No big surprise there. “You’re going to arrest him, right?”
“No. I’m going to bring him in and question him. But you’re getting your hopes up for nothing. We don’t have any evidence of wrongdoing. For all we know he’s going to tell us that he was at the rec center during the opening celebration and that’s when he touched the doorknob.”
“Only you know it wouldn’t be true.”
“And how would I know that exactly?”
If only I could be there when Derrick is being questioned, I’d be able to tell Travis if he’s lying or not. Except, no, that wouldn’t work because it would mean telling Travis about my gift. His dad, I trust. But Travis…it isn’t that I don’t trust him. And it’s not even that I think he won’t believe me. But he would definitely think I was strange, and for some unknown reason, I don’t want that.
“Is there any way I can be there when you question him?”
“Absolutely not.”
“You’re no fun.”
“Sure I am. You just haven’t been around me long enough.” The way Travis says this, it sounds almost…flirty. He clears his throat. “So you’re not going to like this, but I wanted you to hear it from me first. We’re also going to bring your brother in for questioning.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, Lucy, I’m not. He knows something, and he refuses to cooperate. I have no choice. If he were anyone else, this would have happened three days ago.”
Logically, I know that Travis is right. But I still hate that my brother is being dragged into this. I have to find out what went on in that rec center the night Abby died. Which means this séance has to happen.
“Thanks for the heads up
,” I say grudgingly. When I get off the phone, Will is staring at me as if I’ve done something wrong. “What?”
“Nothing.” But he sounds moody, and that isn’t like him.
“So, the reason I came over here is because I need a favor. And you aren’t going to like it.”
Will opens his refrigerator and takes out two beers. He hands me one. “Why aren’t I going to like it?”
I wait till he’s taken a sip of the beer and looks relaxed before I say, “Because it’s sort of illegal. But totally for a good reason. I need to get a small, very small group, into the rec center at midnight so we can have a séance. And since the center is normally closed that means we’ll basically have to break in.”
Beer comes sputtering out of Will’s mouth and spills onto the leather sofa. Paco runs to lick it up. “You want me to help you break into the rec center?” he asks incredulously. “Isn’t this the same thing you want Derrick Delgado locked up for?”
“That’s different. I’m this close,” I say, putting my thumb and index finger up so that they’re practically touching, “to finding out what really happened the night Abby died. And I do not have PTSD I just need this séance to help put the pieces of the puzzle together.”
“Are you listening to yourself? When did you start believing in this stuff?”
“I don’t believe the séance is going to work, silly. But Phoebe does. That’s the important part. These people think that Abby is linked to me. So all I have to do is fake it, and once Phoebe thinks she’s talking to Abby, I’ll get her to confess everything she knows.”
Will closes his eyes for a moment like he’s trying to absorb all this. “Let’s say I thought this was a good idea, which I don’t. Why does the séance have to be in the rec center? Why can’t it be in someone’s spooky old house? Or better yet, in a graveyard?”
“Right? The rec center is Gloria’s stipulation. She says we need to do the séance in the rec center because that’s where Abby died, and we need to do it as close to the time of her death as possible. Which means we need to do it around one in the morning. Oh, and Paco needs to be there too because you know, they think he sees dead people, and that could really come in handy.”
“And you don’t think this all sounds crazy?”
“Maybe. A little.” He glares at me. “Okay, maybe more than a little. All I know is that my gut is telling me Phoebe had something to do with Abby’s death. And…now the cops want to bring Sebastian in for questioning. And you know him. He’ll never tell them anything that he thinks might be breaking some sort of sacred confidence. Even if the cops go easy on him, there will always be a cloud of suspicion hanging over his head unless we can figure out what he and Abby were doing in the rec center.”
Will sighs wearily. “What do you need from me?”
“You’re the head librarian, which makes you an important public employee, right? Isn’t there some kind of master key to all the city-owned buildings?”
“No.”
“Okay, well, Gus had a set of keys to the building during the celebration. Who usually has those?”