I stepped forward and flashed my badge. “Your name, ma’am?”
She jerked her head toward the front window. “It’s right there on the sign.”
“Right there on what sign?”
“Excuse me,” she said as she leaned out the door to look at the window. “Oh, yeah, I forgot. I took it down so I could get some rest. My name’s Babu Maduro, I’m a-”
“Fortune-teller,” I said.
“Right.”
For the record, Babu the fortune-teller had a surprisingly American accent.
She reluctantly stood aside, and we entered. Erica let out a yelp and grabbed my arm. There, on a table to my left, was a red-and-pink scarf. The next thing I knew, Erica was running past us toward sliding glass doors that opened onto the backyard.
The backyard. Where a little blonde girl in cutoffs and a blue T-shirt was playing with two kids who bore a strong resemblance to our host, Babu Maduro.
I pointed. “Tammy Susie, I presume?”
Babu gave me a “no duh” look.
“How did she wind up here, Ms. Maduro?” Toni asked, her voice stern.
Babu was indignant. “Someone brought her here, of course. How else?” With an irritated expression, she said, “Excuse me, will you? I’ve got to make a call.”
She wasn’t acting like a kidnapper. And, based on the happy abandon with which Tammy Susie was currently jumping rope, the child was not acting like someone who’d been kidnapped. I let Babu make her call and went out to see Erica, who was squeezing the little girl so tightly I thought her head might pop off. But Tammy Susie endured the embrace stoically, the way kids do.
“Hey, Erica,” I said. “Do you happen to recognize that woman in there?”
Erica finally pried herself off Tammy Susie. “No. Why would I?”
Because I had a hunch. “What about the name Babu Maduro?”
Erica mouthed the name to herself a few times. “It does sound familiar.”
“Might that be the name of the fortune-teller who was going to be in the next episode?”
Erica’s features opened with the realization. “Oh, yeah! It might be.” Her brow furrowed, and she looked up at me. “How did Tammy Susie get here?”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
Erica did. “Mikey’s friend Sasha brought me here,” Tammy Susie said. “She told me we were playing hide-and-go-seek with you. You found me.” She didn’t look terribly pleased about it.
“Who’s Mikey?” I asked Erica.
“Mike Borden. One of the producers,” she explained.
Uh-huh. “One of the producers who’s been texting you about Tammy Susie all day?”
“Yeah. Him and Sasha. Sasha’s his new assistant.” Erica stood up, still holding Tammy Susie by the hand.
