Elijah walked into the station, having made only one stop after leaving Ash still sitting at Tabitha's kitchen table. He was pleased that there was no one manning the front desk as he made his way towards the nerd cave. That was one less pair of eyes to watch him.

He'd never felt uncomfortable at the station before, but then again, he'd never broken so many police rules before. It was a slippery tightrope he'd found himself on, and he had no idea where he was going to land.

Maria and Louis had already broken for an early lunch, which meant they were both competing to be the first one to glide a paper aeroplane the entire length of the room.

'I see it's a hub of work activity in here,' he teased, handing the food parcel and two coffees over to a waiting Maria, who hovered around him like a vulture waiting for her next meal.

She couldn't wait to open the brown paper bag, but paused when she saw the expensive pastries inside.

'You got these from Romaro's?' Her eyes flicked up to him.

'What do you need?' Louis asked, not willing to beat around the bush.

'And I thought you were above bribery.' Maria laughed, but Elijah didn't join her as he pulled out a chair.

'I need a favour,' he admitted.

They both shared a look.

'What kind of favour?' Louis asked.

'The kind that could cost me my job,' he answered.

'You're not joking, are you?' Maria asked with a frown.

'I wish I was, but I haven't got a choice now. People's lives could be at risk.'

'Is it illegal?' Louis asked.

'I need information which, as an officer, I can get, but I can't have anyone know what I'm looking into.'

'And what are you looking into?' he asked.

Elijah took a deep breath. 'Charity's disappearance.'

'And why can't you go to the Sheriff?'

'Because of where I'm getting my information from.'

'The Hawthorne sisters?' guessed Louis.

'You aren't being serious? If the Sheriff catches you speaking with them...' Maria whispered.

'And that's why he can't know, not until I can find hard evidence to back up my suspicions.'

'Then Ash saw something, and you're looking for evidence to back up her vision,' Louis said, making Elijah's eyes widen.

'Vision? What are you talking about?' Maria demanded.

'For those in the know, Ash Hawthrone is a psychic,' explained Louis.

'How do you know about that?' asked Elijah.

'My mother is one of her clients. She was livid when Ash was arrested. So were a few others in town. That girl has connections.'

'Don't I know it, but now you can understand the difficult situation I'm in. I can't take any of this to the Sheriff. He barely believes in modern medicine, never mind whatever the hell Ash is capable of.

'Have you two lost your minds?' spat Maria.

'It's the truth. She's the real deal,' Louis said.

'Psychics aren't real.' Maria looked imploringly at Louis, as if asking him to come to his senses.

'Trust me, Maria, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but the girl's got a gift.'

Maria shook her head but kept her opinions to herself. If Louis was asking her to trust him, then she'd give him the benefit of the doubt. He'd never steered her wrong before.

'So what did she see?' she grudgingly asked.

There was only a moment of hesitation before Elijah spoke. 'Charity is dead. Murdered.'

It was only a white lie. He didn't feel the need to inform them that it was Jess who had confirmed this. Ash already had enough attention and was openly taking commissions as a psychic. No one else was aware of Jess, and given the way he grilled her that morning, he was looking to protect her as much as he could.

'And she saw who did it?' Maria asked after recovering from her shock.

'No, but we have a suspect.'

Louis pulled out a chair and took a form from one pigeonhole. 'Fill this in.'

'But the Sheriff checks all these.'

'And that's why we're going to lose it. If this suspect turns out to be the person you're looking for, then you're going to need boxes ticked in order to bring them in, at which point we'll suddenly find this form. No one wants them to get off on a technicality because rules weren't followed.' He raised his eyebrow and waved the form in front of Elijah's face.

Elijah took it and started filling it in before handing it back.

'You want to know about his father?' Maria asked as she peered over Louis' arm.

'It's important.'

'Okay. Let's do this,' she said.

'You realise this could get you in trouble?'

But both of them just rolled their eyes.

'When have your suspicions ever been wrong?' countered Louis.

'And we've got a fucking psychic on our side,' mocked Maria.

The two of them dissolved into bickering as they started tapping away on their computers. Elijah just watched them. They were the only two he could trust in the office, and if the Sheriff ever found out what he'd been doing, he was going to make damn sure that they wouldn't be punished.

