Ghostly Graves: A Harper Harlow and Maddie Graves Mystery

by Hart, Lily Harper

“Ghosts led us to the bodies,” Zander replied, not missing a beat. “You do realize this is a cemetery, right? It’s already filled with bodies. There’s no need to add fresh ones to enhance the ambiance. We don’t want to disturb them. We simply want to hang with the ghosts.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Luther wrinkled his nose. “Just ... stay on your usual route. Don’t deviate. There are some roots I noticed by a few of the trees that could cause people to trip. I plan on covering them up in the next week or two.”

  “We have no plans on deviating from our usual route.”

  “Well ... then I guess you can stay.”

  Zander offered up a mock salute. “You’re a stellar individual, Luther. I can’t believe you haven’t been named King of Whisper Cove yet.”

  “Oh, stuff it.”

  Maddie’s lips twitched as she watched the man meander away into the darkness. When she looked at Nick, she found him smiling, too. “I guess that was the equivalent of ordering us off his lawn, huh?”

  “He sounds like a bit of a crank,” Nick noted. “I think Zander and Harper have things under control, though. If you ask me, they’re running a smart business here. It’s relatively safe and I’m betting they make good money.” He slid her a curious stare. “Have you thought that you might be able to do something similar in Blackstone Bay?”

  Maddie was taken aback. “I ... no. That would draw attention to us.”

  “So what?”

  “So ... you know I don’t like attention, especially for that kind of stuff.”

  He snorted, amused despite himself. “Mad, you ran a magic store out of our house for a bit and now you tell fortunes at festivals and parties. You’re already getting attention for this sort of thing. Running a few tours here and there would only add to your business portfolio.”

  “You want me to wander around with strangers at night giving tours? Why don’t I believe that?”

  “I wouldn’t want you doing it alone,” he clarified. “I could go with you.”

  “Oh, yeah? What about when you have work? I hate to remind you, but you are a police officer. Blackstone Bay is hardly a hotbed of crime, but you have been called away here and there.”

  “I have,” he readily agreed. “That wouldn’t happen very often, though.”

  “Uh-huh. And what about after the baby is born?”

  Nick’s hand automatically went to her stomach in an attempt to feel the fluttering he’d become addicted to. “I figured I could take the baby with me. They make those things where you can strap the baby right to your chest and carry him or her around wherever you go.”

  “And you don’t think a crying baby might ruin the ambiance of a tour?”

  He slowed his pace. “Huh. I hadn’t gotten that far. Maybe we can get a babysitter. Maude will be around.”

  Maude Graves was Maddie’s grandmother and she lived in a converted apartment in what used to be the garage of the historic Victorian they lived in. She was gung-ho and spry for her age, but Maddie was convinced she wasn’t up to the task of regular babysitting duties.

  “I don’t know,” Maddie hedged, her eyes drifting to a bit of movement on the other side of the bushes. “Can I think about it and get back to you?”

  Nick bobbed his head. “Absolutely. I need to think about it, too. Clearly I don’t have everything worked out.”

  “Clearly,” Maddie agreed dryly, cocking her head when she recognized the source of the movement. “Huh.”

  “Huh, what?” Nick looked around to see what had caught her attention. “Do you see something?”

  “It’s a ghost,” Maddie replied simply, watching as the man in dated clothing gestured toward the group. When Maddie shifted her gaze in that direction, she realized that the ghost was trying to get Harper’s attention ... and he’d succeeded.

  “She’s the real deal,” Maddie murmured, unable to contain her surprise when Harper started strategically moving around the crowd, toward the ghost. “She can see him.”

  “Does he look fresh?” Nick asked on a grimace. He wasn’t an expert when it came to ghosts, but he’d gotten a crash course in how to deal with restless spirits since hooking up with his wife. “Please don’t tell me we’re about to stumble over a body.”

  “His clothing is dated,” Maddie reassured Nick as she pushed through the bushes to get a better look at him. That turned out to be a mistake because her shoe snagged on something near the ground and she pitched forward.

