Who Invited the Ghost to Dinner: A Ghost Writer Mystery

by Teresa Watson

  “Wait a minute,” Mike said. “You knew we were going to end up here tonight when you picked me up, didn’t you?”

  “There was a bit of planning involved, so yes, I knew.”

  “But how did you know it was Richard?”

  “I didn’t. I actually thought it was Diane. But I knew that Lillian had seen someone kill Susan that night. The only way to prove it was to get her to identify them.”

  “But what about the lights?”

  “That was Mac. I’m not sure how he did it, so don’t ask. I don’t understand the whole ghost being able to touch things bit yet. I knew that as soon as the killer saw Lillian dressed as Susan, it would freak them out and they’d confess.”

  “You’re very lucky that worked, you know.”

  “Well, we have Mac and Lillian to thank for that. Well done, you two.”

  “You’re welcome,” Mac said.

  “I’m glad I was able to help,” Lillian said. “Does this get us any closer to who killed me?”

  “I’m afraid not,” I told her, “but I’m still working on it.”

  “Working on what?” Mike asked.

  “Trying to figure out who killed Lillian.”

  “Not tonight,” Mike said, helping me to my feet. “I’m starving. You promised me dinner, and I intend to collect. Let’s go.”

  “Don’t you need to go down to the station to process Richard?”

  “Goodwin can handle booking him. There’s no night court, so Richard will just have to wait until morning to find a lawyer and see a judge.”

  “We can’t leave,” I said, stopping in the middle of the room. “I don’t have the keys to lock up.”

  “I’ve got that covered,” Mike said. “After I called Goodwin, I got in touch with the cleaning company. They had already planned on coming in tonight to clean up before tomorrow night’s show.”

  Sure enough, there were two women and a man waiting when we walked out into the lobby. “Bart, good to see you,” I said. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  Bart Simmons smiled. “How are ya, Cam? Yeah, Frannie, my wife, works on the night crew. After what’s been goin’ on around here the past few days, I didn’t want her and the other girls workin’ up here without some protection.”

  “You aren’t carrying a gun, are you, Bart?” Mike asked him.

  “Yes, sir, I am,” Bart replied as he pulled out his wallet. “I’ve got my CCW with me. Perfectly legal.”

  “Try not to use it,” Mike said.

  “Don’t plan on it unless it’s life or death, Chief.”

  “Good to hear. Have a good evening.”

  “You, too. Good to see you, Cam. Tell your folks I said hello.”

  “I certainly will, Bart. Night.”

  When we walked outside, I could smell rain in the air. “I wonder how much we’re going to get tonight,” I said as I unlocked the car.

  “Haven’t heard,” Mike said. “I’ve been a bit busy today.”

  “So, what are you hungry for?”

  “Let’s just grab something from Pop’s and take it back to your place.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Forty minutes later, we were sitting at my kitchen table, eating the best cheeseburgers in town. We also had shoestring onion rings and fried pickles with ranch dressing. “What about Pamela Dimwitty?” I asked him.

  Mike swallowed an onion ring and took a drink before answering. “Let me check with Reagan,” he said, pulling out his phone and typing a message.

  “Did you find Joey Ingram?”

  “No. When Prufrock brought the restraining order, I asked him if he had gotten in contact with his client. He said he had left him several messages, but didn’t have a clue where he was at.”

  “Do you think he’s telling you the truth?”

  “There’s no way that uptight little man would lie to protect anyone, except maybe himself,” Mike said as his phone buzzed. “It’s Goodwin. Richard is screaming for a lawyer and claims he was set up. That didn’t take long.”

  “Good thing he confessed in front of witnesses.”

  “That will certainly help.”

  We still hadn’t heard from Reagan by the time we finished cleaning up after supper, so Mike tried calling her, but got no answer. “Do you feeling like going for a drive?” he asked me as he hung up.

  “Where do you want to go?”

  “I thought we might try to find Pamela’s little dog. It would be terrible if it got caught outside in the rain.”

  “And since we’ll just ‘happen’ to be in the neighborhood, we can stop and check on Reagan,” I said.

  “What a great idea!” he said. “Now why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Let me get a jacket out of my closet, and we can go.”

  When I walked into my bedroom, Mac was sitting on my bed. “What are you doing in here?” I asked him as I opened the closet door. “Not in the mood to scare me senseless right now?”

  “Cam,” he said quietly.

  Something about the tone of his voice made me turn around. He had his fedora in his hands, and a sad look on his face. “Something’s happened.”

  He nodded. “That young officer...she just showed up at the Ingram house. She looked confused...and then…”

  I felt my stomach clench, and I thought I was going to be sick. I knew what the problem was without him telling me. “You better go.”

  Standing up, he reached out to touch me, but let his hand drop. As he put on his fedora, he disappeared. I turned back to the closet, yanked a hoodie off a hanger, and hurried out of the room. I grabbed my keys and phone off the coffee table. “We need to go, now,” I told Mike as I headed for the door.

  “What’s going on?” Mike said as I locked the front door.

  “I’m not sure,” I said as I rushed down the steps toward the car, “but it’s not good.”

