The Ghost Detective Books 1-3 Special Boxed Edition: Three Fun Cozy Mysteries With Bonus Holiday Story (The Ghost Detective Collection)

by Jane Hinchey

  I coughed in surprise. “What?” Clearing my throat, I took another sip of coke, buying time to gather my scattered thoughts. “What makes you ask that?”

  Ashley sat back in her chair, relaxing her shoulders, and laughed. “Sorry! That came across as totally crazy. It’s just... I can see auras and there’s an aura there.” She pointed directly at Ben. “When there shouldn’t be.”

  “Soooooo?”

  “So that tells me there is a spirit present.” Her smile widened. “I think it’s Myra.” Then she cocked her head. “I wonder if Myra has attached herself to you to help you solve her murder?” Before I could gather my wits to answer, she answered herself, clapping her hands in glee. “That must be it! How exciting.”

  I risked a glance at Ben, who was looking at Ashley with his mouth hanging open. Sensing my stare, he finally dragged his gaze away from the pretty young woman with the long, blonde dreadlocks by my side who could apparently see his aura and said. “Right. Weird. Anyway, as I was saying, bad news.” I jerked my head a fraction to indicate he should continue. “Myra’s gone.”

  “What?” I burst out, then quickly picked up my burger again and took another bite, trying to cover my sudden outburst.

  “Yep. I don’t know if she worked out how to leave her shop, or if she’s gone into the light or whatever it is we’re meant to do when we die.” Ben continued. “But she’s not there.”

  Ashley, thinking my blurted ‘what’ was directed at her, answered. “I’m sorry, that must have freaked you out, talking about spirits and ghosts and stuff.”

  “You believe in ghosts?” I asked, mouth full.

  “Of course. And I think whatever presence is with us now is attached to you—your aura and theirs, they kinda blend in the middle.” She was pointing from Ben to me, her finger doing a swirly motion between us. “Imagine it like a giant rubber band, connecting the two of you, stretching and flexing but never breaking.”

  “And you think this presence is Myra?”

  “Who else could it be?”

  Just as I shoved the last bit of burger into my mouth, a great big glob of ketchup splattered on my T-shirt. Brilliant. This day keeps getting better and better. Grumbling, I snatched up a napkin and began blotting, only all I achieved was to smear the stain further. I still had to ask mom about stain removal tips. Yet another mental note to add to my imaginary Rolodex.

  I stood, tossing the napkin onto my plate. “Thanks for letting me gate crash your lunch,” I said, pulling some bills from my wallet and placing them on the table. “That should cover it.”

  Ashley looked up at me, her smile angelic. She really was a sweet girl, I liked her. “It was good talking with you, Audrey. Come in soon for another massage.”

  “I will. That one you gave me worked wonders.”

  As I walked away Ben yapped in my ear. “Do you believe what she said? About the rubber band thing? That that’s why I’m here, because I’m connected to you? That we’re connected?”

  Pulling out my phone, I pretended I had a call. “I don’t know.” I sighed. “It sounds plausible but I still don’t get why or how.”

  “When this is over, you should tell her. Maybe she can help.”

  “Help?” I stumbled to a halt. “You don’t want... this? To be here?” I’d never considered that, that Ben didn’t want to linger on as a ghost, living on the fringes of existence. I blinked, the realization that I’d been undeniably selfish in wanting him to hang around suddenly dawning on me.

  “What?” Ben darted in front of me to float along backwards when I began walking again. “Don’t be crazy, Fitz. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not dissatisfied with my new life. It’s just different is all.”

  “What did you mean by help then?”

  “Well.” He cleared his throat. “It would be neat if I could communicate with other people. Don’t get me wrong, you’re great! But when you’re busy. Or sleeping. Or otherwise indisposed, it’d be nice to have someone else.”

  “Is that why you were excited about Myra? Because she was another ghost?”

  “Yeah. And I can’t help but worry about her. I hung about in her shop for ages, calling her name, waiting for her to turn up, but she didn’t.”

  I’d never wanted to hug my best friend so badly. Seems it showed on my face because he frowned. “Shit. Fitz, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring you down.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “I did. I’m an asshole.”