If he had any other choice, he'd walk out the door and take back everything he'd just told them. But he couldn't. It felt like a noose was tightening around his neck. He worried that Charity wouldn't be the only victim.

***

Jess found her sister sitting in the conservatory, enjoying the autumn sun through the glass. Two mugs sat on the table and a plate of her favourite cookies.

'If you're trying to entice me to sit, then it might be working,' she admitted, picking up a cookie and taking a seat.

'How are you doing?'

She shrugged. 'I keep going over it in my head. But I just can't make it work. Daryl and Charity together just doesn't seem right. And for Daryl to kill her...'

'You think the Deputy is wrong?'

Jess picked up her mug and blew, settling back into the chair and crossing her legs.

'I don't want him to be right,' she finally said.

'That's not what I asked.' Ash picked up her mug and regarded her sister over the rim before taking a sip.

'The way he reacted when I broke up with him...I didn't know he had that side to him. I wonder how well I really knew him. How well I really know anything. Look at my life right now, Ash,' she demanded. 'My best friend threw me under the bus with the police. My housemates wanted to kick me out, even you. I didn't know the real you until a week ago. I feel like I've been going through life with blinders on.'

'We all see what we want to see.'

Jess rolled her eyes. 'Thank you for that, old, wise and mysterious one,' she mocked.

'That's the truth.'

'You see so far beyond what everyone else can.'

Ash looked away. 'I see so much less than you think. I didn't see you,' she said before Jess could interrupt her. 'You're not my bratty kid sister anymore. You're a woman, finding her way, going to college, living her life. If I had seen you properly, then maybe we would have argued less.'

'I doubt that,' Jess joked, making Ash smile.

'I said, argue less. It would be a miracle if we never had another argument. But that's my point. I saw you the way I wanted to see you because it was easier for me to imagine that you couldn't handle the truth about me and our family. But it was me that couldn't handle telling you. You're so much stronger than I was. I barely kept it together.'

'Sometimes I feel like that,' Jess whispered. 'I worry that I'll never really get control over this gift.' She played with the jewellery she'd helped Babet create. It was the only thing that stood between her and a barrage of ghosts. And it felt like a very flimsy defence.

'You're not doing this alone,' Ash reminded her. 'Your gift. Daryl. Any of it. We'll get through this.'

There was no time for Jess to respond, even if she had been able to, as the doorbell sounded. They both listened as Tabitha answered the door.

'Is Jess here?' a voice asked.

'She is. And you are?' Tabitha asked.

'Can you tell her it's Mira? I just want to talk. Apologise,' she added.

The door closed, and they listened to Tabitha hobbling down the corridor.

'There's a Mira here to see you. Do you want me to whack her till she goes away?' Tabitha offered.

'No, I'd better see what she has to say,' Jess said, sharing a dubious look with Ash.

'Don't look at me. I've been trying not to see too much.' She rolled up her sleeves to show the binding runes on her arm.

'So you don't get anything off her?' Tabitha asked.

Ash scrunched her eyes. 'Mild anxiety. That's all,' she said, opening her eyes.

'I'll send her in then.'

It was only a few seconds later that the front door opened and Mira appeared at the conservatory door, looking pale and withdrawn.

'I'll leave you two to talk.' Ash made a speedy exit, leaving her sister behind.

'Do you want to have a seat?' Jess said, deciding to be polite until she found out why her sorority mother was there.

Mira took the seat and still said nothing.

'Cookie?' Jess asked.

'No, I'm okay.'

Jess put the plate back on the table and watched her once housemate. It was plain to see the internal battle raging inside the woman's head; it was spelt out on her face. But the silence continued as Mira seemed at a loss for what to say. In the past, Jess would have helped her, offered her a comforting smile, or a friendly nudge, but now it was different. Instead, she waited in the silence to see if Mira would ever speak.

'I'm sorry,' Mira said at last. 'I'm sorry for how we acted. For how I acted. It was so wrong of us to insist you leave the sorority or give up your sister. We shouldn't have asked you to choose.'

'No, you shouldn't have.'

Mira looked away and swallowed hard. 'It all just got out of hand,' she explained. 'First Charity, and then you and your sister. The girls were scared. We reacted badly, are still reacting badly.'

