Molly Fitz: Himalayan Hazard (Pet Whisperer P.I. Book 8)

A giant shudder racked my body as my phone chimed merrily into the silence. It’s ringing!

Fumbling, I answered the call and raised the phone to my ear with shaking fingers. My mother’s voice burst through the speaker.

“Angie! Where are you? Are you okay?”

“Mom,” I cried. Normally, I was pretty cool under pressure, but this time I couldn’t help it. Seeing Rhonda’s butchered body up close and now being trapped in the dark right outside the door that led to her corpse, it was too much for me. It would be too much for anybody.

This wasn’t my hometown. In fact, I didn’t even know where we were on our journey from Maine to Georgia. I didn’t know the other passengers and had no idea which of them might be a killer. There was no one to trust.

No one except my cat and my parents.

“What’s wrong? Tell me how to get to you,” my mom shouted into the phone, instantly sensing something was wrong and thankfully not forcing me to say anything more until she could first make sure I was safe.

“Past the dining car. Past the viewing car. In one of the private coaches. Hurry.” I didn’t have to tell her to bring Dad, because I knew she automatically would. Maybe between the three of us, we could straighten this mess out. Of course, there would be no way to save poor Rhonda Lou Ella Smith. Not anymore.

I sank to the ground against the wall and hugged my knees while waiting for my parents to make their way back to us. I’d be the calm, rational detective later. Right now, though, I needed a few minutes to feel my emotions so that I could work through them and let them go.

Something furry brushed against my arm in the darkness.

“Why are you crying?” Octo-Cat asked me curiously. “You don’t cry.”

“It’s the dark. I think it’s making everything so much worse,” I sobbed while groping for him. As soon as my hand made contact with his fur, a bit of my bravery returned. We’d been through all kinds of dangerous scrapes before, but we’d always made it through. Together.

“The dark isn’t so much different than light. Right?” He moved away, and I shivered from the sudden absence of his warmth.

“Maybe for a cat. Humans don’t have night vision like you do.” While I explained this, I was struck with an idea. The two cats were the only ones on the train who could see without the assistance of a flashlight, which meant they were the only two who could sneak around without attracting attention.

“Octavius, Grizabella,” I called to them, not sure how close either was to me at the moment. “Can you two explore the train a little? See if you can find anyone suspicious?”

“What makes a human suspicious?” the Himalayan asked in her soft, melodic voice from across the dark car.

This was good. Focusing on the investigation helped to push the fear aside. Worry would only throw me off my game, and I needed all my wits about me, considering one of my senses had already been all but disabled.

“If they have blood on them for one. This person might also be sneaking around or searching for something. We still have no idea why someone would kill Rhonda, so until we figure that out, we need to look for general clues. Got it?”

“We can handle that,” Octo-Cat assured me, his voice a bit deeper than normal, which I assumed was some part of his misguided flirtation efforts. “The only problem is we need a human to open the doors between cars.”

Oh, right.

Just then, as if on cue, the door to our car opened, and my parents rushed in, their path illuminated by the sweeping of their twin phone lights.

“Turn one of those off,” I hissed. “We need to conserve battery power. We have no idea how long we’ll be stuck out here in the dark.”

“Well, it’s nice to see you, too,” my mom scoffed.

I forced myself to my feet, keeping one hand on the wall to steady myself. “Mom, Dad. There’s been a murder.”

“What? When?” my dad demanded, surging forward and lowering himself to inspect me.

“Right before the lights went off and the train stopped.”

My mom dropped to the floor, too, and hugged my head to her chest. “Oh, Angie. It’s not safe for you to be back here on your own.”

“Well, now you’re here, so I’m fine. See?” I forced a smile, but Mom’s light was focused elsewhere.

“I can’t see much of anything at all,” she grumbled.

I untangled myself from her arms and sat up higher. “Listen, Dad. Can you go find someone who works for the train company? Let them know we have a dead body back here and that it was definitely a murder. Call Mom if they need more details. My phone is almost dead.”

“Sure,” he answered, his voice sure, unafraid. “But what will you two do?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Mom said, and I could picture her with one hand on her hip and her eyes narrowed even though she still sat on the floor beside me.

“Solving the murder,” he responded with a knowing chuckle. “Got it. Just be careful.”

Mom pushed herself to her feet, leaving her light on the ground beside me. “You, too. I love you too much to lose you.” After my mom said this, a sticky smacking noise filled the car. Of course.

“That goes double for you two,” my dad answered before switching his phone light back on and leaving me and my mom behind to take care of business.

“Wait!” I called just before the door latched closed behind him. “Follow him,” I told the cats. “Dad, take it slow at the doors. The cats are going to follow you to see if they can find anyone acting suspiciously.”

“Roger that.” My dad probably saluted, but I couldn’t quite see due to the angle of his light. My mother had told him about my strange ability long ago, but he’d never worked with me and Octo-Cat on a case before. I liked how he agreed to my request without arguing or questioning it.

“When he comes back, you two come back, too. Okay?” I told my cat.

Octo-Cat’s brown-striped body moved into my dad’s spotlight, and he turned back to regard me with a frown. “Angela, please,” he hissed. “I’ve got this. Ladies first, Grizabella.”

The Himalayan walked ahead confidently, tail and nose both held high. The door whooshed shut behind them, and they were gone.

“Show me the crime scene,” Mom said, not wasting even a single second. I may be the family P.I., but she was an ace reporter who loved solving mysteries, too. We’d only worked together a little before, but I sure was happy to have her on my side now.

The last of my tears having spilled, I pulled myself to my feet and directed Mom’s hands—and thus her phone light—toward Rhonda’s door. “In there,” I whispered.

I kept my hand on hers, and we pushed the door open together. This time, I knew what we would find, which made it a bit easier to head back inside despite the pitch black that enveloped everything.

Chapter Seven

Mom led the way into our victim’s private room. There lay Rhonda exactly as she’d been when I first discovered her less than half an hour ago. Poor soul.

“I’d say next time we should upgrade our travel plans,” Mom said, shifting her light around the room and illuminating the cushy furnishings that I hadn’t really gotten the chance to notice earlier. “But this isn’t exactly a shining endorsement for first class.”

“Can you shine the light on Rhonda’s body?” I asked, ignoring Mom’s ill-timed joke. “I want to see if there’s anything I missed before.” Because if I missed the entire room outside of her body, I probably missed some important clues, too.

“You knew her?” Mom asked, her voice quirking in surprise.

“We met in the dining car and talked for a little bit.”

“How did that happen?” She found the light switch and flipped it back and forth, just in case. Nothing.