  “Well yeah, that’s a given.” I teased, lightening the mood. “I’m wondering if Myra has left the store and has attached herself to her boyfriend, Lee? I’m assuming this works because of the emotional bonds you and I share. So Myra and Lee must have powerful bonds too, and once she got over the shock of being dead, maybe it clicked into place?”

  Ben was nodding. “Sounds like a plausible theory.”

  “One we’ll check out later. Right now I’m going to swing by Jacob Henry’s before heading home.”

  I’d reached my car when Ben growled. “You’ve got company.” I turned to where he was looking to see a patrol car parked down the street.

  Unlocking the door, I slid behind the wheel, tossing my bag and phone onto the passenger seat, where Ben promptly appeared. I gave up chastising him for sitting his ghostly butt on my stuff.

  “Relax. It’s just a coincidence. That’s not necessarily Mills' car and they could be here for official police business.” I said. I didn’t entirely believe it but was prepared to give the Firefly Bay PD the benefit of the doubt.

  When I pulled out and the patrol car followed me I knew I was kidding myself. Hitting the indicator, I turned onto Kloeden Street, then made a right onto Pearl. Sure enough, the patrol car followed. I was one street away from Jacobs when the red and blue lights flashed.

  “This is bullshit.” Ben snapped.

  “Couldn’t agree more.” I said, pulling over to the curb. Sure enough, it was Mills who swaggered up to my window. “Officer Mills. Twice in one day.” My fake smile was getting a workout today.

  “Tail light is out.” He said.

  “What? No, it isn’t.” Opening the door, I hurried to the rear of my car. Sure enough, the glass covering my right tail light was busted out. It hadn’t been like that before I’d gone to lunch, which meant someone had broken it within the last hour. And I suspected that someone was standing right in front of me.

  “Easy, Fitz.” Ben warned, “he’s baiting you. He wants this. He wants you to lose your shit, to incriminate yourself, to escalate the situation.”

  Ben was right. Whatever game Mills was playing, I was determined to stay out of it. Which meant I had to play my own game.

  “Well, darn.” I gasped, “it looks like you’re right.” I turned to Mills, batting my eyelashes. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea. I’ll get that attended to right away.”

  He blinked, taken by surprise. “I’m going to have to write you up.”

  “Of course you are.” I smiled through my teeth.

  “Good, good,” Ben said, hovering just behind Mills. “He’s thrown. He was expecting a fiery reaction from you. Probably wanted an excuse to arrest you or something. Keep it cool. Take the fine, it’s okay, we’ll sort it.”

  “I’m so grateful you stopped me and pointed it out,” I gushed. “The Firefly Bay Police Department doing their civic duty is something to be proud of.”

  “Jeez.” Ben laughed. “Laying it on a bit thick aren’t you, Fitz?”

  Mills cleared his throat, tugging at the collar of his shirt. “Yes. Well. Make sure you get it repaired.”

  “I will. I promise.” I took the fine and returned to the driver's seat, remaining stationary until the patrol car had pulled away. Once the taillights had disappeared, I gripped the wheel with clenched fists and yelled at the top of my lungs. “Son of a biscuit pea-brained stink shit!”

  Ben laughed. “Feel better?”

  “Much.” Firing up the engine, I ran a soothing hand over the dash. “Do you think Mills br
oke my tail light?”

  “Yup.” Ben nodded.

  “But why? Beside him being a turd that is.”

  “Have you riled him up lately? Got him off side?”

  “No! That’s just it. I avoid him as much as possible, I have done nothing to deserve this.” Double checking that Mills hadn’t driven around the block and was set to follow me again, I checked my mirrors, twice, before pulling out.

  “Jacob Henry, you’re a hard man to find.” Resting one arm against his door jamb I studied the young banker who, despite being on a day off, was dressed in neatly pressed slacks and polo shirt, tucked in at the waist.

  Jacob frowned, looked me up and down, then peered around me to see if I was alone. “Er, hi? You were at the bank when we were robbed, right? I saw your name on the telly later. Audrey something or other?”

