Ada was sitting on the couch like a movie star. She was wearing a long, vivid, pink gown that trailed to the floor, there was a glass of champagne in her hand, and again her nails were perfectly manicured to match her outfit.
“It is very sad,” she said to Roxy. She even sounded like she meant it a little.
“Yes,” Roxy said. She looked around the room. “He seems to have led a very full life, though. His message certainly spread far and wide.”
“Indeed. I was not a fan of his silly nature, but never mind.” Ada’s face was totally expressionless, and she sipped her champagne in a very serious manner.
Roxy looked at her out of the corner of her eye. She knew that Ada had felt humiliated by the dress incident even though Roxy was sure that Dash had spilled his wine by accident. Nevertheless, it had happened in front of her fans, all of his fans, and perhaps any of Nigerian high society who happened to be watching. Had Ada been unhinged enough by that to kill him?
Roxy wanted to ask a probing question but wasn’t sure whether to. She thought for a moment. “You two weren’t the best of friends, were you?”
“He spilled red wine all over my white Versace. You wouldn’t be happy, either. It was a limited edition, you know.”
“Yes, so you said.” There was a pause during which Roxy held Ada’s gaze as she wondered about the possibility of Ada being a murderer.
Ada suddenly jumped. She put her hand to her chest. “You’re not implying that I had anything to do with his death, are you?”
“No, no, of course not!”
“I am a very religious woman, Roxy,” Ada said. “Just because a person believes in Louis Vuitton it does not mean she cannot believe in God also. I am very forgiving and would never harm anyone, much less for a prank. I am medically trained, remember.”
“Sorry,” said Roxy. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I should hope not.”
The atmosphere felt so uncomfortable that Roxy had to leave. “Well, you’ll have to excuse me, I have to go check on the next crawfish boil,” she said.
She didn’t know why, intuition perhaps, but as soon as Roxy reached the small room at the back of the kitchen, she checked Ada’s Instagram profile. She whipped out her phone and loaded the page. There was a gorgeous picture of Ada posing at her dressing table in her room at the Funky Cat. Roxy wondered how she had done it—it was so good, it looked like a professional shot. The caption simply said, ‘Condolences.’ Ada wore a grave expression, but she looked like a model posing for a designer brand rather than someone about to attend a funeral service. It seemed to Roxy to be extraordinarily inappropriate. That there was no picture or mention of Dash, merely compounded her confusion.
Roxy scrolled through the comments. Some said, RIP Dash, but many more were commenting on how beautiful Ada looked and the exquisiteness of the dress she was wearing. One even said, Condolences. Ha ha ha! He deserved what he got after what he did to you.
Roxy noticed something else too. Ada had tapped the red heart next to each and every comment. She had “loved” them all, even the nasty ones.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“PHEW, IT’S A busy day,” Roxy told Nat.
“You’re telling me,” Nat replied. They had cleared the debris from the morning’s wake and were now preparing for the evening entertainment.
Roxy had planned what she was calling an “Evening of Love and Light” for the influencers. Whenever anyone came to New Orleans, they always wanted to know about the spiritual influences and who better to introduce them to New Orleans’s mystical realm than Sage?
“Sage has persuaded Dr. Jack at the botanica to bring along a selection of magical supplies and a pile of crystals of all types,” Roxy told Nat. The Englishwoman looked up at her boss, her lips pressed into a thin line. Nat was on her hands and knees in the dining room sweeping under a corner unit with a hand brush. Nat didn’t say anything, her silence speaking for her.
“What?” Roxy cried. “I loved crystals as a little girl. I desperately wanted a ‘Grow Your Own Crystals’ kit for my birthday one year. Of course, I didn’t get it.” Roxy was laying the table for the evening’s dinner. “Did you know that if you drink the water that crystals have been in, you absorb their powers?” Nat rolled her eyes. “At least that’s what Sage said,” Roxy finished.
“I think she was having you on.”
Before the evening began, however, Roxy, Sage, Elijah, and Sam headed over to the Hyatt to check on Michael. He’d spent most of the afternoon following the memorial service sitting in a corner of the kitchen at the Funky Cat, avoiding his fans, his mood successfully repelling them for the most part. He’d gone back to the Hyatt for a nap.
