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

by Jane Hinchey

  “Awwwww.” Ben drawled, “isn’t that sweet.”

  “Do you think they’re related? The shooting and my apartment? Is this all tied back to the bank robbery?” I jerked my mind out of the bedroom and back to the topic at hand. Then I remembered something else. I’d been to visit Jacob and had the tarot cards in my bag. Jumping up from the sofa, I grabbed my bag and dug them out, holding them out to Galloway. “I almost forgot. Well, I did forget, but anyway, I’ve remembered now. I dropped by Jacob’s place after lunch, and he was home. These were spread out over his coffee table.”

  Galloway accepted the zip-lock bag. “Myra’s tarot cards?”

  “Yep. He confessed to pocketing them. He figured he could continue the readings at home, himself. Oh, and get this, he wasn’t seeing Myra every day. Apparently she had some sort of website where you could get readings online.”

  “Yeah, forensics cracked her laptop today. We know all about her website.”

  “What did you find?” The way he said it, like it was something ominous, had me sitting on the edge of the sofa in anticipation.

  “It turns out Myra is a fraud. She’s set up shell companies in Thailand, Switzerland and Monaco, leaving a complicated business web we’re still unraveling. She has dossiers on all of her clients and a lot of other citizens that we assume she intended to target.”

  My eyes shot to Ben, who stiffened at Galloway’s words. Now I really needed to speak with Myra and find out what the hell she was playing at. Seems Ben had the same idea for he started doing some sort of sign language, which was crazy because Galloway couldn’t see or hear him. But I got the gist of it. He was ducking out to go find Myra. At least I assumed that was what all the finger twirling and pointing and two fingers walking was all about.

  “Meaning if any of her clients found out, they could be the killer.” I said.

  “That’s why I got called back to the station. The Chief wants this one closed as quickly as possible. Myra has left a trail across the country of duped clients. Only she hid her tracks very well.” He lapsed into silence, watching me.

  “What?” I squirmed, uncomfortable with his intense stare.

  “Your turn. I’ve shared what I know, now it’s your turn, because I know you found out something today, you’re as twitchy as a squirrel on crack.” Oh my God, he even used my own sayings. This guy was in my head and I wasn’t sure I liked it. Or loved it.

  I cleared my throat. He had a point, and after all, he was my supervisor until I got my PI license. “A couple of things.” I told him about Regina lip locking with her gardener in the yoga studio parking lot. And then my lunch with Ashley, and how Lee, Myra’s boyfriend, had unexpectedly left as soon as I joined them.

  “Regina alibied out.” Galloway said. “She had an early morning PT session, confirmed with her trainer, Jayden Ellis, just like she told us. Then she met a friend, Klara Hill, for breakfast at the Seaview Café. CCTV footage puts her at the café from eight thirty until just after ten.”

  “Okay.” I chewed my lip, thinking. “You know we can’t rule out Ashley Baker. Just because she hired me to find Myra’s killer doesn’t mean she can’t be the murderer. Her sister is doing time for drug smuggling.”

  “Yeah? What’s her sister's name, I’ll look into it.”

  “Skye. But she’s claiming she was set up by her boyfriend, a guy called Rhys Parker. This was back in Portland. Actually no, Skye is in jail in Nassau. Oh, and get this!” I snapped my fingers, remembering what Ashley had told me. “This Rhys guy used to work with Lee, Myra’s boyfriend!”

  Galloway leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, eyes intent. “I don’t want you questioning Lee Noble.”

  “What! Why?” He was next on my list. If my place hadn’t been trashed today, I would have sought him out this afternoon.

  “He has a record.”

  My eyes rounded. “What did he do?” I breathed.

  Galloway ticked off on his fingers. “Possession of a controlled substance. Possession of stolen property. Trespass.” He paused for a moment, rubbing his chin. “I have an idea. Can I use your computer?”

