

"That might work," Mitch said, and sent a text to Lucinda, I a.s.sumed. "At the very least it will put an end to your little storytelling. You can't go around messing with people's emotions, Tink."

I could tell he meant the reading I'd given for him, and the havoc it had wreaked on both our lives.

"Just because you won't admit-"

"It's all my fault," Maude said quietly.

We both stopped arguing and looked at her with concern. Her voice sounded so dejected.

"If I had been stronger, maybe I could have saved her." She shook her head sadly. "If only I had remembered, I could have gone to the police immediately." She looked up at me. "What's going to happen to me now?"

"Well, I'm not sure." I reached out and squeezed her hand.

"Can you see my future as well?"

"I really don't think-" Detective Stone started to say.

"No offense, young man, but I didn't ask you," Maude said.

I pressed my lips together to keep from grinning. Mitch held his hands up and then sat back quietly. I picked up her teacup and this time turned it in a counterclockwise direction.

"I see a knife, which indicates a hidden enemy, but I think it's safe to say we just found out who that was. At least we know he's locked up, so you're safe. I also see . . ." I stared at the image before me and bit my bottom lip.

"What is it?" Maude asked. "Please don't keep anything from me. I need to know."

Mitch's cell phone rang, and he stepped out of the room.

"I see a nail, which means pain and anguish. Next to that is an hourgla.s.s, which means time is running out and you should proceed with caution." My gaze met hers. "You are in imminent peril. And, last, I see a ladder, which signifies turmoil and evolution. A rise or fall in life. It's a sign of travel. You're going somewhere soon. Where, I don't know. That's all."

Mitch stepped back in, looking a little pale and disturbed.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

He glanced at Maude and then back to me as he said, "Alex Pendleton has just escaped from jail."

Mitch took a disturbed and upset Maude home and stayed with her until Bernard finished his shift at the mill. Then Mitch came back to my place to discuss our next move. I was pulling my suitcase out of the storage area in the bas.e.m.e.nt when Mitch walked back in.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"I thought I should stay in a hotel or something until you catch Pendleton again. If he finds out I gave Maude a reading and that we're on to him, he might come after me."

"Relax, Tink, you're not going anywhere. Just because he escaped from jail doesn't mean he killed Amanda Robbins. I'm still not buying what you think you saw in the teacup. We need hard evidence, not fairy tales."

"You are so infuriating," I snapped, and stomped my foot. "Just because you don't believe, it doesn't mean it isn't true. I'm telling you I am in danger. I can sense it."

"You are," he pointed out. "You're in danger of me locking you up if you try to leave town. You're still officially a suspect until this case is closed."

The shutters on my house shook, and Mitch looked around warily.

"Careful," I said. "You're upsetting Morty."

Mitch's phone rang, and he frowned at me as he answered it. A minute later, he snapped it closed and walked over to the coat closet and grabbed my coat. "That was Captain Walker. Bernard called and said Maude ran off again. She was upset and kept saying something about it was all her fault, and she was a danger to everyone. Then Captain Walker said he got a call from Maude herself, saying something about the reading triggering her memory. She remembers that night and wants to identify the killer, but then her phone went dead. They are all out looking for her now."

"Oh no."

"Oh yeah. See what you've done to the poor woman with your nonsense?"