  ******

  I drove across town like a crazy woman. A couple of times, Mike tightened his seatbelt. “Don’t you think you should slow down?”

  “No, I don’t. If I had sirens on the car, I’d go faster,” I said as we drifted around a corner.

  Five minutes later, I slammed on the brakes in front of Pamela’s house. There was a patrol car sitting in the driveway. “Well, at least she’s still here,” Mike said as we got out.

  I ignored him and ran over to the side gate, which was wide open.

  “Cam, stop!” Mike stepped in front of me as he pulled out his Colt. “Stay here.”

  “I will not,” I told him.

  There wasn’t any light in the backyard, and the clouds blocked the moonlight. “Do you have a flashlight in your car?”

  “Yeah, hold on.” I hurried over to the back of my car, popped the trunk and dug through my emergency kit for the flashlight. I turned it on as I ran back to Mike, who took the light from me.

  “Stay behind me and be quiet,” he said. “You do whatever I tell you to, understand?”

  “I understand.”

  We made our way slowly across the yard. It seemed to take forever to make it over to the shed. As we got closer, I noticed the door was closed. Mike pointed at me, then at the doorknob, making a sweeping motion with his hand. I nodded and moved over to his right, so I would be behind the door when I opened it. He held up three fingers; I nodded again.

  Three fingers…

  I put my hand on the doorknob.

  Two fingers…

  I tightened my grip on the knob, and felt my heart trying to jump out of my chest.

  One finger…

  I turned the knob and pulled the door open, closed my eyes and prayed.

  Waiting about thirty seconds, I slid to my left and peeked around the door. Tears sprang to my eyes as I saw Mike kneeling next to Reagan, his fingers on her neck. I knew what that meant. I pulled out my phone and dialed.

  “911, what’s your emergency?”

  “This is Cam Shaw. There’s an officer down at the Dimwitty house.”

  “Could y
ou repeat that?”

  “I’m with Chief Penhall. There’s an officer down at 19765 Mustang Road at the Dimwitty house.”

  “Do you need an ambulance?”

  I looked at Mike, who was still kneeling next to Reagan. “No,” I told the dispatcher, “just the medical examiner.”

  Chapter 38

  Flashing lights of various colors lit up the neighborhood within ten minutes. Officers from city, county, and state agencies stood in the backyard quietly, all eyes on the small concrete shed in the corner of the yard. I was still standing near the door, watching Mike, who still hadn’t moved away from Reagan’s body. I wanted to comfort him, but I didn’t want to contaminate the crime scene. So I just stood there watching him.

  Someone touched my shoulder, and I turned around to see Dad standing there. “What are you doing here?” I asked him.

  “The dispatcher is a member of the church. She called me at your grandmother’s wedding reception, told me you were here, and what was going on.”

  I threw my arms around him. “I completely forgot about the reception. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s all right. I explained to them that there was an emergency. They totally understood.”

  “Thank you for coming.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I stepped back, wiping tears from my eyes.

  “Who is it?”

  “Joanne Reagan, the rookie that just started a few months ago.”

  “I know her. She’s a nice young woman. Any idea what happened?”

  I shook my head. “Could you say something to Mike? He hasn’t moved since we found her.”

  “Is it okay for me to go in there?”

  Looking around, I spotted Reynolds nearby. He was dressed in jeans, long-sleeved shirt, a WPD ball cap, and boots, his badge clipped onto his belt. I motioned for him to come over. “Jeff Reynolds, this is my father, Reverend Jim Shaw. Would it be all right if he went over to talk to Mike? It might help get him out of the shed.”

  “Just don’t touch anything,” Reynolds said. “We’ll take an imprint of your shoe later for elimination purposes.”

  Dad nodded and squeezed my hand. He walked over to the open door. “Mike, it’s Jim Shaw. Would you mind if I say a prayer for your officer?”

  I didn’t hear the answer, but I saw Dad put his hand on Mike’s shoulder as he bowed his head to pray. Reynolds took off his hat, and when I looked over my shoulder, the other officers standing in the backyard did the same thing, even though they couldn’t hear what was being said.

  When Dad was through, he said something else to Mike, who finally stood up and came outside. He looked around the yard at all of the officers standing there. “I appreciate all of you showing up,” Mike said. “Officer Joanne Reagan was one of my rookie officers, and she showed a lot of promise. She was here working a case. I don’t know who did this to her, but we will find them, and they will pay. Let’s break up into groups of three or four; I want this entire property gone through with a fine tooth comb. The woman who lives here is the victim of a kidnapping; we were contacted earlier today and given a ransom demand. It was delivered via video feed in that shed. There are cameras all over this yard, so whoever did this was caught on tape. We need to analyze that tape and see if we can get a clear picture of our suspect. There is previous damage in the house, so I want Reynolds to work the inside. He’ll know what damage is old and what is new.”

  A county sheriff’s deputy spoke up. “My men and I will help set up light stands and go over the front yard and the garage.”

  “We’ll take the alley and backyard,” a state trooper said.

  “Let’s get some people talking to the neighbors,” Mike said.

  “Got it, Chief,” Goodwin said.

  “Let’s get busy, people. We’ve got a killer out there somewhere.”