  Nick’s reflexes were fast and he grabbed her before her face could meet the rough terrain. “Watch it, Mad! You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  “Sorry.” Maddie’s cheeks burned with embarrassment as she regained her footing. “I didn’t see the ... .” She was about to say tree branch because that was her assumption, but when she looked down, what she found was something else entirely.

  Her mouth went dry. “Nicky, do you have that pocket flashlight you carry?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Can you please point it at the ground?”

  Nick considered arguing, but her demeanor change had him rummaging for the item in question. When he flicked on the light and pointed it toward the ground, he was praying he would find some misshapen hunk of wood, or even a discarded tombstone. Instead, he found death looking up at him through sightless eyes, and the quiet shopping trip he’d planned for his wife looked to be a pipe dream.

  “Oh, man.” He lifted his chin to the sky, as if to ask some powerful being an important question. “Why does this keep happening to us?”

  Maddie absently patted his arm. She was asking herself the very same question.

  3

  Three

  Jared parked on a side street rather than the lot when landing at the cemetery. He’d tagged along on enough tours to know exactly where Harper and her group were located when she called him to report a body.

  He was agitated, although he did his best to hide it. Still, when he walked upon the group and found Harper standing with Zander, he pulled her in for a hug before asking the obvious question.

  “Are you okay?” His fingers were gentle as they brushed her hair away from her face.

  “I’m fine,” she reassured him despite the queasiness invading her stomach. This was not how she saw the night going. “We didn’t see it happen or anything. We just sort of ... tripped ... over it.”

  “Well, that’s something at least.” He flashed a smile that he didn’t really feel. “Where?”

  Harper pointed toward the bushes. “He’s in there. Only two people have broached the bushes and they’re right over there.” She pointed toward Nick and Maddie, their heads bent together as the former rubbed his hands up and down his wife’s arms. “Be gentle with them. She’s pregnant.”

  “How do you know that?” Jared asked as he dragged his eyes back to his fiancée. “Did she volunteer that or something? Maybe it’s a cover.”

  Harper made a face. She knew Jared was overly suspicious because of his job, but it still grated at times. “I talked to them before we left on the tour. Then I heard them talking. Apparently she’s wearing maternity shorts for the first time and hates them, although he loves what they do for her butt.”

  Despite himself, Jared found he couldn’t contain his smirk. “Oh, well ... the shorts look fine to me.”

  Harper’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think her butt looks good in those shorts, too?”

  “I think I will only ever look at your butt again for as long as I live.”

  “That’s probably a wise choice.”

  “Probably,” he agreed, giving her a quick kiss before moving toward the bushes. “You called Mel, too, right?” he asked, referring to his partner Mel Kelsey, who also happened to be Zander’s uncle.

  “I called him,” Zander volunteered, speaking for the first time. His annoyance at things taking a turn before the tour really got started was on full display. “He should be here any second.” He gripped Harper’s arm and gave it a squeeze, drawing her eyes to his. “I’m going to che
ck on Mike and see if I can salvage this. You can handle your boy toy, can’t you?”

  Jared made a face. “Boy toy? If anybody is the boy toy, it’s you.”

  Zander let loose one of his patented raspberries without turning away from Harper. “There’s still a chance we can make it in the brochure.”

  Harper believed he was wasting his time — Mike was clearly flabbergasted by the turn of events — but she offered her best friend an encouraging smile. “If anybody can turn him around, it’s you.”

  Jared arched a speculative eyebrow as he watched Zander swagger off. “Do you really think they’re going to include the dead body tour in their brochure?”

  “Probably not, but it’s really important to him.”

  Jared nodded in understanding. It was important to her, too, whether she wanted to admit it or not. He couldn’t dwell on that now, though. “I’m going to check out the body.” He moved to the bushes, removing a pair of rubber gloves from his pocket as he pushed his way through. He didn’t recognize the body on the ground, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.

  “How long do you think he’s been here?” Harper asked from behind him, causing him to jolt. He hadn’t realized she’d followed.

  “Don’t sneak up on me in a cemetery, Heart. I believe we’ve had this discussion before.”

