“We’ve been at the hospital with Beth,” Devin said.
Brent nodded, then looked at Rocky. “I told them I think I remembered her. I guess the thought must have been rolling around in my subconscious since the cops first released her picture. I have a full tour almost every night, so I see a lot of people and forget most of them. I went through my credit card receipts and couldn’t find her name, but a lot of people just pay me cash.”
“Do you think she might have gone to the bar after the tour?” Rocky asked him.
Brent was thoughtful for a long moment, then let out a breath. “Honestly? I don’t know for sure. But I do suggest that place to people. It’s right there on the corner, so it’s convenient, it’s good, the prices are reasonable, so yeah, I generally tell people to stop in if they’re thirsty. I do it so often I get my drinks free sometimes.”
“Thanks,” Rocky told him.
Brent stared at Rocky. “You’re really not taking me back in or anything?”
“No,” Rocky said.
“You haven’t even checked my alibi— Oh. I told the other agents the same thing, so one of them probably did that already.”
“Probably,” Rocky said with a smile.
Brent grinned. “I should really hate your guts. I don’t know why I like you.”
“You’re okay, too,” Rocky said. “Well, I guess we’ll get out of here, let you get ready for your tour tonight.”
Brent nodded and looked at Devin. “Beth really is okay, right?”
“She really is,” Devin said.
“Well, I’m here if you need me,” Brent told Rocky. “And I’d like to stay here, if it’s all the same to you, but I’m happy to answer any other questions you come up with.”
“Thanks, Brent,” Rocky said. “Oh, can you hold me four places on tonight’s tour?”
“You’re coming back?” Brent asked. He didn’t sound particularly pleased.
“No, but Angela and Jane don’t really know the area, and Sam and Jenna could use a break. I think they’ll all really enjoy it.”
“Oh. Okay,” Brent said.
“We think you’re being set up, Brent. We’re just going to keep an eye on things,” Rocky said.
“You planning on sending someone every night?” Brent asked, blinking.
“No, just for a few nights,” Rocky said.
“And then...?” Brent asked.
“By then I hope we’ll have caught a killer.”
Brent nodded. “See you later, then.”
Devin gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then she and Rocky left the shop.
“The cottage?” she asked.
“For now.”
“And then?”
“I think we should drop in on our friendly local bar.”
*
Auntie Mina was delighted to hear that she was going to have company again. She did, however, smile and giggle and then try to look entirely somber when she asked Devin about their sleeping arrangements.
“The whole Krewe isn’t sleeping here—not tonight, anyway,” Rocky said. “I want anyone who’s interested to think we’re still using the hotel as our base.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding both puzzled and just a touch worried.
“I’ll be using your room, Mina, if that’s all right,” he said.
“Of course,” Aunt Mina told him. “I mean, if that’s what you really want.”
Rocky and Devin managed to keep straight faces. “We’ll be most comfortable that way, Auntie Mina,” Devin said.
“Of course, dear, of course.” Auntie Mina seemed disappointed.
“Excuse me, I have to make some phone calls,” Rocky said. He pulled out his cell and wandered toward the front, trying for a decent signal.
“You should hang on to that one,” Auntie Mina told Devin, nodding gravely.
“Auntie Mina, he has his job, and it’s an important one that takes him all around the country.”
“Things work out, child. Things work out. Remember, home isn’t where you are, it’s who you’re with.”
“It’s who you’re with...” Devin repeated. “Auntie Mina...where are our family records? Shouldn’t we have an old Bible?” She walked over to the bookshelves, filled mainly with history books and a few old novels, along with an old journal her mother had kept, but as far as she knew, they didn’t have anything that dated back to the late 1600s.
“If there ever was a family Bible, it was gone long before I was born,” Aunt Mina told her. “The closest thing would be...let me see...”
Aunt Mina’s spirit swept across the room and joined Devin in front of the shelves. “Ah, there,” she said, pointing.
“The Chronicles of Narnia?” Devin asked, looking at her curiously.
“Don’t be silly—the next book.”
“Meet Me by the Hanging Tree?”
“Yes, that one.”
Devin pulled it out. As she held the book, she remembered leafing through it when she’d been younger. She looked at Auntie Mina, frowning.