6. Sinclair

I woke before Jayne, as usual, and went out to feed the cats and start a half pot of coffee. Jayne might be watching her caffeine, but I needed some. We'd stayed up later than usual last night, due to the delay of dinner and the movie because of Jayne and I sharing her, um, bath .

Making sure the sliding bedroom door was shut, I opened all the blinds in the RV to let light in and allow the cats to see out.

Thinking about last night made me smile as I split a can of Tuna Dream into two dishes. I couldn't help myself around my wife. She had always been beautiful, but pregnancy had made her radiant in a way not even magic could replicate.

Just the idea of her carrying our child made me emotional to the point that expressing it would probably get my necromancer card revoked, but I didn't care. I could not have been happier. We were expanding our family, and it was everything. I hadn't even realized how much I wanted to be a father until she'd told me she was pregnant.

I set the bowls down. Thankfully, the cats had been quiet. Maybe they knew their mama needed her sleep.

I thought a lot about the kind of father I was going to be. My dad was a great example. He was kind and loving and understanding all while being a successful Vegas headliner. Jayne's dad was another outstanding role model. As Jack Frost, he was not only a mythical figure but the king of the North Pole. Despite that, he wasn't standoffish or full of himself.

He'd welcomed me, a man who was both a necromancer and the owner of doughnut shop at the time Jayne and I had gotten together, without judging me.

That spoke volumes about who he was. Our little boy was going to have four of the best grandparents ever. Not to mention having Mr. and Mrs. Claus as his great-uncle and aunt.

The coffee sputtered out the last few drops, so I got a cup and sat at the table with my tablet to drink it while I perused a few of the newspapers I subscribed to.

One of them was The Tombstone , the local from Nocturne Falls. Even though I no longer lived there, even though I'd sold my doughnut shop there, Nocturne Falls would always have a spot in my heart.

I'd met Jayne in that town. That alone made it special.

I sipped my coffee and flipped through the pages, smiling as I came across an ad for Mummy's Diner. A cinnamon roll did sound pretty good, but if I mentioned that to Jayne, I'd probably have to find her one pretty darn quick.

There had to be somewhere in New Orleans that did cinnamon rolls. Maybe I could surprise her with that for breakfast.

I glanced at the time. It was just after seven. Not only would Jayne be waking up soon, but Charlie should be arriving at any minute to take care of Slim.

I did a quick search for the best cinnamon buns in New Orleans so I could surprise Jayne. I found a place on Magazine Street that wasn't too far. And thanks to Matt leaving his car for us, it would be a snap to get there.

Then I kind of went down a rabbit hole of videos on how to make cinnamon rolls, which I already knew how to do, but it was always interesting to me to see how others did it. You never knew when you might learn something.

Anyway, I lost track of time until my phone vibrated. It was Matt.

"Hey," I answered. "How are you?"

"I'm all right. About to head over to my client's office. Have you noticed if Charlie's been there yet?"

I looked out the window. "I haven't, but I've been reading the news."

"She should have been there by now, but the alarm hasn't been turned off. You set it after you left the house last night, right?"

"I did." I looked at the time. It was almost quarter to eight.

"She's never this late. She knows Slim needs his inhaler."

"Maybe she had an emergency." The bedroom door opened, and Jayne wandered out, grabbing a Dr Pepper from the fridge on her way to the table. "Jayne and I can give him his inhaler."

Jayne's brow furrowed in question, but she nodded.

"Hang on," I said. "I'm going to put you on speakerphone." As I did that, I told Jayne, "It's Matt. Charlie hasn't shown up yet."

"Hey, Matt," Jayne said. "I can give Slim his inhaler. I watched Charlie do it last night."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. It's not complicated. I'll go over there right now and take care of it."

Matt exhaled. "Thanks. I'd appreciate that. I'm sure Charlie will be along, but I haven't heard anything from her yet, so I have no idea when. This is really not like her."

"Don't worry," I said. "We'll feed him and scoop the litter boxes and all of that. We have cats. We know the drill. You can text Charlie and tell her not to worry about coming by this morning."

