My mother rushed out.
“That’s probably Tom Andrews,” I said. “I called him on my way home.”
“Oooh,” Seth said with a schoolyard singsong, “it’s your boyfriend.”
I tried to kick him under the table but missed and caught Alex instead.
“Why is he here?” Vi asked, ignoring the antics.
“I think we need to be more proactive about this,” I said.
“Proactive about what?” asked Alex. He was rubbing his leg and glaring at me.
“This situation. Two people have been killed, and we don’t know why. I think Milo Jones has something to do with it.”
“I’m in. That guy bugs the cra—”
I shot a look at Alex.
“—ackers out of me,” said Alex.
“Crackers? Really?” Seth’s voice asked from below.
“I knew it!” said Vi, oblivious to the giggling of Seth and Alex.
My mother and Tom came into the room, and everyone took a seat except Seth, who stayed under the table.
I looked at my motley crew and drew in a big breath. All eyes were on me, and I hesitated at the absurdity of my plan. I almost called it off, but I owed Tish my best effort. I had to find out who had killed her. Since the police were watching Gary, we needed to watch Milo.
“Okay, why do you think Milo is involved?” Diana asked.
“I saw him arguing with Tish just before she was killed.” I held up fingers counting off my suspicions. “He’s been arguing with his parents, and I know that Sara was holding up his land-development plans. She didn’t want to sell her parcel of the land she and Gary split during the divorce. Without it, he couldn’t develop the area the way he wanted.”
“That doesn’t sound right,” Diana said. “Do you really think he would kill Sara and then Tish over some strip mall?”
“I don’t know what he would do.” I shrugged. “I don’t know what he’s up to. All I know is that he’s back in town and two people are dead.”
Vi nodded vigorously; my mother wrinkled her forehead. Dad set his paper down.
“I guess Sara could have been looking at Milo during the séance . . . ,” Diana said.
“That’s just it.” I held my hands out, palms up. “We don’t know what happened at the séance exactly, but it may have spooked him. Maybe he thought she was accusing him; maybe he thought she knew something,” I said.
“What about Gary?” Tom asked.
“The police department has him covered. I doubt he’ll have any secrets left when Mac gets through with him.”
“Okay, what do we do?” Diana said.
“We’ll set up a rotating schedule of surveillance,” I said.
Heads nodded. My family doesn’t wallow; they like action.
“I’ll take the first shift!” said Vi. She stood to leave.
“Vi, where are you going?” asked my mother.
“I’m off to keep an eye on Milo. We’re going to watch him and catch him in the act, right?” Vi looked better already.
“Uh, the act of what?” said Alex.
“We don’t know what he’s up to,” I said. “We need to keep an eye on him in a subtle way.” I glanced at my aunt.
“I think we need to do more than that,” said Alex. “We need to entice him to act again.”
“You mean you want to tempt him?” asked Tom.
“Oh, that sounds dangerous,” said my mother. “Maybe we should leave this to the police.”
“The police aren’t doing anything, Rose,” said Vi. “They don’t think Milo’s guilty. That’s what Clyde’s telling us.”
Everyone looked to Tom to confirm.
He hung his head. “It’s true. Mac doesn’t think it’s Milo. He’s keeping an eye on Gary.” He folded his hands on the table and didn’t look up.
“We could pretend Clyde knows something.” Seth’s muffled voice came from under the table. “Everyone in town thinks she’s psychic; they’ll all believe it if we say she knows who did it.”
We looked at each other, considering. Seth had a point. But undercover work was dangerous, even for a highly trained police division. I’d certainly never entertained the possibility with only a rookie officer and this sort of ragtag group as backup.
“Clyde, no. Don’t put yourself in danger like this,” Diana pleaded.
“Let’s start by following him and reporting back on his activities.” I put my hand over Diana’s to reassure her. “Let’s see what he’s up to. He’s certainly been arguing with enough people in town.”
I heard Baxter groan from under the table, either out of boredom or disgust at our lack of action, I wasn’t sure.
“Do you think we need to use disguises? I have hats and sunglasses we could use,” Vi said. She started to get up.
“I’m sure no one needs disguises,” I said.
Vi slumped in her chair.
“I’ll keep an eye on him when he’s at the restaurant mucking around in my kitchen,” Alex said.
“I can take a shift when I’m off duty,” Tom said.