Treasure stared at Rhoda openmouthed.
"You was saying that we ought to be giving protection to the folks who run the food and the craft stalls, you know, in case their stalls got accidentally knocked over or set on fire or something or some kid threw dog shit into their pork'n'beans."
"That's Junior," Treasure said, in disbelief, turning to Decker with his hand still raised to shield his eyes. "That's Junior talking. That's her talking but that's Junior talking. How does she do that?"
"You think now, Treasure. You think good. We was sitting there talking about the Down Home Family Reunion and somebody comes walking right up to the table carrying a tray."
"I remember," Treasure said, wildly nodding his head. "I remember it exactly."
"Try to vis-alize it in your mind's eye. You see the tray, yes? You see them four bowls of soup?"
"I see them. I see them."
"Now I want you to look up. I want you to raise your eyes, brother, and look directly in the face of the person who's carrying the tray."
Treasure said, "I can't, Junior. It's like it's all blurry. I just can't see who it is."
"Yes, you can. It ain't going to be easy, because that particular memory has a spell on it. Like a kind of a trick, man, to stop you remembering what you really saw. But you can do it, Treasure. Come on, brother. Show me that you're not as dumb as people say you are."
"Hey—who says I'm dumb?"
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"You ain't dumb, man. You can raise your eyes and tell me who's carrying that tray."
"I don't know, Junior. My eyes won't go up that far."
"You remember that tray flying in the air and the bowls of soup flying in the air and then what?"
"Bang! that's all. Bang, and your head got blown off."
"Think of that very instant when the gun went off. Think hard, Treasure. Who was holding that gun?"
Treasure squeezed his eyes tight shut and gritted his teeth in concentration. The candles hissed hotter and hotter and the wax was pouring down the candlesticks and onto the tablecloth.
Suddenly Treasure opened his eyes and stared at Rhoda with his mouth open. "Shee-it!" he exclaimed. "Shee-it, it weren't no waiter guy at all! Shee-it!"
"Who was it, Treasure? I want to hear you say the name."
"It was her. That Queen Aché ho, that's who it was! I seen her! I seen her as clear as daytime! She come up to the table and she throw the soup all over us and bang! I turn around and say, 'Junior, you been hurt?' but Junior ain't got no head no more. Queen Aché, shee-it. I'm going to kill that ho, I swear to God! I'm going to kill her!"
Almost at once, the hissing died down and the candle flames began to gutter. Rhoda stood up and leaned over the table and blew them out. Amidst the curls of acrid smoke, she reached over and took hold of Treasure's hand, and squeezed it, and smiled at him.
"Now you remember who killed your brother, don't you?" "Absolutely. I can't understand how I couldn't remember it before."
"You couldn't remember it before because Queen Aché cast a Santeria spell on everybody in the restaurant, including you. It was very powerful earth-magic. There's hardly
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anybody who can work that kind of spell these days, even a babalawo."
"But why did she have to do that?" Treasure asked. "She could have whacked him some place private, couldn't she? She didn't need no spell."
Decker shook his head. "That was Queen Aché all over. She wanted people to know that if you try to double-cross her, you can't escape from her anywhere, even in a public restaurant."
"I'm going to waste her, man, I swear to God."
"No, you're not. But you're going to go into court and testify against her. You and all the other witnesses, when I can get them to remember what you just remembered." They heard the key in the front door, and Daisy, from the living room, calling out, "Daddy! Daddy!"
Rhoda stood up and put up the blind. Hicks came into the kitchen, toting Daisy on his arm, but when he saw Decker and Treasure his smile immediately vanished.
"What's happening?" he demanded. "What's he doing here?"
Decker coughed and said, "Ah—I can explain."
Rhoda turned to Decker in bewilderment. "You mean to say that Tim didn't know you were coming here?" she asked him. "That's not what you told me on the phone."
"Actually, to be fair, I didn't tell you that he knew and I didn't tell you that he didn't know."
"You lied to me, Lieutenant. There's nothing fair about that!"
"Well, I truly apologize if you got the wrong impression, Rhoda. But to be honest I don't think that Tim would have been very happy about your holding another séance, do you? Especially with Treasure here."
"I ain't done nothing," Treasure said. "I just came along because I was axed."
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Hicks put Daisy down on the floor. "Can I talk to you in private, please, Lieutenant?"
"Tim—" Rhoda said.
"Let me handle this, honey. I'm not going to say anything out of line."
"Too right you're not," Decker told him. "This is a multiple homicide investigation and I'm in charge of it and it was my decision that we needed Rhoda's assistance."
"Rhoda's my wife, Lieutenant."
"She's also the only person I know who could help Treasure to remember who killed his brother. And she has. He's remembered."
"If I'd known you were going to pull a stunt like this—" "Exactly, that's why I didn't tell you."
"I'm going to have to make a formal complaint about this. You realize what you've done here? You've put my family in jeopardy."
"Don't overreact. Nobody has to know about this."
"Oh no? What are you going to say to the district attorney when he asks you how Treasure suddenly managed to remember what he saw?"
"I'm sure as hell not going to say that his dead brother told him, during a séance."
"I can't believe this. I can't believe you did this." "It was Queen Aché herself," Decker said.
"What?"
"There was no waiter. Queen Aché used a Santeria spell and shot Junior Abraham herself."
"Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better. My wife has been duped into providing incriminating evidence against the single most ruthless racketeer in Richmond. For Pete's sake, Lieutenant, think what happened to your Cathy!"
"Your family's going to be safe, Tim, I promise you. Think about it: We're never going to have any chance of catching
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our invisible killer unless we have somebody on our side who can see him, and knows what it takes to corner him." "What are you saying?"
"We can use Treasure's evidence as a way of persuading Queen Aché to help us."
"You're prepared to do that? You're really prepared to do that? I thought you suspected that Queen Aché had your Cathy killed."
"I don't just suspect it, sport. I know it for certain. But there are times in this job when you have to work with people you would happily see dead, because that's the only way you're going to get a result. This guy has already killed four people and I'm pretty sure that he's going to kill a whole lot more. What do you suggest we do? Shrug our shoulders and let him carry on with it?"
Hicks put his arm around Rhoda and held her close. He was obviously finding it difficult to contain his anger, but Rhoda reached up and touched his lips with her fingertips to keep him silent.
Decker stood up. "I'm going to take Treasure back to the city. I'll see you back at headquarters."
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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
He dropped off Treasure on Clay Street. "Listen—when Queen Aché finds out that we have eyewitnesses you're going to be in real jeopardy, you understand that?"
"You think I give a flying fuck about that? That woman blew my brother's head off."