  Surprised, I nodded. “Yeah, sure.” My laptop was still wrapped in a bundle of clothes and shoved in my suitcase, which was yet to be unpacked in the guest bedroom—I couldn’t bring myself to use the master suite. That was Ben’s room and while I’d finally moved into his house, I wasn’t ready to take over his bedroom. I hadn’t even packed up his clothes and belongings, despite mom offering to help me a dozen times now. “We’ll have to use the one in the office, mine’s still packed.”

  Galloway followed me into the office and stood watching while I booted up Ben’s computer. I know I needed to stop thinking of everything in terms of Ben. Ben’s house. Ben’s computer. Ben’s sofa. All of it was mine now, but I was still coming to terms with it. Baby steps, I told myself, baby steps.

  Galloway took the chair, and I stood watching over his shoulder while he pulled up the internet browser, then logged in to the FBPD server.

  “I didn’t know you could do that.” I said.

  “You can’t. Not usually. But I knew Ben’s computer would have a token, allowing remote access. I had a hunch the FBPD IT guys never got around to revoking it.” He began typing, fingers flying across the keyboard. I was impressed that he could touch type and wasn’t finger pecking. Then a photo of Lee Noble popped up on the screen. A mug shot. He looked mean, his eyes scowling at the camera.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Known associates.”

  “Why?”

  “You said it yourself. Ashley Baker may have hired you to avoid suspicion. Her sister is in jail. You interrupted her having lunch with Lee, who left when you arrived. And it was Ashley who told you that her sister's boyfriend used to work with Lee.”

  “You think she’s deflecting? Giving us false leads?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” He was scrolling through Lee’s rap sheet when he paused. “Here we go. Rhys Parker.”

  “Apparently Rhys told Skye that they’d won this radio competition, a vacation to the Bahamas. Skye was arrested when customs found drugs hidden in the lining of her suitcase. Ashley thinks Rhys framed her, that he was using her as a drug mule. When Rhys was released after questioning and flew home, it was Lee who picked him up from the airport. Although according to Ashley, Lee claims he only did it as a favor for a co-worker.” I told him.

  “Well, this says different. Rhys Parker and Lee Noble were both arrested for possession of a controlled substance. Cocaine. Both spent a year in jail eight years ago.”

  “So they knew each other. It wasn’t just a work thing.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Do you think Lee could have killed Myra? I don’t get what motive he’d have. According to Ashley, he was all set to propose to her.”

  “Maybe he did, and she said no?”

  “She wouldn’t have said no. Ashley said it was Myra who was all excited that some big changes were coming, and she was just waiting on Lee.”

  Galloway was silent for a moment, drumming his fingers on the desk. “What if the big changes weren’t a marriage proposal? We know Myra was a fraud, a crook. And Lee has a criminal record.”

  I clapped a hand over my mouth, then slowly peeled away my fingers as realization dawned. “The bank robbery! What if they were behind the bank robbery?”

  Galloway nodded. “It’s a possibility. Lee works at the docks. The van disappeared at the docks. You were shot at, at the docks. Then today you’re sniffing around and then your apartment is trashed.”

  “You think it was Lee?” But I frowned, recalling the intruder who’d pushed me out of the way. Lee had reeked of cigarette smoke. The intruder hadn’t. Lee was a tall guy, the intruder, not so much. I told Galloway my observations.

  “He could have sent someone else. There were two other men involved in the robbery. And the getaway driver.” He reminded me.

  A light bulb went on in my head, and I snapped my fing
ers. “What if Myra was the getaway driver? And, and,” I rushed in excitement, “Jacob was the inside man. They had to have someone on the inside, otherwise how would they have known about that big delivery of cash was due!”

  “We really do need to talk to Jacob Henry.” Galloway said, pushing back the chair and standing up.

  “Now?” I was surprised, it was after seven, didn’t he need to clock off or whatever.

  “No time like the present.” He was halfway out the door when he suddenly stopped and turned to me. I hadn’t been expecting it, so I ran into him, bouncing off his chest. He caught me before I ended up on my ass on the floor. “Sorry.” He said, making sure I was steady on my feet before releasing me. “I should have checked.”

  “Checked what?”

