Glass Eye: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective

Chapter 29

Present Day

The sticker about astronomical odds is they're hard to repeat. It doesn't plan on making a return visit.

Zandra rubs her stomach and lights up a cigarette. Her smoking didn't start until after David died. Started as a way to pass time. There's something about fire that sucks the loneliness from the room, along with the oxygen.

She exhales toward the No Smoking sign posted on the wall next to the bed. Reaches into the nightstand for a pen and paper. Writing always drains the soup in her head. She scribbles names and notes on the paper.

Gene Carey - rat bastard, I hope he did it

Kendra Carey - Gene's wife, clueless, innocent

Abby - Kendra's cousin, probably has something on Gene, need to talk to her

Seth - everything or nothing to this, not sure

Charlie - just doing her job

Herman the Hermit - former county prosecutor, hire as lawyer if needed

The last name she writes in big, bold letters and circles it.

Elle Carey - dead, don't need the medical examiner to tell me

The way that last part reads, it's almost like Zandra's accusing herself. She closes her eyes. In her grief, she's had moments of lost time. Hasn't happened in years, though. Did the Elle Carey disappearance trigger something?

It's the tiny piece of her celebrating Elle's death that makes Zandra second-guess herself. That and the fact police found those "apparent remains" in her locked filing cabinet. Someone had a key. Except there's only one key, and it's in Zandra's pocket right now.

Did Charlie lie about the entire thing? Zandra never saw any remains. Never smelled anything, either. But she knew who did.

The landlord.

Zandra checks the time. It's late. Good. It'll be plenty dark enough for her to stop over. But first, a visit to Herman for a knife.