Officer Nelson placed a broad hand on Liza’s shoulder, and though he towered over her, he still managed to keep his voice gentle. “I’d afraid she’s gone, Miss Martoni. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Gone?” Liza wailed, collapsing against the glass counter. “What happened?”
“That’s what we’re here to try to find out. Please, let Officer Gorton take you outside so we can investigate thoroughly.” Officer Nelson swept a hand toward the door, but Liza began to sob, clinging to him.
“Why do you have to investigate? What’s to investigate? She’s my nana. I have a right to know! Tell me what happened!” she begged, twisting my heart.
I couldn’t take it anymore. Someone had to comfort her. I normally only dealt with people after they were gone. I usually didn’t see the sorrow and grief. I had to at least reach out and offer her some consolation, something other than the unsympathetic eyes of Officer Nelson, who appeared desperately uncomfortable.
Putting my hand on Liza’s arm, I squeezed. “Why don’t you let the police do what they have to and come outside with me, Liza? I’ll wait with you.” I wasn’t supposed to leave Officer Gorton’s sight, but I didn’t care if it got me into trouble. Liza shouldn’t have to see this.
Instantly, her round eyes melted into a puddle of more tears when she took my hand. “I can’t believe this happened,” she sobbed. “I just saw her yesterday. She was fine.”
I squeezed her hand and patted her arm, keeping my body in front of hers so she wouldn’t see Madam Zoltar’s still body. “I’m so sorry, Liza. Can I get you something? A water, maybe? Coffee? What’s your pleasure? My treat.”
She shook her head and sniffed, her spiky hair ruffling. “No…no, thank you. I just want to know what’s going on. I need to know what’s going on.”
It was almost as if she didn’t fully understand that no one knew what was going on. “They don’t know just yet, Liza. That’s why we have to let the police do their job.” I tried inching her toward the door, and away from the gruesome figure of her nana lying on the floor, but she wasn’t budging.
“How does a perfectly healthy sixty-eight-year-old woman die suddenly?”
“So your nana was in good health?”
“She was an ox!” Liza spat, anger now clearly replacing her grief. “She’d just been to the doctor and left with a clean bill of health. And that’s why I want to know what happened. Because this doesn’t make any sense!”
I grasped at straws when I offered, “Maybe it was an intruder? A theft of some kind?”
Though that didn’t make a lot of sense, even to me. Her foot had an injury I wasn’t qualified to diagnose, but an intruder made no sense. Nothing had been disturbed.
Liza finally looked up at me, but behind those big watery eyes was something. Something I couldn’t put my finger on.
Her frantic eyes went to the seemingly untouched register. “Then why wasn’t anything taken from the cash register? Was something stolen? Because it sure doesn’t look like it. Plus, there’s an alarm she wears around her neck. It’s a necklace, small chain, a pendant with a sapphire-blue jewel in it she can press discreetly and it silently signals a place called Senior Alert. We made her get one when she wouldn’t give up the store because we worried about her and the late hours she kept just to keep this place running. She hated wearing it. She wouldn’t have had to wear it at all if she didn’t need the money her readings brought to supplement her income because the government’s cheap idea of a pension wasn’t enough for a cat to live on!”
Funny, I didn’t remember a necklace around her throat. You’d think for all the jewelry Madam Zoltar wore, she wouldn’t forget something so important. I wanted to ask Liza more questions, despite the fact that I had no idea what I was doing. Something wasn’t sitting well with me—or right—or whatever.
I smiled and attempted another push toward the door, hoping I could get her safely through the crowd. “So she was a hard worker, your nana Tina? Come and tell me all about her, would you? She sounds so interesting. I mean, how many people are lucky enough to have a psychic medium in the family? Let’s grab some coffee. There’s a coffee cafe just next door, I hear. It’s new to me because I’ve been away since I graduated high school and I’m dying to try it.”
Officer Nelson hitched his jaw in the direction of his partner Gorton, stepping in front of us. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to do that, Miss Cartwright.”
My eyes flew to his sharply constructed face as my pulse raced. “Why’s that?”
A voice from behind me answered my question in a cordial tone. “Because you’re coming to the station for questioning, Miss Cartwright.”
Liza promptly dropped my hand, her mouth falling open. “Oh my God! Was it you? Did you hurt her?”
Everyone at the door went silent and looked at me with the glare of a thousand fiery suns.
Oh, seven hells.