  “That you’re up to it. That you’re not too tired?”

  His thoughtfulness took me by surprise. Today had been a long day, and I was utterly wiped out. “I’m fine.” I lied through a bright smile.

  He nodded and swiveled on his heel, muttering under his breath, “as if you’d tell me if you weren’t.” I almost snorted. Galloway was getting to know me a little too well.

  18

  When Jacob opened the door and saw me standing there with Galloway, I thought he was going to faint. All the color drained from his face and he clutched the door frame, holding himself upright.

  “May we come in?” Galloway asked, flashing his badge.

  “Sure.” Jacob croaked, releasing his death grip on the door frame and staggering to the sofa where he flopped as if his legs wouldn’t hold up another second.

  “Are you here to arrest me?” He asked, voice glum. Defeated.

  “Do I need to?” Galloway asked, nodding that I should take a seat. I cautiously moved behind the sofa and perched on the same armchair I’d occupied earlier in the day. There was something about Jacob that made me uneasy.

  “I took the Tarot cards. From Nether & Void.” He swung his eyes towards me. “You told him, right?”

  “I did.” I nodded.

  “We are going to need to talk about that, yes.” Galloway told him. “But first I want to know about your relationship with Myra Hansen.”

  “Relationship?” He jerked in surprise. “I’m not having a relationship with her. She’s my psychic.”

  “I didn’t mean a romantic liaison.” Galloway clarified. “I want to know what the two of you talked about.”

  A wave of red washed over Jacob’s cheeks. “I already told her.” He nodded in my direction. “Myra was helping me get my wife back.”

  “Outside of the readings.” Galloway pressed. “You know, general chit chat. When you first arrive and sit down and she asks how are you, that type of thing. What did you talk about?”

  Jacob looked confused. Then concerned. He made that face that Ben often gets, the one that looks like he’s constipated and really, badly, needs to poop.

  “Oh God.” He whispered and buried his face in his hands. I glanced at Galloway, thoroughly confused.

  “Jacob? Were you feeding information to Myra about the bank?”

  Seconds ticked by, the only sound was Jacob’s harsh breathing, then he lifted his head from his hands, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. “I think I may have.” He whispered.

  “Tell me.” Galloway ordered.

  “It wasn’t intentional.” Jacob hurried to assure us. “She had a way of getting you to open up, to tell her things you wouldn’t ordinarily tell people. And she’d ask how work was, what my career aspirations were, that type of thing.”

  Galloway and I shared a glance. He’d told me she was good, and this confirmed it. I could see how, over time, she’d get clients to reveal all their secrets.

  “It wasn’t until after the robbery, and the police were questioning everyone and asking us—the staff—if we’d told anyone about the scheduled delivery and I’d said no, because I didn’t think I had, but then later I got to thinking about it and I realized that I may have mentioned it to Myra, but it was just in passing, an offhand comment about a busy day at work coming up due to the delivery. I was going to ask Myra about it at my next reading, because I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I had.” He held out both wrists to Galloway. “Go ahead. Arrest me. This is all my fault.”

  “I’m not going to arrest you.” Galloway said. “But you are going to need to come down to the station for a formal interview. And we still need to chat about you swiping evidence from a crime scene.”

  Jacob dropped his arms. “Right. Yes. Okay.” Then he looked down at his clothing, which was immaculately ironed. “Can I get changed first?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Once he’d left the room I leaned toward Galloway and asked, “are you going to tell him she’s a fraud? That everything she told him is a big bag of baloney?”

  He inclined his head. “Yeah. I’ll fill him in at the station. My gut instinct is he’s not directly involved. Myra used him. She may have targeted him intentionally, as a source of information for the bank, or it could have been coincidence but once she learned of his connection to the bank, I’d say she quickly hatched a plan to use the connection.”

  “I guess we’ll never know.” I sighed.

