Harper Harlow Mystery 19 - Ghostly Endeavor

by Lily Harper Hart

  “Cassie didn’t share information with us,” John gritted out. He looked positively bitter about it. “She cut us out of her life a long time ago.”

  “And why is that?” Jared asked.

  “Because she’s a selfish girl.” John’s eyes flicked back to Mary, who sat in a chair with her fingers laced and stared at her lap. “She inherited that from her mother. It’s one of those curses women hand down from generation to generation.”

  Jared had to fight the urge to plow his fist into John’s face. “When was the last time you talked to your daughter?”

  John let loose a haphazard wave. “It’s been years. There’s nothing more we can offer you by way of information. Cassie cut us out of her life a long time ago. This was karma if you ask me.”

  Jared felt sick to his stomach. “Don’t you care in the least that your daughter is dead?”

  “She died for me long ago.”

  THE CONVERSATION LASTED ANOTHER twenty minutes and led absolutely nowhere. When Mary showed Jared and Mel to the door, she was apologetic ... and unbelievably nervous.

  “You’ll have to excuse John,” she said in a low voice. “This has come as quite a shock for both of us.”

  Jared didn’t know Mary in the least, but he could tell she was making excuses for her husband. It was likely a habit for her. “You don’t have to stay here,” he said, blurting out the one thing that had been on the tip of his tongue since he sat down with John. “We can keep John in check while you pack if you want.”

  Mary blinked several times in rapid succession. “He’s my husband.”

  “That doesn’t mean you need to stay with him.”

  “He’s my husband,” she repeated helplessly.

  To Jared’s mind that meant she had no intention of going anywhere. “You know where to find us if you change your mind.”

  Mary gripped her hands together and turned her attention to Mel. “He’s my husband,” she repeated.

  “I know it, Mary.” Mel’s eyes filled with sympathy as he squeezed her shoulder. “My partner is right, though. You do not have to stay here. We know some people who can help you.”

  “He’s my husband.”

  She was like a broken record, and it was enough to squeeze Jared’s heart. He recognized he couldn’t force her to leave, however. It had to be her choice. “I know your husband didn’t have any contact with Cassie. Is there a chance you did?”

  Mary shot a nervous look over her shoulder. “Oh, well ... .”

  “Just tell us,” Mel prodded in a soft voice. “You can be quick about it. We won’t tell John.”

  “I talked to her when I could,” Mary admitted. “I had to be careful so as not to upset her father. He would’ve been upset if he knew about the divorce. That’s why I chose not to tell him about it.”

  “I get it.” Mel managed a flat smile. “Did she tell you anything else?”

  “She just said that Chuck didn’t want the same things as her and she was moving on to someone who had a better chance of providing her with a way out of Whisper Cove.”

  Mel perked up. “Do you happen to know who she was moving up with?”

  Mary hesitated and then shrugged. “She didn’t tell me who it was, but I saw her with a man the other day. They were standing on the sidewalk together and looking at one another. It could’ve been innocent but ... well ... they had a specific look.”

  Mel nodded in understanding. “And who was she with?”

  “I’m not sure of his name. I know they went to high school together. He owns that big restaurant on the lake.”

  Jared stilled. “Jason Thurman?”

  “Yes.” Mary’s eyes went wide. “That’s who she was dating.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m almost positive.”

  Jared slid his conflicted gaze to Mel, something unsaid passing between them. “Thank you so much for your time.”

  “WAIT, I’M GOING TO NEED MORE information than that.”

  Once checking in at the main office, making sure that Molly and Eric were clear on what they should be doing, Harper and Zander headed out on the cemetery grounds for a ghost hunt. They didn’t find Cassie — at least right away — but they did find a familiar face.

  Edna Robbins, a former friend of Harper’s grandfather, had been haunting the cemetery for as long as Harper could remember. Since the elderly ghost wasn’t spiraling, and expressed no interest in crossing to the other side, Harper let her be. She often kept an eye on the woman to see if things would shift, however. She was prepared to send her over the second the request was made.

