by Elle Adams
He hadn’t said if he’d been the one who’d hired Detective Drew as a paranormal investigator, either. If not, the two of them might well end up in a standoff which would provide some entertainment if nothing else, but it wouldn’t bring me any closer to figuring out why her ghost was being so damn stubborn.
I escorted Carey up to the gates to the local witch academy, a cheerful building painted magenta with bronze features.
“I’ll see you later,” she said. “Are you going back to Mrs Renner’s house now?”
“I think I’ll have a word with this Dolores Malone first,” I said. “To see if she agrees with the mortal enemies comment, and if she really did go to Mrs Renner’s house the day she died.”
“I can’t believe you talked to her.” She removed the ghost goggles from her head and slipped them into her school bag, her mouth pinching. “I wish I’d been able to see.”
“Maybe next time.” Without the natural ability to see ghosts, it was unlikely… and really, I was supposed to be getting rid of old Mrs Renner, not making conversation with her.
But I kept forgetting that to Carey, seeing the ghost was the point, and I’d unintentionally cut her out of it in a bid to keep her out of danger. She was old enough to make the choice for herself, however young she seemed, and I kept forgetting that, too. Maybe it was because when I’d been her age, nobody had given me the choice. It was ghost hunting or nothing when you were in a Reaping family.
I did my best to shove the bad memories aside as I began my search for the town’s retirement home.
“Boo.” Mart flew behind me. “You’re finally out of that awful house?”
“For now,” I said. “Let me guess… you went walkabout when I was upstairs talking to Mrs Renner’s ghost?”
“She actually spoke to you this time?” he said. “What did you do, threaten to Reap her soul?”
“Nope, I just asked if her death was an accident,” I said. “She said it wasn’t. She also threw the blame at her so-called mortal enemy, who I’m on my way to see right now.”
I filled him in as we walked. Mart couldn’t go too far from me, but he’d certainly made himself busy exploring the town whenever he hadn’t been at my side. As a result, he was able to lead me straight to the retirement home, which was painted in similar magenta shades to the academy. And… haunted. Really haunted. No fewer than seven ghosts flocked over to me when I walked up to the burgundy-painted door and knocked.
A female goblin wearing a green cloak answered the door. “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Dolores Malone,” I said. “I’m Maura, and I’m from out of town.”
“Dolores?” she called. “Someone’s here to see you.”
An old woman with curly white-blond hair hobbled up to the door, looking at me through watery eyes. “I don’t know you. Not one of my grandchildren, are you?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
“Talk?” she said. “Outside. There’s a place in the back garden where I like to sit.”
I glanced at the goblin nurse, but she was already distracted by a pair of old wizards tussling over a remote control. Dolores led me through a living room full of people sitting in armchairs watching TV, playing board games, and reading books. It would have been a nice cosy setting, if not for the number of ghosts staring at the TV or mournfully trying to turn the pages of the books. A fair few of the residents acknowledged their presence, whether through looking in their direction or via talking to them directly. Being able to see ghosts tended to be more common among older witches and wizards, in my experience.
Dolores walked out of the open door into the back garden and sat down at one of the white plastic tables outside. “What did you want to speak to me about?”
“I’m here to talk to you about Mrs Renner,” I said. “I’m told she thought you might pay a visit to her house at the time she died.”
“Visiting me?” She cupped her ear. “No, she never visited me. Never left that awful house of hers.”
“Um, I meant to ask if you were visiting her,” I said a little louder. “At her house. Were you there on the day she died?”
“No, of course not,” she said. “The only time I left the retirement home that day was to go to my appointment with the hairdresser. I remember because it was raining.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
She sounded confident enough, but her comment about me being one of her grandchildren had made me wonder if her memory wasn’t the most reliable.
“Of course I’m sure.” She jerked her head at the goblin nurse, who was talking to another old woman behind us. “Ask Frankie. She took me to the appointment.”
“Hmm.” I cast my mind around for other questions to ask. “Mrs Renner said you two weren’t friendly with one another. What was your history together?”
“History?” she echoed. “She always had to have the last word. Vindictive, she was. Stubborn. We were in the same coven, you know, and she never did play well with others. But I wasn’t there when she died, and I had nothing to do with her tragic accident.”
The goblin nurse stopped by our table. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah, I’m just leaving now.” I rose to my feet. “Thanks for letting me come here.”
Frankie walked with me to the door, as though she thought I might sneak back in. “You’re not a relation of hers?”
“No, I… I’m working on behalf of Mrs Renner and her grandson. I just needed to ask a couple of questions about her death.”
The goblin’s expression turned frosty. “Are you with the police? You should have said.”
“Not with the police.” I really should have come up with a better cover story. Or just left the detective work to Drew. “I’m trying to find out who was around when Mrs Renner died. She mentioned Dolores’s name—”
“Dolores wasn’t there,” the goblin insisted. “I said the same to the man who came here earlier.”
“A man came here?” I said. “Detective type, by any chance?”
“Friend of yours, is he?” Her expression melted a little, and a flush spread across her cheeks.
