Beach Blanket Homicide (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 1)

“Now, back to the business at hand. Everyone must know what really happened to me. For their sakes,” I add ominously.

Phoebe nods. “So, Abby and me made a deal. Cornelius should be with the person he felt the strongest connection with. We decided to put him to the test and try to resurrect the old ghost haunting this place. Earlier Friday afternoon, I was here to help some of the Gray Flamingos with the pre-tour preparations, and I stole a key off of Gus Pappas. Abby and I agreed to meet here at midnight. I…oh, Abby, I’m so sorry. I cheated. I came a couple of hours early with Cornelius, and I tried to get him to commune with the ghost, but nothing happened. All he did was run around the building and bark.”

So that’s how Paco got in the building. That part makes sense now.

“Tell the rest,” I say.

“There’s not much else. Abby met me at the prescribed time. I told her that Cornelius didn’t respond to me so she could have him. You were so happy, Abby. Remember? We made up.”

“Yes, I remember, Phoebe.”

“Then Abby told me that she’d called Father McGuffin to come and act as an intermediary between us, but since I’d decided to give her Cornelius, there wasn’t any need. I was…ashamed of what I’d done, stealing the dog and being so petty about the whole thing. I didn’t want Father McGuffin to find out, so I left through the back door before he got here. In the end, I confessed it all to him anyway the next day at the grand opening celebration. I just didn’t want all that hanging over me.” She sniffles. “I’m so sorry, Abby. It all must have been too much for you. If I’d known you were going to have a heart attack, I would have stayed. I would have done CPR. Maybe I could have saved you.”

No one says anything for a few minutes.

Everything Phoebe has said is the truth.

I feel…awful making her relive all this. But at least now I know she didn’t do anything to cause Abby’s death.

Which leaves Derick.

“Thank you, Phoebe,” I say in my Abby voice. “Derrick, it’s time you told the truth now too.”

“Me? But I haven’t done nothin’.”

“That’s not exactly true, is it?”

“I already confessed to stealing the dog for you. What else do you want me to say?”

“You told the police you were at a poker game at your house till two in the morning and then you went to bed. You also told them that you were here at the opening day celebration and that’s how your fingerprints got on the doorknob. We both know those are lies. Come on, brother, tell them everything. Tell them how I looked the last time you saw me.”

A strained hush descends over the room.

“Oh my God…” Derrick whispers hoarsely, “it really is you.”

Now we’re getting somewhere! It’s hard to

hide my smile of satisfaction, but I do my best to stay in Abby mode. I pause dramatically and glance around the circle to gauge everyone’s reactions. Brittany, Victor, Phoebe, and Anthony all seem riveted. Derrick, too, now.

Will knows I’m faking it, so he’s avoiding my gaze. Probably because he doesn’t want to laugh and give me away. Gloria catches my eye, and there’s a gleam of…admiration? No, it’s more like resignation because I’ve stolen her little show away from her and she knows there’s nothing she can do about it without exposing herself.

Aurelia is looking at me oddly. As if she’s seeing me for the first time. It’s eerie, actually. I stare back at her and blink, trancelike, and she quickly looks away.

“Of course it’s me,” I say to Derrick. “Go on. Let’s finish this.”

I can practically hear him sweating. “After Phoebe over there stole the dog away from Abby, my sister was pretty upset. Not that I blame her. What’s the point of stealin’ a dog just to have him stole out from under you? So she called me and told me all about their little arrangement. Said she didn’t trust Phoebe to stick to her end of the bargain and she wanted me to come here as backup. Just in case things didn’t go the way she planned.”

“What?” Phoebe sputters. “Abby! You didn’t trust me?”

“Didn’t you just admit to cheating by coming here early that night?”

“I would never have—” She shakes her head like she can’t believe it.

Oh boy. Talk about a complicated relationship. But back to Derrick and how he got his fingerprints on the doorknob. “And you did come and help me, didn’t you, brother?”

“Well, golly, Abby, you know if you’d still been alive, I would have done that CPT on you. But seein’ as how you were dead, there wasn’t much I could do.”

The silence in the room is deafening.