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“We can handle that,” Octo-Cat assured me, his voice a bit deeper than normal, which I assumed was some part of his misguided flirtation efforts. “The only problem is we need a human to open the doors between cars.”

Oh, right.

Just then, as if on cue, the door to our car opened, and my parents rushed in, their path illuminated by the sweeping of their twin phone lights.

“Turn one of those off,” I hissed. “We need to conserve battery power. We have no idea how long we’ll be stuck out here in the dark.”

“Well, it’s nice to see you, too,” my mom scoffed.

I forced myself to my feet, keeping one hand on the wall to steady myself.“Mom, Dad. There’s been a murder.”

“What? When?” my dad demanded, surging forward and lowering himself to inspect me.

“Right before the lights went off and the train stopped.”

My mom dropped to the floor, too, and hugged my head to her chest.“Oh, Angie. It’s not safe for you to be back here on your own.”

“Well, now you’re here, so I’m fine. See?” I forced a smile, but Mom’s light was focused elsewhere.

“I can’t see much of anything at all,” she grumbled.

I untangled myself from her arms and sat up higher.“Listen, Dad. Can you go find someone who works for the train company? Let them know we have a dead body back here and that it was definitely a murder. Call Mom if they need more details. My phone is almost dead.”

“Sure,” he answered, his voice sure, unafraid. “But what will you two do?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Mom said, and I could picture her with one hand on her hip and her eyes narrowed even though she still sat on the floor beside me.

“Solving the murder,” he responded with a knowing chuckle. “Got it. Just be careful.”

Mom pushed herself to her feet, leaving her light on the ground beside me.“You, too. I love you too much to lose you.” After my mom said this, a sticky smacking noise filled the car. Of course.

“That goes double for you two,” my dad answered before switching his phone light back on and leaving me and my mom behind to take care of business.

“Wait!” I called just before the door latched closed behind him. “Follow him,” I told the cats. “Dad, take it slow at the doors. The cats are going to follow you to see if they can find anyone acting suspiciously.”

“Roger that.” My dad probably saluted, but I couldn’t quite see due to the angle of his light. My mother had told him about my strange ability long ago, but he’d never worked with me and Octo-Cat on a case before. I liked how he agreed to my request without arguing or questioning it.

“When he comes back, you two come back, too. Okay?” I told my cat.

Octo-Cat’s brown-striped body moved into my dad’s spotlight, and he turned back to regard me with a frown. “Angela, please,” he hissed. “I’ve got this. Ladies first, Grizabella.”

The Himalayan walked ahead confidently, tail and nose both held high. The door whooshed shut behind them, and they were gone.

“Show me the crime scene,” Mom said, not wasting even a single second. I may be the family P.I., but she was an ace reporter who loved solving mysteries, too. We’d only worked together a little before, but I sure was happy to have her on my side now.

The last of my tears having spilled, I pulled myself to my feet and directed Mom’s hands—and thus her phone light—toward Rhonda’s door. “In there,” I whispered.

I kept my hand on hers, and we pushed the door open together. This time, I knew what we would find, which made it a bit easier to head back inside despite the pitch black that enveloped everything.

Chapter Seven

Mom led the way into our victim’s private room. There lay Rhonda exactly as she’d been when I first discovered her less than half an hour ago. Poor soul.

“I’d say next time we should upgrade our travel plans,” Mom said, shifting her light around the room and illuminating the cushy furnishings that I hadn’t really gotten the chance to notice earlier. “But this isn’t exactly a shining endorsement for first class.”

“Can you shine the light on Rhonda’s body?” I asked, ignoring Mom’s ill-timed joke. “I want to see if there’s anything I missed before.” Because if I missed the entire room outside of her body, I probably missed some important clues, too.

“You knew her?” Mom asked, her voice quirking in surprise.

“We met in the dining car and talked for a little bit.”

“How did that happen?” She found the light switch and flipped it back and forth, just in case. Nothing.

Having Mom here centered me. Not only was there safety in numbers, but she also might catch something that I would otherwise overlook. Together, we could do some good here—or at least keep things from getting worse.

“She asked me to sit with her and bond over our crazy cat ladiness,” I admitted with a fond smile as I remembered how desperate she had been simply to make a new friend. “That Himalayan belongs to her, and Octo-Cat is quite smitten.”