A Sinister Sense by Allison Kingsley

with him. Right now, however, she was exhausted and just wanted to crawl into bed and forget about everything—the murder, Rick’s involvement, the strange letters in the vision, the problems with the dog—everything. At least until morning.
    She spent most of the night wrestling with the dog for space on the pillow before falling into a fitful sleep. Waking up again with a start, she saw sunlight sparkling between the slats of the blinds at her window. She could hear an odd sound, like the distant rumble of a freight train. It took her a moment or two to realize it was Tatters’ snoring that had disturbed her sleep.
    Which was just as well, as a quick glance at the clock confirmed that she’d overslept. Jessie must have already left for work. Clara hoped her mother hadn’t checked the utility room and realized that Tatters was sharing her daughter’s bed. She’d have plenty to say about that if she had.
    After swallowing a couple of slices of toast and a cup of coffee, Clara took Tatters for a quick walk around the block. “I’ll take you to the beach when I get home from work,” she promised him, trying to ignore the pleading look in his eyes when she closed the bedroom door on him.
    Stephanie was waiting for her when she walked into the Raven’s Nest a few minutes later. “We have to talk,” her cousin said as Clara stuffed her purse under the counter. Without waiting for an answer, she marched off down the aisle, leaving Clara to follow.
    Molly was talking to a customer at the counter and gave her a quick wave as she passed. Clara wondered if Stephanie had already asked for her help with their efforts to clear Rick’s name. In light of the latest news that they were still holding Rick at the police station, however, Clara wasn’t sure if Stephanie was still willing to go ahead with it.
    She entered the Nook to find her cousin pouring out two mugs of coffee. Stephanie handed her one of the mugs and sat down on the couch. “Have you heard any more news?”
    Clara sank onto the nearest armchair. “Not since last night.”
    “So what do you think?”
    Clara leaned back, cradling the mug in her hands. “I just wish I could talk to Rick and get his side of the story. So far all we’ve heard is Dan’s side of it.”
    “Carson Dexter seems to think the case is about to be solved.”
    “He’s certainly not helping matters,” Clara said, letting a note of bitterness creep into her voice. “Anyone listening to him would think that Rick has already been tried and convicted. What happened to the law that says that every person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty?”
    “It still stands, the last I heard.”
    “Well, listening to our honorable mayor, you’d never know it even existed.”
    Stephanie heaved a heavy sigh. “So, what are we going to do? Did you find out where this Buzz person lives?”
    “Buzz Lamont. Not yet.” Clara stared gloomily into her mug. “I don’t think we’ll get much out of him. If he didn’t want to talk to the police, he sure won’t talk to us. All we know so far is that he recognized the victim on TV. By the way, the dead guy’s name is Frank Tomeski.”
    “Oh, right! How did you remember that? So do you think he came to Finn’s Harbor to meet this Buzz Lamont person?”
    “Maybe, though I doubt Mr. Lamont would tell us if he did.”
    Stephanie sipped her coffee before answering. “I guess you could just ask him, and maybe the Sense will help you tell if he’s lying. You’ve done that plenty of times before. Like the time Old Man Thompson told you he kept a wolf in his house to scare off trespassers. You knew he was lying and climbed through a window of his house to prove it.”
    Clara gave her a withering look. “I climbed throughthe window because you dared me to do it. I got caught and ended up getting grounded for a week. You didn’t even get yelled at.”
    Stephanie shrugged. “I wanted to know if you could really tell when someone’s