  “I don’t know about that girl,” Edna repeated. She’d patiently listened when Harper asked her a series of questions, and then unloaded an odd story of her own. “I didn’t see what happened. I know there’s a woman who jogs through here all the time. I don’t know her name, though.”

  “Cassie Clifton,” Harper volunteered.

  “I don’t recognize that name.” Edna held out her hands in rueful apology. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Harper reassured her. “I don’t expect you to know everything. I want to hear the other part again, though.”

  “The part about the grave robbers?”

  Harper kept her face placid, although it took work. “Most definitely. I want to hear about the grave robbers.”

  “Well, it’s kind of a long story,” Edna hedged.

  “We have plenty of time.” Harper ignored Zander’s pronounced groan behind her. “Tell me everything, from the beginning, and don’t leave anything out.”

  “I think I can do that.” Edna beamed at her. “By the way, have I mentioned how glad I am that you’re the one who took over the cemetery? Now I’ll always have someone to talk to.”

  Harper didn’t miss a beat. “I think we’re both looking forward to that.”

  7

  SEVEN

  The obvious next stop was Jason’s restaurant. Jared found he was uncomfortable as he meandered his way through the parking lot with Mel at his side.

  “Does it seem weird to you that Jason didn’t mention he was dating Cassie?” he asked out of the blue.

  “Hmm?” Mel flicked his eyes to the younger detective. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, it most definitely came up at lunch yesterday. In fact, in hindsight, Jason acted weird about it. He seemed floored that it had happened and went really white. I just assumed he was shocked because it was a former classmate.”

  “You don’t think he’s a murderer, do you?”

  Jared immediately started shaking his head ... and then held up his hands. “I don’t know. It’s hard for me to say either way. I don’t think I’m the best judge of character where Jason is concerned.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because I didn’t like him when he first came to town.”

  “Didn’t he ask your girlfriend at the time — now wife — out on a date when he first came back?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t like him either.”

  “Once he realized that Harper and I were a unit he backed off.”

  “See, that’s not exactly how I remember it,” Mel hedged. “I remember him giving you a hard time. He kept flirting with Harper, too, right?”

  “Yeah, but that was just to mess with me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Jared hesitated and then held out his hands. “I’m not sure of anything. I do know that Jason went out of his way to make sure Harper got the wedding of her dreams on his beach. He did everything she wanted.”

  “Maybe he did that to ingratiate himself to her.”

  “And how does that make him guilty of Cassie’s murder?”

  “I’m not saying he is guilty of Cassie’s murder,” Mel replied. “He did keep the fact that he was dating her to himself, though. I don’t particularly like that.”

  “I don’t either.” Jared let loose a sigh as he grabbed the handle for the front door. “I just know this is going to be all kin
ds of uncomfortable.”

  “I have no doubt you’re right.”

  Jason was at the hostess stand when the two men entered. He greeted them with a pleasant, if absent, smile. “Twice in one week, huh? How did I get so lucky?”

  “We’re not here for lunch,” Jared said gravely. “We need to talk to you.”

  Jason stilled, although Jared didn’t miss the hard swallow he made before flashing a smile. “Oh, and here I thought you just liked spending time with me.”

  “We need to talk to you, Jason,” Mel interjected. “It’s important.”

  Jason’s expression didn’t change but there was a furtive flash of worry in his eyes. He blanked it quickly. “There’s nobody outside. How about we head out there?”

  “Sure.” Mel nodded. “Don’t you want to ask why we’re here, though?”

  “I know why you’re here. I figured you guys would get around to me eventually.”

  “It might’ve helped if we’d known we should get around to you,” Jared countered as Jason led them through the restaurant. It was busy, but not to the point of being overwhelming. “You should’ve said something to us yesterday.”

