Tyson gave me a sudden and unexpected smile when he saw me, the arm not holding the phone quickly going up in a wave. He ended the call and walked over to where I stood.
“What’s up?” I hated that he didn’t look quite as overheated as I felt. So much warmth burned in my cheeks that they had to be bright pink, and while he had a slight line of sweat still dotting the edge between his dark hair and his brow, the shirt he wore wasn’t sticking to his back quite as tightly as mine.
I have to admit that Tyson had been my first crush. I mean he was tall, well-built, and had nearly perfect molded-clay features. His eyes were deep brown, almost black, and when he smiled he always looked pleased to see you. After he finished law school and joined the family firm, his fashion sense became impeccable with finely tailor suits in colors that always flattered.
“They’re holding Trinity, pending charges,” he said, clearly frustrated. He stepped off the curb and then back on, not paying attention to anything but his gloomy thoughts.
“That’s absurd. I was just in the station telling Chief Spader that Mason saw a spirit just after Officer Alsez got a call,” I said. “Trinity was at the café then.”
“Trinity said that in her interview. I thought they’d at least come talk to you. There was the usual discussion about how well familiars can distinguish spirits if they didn’t know the person well. Someone argued that it could have been Frenchie, who was no doubt as horrified to have died as Eric, no matter that his death was ruled an accident. No matter that we have a familiar acting out, the coroner still has to give an exact time of death, just in case any non-magical people end up involved.”
“Elaine’s good,” I said.
“I know.” Tyson kicked at the curb with the bottom of his foot. I smelled the musky scent of his sweat and thought how much I liked it. Too bad he’d never seen me as anything other than a friend of his little sister.
“But it could take some time for her to write up her report because it’ll require a cause as well,” I finished.
Tyson nodded. “Unfortunately for Trinity, there were patrons in the library who heard Eric go off on her this morning about a book missing from the archives, more than just the kid who thinks he saw her kill Eric.”
“She mentioned the book when we had coffee this morning. Trinity, Natalie, and I had been talking for maybe half an hour before Officer Alsez got the call. She’d have been working before that and usually mans the front desk…”
“Eric sent her off to do some shelving,” Tyson said. “So that meant she wasn’t at the desk and no one saw her shelving, naturally. I mean it’s normal. People aren’t looking for the library worker putting books back on the shelves.”
Shelving would have been a slight demotion from working the front desk. Normally, the part-time workers did that. Trinity hadn’t mentioned her morning demotion in duties. Of course, if Eric had lived, it probably wouldn’t have lasted. Trinity was a good worker and everyone loved seeing her at the desk.
“I’m surprised that Eric was willing to raise his voice in public,” I said. Whenever Trinity had talked about him getting mad at her he had always berated her behind closed doors.
“I’m not sure he knew anyone was around. An out-of-town witch heard him yelling and she heard the name Trinity,” Tyson said. “It’s not an actual accusation and it says a lot about Trinity that she was willing to own up to the fact that her working relationship with Eric wasn’t exactly easy.”
“The whole town knows that, though. I mean half the town wouldn’t even apply for a job there because no one wants to work with him. In fact, I’d say that more people in town had reason to murder him than didn’t.” No one liked Eric, really. It was sad that he was gone and particularly upsetting that Trinity might be getting blamed for it, but he wasn’t a nice person. And he wasn’t popular.
“That’s the issue,” Tyson said. “With so many suspects the police are going to have a heck of a time narrowing it down. I was just on the phone with a PI that our office works with and she’ll be coming out to look into what happened. I’m not taking any chances on my sister.”
“I wouldn’t either,” I said.
Tyson looked up and down the street and sighed. “I guess that’s about all I can do here. Trinity has given me all the pertinent information.”
“I wish I had gotten to the station earlier today to let them know what Mason saw. I think if I had said something earlier…” I broke off as Tyson shook his head.
“It wouldn’t have mattered given your relationship with Trinity. Fortunately, we can get a familiar communicator to come in and relay Mason’s message. It can go back channels if it comes to a trial with non-magicals involved.”
He was right. Tyson and I stepped off the curb together and crossed the street back towards our offices. I pulled at my shirt a bit to try and create a bit of air to cool off. Really hot days like this are not the norm. We were towards the end of a heatwave. I was actually a little surprised that there hadn’t been more crime during it.
Thunderstorms were forecast for the evening. Rain was even forecast for tomorrow. Even if it didn’t materialize, maybe some clouds would keep the temperature down to merely hot.
Tyson noticed the movement. “I will be really glad when this weather breaks. I’ve had so many calls about petty crimes lately.”
“I can imagine. People always seem to be on edge when it’s as hot as it’s been.”
“I’ve had more than my usual out-of-town calls, too. Not all of them witches, which surprises me. I guess our name is getting around.”
“Good for you guys,” I said. And I meant it. Tyson and his brother Tim—someone liked the letter T—were good attorneys. They deserved to have good fortune.
“It makes it harder to defend Trinity,” Tyson said. “I know this is weird. I don’t get premonitions. Mom does a bit, but she’s had no feelings one way or another about this, but I feel like this extra work is all a distraction. Very strange.”
“There’ve been a lot of outsiders at the familiar café, too. People that surprise me they’re coming.” I relayed the story of Flori and her friends and what a problem they were. “I haven’t talked to Natalie about whether the hotel is busy or not, though.”
“It is summer so I’m sure the hotel is busy. It always is,” Tyson said. “And cat cafes are popping up everywhere. Maybe people from around the area want to see what the fuss is about.”
“I got the impression the kids today were students. Maybe they were home on break. I just think Lexington is an awful long drive to see a cat café. Plus, I heard there was one in Georgetown now. That’s way closer.” Naturally, I’d assumed that the kids were from the University of Kentucky up in Lexington. It wasn’t an impossible drive, perhaps an hour if they lived on the south end of the city, but Georgetown was definitely closer and a far easier drive.
Tyson shrugged. He might feel like he was being distracted, but clearly, his premonition didn’t extend to the whole town. Interesting. Still, now that he’d mentioned it, it felt like something was going on. I would have to talk to Mason after I cleaned up the feline room and fed the café cats.