“I’ll take him his very own goodie bag of botanical items,” said Sage. “The poor soul is in a bad place. He needs the spirits now more than ever.” She found a basket in the kitchen and made up a hamper of sorts with candles, an oracle deck, sparkling pastel crystals, colored stones, a notebook with ‘Magic’ written on the front, some beaded necklaces, and incense.
When they arrived at his room, Michael opened the door with groggy eyes. His face was so swollen with misery, he looked like he’d been in a boxing match. When he saw them, he pulled a robe around his body defensively, the untied belt trailing on the floor.
“Hello,” he said flatly.
“Hi there,” said Roxy kindly. “If you need some time to yourself, we can leave. We just wanted to check on you.”
Sage smiled. “And we brought you a gift, honey.”
Sam smiled too. “I have nothing to give you, but a friend in need is a friend indeed and all that. I’m here for you, buddy.”
“And I’m here in the event you wish to rock ‘n’ roll,” Elijah said, pulling a dance move. “Otherwise, I’ll shut up.”
Michael looked at them all and gave them a small smile. “Come in.”
Roxy expected the room to be a mess with clothes strewn everywhere and half-eaten room service cluttering the table-tops. If she were to face the loss of a good friend, Roxy suspected that she would descend into chaos, but the room was the opposite of what she expected—it was as neat as a pin. Even the coffee cups and sachets on the side table were in perfect alignment as if Michael had spent time arranging them to be just so.
“Sit, please,” Michael said, gesturing at the chairs by the window. He sat down on the bed. Elijah and Sage remained standing. Elijah was too full of energy to sit down while Sage stood tall with all the poise and elegance of a statue, her light gray robes flowing around her. Sam and Roxy sat on the chairs Michael had pointed to. Sage handed Michael the basket she had brought with her. “Michael, honey, this is the least we can do for you. Remember, it is in moments of deep pain that we are the most connected to the spiritual world. Shamans, they’re spiritual doctors, will eat burning hot chili peppers without water. They incur great pain as they do, but they believe that in this way they can most securely contact the dead and any other spirit they want to connect with.” It was not an approach Roxy would have taken, but Michael was enthralled.
Sage continued. “Alchemy is the ability to turn tragedy into victory. This is a tragedy for us, but know that Dash is on the other side, laughing and playing jokes, as usual. His spirit isn’t gone. How could it be? I feel it now. Can’t you, if you think of him? He’s still around. He won’t stay long, though. He’s got to reincarnate and will soon choose where and when. He might go back to Source for a while to recharge, but then he will return in another form. But none of that technical detail matters. All I'm showing you is that his energy will go on and on. He lives forever. Like us all.”
Roxy watched Michael’s response to this carefully. She was skeptical of the idea about life after death, and she was ready to jump in if he responded poorly, but she also knew that to people who were grieving, sometimes these ideas helped.
“Thank you, Sage,” Michael mumbled tearfully, looking at his hands. “I’d like to come tonight.”
Sage’s display o
f crystals was something to behold. It had a shining, other-worldly aura. Sage had taken one of the trestle tables that were usually put into service in the kitchen, covered it with a soft purple velvet cloth, and laid crystals all over it. They caught the light of the lamps around the lounge and twinkled and sparkled in the early evening light.
Roxy hovered by the table, staring at the crystals for ages. One, in particular, caught her eye. There was a heart-shaped pink stone in the middle of it. Other pink and clear stones radiated from the center in beautiful swirls.
“That one’s for finding a happy romantic relationship,” said Sage, coming up behind her. “Is that something you’d like?”
Roxy was quite taken aback. “Um…well, yes…. But no! I mean, I love the stones, but I don’t want a romantic relationship right now.” She became acutely aware of where Sam was at that moment. He had just arrived and was on the other side of the room rigging up some fairy lights.
“Oh, right,” Sage said, a little smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She flicked a glance in Sam’s direction. “I understand. Well, when you’re ready, I’ll help you make a crystal grid. It’ll help you generate one. A romantic relationship, I mean.”