  “I know.” Jason gestured for them to head out on the patio. “I was going to say something. I was just so ... shocked. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, now you’ve made things awkward,” Jared grumbled.

  “How are things awkward for you?” Jason demanded as the door drifted shut. “I’m the one who is about to be interrogated.”

  “Because my wife is rather fond of you.”

  “So?”

  “So, she’s not going to be happy when she finds out you’re a murder suspect.”

  Jason, already pale, went almost transparent. “Wait ... should I have a lawyer?”

  “That’s up to you,” Mel replied, resting his hand on Jared’s shoulder to keep him quiet and still. “Right now, we’re here as a formality. We need to know what you know. If you feel you need a lawyer for that, it’s certainly your prerogative.”

  Jason clasped his hands together as he glanced between the two faces. Ultimately, he let loose a sigh and gestured toward the table. “I didn’t kill her. I don’t believe you guys think that. I just ... didn’t know what to say yesterday. It felt weird to blurt it out.”

  “Then tell us everything,” Mel instructed as they sat. “You can’t leave anything out. That’s just going to make you look guilty.”

  “Well, I’m not guilty.”

  “Then tell us what you know.” Mel refused to take it easy on the normally genial restaurant proprietor. “We’ve got to figure out what we’re dealing with here.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” Jason said as he took the spot at the head of the table. “We hadn’t been dating all that long before … well, before. I just ... don’t know what it is you need to know.”

  “We’ll take you through it.” Mel was unnaturally calm. “We need to start at the beginning. How long were you and Cassie dating?”

  “About three weeks.”

  “That’s it?”

  “It had just started. We met on a karaoke night, at that bar out on the highway, and there was a group of people there. A lot of us went to school together at the same time, including Cassie and me. We sat next to one another at one point and caught up on each other’s lives.”

  “You sing karaoke?” Jared knew it wasn’t germane to the conversation, but he was horrified nonetheless. “Let me guess, you do Friends in Low Places, don’t you?”

  Despite the serious nature of the conversation, Jason smirked. “I’m more of a Love Shack fan.”

  Jared slapped his hand to his forehead. “That’s even worse.”

  “Not if you duet with a woman. There are male and female parts to that song ... and the women love it.”

  “Wait, so you’re saying that you do this often?” Jared was incredulous.

  “Well, since the woman I wanted to date is already spoken for, I figured I should get over it and start going out. Not all of us are lucky enough to have found our soulmate. I’m still looking ... and occasionally I get lonely.”

  Jared’s stance softened. “I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.”

  “You meant it.” Jason’s eyes glimmered with amusement, although the mirth faded in an instant. “There’s not a lot to do in Whisper Cove. The karaoke was a nice distraction, something to look forward to. I’d been going for about three weeks when I started talking to Cassie. It was her first time hanging out with the group.”

  “And what can you tell us?” Mel queried.

  “She was ... friendly. I didn’t remember her being that friendly in high school. In fact, when I thought back on our time in high school, I couldn’t remember her even laughing.”

  “Have you met her father?” Jared asked.

  Jason nodded. “Everybody in Whisper Cove is familiar with John Merriweather. He’s a douche.”

  “We just came from his house. I can guarantee you he’s still a douche. He was obviously cut off from contact with Cassie, too. Did she mention that?”

  “She didn’t talk about her parents,” Jason replied. “We hadn’t been dating long enough to get into serious stuff. I’m sure you remember what it was like when you first started dating Harper. Everything was still ‘what’s your favorite movie’ and ‘doesn’t Nickelback suck’ and ‘what foods do you secretly love but everyone else hates.’”

  “When Harper and I first started dating it was right after I found out she could talk to ghosts and she almost died at the hands of a killer,” Jared said. “Her favorite food didn’t come up.”

  Jason blinked several times and then choked on a laugh. “I guess I hadn’t considered that. For the record, when you’re dating someone who doesn’t see and talk to ghosts, there’s a bit of a formula you follow.”