  Her smile was rueful. “Sorry. I forget how jumpy you can be.”

  “I’m not jumpy. I’m ... just leave it be.” Carefully, Jared reached over and pressed his fingers to the dead man’s neck.

  “He’s clearly dead,” Zander volunteered, joining the group. He looked much happier than he had even two minutes before. “Good news. It seems Mike thinks being able to add ‘actually discovered a dead body on a tour’ is a good thing for the brochure. It’s on like Donkey Kong.”

  Harper shot him an annoyed glare. “I hate that saying.”

  “We’re in there like swim wear?” Zander queried innocently.

  Harper folded her arms over her chest and remained silent.

  “You know what I mean, Jellybean?”

  “I’ll kill you, Zander,” Harper warned. “I’ll wrap my hands around your neck and squeeze until you can’t make a sound.”

  Zander had withstood her threats before and remained unbothered. “I’m down like a clown? We’re in like Flynn? We’ll get our speed on so we don’t get peed on?”

  Harper made a move for him, but Zander easily evaded her.

  “What’s this?” Before anyone could stop him, Zander leaned over the nearest bush and scooped up something with his bare hand. “Oh, it looks like a wallet.”

  Jared’s eyes flashed with rage as he snapped the wallet out of Zander’s hand. “What are you thinking? You can’t just touch stuff on a crime scene. You know better than that.”

  “Sorree.” Zander rolled his eyes dramatically. “I thought it was a rock.”

  “Why would you pick up a rock in a cemetery?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe I’ve decided to collect rocks. What? That’s a thing.”

  “Stop talking,” Jared ordered, flipping open the wallet so he could look inside. “Looks like his name is Jeff Morton. Does that mean anything to you?”

  The question was directed at Harper, but Zander was the one to respond. “He’s a doctor.”

  Jared narrowed his eyes as he retrieved a business card. “He is a doctor. How did you know that?”

  “Because I’ve seen his name before. I guarantee you have, too. He’s on that billboard when you’re heading into town, the one just off I-94.”

  Jared tilted his head, searching his memory. “Oh, right. He’s a specialist of some sort. Wait, it’s coming back to me.”

  “He’s a plastic surgeon,” a new voice volunteered out of nowhere.

  At first, Jared thought he might be imagining the voice, but when he turned, he found the blonde Harper had pointed out to him upon his arrival staring at the bushes, her face unbelievably pale. “Do you know this man?” he asked finally.

  “No way,” Nick answered automatically. “We don’t even live down here. We’re only in town to shop for maternity clothes and stuff for a nursery.”

  “Uh-huh.” Jared folded the wallet and put it in a plastic bag before sealing it. “Where are you from? Actually, what are your names?”

  “Nick Winters.” Nick extended his hand. “I’m a detective with the Blackstone Bay Police Department. This is my wife Maddie.”

  “And what do you do, Mrs. Winters?”

  “Graves-Winters,” Maddie corrected automatically before shaking her head to dislodge whatever heavy thoughts were wearing her down. “I read tarot cards at festivals.”

  “You read tarot cards at festivals?” Jared didn’t mean to sound so incredulous, but he couldn’t stop himself from reacting. “Is that a job?”

  “Hey!” Nick’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “It’s a valuable job. Don’t give her grief.”

  “I’m not trying to upset her,” Jared reassured him. “I’m trying to figure all of this out. Like, for example, how does a tarot card reader from Northern Lower Michigan know a plastic surgeon in a suburb of Detroit? And, before you deny that you know him, your wife clearly recognizes him. It’s written all over her face. I want to know how.”

  “Because I used to be a nurse down here,” Maddie replied. “I worked at Detroit Mercy Hospital for several years. I met Dr. Morton during my time there.”

  Jared hesitated. If he was any judge of character, the woman seemed to be telling the truth. The fact that she was the one who stumbled over the victim and also conveniently knew him, however, was enough to trigger Jared’s cynical side. “I’m going to need more information,” he ultimately prodded. “What are you doing down here again?”