“That won’t be any time soon, I can assure you!” Roxy said. “I’m much too busy.” She laughed a little too loud. “But what about doing a crystal grid to ensure justice for Dash?”
“Aha! You read my mind, honey,” Sage said. “When Michael arrives, I am planning to share it with him. Because he was close to Dash, if he’s the one to put the crystals in place, it will have a stronger effect. Also, if…” She trailed off.
“If what?”
Sage drew closer and lowered her voice. “If he’s not who he seems to be, he’ll resist making the grid. He’ll be terrified, and it’ll show. Trust me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ROXY FROWNED. “DO you think he might have…?”
“I don’t know,” said Sage. “My intuition is all over the place. Unfortunately, it picks up a lot of little things, like jealousy, or overprotectiveness, or anger, or sadness, or simple nastiness. These negative energies clog up my radar. I can’t just hear ‘Murderer! Murderer!’ loud and clear in my head. I wish I could.”
Roxy sighed. “I wish you could too…”
Just then Dr. Jack came over. Roxy had heard a lot about him, interesting anecdotes, but she had never met him before. He was the owner of the botanica, the magical supplies store that she had visited a few times with Sage.
“Hello, Roxy.”
“Dr. Jack, I’m so pleased to meet you. Thank you for closing up your botanica so you could attend this evening.”
“Oh, I haven’t closed it, my dear. My assistant, Leroy, is manning the fort. We have a commitment to stay open late. We are always open late.” He leaned in conspiratorially, “For the witches, the nocturnal ones, you know.” He winked and tapped his nose.
Roxy broke into a smile. Dr. Jack was delightfully eccentric. He wore a rose pink felt fedora, mirrored sunglasses, and a purple leopard-print scarf. A royal-blue trench coat was draped over his trim body, and he wore a white shirt underneath a black velvet waistcoat and purple corduroy trousers. Simple black shoes completed the outfit.
“Did I just hear you two lovely ladies talking about justice?” he said, rubbing his short, gray beard. He spoke very softly.
“That you did,” said Sage, smiling at him.
Roxy watched them both. The heart-shaped pink crystal popped back into her mind, and she mused how Dr. Jack and Sage would make an awesome couple.
“Justice is the most important topic facing us on this planet at present,” he said. “Because we’ve rather failed on that front, haven’t we? When one person can die of a preventable disease in childhood, and another can live in a luxurious mansion and go on to inherit huge wealth, all because of an accident of birth, it feels like we’ve gone wrong somewhere. An ovarian lottery of sorts, don’t you think?” Dr. Jack looked at Roxy for confirmation.
Roxy nodded, a little stunned at the diversion the conversation had taken. Being around folks like Sage and Dr. Jack was like riding a roller coaster. From romance to murder, to witches, to justice, to privilege, you never knew what would pop up next! “You’re right. Although Sage and I were really just talking about making sure Dash’s killer is found.” Then, feeling a little foolish, but also quite brave, she asked, “Do you have any means for finding out who could have killed him?”
“Spiritual technology to divine the identity of a killer?” he said. “This is not my specialty, I’m afraid.”
Roxy felt she’d landed on another planet. Spiritual technology? What was that? But there was no time to ask as Evangeline and Nat came out with the cold canapés. This time, Roxy had successfully persuaded Evangeline to go along with her idea for “newfangled, posh fiddly stuff,” and Evangeline had rather enjoyed making small versions of her crawfish pies, crab boulettes, and Cajun pork belly tacos. As she moved about the room, Nat’s expression was inscrutable—she was not a believer in or fan of anything remotely magical. As far as she was concerned, crystal grids and spiritualism were mumbo-jumbo nonsense, but she knew better than to say so.
“Roxy!” Nat said. “You’re not even dressed!” Nat had a trademark band tee on, but she had changed her boots. They were pink and matched the color printed on her t-shirt.
Roxy had gotten so caught up in the crystals and conversation that she’d forgotten to get ready. “Oh, my gosh!” she said.