  I straightened up and smiled. “Audrey Fitzgerald.” Holding out my hand I waited while he shook it, then held the door open wider, inviting me inside. You can tell a lot about a person by their handshake, and Jacob Henry’s was like a wet fish. Limp and kinda gross. I wiped my palm on the back of my jeans.

  “What can I do for you?” He asked.

  His apartment was nice. A reasonable size, very neat. Emily Henry could have done much worse.

  “I’m investigating the murder of Myra Hansen, the psychic down on the bay who owns Nether & Void.”

  Jacob’s head dropped, and he ran a hand around the back of his neck. “Man, that was so awful what happened to her.”

  Ben walked through the wall and stood behind Jacob with his hands on his hips, head swiveling as he checked out the apartment. “Nice place.” He nodded in apparent approval. I ignored him.

  “So you were a regular of Myra’s?” I prompted.

  “Yeah.” A flush of color swept up his neck and into his cheeks. Spinning on his heel, Jacob strode toward the kitchen, calling over his shoulder. “Coffee?”

  “That would be great. Thanks!” While Jacob busied himself in the kitchen, I examined the living room. All in all it was very nice, if a little bland. Two matching bookcases stood either side of the big screen television and I wandered over to peruse the titles. It wasn’t until I turned that something on the coffee table caught my eye. “Whoa.” I said under my breath. Squatting, I peered closer at the cards spread haphazardly across the surface. Tarot cards. And I was pretty sure the design on the back matched the card I’d found under Myra’s table.

  “Oh.”

  I glanced up to see Jacob standing behind the sofa holding two cups of coffee, his face a picture of guilt.

  “You take these from Myra’s shop, Jacob?” I straightened. The flush of color in his cheeks darkened, and he nodded, reminding me of a puppy who’d been busted chewing his owner's slippers but it was impossible for you to be mad because of those eyes. “Did you kill her?”

  He blanched. “What? No!” He hurried around the sofa to place the coffees on the table. I quickly backed away, putting an armchair between us. Just because he had puppy dog eyes did not mean he wasn’t a murderer. Ben hovered close by, watching. I threw him a glance. A silent question. Was I right to be cautious?

  “You know how Ashley can see auras?” Ben said. I nodded ever so slightly, keeping my attention on Jacob who had sunk onto the sofa and was now cradling his head in his hands. “Well, I can see... something. Something sticking to Jacob that has a stank to it.”

  “What?” I gave Ben my full attention. “A stank?”

  Ben held his hands out, “I don’t know how else to describe it. Like there’s something dark sticking to him.”

  “Sticking? Like he’s sat in something?”

  “No.” Ben threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know, it’s like a soft-centered chocolate. From the outside it all looks normal, all nice, smooth chocolate, but on the inside you know there’s something else. But you don’t know what that something is until you bite into it.”

  “Unless you read the wrapper.” I pointed out.

  “There are no wrappers.”

  “Well, that’s not hygienic. I wouldn’t bite into a chocolate without a wrapper.”

  “Audrey, you’re missing the point. On the inside—of Jacob—is a dark... blob. It’s not big, it’s not huge, but it’s there.”

  “Kinda like when you step in dog poop?” I offered. “Because those little brown nuggets are small, but they pack a hell of a stink.”

  Ben grinned. “Yeah okay, kinda like stepping in dog poop. And that stank stays with ya all day.”

  “Gotcha.” And then I realized I’d been conversing out loud with Ben and Jacob was watching me with round eyes, his hair standing on end where minutes ago his fingers had been pulling at the strands.

  “You know,” Ben continued, missing the fact that we had an audience, “now that I think about it, Regina Davis had her own stank going on. Not thick and dark like Jacob’s, hers was more of a moldy orange type color, barely there. I didn’t think much of it at the time.”

  Deciding the best way forward was to totally ignore the fact that from Jacob’s viewpoint I was talking to thin air, I asked, “why do you have Myra’s Tarot cards, Jacob?”

  14

  “I didn’t kill her.” Jacob repeated. I didn’t believe him. The way his face kept changing color from mottled red to pasty white told me something was going on with him. Could be grief, I supposed, but was he really that attached to the psychic? He jumped to his feet, and I automatically took a step back. He froze. “Sorry. Sorry.” He sank back onto the sofa. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “I don’t think you need to worry.” Ben said, hovering behind Jacob. “Remember when you took out Steven Armstrong? Jacob’s smaller and lighter than him, you could take him no problem.”

