Day Shift
Page 42

Fiji smiled. “Hey, don’t push the analogy too far. I just meant it’s appealing to have someone ask me for help instead of treat me like an extra appendix.”
“I’ve seen what you can do,” Manfred said. “With great respect.”
Fiji nodded, her eyes on Olivia. After a moment, Olivia nodded in agreement. Fiji’s shoulders relaxed, and Manfred saw that he hadn’t read the situation right, at all. Fiji had been very anxious about what they’d come to her for, and his request had been a relief. He had to wonder what she’d thought he might say instead.
“So what you know is: No one stole the jewelry. It’s in the library in Rachel’s house. It’s inside something, maybe one of the books, but there are hundreds of books in the library. And also, Olivia’s enemies are hot on her trail, the people she came here to hide from.”
Olivia looked surprised for a second, and then she said, “Exactly. But I’m not completely sure which enemy has found me.”
“You’re rich in enemies.” Fiji made the comment with a complete lack of judgment.
“There are plenty of people who want to find me, for whatever reason.”
“You don’t want to talk about why.”
“No.”
She’s so damaged, Manfred thought. This image of Olivia was far more disturbing than her tough-woman exterior. It gave him the creeps. He took a bite of cookie. Oatmeal, with raisins and spice. He said, “These are great,” indistinctly.
Fiji smiled at him before shifting her attention back to Olivia. “Do you have any ideas about how I can help you?”
“Not specifically, no,” Olivia said. “But we need to get in the house to search. I went once in disguise, but Lewis might recognize me, no matter how well I disguise myself. Lewis is very suspicious. If I watch to make sure he leaves, I don’t think the maid would let me come in under any pretext, much less give me the time to rummage around in an upstairs room. There was a gardener, too, who seemed pretty interested in everything that went on. There’s no explanation or disguise that would give me the freedom to search.”
“And this hidden jewelry needs to be found by the police, and the hint as to where it is can’t come from Manfred.”
“Right,” Manfred said. “If it came from me, the big question would be ‘How?’ I can’t answer that in a way that would satisfy a policeman.”
“I guess I could freeze the maid when she answered the door,” Fiji said. “She’d stay that way for about seven minutes. Would that be enough time?”
Olivia’s mouth was hanging open.
“I’m afraid not,” Manfred said. “We probably need at least forty-five minutes, since we don’t have that much information.”
“Can you try another séance to see if you can learn something more specific?” Fiji asked.
“I can try, but I don’t have any guarantee that’ll be successful.”
“Frozen?” Olivia said.
“Not frozen cold, but frozen in the moment,” Fiji explained. “As in, she couldn’t move. On the other hand, she’d remember what had happened to her. That’s usually not good, unless the person really needs to be taught a lesson.”
Diederik came into the shop. They all looked at him, and then Manfred said, “Damn.” Diederik now looked perhaps thirteen.
“I bought those clothes yesterday,” Fiji said. “Yesterday. Or maybe the day before? But . . .”
“Damn,” said Manfred. Again.
“If you have any more?” Diederik said. The boy looked embarrassed.
“I do,” she said, looking only mildly pleased with herself. “Go look in the bag on my guest bed. Where you changed the last time.”
Diederik looked vastly relieved. As he passed Fiji, he bent to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” he said. His voice was breaking.
“What the hell,” Olivia said, very quietly. “I hadn’t gotten past the ‘frozen’ yet. And now we have a teenager instead of a little boy. What the hell.”
“I don’t know why he’s growing so fast,” Fiji said, quietly. She leaned forward. “The Rev isn’t saying anything. I don’t know if he expected this or not. Or maybe the dad left Diederik here because he knew what was going to happen?” She rolled her eyes. “Be that as it may, the last thing we need is anyone’s eyes on Midnight.”
The bell over the door chimed. One of the old men from the hotel came in, a wizened man who was God knows how far up in years. He carried a cane, he was slightly bent, and he had wispy white hair protruding at all angles from under his straw hat. Manfred had seen him on the sidewalk outside the hotel, walking very slowly. He recognized the hat and the hair.
“Lady, is that your boy?” he asked Fiji, in a very hoarse voice.
“Why do you want to know?” Fiji said, standing up, in as polite a tone as anyone had ever asked a rude question.
“He’s growing all over the place! You better put a weight on his head! Someone’s gonna call the TV stations.”
Manfred said, “Are you the only one at the hotel who’s noticed?” He could tell from the expressions on the faces of Olivia and Fiji that they were as astonished—and wary—as he was. None of them had spoken to any of the hotel residents. Manfred had thought, They’re only in Midnight temporarily, and he hadn’t put himself out to speak to any of the old people the few times he’d encountered them.