I turned and let myself into the shop, which still carried that fishy smell from Sedona's latest meal.

I wrinkled my nose and lit the honeysuckle candle on the counter.

I hurried through the basic tea set-up, not bothering to ask them if they had a preference on tea type. Usually, I take the time to assess auras, to make sure my visitors get the exact kind of herbal supplement their bodies and souls need, but this was big, and I needed to cut corners.

"This is real pretty, Ms. Bridges," Miles said. He was smelling my Star Gazer lily that I'd bought from Carol earlier. He stood to let his eyes wander over my shelves, and finally those eyes landed back on me. I gave him my best smile.

"Call me Maddie, please. And thank you! We've been here for several years now, Officer. You've never been in the shop before? I would think anything on your, what do you call it, beat? Any shop on your beat would be a place you would stop in and visit. No?" I was busying myself over finding little shortbread cookies that weren't smooshed or broken to serve with the tea.

"Well, you're in our precinct, yes. But you're not on my 'beat,'" he laughed. A really deep down, genuine laugh. "I don't walk the streets with a nightstick like in the old movies," he explained, coming back to the front of the store.

His teeth were perfectly straight. Like piano keys. Maybe I've mentioned them.

"Oh, sorry," I said. "What in the world do I know about police work."

"Well, that's probably a good thing," he said. "Means you haven't seen much trouble in the neighborhood."

Now I couldn't exactly lie, not with Ms. Esther already here and listening and knowing full well that I tend to place myself front and center any time one of my friends or fellow neighborhood merchants has the whisper of a crime report.

"Are you new to the station, Officer?" I asked, placing the cups down at the table next to the shortbreads.

You're always safe changing the subject, is what I've found.

"Actually, yes!" he said. He pulled a chair out, wobbling it a little in his giant hand as if testing its ability to hold his weight. Ms. Esther, still in a bit of a spell fog, but I promise you I didn't hurt her, plopped herself down, too, and I took my place, smiling up expectantly at Miles, waiting for him to explain how new he was, where he was from, you know. The obvious.

But he didn't keep talking. This was going to be like pulling teeth.

"Are you new to the force, then? Or just this precinct?" I prodded.

"New to the force, actually," he answered.

"Huh," I said after what I thought was an unhealthy silence. "Sounds mysterious!"

"Speaking of mystery," Ms. Esther said, apparently quite herself again, and starting to pick her way through the shortbread cookies. "You can explain yourself now, please." She popped a cookie into her mouth and chewed with her mouth open, making smacky sounds. As usual, her mouth noises made me want to jump out of my skin.

"Oh, Phil!" I exclaimed, jumping up.

"Phil?" Ms. Esther said. "Who on earth is Phil?"

"Phil is the name I gave your poor plant today when I was in your apartment, Ms. Esther," I said. I held my hand up to stop her from interrupting. "I'm sorry, I'll admit that I let myself in with my spare key today after I went to the police station. I just wanted to get a feel for the apartment's aura, you know how I do that, Ms. Esther. Do you remember how you told me you trusted me enough to have my own copy of your key? So that if anything went wrong, I could let myself in?"
She nodded, and I looked away from her to avoid seeing the glob of chewed-up cookie resting on her lower lip.

"Well, something did go wrong in your apartment, didn't it? Someone broke into your apartment and stole something from you. Something valuable. Something sentimental, but maybe not worth a lot in terms of dollars. Am I right?" I looked back at her and winced at her open-mouth show as she nodded again.

"Okay, well, you know what I do for a living here. I take care of plants, I sell plants, I breed plants," I explained while digging a nice ceramic pot out from under my counter. I filled it halfway with good dirt and gently placed Phil's roots into the pot, then pressed more dirt around his trunk.

"It makes sense, then, doesn't it, that when I saw Phil...um, your philodendron, upstairs, all withered and dusty and sad, I couldn't help myself. I scooped him up and promised him health and happiness. I took him to the grocery store by accident, guess I was distracted, but then I took him up to my apartment, dusted him off, gave him a nice lukewarm shower and a big drink. Then I put him on the windowsill, and I must have nudged him a little too far. That's all." I smiled a reassuring smile at her while showing off Phil's beautiful new home. He just about smiled at them.

Ms. Esther didn't seem convinced. She mumbled under her breath, crunching on my cookies. I leaned down and focused my energies on her and heard it, the tail end of her sentence.

"...then you came back a second time for the plant, ya little sneak." Her jowls stopped moving and she glared at me.

She actually thought I broke into her apartment, tossed it, then went back for Phil. This concept was mind-blowing to me, but it was that last phrase, that "little sneak" comment, that snapped me back into the moment, and in a rush of panic, I checked the wall clock.

It was past two o'clock.

"Oh, my gosh!" I said, probably with my outside-on-the-street voice.

They both looked at me, and Ms. Esther held her right hand up to her heart.

"Sorry, sorry, to both of you, but I have to make a dash for it. I have an appointment uptown and have just been so worried about you, Ms. Esther, that I've completely swept the day under the rug."
I was in a bit of a panic, but Ms. Esther's final words were still fresh in my brain, and they stung for more than one reason.

"I will prove to you, Ms. Esther," I said, "that I did not take anything from you, except for Phil, whom I planned on reviving and returning," I said, my hands on my hips. "And furthermore?" They watched me like statues. "Furthermore, I have never and will never be anything close to resembling a 'little sneak'!" I did the air quotes just for emphasis as I opened the door.

They both stood, but I didn't even take the time to catch one more close-up of Officer Denton. He helped to usher Ms. Esther out of the store, and I'm not even sure if we spoke again before they left.

The magic of him had already been sucked out of the room.