  I remembered all right. Steven had thrown a punch, and I’d kneed him in the gonads in response. He’d gone down like a sack of potatoes and had lay whimpering on the floor until Galloway turned up and arrested him. Ben was right. I could take Jacob if it came down to it. I rounded the armchair and sank down into it. “Tell me what happened.”

  Jacob was shaking his head, distress in his eyes. “I turned up for my appointment. The door was unlocked, like it always was.” He sniffed, wiped his nose on the back of his hand. “I went in. The first thing I saw was the candle on the floor. Then Myra. Collapsed at the table. It wasn’t until I got closer that I saw the knife sticking out of her back.” He shuddered, sniffed, and looked at me with glassy, bloodshot eyes. Okay, so he didn’t look like a killer, but you never know, he could be an exceptional actor. Leaning forward, I snagged one of the coffees.

  “There’s no sugar in that.” Jacob warned me.

  “That’s okay. I’m sweet enough.” I took a sip. I’d had worse. “What happened next?”

  “I called the police. And then I saw the cards. They were scattered across the table in front of her. She must have been shuffling them when—” he choked, reached for his own coffee and took a gulp. “Before I even knew what I was doing, I scooped them up and shoved them in my pocket. Then the police arrived.” There was an underlying edge of panic in Jacob’s voice. I got it. He’d snagged the cards and then the police had arrived and it was too late to change his mind, too late to put them back because then he’d look as guilty as sin. So he took them with him.

  “What I’m not understanding, Jacob, is why. Why take the cards?”

  He looked up to the ceiling before bestowing those puppy dog eyes on me. “So I could use them myself. Myra had been reading the cards for me for so long that I figured I had a pretty good handle on how it all works. I thought—God, this is awful when I say it out loud—I thought, well, since she’s dead she isn’t going to need them and I could just... do it myself.”

  “Read the cards?”

  “Yes.” He sniffed, took another gulp of coffee.

  “And why is that so important? That you have your cards read daily?” I remembered what his co-worker and Ashley had told me about his wife leaving him. Jacob conf
irmed it.

  “To get Emily back. My wife.”

  “And how does having a card reading help with that?” I was truly curious because I wasn’t seeing the connection.

  Jacob opened his mouth to answer, then closed it with a snap. “What?” I asked, watching a dazed expression cross his face. “What is it?”

  “All this time... I thought... I thought the cards were helping me get my wife back...”

  “Yeah? That’s what you wanted, right?”

  “Oh definitely. Emily is the most important person in my life, I love her so much it hurts. I don’t understand why she stopped loving me.” The puppy dog eyes were back tenfold. “But I think I just had an epiphany.”

  “Oh?”

  “Having my regular readings with Myra were helping.” He stated. “They were helping me. My self esteem. Myra had a way of making me feel good. She’d ask lots of questions about my life, she’d affirm I was doing the right thing, that I was strong, I was loyal.”

  “You’re saying that the readings weren’t about Emily at all? They were about you?”

  He was nodding, his head bobbing up and down like a rowboat in rough seas. “She was teaching me to be a better man—” he snapped his fingers. “I see it now. She was making me a better man for Emily. So Emily would come back.” With a grin, he flopped back, seemingly satisfied. It was my turn to frown. I wasn’t sure that had been Myra’s angle at all and that maybe Jacob was missing the point entirely.

  “He’s such a naïve little Muppet, isn’t he?” Ben said, sitting on the arm of my chair. “I’d say our young Jacob Henry here has some sort of obsessive disorder. He’s certainly obsessed with Emily. And if I were Emily, that level of utter devotion would get smothering pretty fast.”

  Excellent point. Another entry to my mental Rolodex. Speak with Emily Henry and find out the real reason she left her husband. I’d had her pegged as a shallow so-and-so, leaving her husband because he couldn’t provide for her materially. Well, not at the level she wanted. Because this apartment? It was really nice. I’d find it odd that a woman left her husband because of an apartment like this.