“Nope,” I said. “Definitely not. I had a run-in with him this week already. I’m not a detective, but I’ve been hired to banish Mrs Renner’s ghost. She’s sticking around the house and refusing to leave, so I wondered if there was a reason for it. Often, ghosts stay put because of unfinished business.”
“Dolores didn’t kill her,” the goblin insisted. “Nobody did. Her death was an accident, though it wouldn’t surprise me if she was crafty enough to stick around telling everyone she was murdered.”
“Ah.” Might she be telling the truth? I hadn’t had a long enough conversation with Mrs Renner to gauge whether she’d go as far as to tell a lie of that size, but given what I’d seen of her personality, it wasn’t an impossible notion that Dolores was innocent and Mrs Renner was trying to stir up trouble from beyond the grave. Unless Frankie was covering for her, that is, but that seemed unlikely, too.
“Thanks anyway,” I added. “I hope I can lay her spirit to rest.”
“I hope so, too.” The goblin cast a glance behind her. “None of us rest easy in this place, it seems.”
I probably wouldn’t get any more answers from Dolores Malone, so I turned to head back the way I’d come. I wondered about returning to Mrs Renner’s house, but as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I spotted someone on the other side of the road, heading in the same direction.
Detective Drew. Just who I needed to see today.
8
I’d hoped the detective wouldn’t spot me, but it seemed that was too much to ask of the universe. He crossed the road the instant he caught sight of me and halted in front of me.
“You again,” he said. “I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier.”
I made a sceptical noise. “You think?”
“Consider what it looked like,” he said. “You broke into a dead woman’s
house… twice.”
“So did you,” I said. “Her family didn’t hire you. So who did?”
His mouth pressed together. “Who told you her family didn’t hire me?”
“The woman herself did,” I said. “So did Dolores Malone.”
“So that’s why you went to the retirement home,” he said, looking slightly disgruntled. “I’m not obligated to disclose my client’s personal information.”
“If she’s dead, it shouldn’t matter,” I pointed out. “What possible stake might you have in this? Why do you care if her house is sold or not?”
“Why are you so interested in this case?” he asked.
Oh, come on. I had a headache, I’d had a rotten day, and I was no closer than before to figuring out whether Mrs Renner’s death had been an accident or not. Fine, then. I’d give him the truth. “I’m broke. Carey’s mum promised to pay me for banishing her ghost. That’s it.”
“You’re really a ghost hunter?” he said. “That’s what you do for a living?”
“Yes, why?” I folded my arms across my chest. “I already told you. You could use someone like me here in Hawkwood Hollow, since your Reaper is neglecting his duty. If he’d escorted Mrs Renner’s ghost into the afterlife after her death, I wouldn’t have needed to come here.”
“But you have yet to banish her,” he observed. “Instead, you’re wandering around talking to the town’s citizens.”
“I thought you didn’t believe she was a ghost.” I met the challenge in his eyes, and a spark of energy zinged between the two of us. “Make up your mind.”
“Investigating her death is my job.” He didn’t break his stare from mine, and I suppressed the urge to look away. “In any case, Dolores seems to have an ironclad alibi, as I found when I questioned her earlier.”
“Despite her enmity with Mrs Renner,” I added. “Who else did she have on her list?”
He cocked a brow. “List?”
“Of enemies,” I said. “People like her always have a list. She called Dolores her mortal enemy, so I figured there must be others.”
“You went to her house earlier?” he said. “Did you ingratiate yourself with her grandson, by any chance?”
Of course he’d know Mr Renner was in town. “I wouldn’t say that. He’s as bad as his grandmother was, if not worse. I don’t blame her for dropping a sofa on his foot.”
“I thought your purpose was to banish her ghost,” he said. “If she’s as active as you claim, why is she still in the house?”
“She vanished before I could get rid of her, but I thought it was worth speaking to Dolores first,” I said. “To see how much truth there was to Mrs Renner’s claims that she was involved in her death. Mrs Renner seemed to think Dolores was at the house when she died, but Dolores herself claimed otherwise.”
His brows drew together. “I spoke to Dolores myself because the two were known to have a contentious relationship, but I didn’t know Mrs Renner thought Dolores was present at her death. What did she say?”
“Dolores claimed she was at the hairdressers instead,” I said. “Frankie—the nurse who took her to her appointment—backed her up. I guess Mrs Renner might have been lying about her being there, but that takes me back to square one.”
“Then perhaps you should speak to her again,” he said.
“What, Mrs Renner?” Wait a moment. “Are you volunteering to come ghost-hunting with me?”
His gaze drifted in the direction of the house. “Perhaps she’ll be more likely to show her face with an authority figure around.”
I gave a mock gasp. “Detective, do you actually believe me?”
“I don’t see what you’d have to gain from lying, if you’re as broke as you claim you are,” he said.
“There’s no need to rub it in,” I said. “The situation in this town goes way beyond Mrs Renner, but she’s all I’m here for. And right now, I’m sure her death was an accident, despite her enmity with Dolores. So I need to convince her ghost of that and send her on her merry way.”