"You're sure?"

"Yes," I said. "It's no big deal."

"Thanks, I owe you." Already Matt sounded less stressed.

"No," Jayne said. "You don't owe us anything. It's what friends do."

"I'm taking you guys out to dinner when I get back and that's that." He laughed, obviously relieved. "All right, I have to run. I should be home late tonight, so I'll see you tomorrow morning. Thanks again and have a great day."

"You, too," I said.

He hung up.

"Poor guy," Jayne said. "Already stressed by work, now he has this to deal with. I'm glad we're here to help."

"So am I. You really think you can give Slim his inhaler?"

"Definitely." She took a long pull off her bottle of Dr Pepper. "I watched Charlie last night, and it was really easy. Let me go throw some clothes on, then we'll go over. I wonder what happened to her? She didn't seem like the type to flake. I hope everything's all right."

"So do I."

We were in Matt's house less than ten minutes later and, judging by Slim's insistent meowing, not a moment too soon.

Jayne smiled at him. "I know, baby. You're hungry, huh? First, let's do your inhaler, though, okay?"

"I'll get his food while you do that."

"Deal." She picked him up, scratching him under the chin as she took him into the kitchen and started getting things out of a drawer.

The food was easy to find, but I didn't know where his bowls were, so I just washed the one on the floor. "I found a place nearby that's supposed to have great cinnamon buns. As big as Mummy's."

Jayne looked over her shoulder at me. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "You want to go for breakfast after we're done here? We could walk or take Matt's car. Whichever you want."

"It's a nice day. A walk might be all right. But I want to put my sneakers on first."

She was in flipflops, the quickest thing to put on to get over here. "No problem. I haven't even showered."

"Me, either."

I carried Slim's breakfast over to the mat where his bowls went and set it down, then went back to Jayne, who had the inhaler over Slim's mouth and nose. I slipped my arms around her and watched. "He's being so good."

She nodded. "He's great for it. Charlie said Matt got him used to it when he was young, so it's just part of his routine now."

I kissed her on the neck as she removed the inhaler and wiped Slim's muzzle. He jumped down and went straight to his food. I glanced toward the door. "Still no Charlie. Matt had nothing but praise for her. Now she doesn't show. Weird. I hope she's all right."

"Maybe her car got a flat or something." Jayne put everything away.

"But she'd have texted Matt, don't you think?"

Jayne shrugged. "Who knows? People are weird."

"Did she seem that way to you? The kind who just wouldn't show up?"

"Not really but maybe a little odd."

I narrowed my eyes. "Odd how?"

"I don't know. Just a feeling. I mean, why does it take ten minutes to clean one litter box and make sure there's not a surprise hairball waiting somewhere? I could do that in about two minutes."

"She's probably just being thorough. Speaking of, I should go upstairs and clean that litter box, then I'll get the one down here. If you want to head back and get your shower, that's fine. I'll just be a few minutes."

"Okay." Jayne kissed me. "I'll try to save you some hot water."

"Thanks. If you're still showering when I get there, I might just join you."

She giggled. "I'll shower slowly."

I was grinning again and didn't care. As she left, I looked down at Slim. "I'm a lucky man, Mr. Slim."

I hustled upstairs to clean that litter box. It took me a second to find it in the master bath, but there was nothing in it. I looked around for any sign that Slim had chucked up a hairball but found nothing. I went back downstairs and checked the box in the laundry room. That one needed scooping, but it was nothing major.

Jayne was right, though. Why had it taken Charlie so long upstairs? Was she just slow? Or was she trying to justify whatever Matt was paying her by seeming extra conscientious? I had no idea what he paid her; that really wasn't my business.

Still, it was curious.

I set the house alarm and locked up, then headed across the lawn to the RV. Still no sign of Charlie, but there was no need for her to come now. Maybe Matt had texted her. I should text him and see if he wanted us to take care of Slim this evening, too.

It really was no big deal. I was more concerned with what had happened to Charlie.