  “Oh, we’ll find out. Now we know what we’re looking for, I’ll get Collier or Walsh, whoever’s on duty tonight, to search her records for Jacob’s file. She’ll have one on him, and it will all be spelled out in black and white. Lucky for us Myra kept detailed records on her victims, including her intentions and plans on how she’d either blackmail them or trick them into giving her money for fake investments. She’d have had a plan for Jacob.”

  “But she clearly wasn’t working alone. Because the men who held up the bank were, well, they were men. Not one of them was a woman. Which brings us back to the getaway driver. Do you think it was Myra?”

  “One thing about robberies. The more people involved, the smaller the cut of the spoils.”

  “So if Myra is the mastermind—and we’re assuming she is—then the bounty would be split between her, the three men who held up the bank, and the driver. But if she was the driver, then it only needed to be split four ways, instead of five.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Then running with that…” I chewed my lip as I thought through the bank robbery scenario in my head. “What’s to say it wasn’t one of the robbers who killed Myra for her share? Maybe they were pissed that they hadn’t got the big jackpot she’d promised? Rather than split the spoils between four, off the competition and then you only have to split it between three.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time it's happened.”

  “I’m ready.” Jacob interrupted, having changed from his immaculate casual clothes to a suit. His earlier pallor was gone, and he held himself with confidence rather than the timid, scared young man he’d been mere minutes ago. Galloway’s gut may have been telling him Jacob was an innocent in all this, but my gut wasn’t convinced.

  “Wow. A suit.” Galloway eyed him up and down. “Okay, let’s go.”

  Galloway had set me up in the observation room, where I could watch the interview with Jacob on a monitor. So far we hadn’t learned anything new, merely confirmation of what Jacob had already told us. I’d gone in search of coffee and had been eyeballing the vending machine in the corridor when a commotion at the front desk drew my attention. Poking my head around the corner, I saw a young blonde woman at the counter demanding to see her husband.

  “Emily?” Taking a guess, I approached. Her head snapped around. “Yes? Do you have Jacob? This jackass won’t let me see him. I demand to see him. Now.” She stamped her foot to emphasize her point. Yeah, like that is going to work.

  “Hi, Emily, I’m Audrey, why don’t you come and have a seat.” I placed a hand on her back and guided her to the chairs lining one wall. I shot the officer behind the counter a look, hoping he’d read it correctly. He nodded in return, which I hoped meant he’d get a message to Galloway that Jacobs’ estranged wife had turned up.
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br />   “Where is he?” She demanded, her agitation obvious. I placed what I hoped was a soothing hand on her arm. “He’s just answering some questions right now.”

  “About what? That stupid psychic he was seeing? All of this is her fault.” She sniffed.

  “Wait. Was he seeing Myra before you left?”

  She nodded. “He started seeing her when I didn’t get pregnant immediately.”

  I blinked in shock. “Okay, Emily, tell me everything. From the beginning.”

  She slumped back against the hard plastic chair. “Look, Jacob can be a difficult person to live with. I knew that going in. He’s incredibly possessive and intense and likes everything to go according to plan. When things go off course, it’s like…” she paused and looked up at the ceiling. “It’s like someone with OCD who has to check three times that the door is locked.”

  “Does he have OCD?” I remembered Ben saying he didn’t think that was the case. Emily shook her head. “No. But we had an appointment to see someone about his mental health. And then Myra got involved.”

  She turned her head to look at me. “I love my husband. I do. Despite all the rumors and gossip that I only married him because I wanted a big fancy wedding.”

  “Why did you leave then?”

  “Because of Myra. She tapped into something with Jacob. Swayed him to do things that I don’t think he would have done if it weren’t for her suggestions.”

  “Such as?”

  “We had a plan, and I was totally okay with it. We were on track for buying our own place, had a nice deposit saved and we’d agreed we’d start trying for a baby, that there’s enough room in the apartment to raise one child, but we’d be in a house before we tried for a second. And you and I both know you don’t necessarily become pregnant the first time you try. So when my period arrived, Jacob… he needed answers, and I refused to go to the doctors and have needless fertility tests done because we’d only just started trying. But he couldn’t let it go. Then he found her. A bloody psychic.”