His mouth pressed together. “There’s something not quite right about that house. Ghost or no ghost.”
“Mr Renner said the same,” I said. “He’s still at the house right now. Did he hire you?”
I already knew he probably hadn’t, or else he’d have mentioned the detective earlier when he’d been complaining about the house’s seemingly endless list of flaws.
“No.” At least he’d answered me this time, but he didn’t elaborate on his answer. Though with him on my side, it’d be much easier to find out whether Mrs Renner was a murder victim or just a troublesome ghost out to deceive people.
We walked back to the house together. I heard Mr Renner’s raised voice even before we reached the property, which sounded like he was giving that poor rat shifter another tongue-lashing. I halted outside the gate. “I think someone screwed up again.”
“How could you mess up something so simple?” Mr Renner’s voice rang through the open window.
I arched a brow at Drew. “Still want to go in there?”
“Let’s see what he’s angry about first.” He went through the gate, and I let him take the lead, more than happy to let someone else deal with Mr Renner. Upon opening the door, Drew halted in front of the living room door. The rat shifter, Louis, cowered next to the ruins of a collapsed cabinet, and at his side stood two equally frightened-looking wizards, holding wands in their hands.
“What seems to be the matter here?” said Drew in his most authoritative voice.
Mr Renner wheeled on him. “This incompetent excuse for a construction worker and his even more incompetent staff just wrecked this priceless piece of antique furniture. I specifically asked them to levitate it out the window to avoid any accidents. Instead, they dropped it on the floor.”
Uh-oh. If I had to hazard a guess, it seemed Mrs Renner was at it again. “Sorry to hear that. It looks like your grandmother’s ghost is back.”
He swore. “You mean to say she’s still here? I thought you got rid of her.”
“I thought she left,” I said. “I was under the impression she disappeared after we spoke earlier, but maybe she objected to you removing her furniture.”
He grunted. “If she doesn’t want me to sell her furniture, she’ll have to try harder. You, rat shifter, take your people back in there and bring out the rest of the furniture, and try not to break anything this time.”
“Maybe you should avoid removing anything from the house until she’s gone?” I suggested.
“I’m not staying here any longer than I have to,” he retaliated.
At least it seemed clear he had no intention of actually living inside the house. Which was good news for the other residents of the town. Not so much for Mrs Renner, however.
One of the wizards backed away from the fallen cabinet. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am—”
“Quiet,” he snapped. “This is an absolute disgrace. I should order you to pay for the damages.”
Detective Drew stepped in to speak to Mr Renner. “With your permission, Maura and I would like another opportunity to speak to you grandmother.”
I barely stifled my surprise. He’d decided to act as though we were working together? Or maybe he’d constructed a cover story to tell Mr Renner so that we’d both have an excuse to be here, while I used my ghost-whispering skills to get answers from Mrs Renner about the manner of her death. Either way, I wasn’t complaining about having someone else on my team.
“Are you going to get rid of her this time?” Mr Renner enquired.
“Provided we can gain concrete answers as to whether her death was accidental or not,” Drew interjected. “From what Maura here told me, she stayed behind in the house for a reason.”
“She’s strong,” I added, hardly able to believe he’d actually taken my side. “Strong enough to levitate and break heavy objects, by the look of things. That means she’s likely to put up a fight when I try to banish her. If I try to calm her down first, I’
m more likely to be able to get conclusive answers and cause less damage to the house.”
“I thought you went to talk to a witness,” Mr Renner said. “What did this person have to say?”
“The witness wasn’t actually at the house when she died,” I said. “Your grandmother told me she was the reason for her presence at the house at the time of her death, but she might have been mistaken.”
Or lying. What she’d have to gain from that, I had no idea. Maybe she just wanted to take poor Dolores down with her.
He grunted. “Given the state of this place, she shouldn’t even have been in the house to begin with. It’s been uninhabitable for at least a few months, if not more. If this person convinced her to come into the house anyway, then I will have words to say to them.”
“She didn’t,” I said. “She had an alibi.”
“Regardless, we need proof your grandmother’s death was an accident before I can drop my investigation,” said Drew. “With your permission, Maura and I will go and see if there are any signs of Mrs Renner’s presence around the house.”
Who are you and what did you do with Detective Drew? I hadn’t the faintest idea what to add to that, so I pulled out my wand and walked with him to the stairs.
“Is that all you have?” he asked. “No ghost-hunting gear like your blogger friend?”
“Carey?” I pictured her goggles. “No, I’m not sure that stuff really works. And I do have gear.”
Namely, my Reaper powers. Which I didn’t generally show off in front of a living audience. Especially someone who was being cagey to say the least as to who had hired him, and was still, technically, a suspect. Even if he’d finally come around to my viewpoint, sort of.
The detective didn’t look convinced. “If you’re sure you can handle her, then we’ll go upstairs.”
“Watch out for holes in the floorboards,” I warned. “I can levitate one of us at a time, but probably not both at once.”
“So you’re a witch as well as a ghost hunter,” he said. “Not a local coven?”
