Page 92 of Trouble Comes in Threes

I sighed in relief that I didn’t have to convince him. “Joe sent the sketch artist over because he figured he could run the faces through whatever system he uses to see if anything comes up.”

“We need to run all of this by Dermot.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“What’s that mean?” Neely Kate asked in confusion.

I hesitated before saying, “If he had something to do with the murders…”

“We don’t know that he did,” Jed insisted. “And he might recognize the people you just described. Especially the man.”

He had a point. “Agreed.” I got up and grabbed my phone off the counter and saw the email from Tony. “I’ll text him the images.”

Dermot, I had a vision with these two people in it. The man murdered the woman. Do either of them look familiar? Also, have you ever heard of a woman named Selena?

I sent the text, uploaded the images, and pressed send.

He responded about thirty seconds later. I have questions.

I relayed his message to Jed and Neely Kate.

“I think he needs to come over,” I said, not sure it was a good idea even though I suggested it. Especially since Joe was planning to bring him in for questioning that very day.

Jed pressed his lips into a firm line. “We could meet him somewhere.”

“And what do we do with the kids?” I asked. “Because we both know Neely Kate won’t agree to be left behind, nor should she. She’s part of this.” I ran my hand over my head. “We could ask Maeve to watch them, but she’ll wonder what we’re up to, and I don’t want to lie.”

“Not to mention, I don’t want her to be alone with the kids,” Jed said. “Not without protection.”

“Maeve is out,” Neely Kate said, then pushed out sigh. “And I’ll stay with the kids.”

“No,” I said. “When we questioned Austin, I had a vision of Dermot sitting at my kitchen table. I say we invite him here and ask him to be discreet.” I turned to Jed for his reaction.

He took a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Make it happen.”

This seems like an in-person conversation. Can you discreetly come over?

He answered within seconds. Give me a half-hour

Chapter Nineteen

I glanced at the dirty dishes and messy counter. “He’ll be here in a half-hour. Maybe we can finish the cookies before he comes.”

I called the kids back into the kitchen, and the girls were excited to resume the cookie making after Neely Kate pulled the dough from the fridge. Mikey was still drawing everyone, although he was disappointed that his drawings didn’t look like Tony’s.

“Tony didn’t just draw people perfectly from the beginning,” I said. “He had to practice a lot. Plus, he probably took art classes.”

“Can I take art classes too?” he asked enthusiastically.

“Sure,” I said, worried about how much they would cost and whether we could afford them. But he was so excited; I couldn’t tell him no. I’d find a way to make it happen.

We had the last batch of cookies in the oven, and the kids had gone back into the living room when there was a knock at the back door.

Jed walked over and let Dermot in.

“I hear you had a visitor from the sheriff’s department this afternoon,” he said without greeting. Dark circles underscored his eyes. He looked exhausted.

“That’s where the sketches came from,” I said with a frown. “Are you okay? Maybe you should go home and rest. You look tired.”

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