I was almost to the RV when flashing blue lights pierced my peripheral vision. I turned to see what was going on. A police car pulled into the driveway, coming right alongside the RV.

An officer got out but stayed behind his car door, leaving it open. "Are you Matt Galloway?"

"No, I'm Sinclair Crowe, a friend of his. Matt is away. What's going on?"

"Mr. Crowe, do you know a Charlotte Frett?"

My pulse sped up. "I do. I met her last night. She's Matt's cat sitter. Is she all right? She was supposed to be here this morning to take care of Matt's cat, but she never showed."

The officer spoke into the radio receiver on his shoulder, some code I didn't know, before speaking to me again. "Sir, I'm going to need to see some identification."

His lack of answer seemed to confirm that something was wrong. "It's in the RV."

"All right, I'll come in with you."

"I don't think that's a good idea. My wife's showering in there." The last thing I wanted was for Jayne to get spooked and accidentally freeze the guy. "Can you please tell me what's going on?"

He spoke into his radio again. "Twelve thirteen, requesting female officer at 1328 Seventh Street."

I turned to face the officer fully, my protective instinct coming out. "Why do you need a female officer?"

"Where were you and your wife between 9 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. this morning?"

"We were here." Some of that time we'd been in Matt's house. I didn't know if I should mention that or not. "Has something happened to Charlie?"

"You were here in the house?"

"We were in the house until about midnight, then we came back to the RV. We were in the house again this morning to take care of Slim, my friend's cat. He's an asthmatic." I wasn't sure why I'd added that part except that it seemed like a detail anyone taking care of Slim would know.

I heard the RV door open, then Jayne came around the front wearing her bathrobe, her hair wrapped up in a towel. "What's going on?"

I shook my head. "Something happened to Charlie, but he's not telling me what."

"Oh, no." She looked at the officer. "Is Charlie all right?"

"Ma'am, do you have any ID?"

She shot him a withering look. "Not on me. As you might have noticed, I'm in my bathrobe. What's going on? Tell us what happened to Charlie."

A second police car, no lights this time, pulled in behind Officer Friendly.

Jayne crossed her arms. The temperature dropped, at least where I was standing. "Sweetheart," I said softly. "Don't do anything … chilly ."

She hmphed.

The female officer got out of her car and walked over to us. Clearly reading the situation correctly, she said, "I'm Sergeant Chambeau. Forgive Officer Ricks. He's still learning the ropes. Ma'am, if you could get yours and your husband's ID for me, I'd appreciate that."

Jayne looked at me.

"My wallet's in that bowl on the counter."

"I'll be right back."

She was quick, which I was thankful for.

Once Sergeant Chambeau looked at both our IDs and confirmed that we were who we said we were, she handed them back. "Can you tell me about the relationship between Matthew Galloway and Charlotte Frett?"

I nodded. "Matt employs Charlie as his cat sitter when he's out of town, like he is now. He travels a lot for his business."

"Have you met Charlotte?" she asked.

"We have. Last night when she came to take care of Slim. That's the cat."

"How long was she here?"

I looked at Jayne. "Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes?"

Jayne nodded.

"Had you met Charlotte before that?"

"No," Jayne answered. "We're just visiting. We live in the RV."

"How was her mood? Did she seem upset in any way?"

I shook my head. "I had a phone call, so I had to step outside, but she seemed fine. Very friendly."

"Same to me," Jayne said. "She was very nice. Very personable. Showed me how to give the cat his inhaler."

Sergeant Chambeau's eyes narrowed slightly at that information. "Did she say anything that might make you think she was upset or bothered by something?"

"No." Jayne sighed. "Can you please tell us what's going on?"

Sergeant Chambeau lifted her chin slightly. "I can't comment too much about an ongoing investigation." She glanced at the RV. "I'm going to need you folks to stay in town."

"We will," I said. "That sounds serious. There must be something you can tell us."

Chambeau hesitated, then said, "Based on evidence found at the scene, we are acting under the presumption that Charlotte Frett committed suicide. She was found dead this morning."

Jayne gasped and whispered, "Oh, no." Then, just like that, she fainted.