  Before they took off, the officers came over and shook my father’s hand, thanking him for being there and for the prayer he had said. He knew how much it meant to them without them saying anything, but he nodded and repeatedly said, “You’re welcome”.

  Reynolds pulled me aside. “That was pretty cool what your dad did for Reagan.”

  “Dad was a chaplain’s assistant in Vietnam. He understands the comfort of prayer to those on the front lines. Trust me, he is hurting as much as all of you are right now.”

  “He’s a good man, and he has a wonderful daughter. That couldn’t have been an easy call for you to make.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” I said, swallowing hard. He gave me a quick hug and hurried off.

  “I’m going to head home,” Dad said. “Will you be all right here?”

  “I’m not going to stay much longer,” I assured him. “I just want to talk to Mike first.”

  Dad gave me a big hug. “If you want to come over to the house after you leave, that’s fine. You know how to get in.”

  “I’ll probably just go on home, but thanks just the same.”

  “We’ll see you in the morning?”

  “I’ll be there, I promise.”

  I watched Dad leave before turning my attention to Mike, who was standing by the shed door. “Mike?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Anything I can do for you?”

  He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have left her here alone.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I told him. “She knew the risks of the job, and she accepted them.”

  “We all accept them, but that doesn’t make it any easier when an officer dies, Cam.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that.

  “Chief, Quincy is here,” Goodwin said.

  “Thanks.”

  I moved away to let the medical examiner in, and wandered over to the back porch. While I stood there, I looked around, just to see if I noticed anything different. I did a double take when I looked on the ground by the back door. Turning toward the shed, I noticed Mike was talking to the doctor, so I decided to wait.

  “How ya doing?” Mac said.

  “Worried about him.”

  “He’ll be all right. You’ll make sure of that.”

  “Do you know what happened?”

  Mac shook his head. “I haven’t talked to her. She just appeared briefly at Lillian’s house, about thirty seconds, then she was gone. That’s when I went to your house, but I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

  “That’s why you were hiding in my bedroom.”

  “I had planned to give you another few minutes before going to find you. How old was she?”

  “I’m not sure, early twenties, I think.”

  “Too damn young,” he said. “Her whole life ahead of her.”

  “Like it once was for you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is there anything you can do for Reagan?” I asked him.

  “Lillian said she’d keep an eye out for her. I thought I might try to find her.”

  “That would be great. Would you let me know if you do?”

  “You got it. Cam?”

  “Yes?”

  “Be careful.”

  “Something I should know?”

  “Just worried about you.”

  “That’s sweet. I’ll be careful.”

  He nodded and disappeared.

  Mike was still talking to Quincy, so I walked through the side gate and over to the driveway. For about thirty minutes, I watched these men and women, in different colored uniforms but all united for a common cause, go about their work. People didn’t always appreciate the work these officers did, but at this moment, I saw through the work. I saw the heartache and pain because of the loss of one of their own. It made me wish that others could see what I was seeing.

  Reynolds was walking toward me with something in his hands. When he got close enough, I saw it was an American flag. My heart went into my throat, and I choked back a sob. “Reynolds,” I called out.

  “Yeah?”

  I walked over to him. “Would you mind if I take that back there? I know you want to, but if it
’s all right with you, I’d like to do it. It’s the least I can do for what you all do for us. Please.”

  He hesitated for a minute. I looked up at him, and he saw the tears in my eyes. “Sure, go ahead,” he said, handing it to me. “I’ll walk with you.”

  I held it gently, running my hand over the red and white stripes. The officers who were near us stopped what they were doing and watched as Reynolds and I turned toward the backyard. Without a word, they fell in behind us, forming two rows.

  Walking through the gate, all eyes turned toward us as we made our way to the shed. The medical examiner and his assistant were gently putting the black body bag on the gurney. The assistant saw us coming, and said something to Mike and his boss. The three of them watched us as we approached them.

  “Reynolds was kind enough to allow me to bring this flag over for Officer Reagan. I asked him to let me. I just wanted to pay my respects to her for her service,” I said to Mike.

  He reached out and put his hand on my cheek briefly. “Thank you, Cam,” he said, taking the flag from me.

  They rolled the gurney out a little, and stepped out of the way. Mike and Reynolds unfolded the flag and gently draped it over Reagan’s body. Goodwin and another WPD officer joined them, each man standing at one corner of the gurney. When I turned around, all of the officers were standing in two lines, facing each other. As Mike and his men started to move forward, dozens of arms slowly rose until they touched the brims of their hats. I stood there and watched as they slowly made their way across the yard and through the side gate.

  By the time I made it to the driveway again, they had put Reagan’s body in the back of an ambulance. Mike came over to me. “I’m going to ride in the ambulance to the morgue.”

  “What about her family?”

  “Her parents still live in Idaho. One of the state troopers put in a call to the state troopers up there. They’re going to send a couple of troopers and a chaplain to their house to deliver the news. They’ll stay with the family, help them make the arrangements. We’ll probably have a service here, and there will be one in her hometown for her family and friends. I’m just guessing.”

  “I’ll pick you up at the morgue, bring you back here.”