'I notice it's only you here.'

'There were others who wanted to come. They felt as ashamed as I did, but I thought it was better that just one of us should come to talk to you.'

'And the rest of the house?' Mira's lips clamped shut, and Jess sighed. 'I guess there's my answer.'

'Everyone's just scared,' Mira implored.

'Don't you think I was scared?' Jess demanded. 'All of my housemates insisted that I either abandon my sister or leave the house. Not one of you stuck up for me. Do you know how much that hurt?' she choked.

Mira leaned forward as if to give her a hug before thinking better of it.

'If that had happened to me, I wouldn't have been able to face a single housemate again. I couldn't do what you're doing now. You must hate me.'

'I don't hate you, Mira, but I'm not sure what you want me to say. I can't just erase how you all made me feel. I can't forgive like that.'

'And I'm not asking you to,' Mira rushed. 'But we want to set things right. We should have supported you from the beginning.'

'And what do you want me to do?'

'We're having our Autumn fundraiser in the park, same as every year. I want you to be there. You're part of the sorority.'

'I don't know, Mira.' The last thing Jess wanted to do was stand outside in the cold, surrounded by brightly lit stalls, and try to look happy. Not when everything was crumbling around her.

'Just think about it. All the other sororities and fraternities have stalls this year. Of course, ours won't be much this year. The magician we hired had to cancel since he caught Covid. But we can still shake some buckets, like we always do.'

'I didn't know Mr Majorina cancelled,' Jess said.

'Just got the call as I pulled up here.'

'Maybe you could get a replacement?'

'We'll try, but it's short notice since the fundraiser is tonight.'

They both looked at Ash as she breezed through the door, pretending not to notice the strained atmosphere.

'I thought I'd bring in some fresh cake,' she announced, with a bright smile that Jess knew was faker than Mira's nose ring.

'I really shouldn't...is that red velvet?'

'Homemade.' Ash put the plate down in front of her and another plate with a slice of Victoria sponge in front of Jess.

'Red velvet is my favourite.'

'Really? What a lucky coincidence.' Ash discreetly winked at Jess, who shook her head before an idea sprang to life in her brain.

'You said all the fraternities are going to be there tonight.'

'Mmhh,' Mira said around a mouthful of cake.

'What if, instead of a magician, you had a psychic?'

Ash's head whipped around to look at her with a puzzled look whilst Mira thought about it.

'It would be fantastic if we could have someone, since our booth is supposed to be interactive. Do you know anyone?' Mira asked enthusiastically.

'Ash works as a psychic.'

Mira's smile dimmed a little as she turned to look at Ash. 'Do you really?'

'I've been known to,' she said vaguely, shooting her sister pointed glances.

'It would also go a long way to seeing the sorority accepting my sister,' Jess added.

Mira nodded slowly. 'I guess you're right there. Is it okay if I put this to a house vote and get back to you?'

'Since we hired the magician that way, it only seems fair,' Jess agreed.

Mira smiled, finished the rest of her cake in a rush, and left the house, already tapping away on her phone. 'A psychic,' she mused as she walked down the path, before stopping in her tracks as she remembered the red velvet cake. 'Probably a coincidence,' she said to herself.

Jess and Ash watched her go from the front door.

'Do I even want to know what that was all about?' Ash asked.

'I've just got you access to almost every student and faculty member on campus. Including Daryl,' Jess said triumphantly.

Ash closed her eyes. 'You want me to do a reading for him?'

'Just a small one. Just in case.'

'I might not see anything,' she warned.

'But what if you do?'

Ash opened her eyes and looked into her sister's pleading ones. 'I've never used my gift to ferret out if someone is a murderer,' she pointed out.

'I just need to know.'

'Fine. But I'm making no promises. Elijah has the final say on whether there's evidence or not, regardless of what I see. And you're not being alone with him.'

'Deal,' Jess agreed.

'I'm starting to think we're making a habit out of bad ideas,' muttered Ash.

'Don't be so pessimistic. Besides, the sorority hasn't even agreed to the idea yet.'

But half an hour later, they had their answer. The sorority had voted overwhelmingly in favour of having Ash as their new attraction and Jess' half brained scheme was put into motion.