  “Shopping,” Nick replied. “Blackstone Bay is a lovely town but there aren’t a lot of options for baby supplies. We’d been looking in Traverse City, but Maddie found a crib she liked online. The nearest place we could see it in person before ordering was here. We decided to make a trip out of it because we weren’t certain how many trips we’d be able to make in the foreseeable future once the baby is born.”

  “And she’s pregnant?” Jared didn’t mean to come across as a jerk, but the woman looked rail thin to him. “How soon is the baby supposed to be here? She doesn’t look pregnant to me.”

  Instead of being offended, Maddie beamed at him. “See!” She jabbed Nick in the ribs. “I knew I didn’t need maternity shorts. Those other shorts were just being difficult for no reason.”

  “Oh, Mad, give it up.” Weariness washed over Nick as he tried to rein in his wife’s sudden enthusiasm. “Wearing maternity shorts isn’t the end of the world. It’s not as if you live your life in high fashion outfits and expensive heels or something. It’s a few months. You look hot with a little extra meat on your bones.”

  “You take that back,” Maddie hissed.

  “It’s been neat, Parakeet,” Zander intoned. “She’s going to pluck out your feathers now, though.”

  “Don’t add to this madness,” Jared warned Zander on a growl. When he turned back to Nick and Maddie, he had a placating smile on his face. “I don’t want to steal you away from what I’m sure is a fascinating ongoing argument, but we have a dead body here. Dr. Morton was clearly murdered.”

  “How do you know that?” Zander queried, suddenly interested. “Maybe he was out here looking around and fell or something.”

  “Because there’s a big piece of fence sticking out of his chest,” Harper answered, pointing for emphasis. “How could you miss that?”

  Zander cocked his head. “Huh. You’re right. I didn’t see that. It’s probably the lighting.”

  “Or you’re too busy playing rhyming games,” Harper huffed.

  “Fine.” He showed her his palms. “I’ll just stand over here and be quiet.”

  “Great.”

  “I’ll be chillin’ like a villain.”

  “Now I’m going to kill you,” Jared warned, rolling his neck a
s he considered what to do. “I’m going to need to interview you folks.” He almost looked apologetic. “It wouldn’t be my first choice, but it’s got to be done.”

  Because they shared the same job, Nick understood. “I’m fine with that. I want her to sit down, though. There are benches that way, by the front of the cemetery. Can we do the interview over there?”

  Jared nodded in agreement. “Yeah. You can head over now. I have to wait for my partner to take control of the scene and then I’ll be right over.”

  “Thanks.” Nick put his hand to Maddie’s back to prod her to walk. “So much for a quiet couple of days in the city, huh?”

  “I blame the maternity shorts,” Maddie replied. “They’re obviously bad luck.”

  “Oh, don’t start.”

  “Peace out, Cub Scout!” Zander called to their backs, instantly shrinking when Harper slapped his arm. “What? I was just being friendly.”

  NICK BOUGHT A BOTTLE OF WATER from the drugstore across the street and presented it to Maddie. He left her on the bench alone, but only because there were so many people milling about.

  “Once we answer his questions we’ll get dinner,” he said, cracking open the bottle before handing it to her. “It hopefully shouldn’t take too long.”

  Maddie gratefully accepted the water and guzzled a third of it before responding. “I’m not worried, Nicky. It’s not as if we killed him.”

  “No, but you did know him.”

  “Not all that well. I mean ... I knew him to say hello and that’s it. It’s not as if we spent time together.”

  “That’s something at least.” Nick blew out a sigh as he sat next to her. “It still makes me nervous. What are the odds you would know the victim?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t say I’m happy about it. We have to deal with it, though. We know how this goes.”

  “Yeah.” He moved his hand to the back of her neck and started rubbing. “What do you think about our intrepid ghost hunter and her boyfriend?”

  “Fiancée,” Maddie corrected. “She’s wearing an engagement ring. I can’t speak about him, although he seems fine with everybody except that Zander guy, who is hilarious, but I think she’s the real deal.”