  “And how did your formula work?” Mel pressed.

  “We had fun that first night. I asked for her phone number. I waited the appropriate two days to call so she wouldn’t think I was too eager.”

  “Harper and I didn’t do that either,” Jared mused. “Basically, we were together in serious fashion almost from the start.”

  “And that’s probably why you’re so codependent now,” Mel said.

  “Maybe.” Jared wasn’t particularly bothered by his partner calling him codependent. “I guess that’s possible.”

  “You and Harper are lucky,” Jason said. “You guys just ... fit. She’s easygoing, the sort of woman it’s impossible not to fall in love with. For mere mortals like me, those relationships are mostly fiction. The only reason I knew it was even possible is because I saw you and Harper together. This was after I tried to steal her from you, of course. I didn’t realize right away that I didn’t have a shot.”

  Jared’s smile was lazy. “I did.”

  “Okay, let’s stop with the testosterone posturing,” Mel instructed, raising his hands to quiet the men. “We need to focus on Cassie. What was the status of your relationship?”

  “We were dating,” Jason replied, his expression turning serious. “Given my hours at the restaurant, I could only go out with her a couple times a week. We were still getting to know one another.”

  “Did Cassie seem upset you couldn’t go out more often?”

  “No. She wasn’t pushy or anything. In fact, she was so easy to get along with I thought I’d somehow lucked out on something amazing.”

  “Did she mention her plan to get out of Whisper Cove?” Jared asked.

  Slowly, Jason tracked his eyes to his former rival. “What do you mean?”

  Suddenly, Jared felt put on the spot. “I just mean ... um ... when we talked to her ex-husband, he mentioned that she was determined to get out of Whisper Cove.”

  “She didn’t mention anything like that to me,” Jason argued. “I mean … we talked about travel of course, but it wasn’t like a permanent thing or anything. I think she would’ve said something if that was her plan. Maybe she just told Chuck that.”

  “H
e seemed pretty adamant,” Mel countered. “Cassie wanted him to make more money than he did, buy them some status, and then get them out of town. I take it she didn’t mention anything like that to you.”

  “No.” Jason shook his head. “I mean ... we talked about traveling, like I mentioned before. It was one of those vague things, though, because we hadn’t been dating long enough to actually take a trip together. It was more like we mentioned places we want to go. Like she always wanted to see the French Riviera and I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii.”

  “That makes sense.” Mel bobbed his head. “Did she ask any questions about how much money you were making?”

  Jason’s cheeks colored. “You think she was only dating me because she somehow thought I would be able to fund her escape from Whisper Cove.”

  “I didn’t say that,” Mel said hurriedly. “It’s just ... well ... Chuck was pretty forthcoming.”

  “Is he a suspect, too?” Jason demanded.

  “Of course he is. We always look hard at the ex-husband. At least for now, though, Chuck didn’t seem to be harboring any vitriol toward Cassie. He simply said she wasn’t the woman he thought he married and acted as if he was glad to have found out before he wasted more time with her.”

  “See, that doesn’t sound like the woman I was dating,” Jason argued, his eyes going to the patio door when it opened. He wasn’t surprised to see Harper and Zander walking through it. “Cassie was just nice and fun. There was nothing heavy about our relationship. We weren’t fighting or making plans. Things were just too new.”

  “What’s going on?” Harper asked as she slowed her pace. The slouch of Jared’s shoulders told her the threesome’s conversation on the patio was about more than the gumbo special. “Has something happened?”

  Jared flicked his eyes to her. “Well, I guess that depends on who you ask,” he hedged. “Jason was dating Cassie. We’re just questioning him regarding their relationship.”

  “You were dating her?” Zander acted scandalized. “Oh, you’re in big trouble now, Mister. You’re going to jail.” He turned to his uncle. “He totally killed her. That’s what thunder-stealers do.”