Roxy dashed off to her room, fed Nefertiti, and dressed. She grinned as she pulled her outfit out of the wardrobe—a dress covered in gold sequins. She’d spotted it in a store near Sam’s laundry but hadn’t had occasion to wear it. It was a very bold choice. But what night could be better to debut it than an “Evening of Love and Light?”
She paired it with gold sparkling shoes, gold earrings, necklace and bangle, and a pearl bracelet. She even put a vine of golden flowers in her hair. Glittering from head to toe, she stepped back into the lounge. Predictably to everyone except Roxy, who was immune to her own beauty, all eyes turned to her. Some eyes, like Sam’s, lingered.
“Wow, you look simply devastating!” Elijah said. He kissed her on both cheeks. Elijah was wearing a purple suit covered in green and blue skulls. It was quite the loudest outfit Roxy had ever seen.
“Thank you, you are too sweet,” she said. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some magic!”
Ada swept into the room looking as beautifully presented as usual. She was wearing a diaphanous tangerine gown that reached her ankles, and once again, her nails matched her outfit.
“Good evening!” Roxy said cheerfully.
Ada gave her a tight smile. “I am going out. I don't believe in crystals and those types of things. I came to New Orleans for the architecture, not some crazy, weirdo, woo-woo nonsense. It is incompatible with my spiritual beliefs.”
“Okay, no problem!” Roxy said sunnily, clasping her hands tightly, determined that nothing would bring her down. “No problem at all. I hope you have a wonderful time.”
Kathy, Dash’s mother, on the other hand, was not so reluctant. She made a beeline for Sage’s crystal table. Taking the glass of champagne Roxy offered her, she said, “Oh, I love all this stuff. Church on Sundays, psychic on Wednesdays, that’s my routine.”
Ada sniffed and left.
Kathy’s son Derek wasn’t so keen on the evening’s planned activities, either. As soon as he wandered into the room, he headed right out again, still playing with the model airplane he’d had when he’d arrived. “Bye,” he mumbled, turning paler than ever when he saw what was laid out. As he left the room, Nefertiti, who had been sitting in the lobby, wandered lazily in. She jumped onto an armoire and parked herself down to watch the proceedings. Her eyes were alert, watchful.
“Derek’s going to see Father John, the priest,” Kathy said, her voice full of empathy. “He’s struggling with…well, everything. I try to help him as best I can, but
I’m struggling too. And there’s only so much a momma can do. Besides, we’re thinking about holding a celebration of life for Dash, something less formal than the memorial service. He’s gone to talk arrangements with the priest.”
Roxy gave her a sympathetic smile.
Soon afterward, Sylvia and Lily came down together, deep in conversation about Pinterest and their “conversion rates.” They seemed to have become fast, if unlikely, friends and stood a little aloof from Kathy after nodding to her from the other side of the lounge. Michael hadn’t yet shown up.
After he’d fixed the lights, Sam decided to stay for the evening. Crystals weren’t really his thing, but he was open-minded and loved to learn about anything and everything, and as Roxy’s friend, he wanted to support her as much as possible. Evangeline and Nat stayed out of sight in the kitchen mostly, Nat especially, although Evangeline could be seen peeking around the kitchen door from time to time, eager to view the scene.
And so the small crowd of Kathy, Sylvia, Lily, Sam, Elijah, Roxy, Sage, and Dr. Jack hung around drinking champagne, chatting, and admiring the crystals until Sage caught their attention.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“WHO WANTS A reading?” Sage said.
“Ooh, me please,” said Sylvia immediately. She was clutching onto the frothy blue scarf wound around her neck, a point of elegance that elevated an otherwise bland outfit of beige button-down shirt and brown slacks. Roxy looked at her with new, appraising eyes. Sylvia had seemed more down-to-earth than this enthusiasm for crystals suggested. “I’ve never done anything like this before. Is it okay if I record it for my channel?” Sylvia added.
“Of course,” said Sage. She paused and watched Sylvia for a moment as if she were reading her. “I warn you, though. It may get personal. Very personal.”
“That’s okay,” Sylvia said. “My followers know just about everything about me anyway. I’m pretty much an open book.”
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