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“I thought maybe the chocolate thing…”
“Zeke and I have been married sixteen years. We’re not kids anymore.”
“But you’re happy?” Funny, she’d asked Tom that same question just last night. Irrationally, she stiffened, as if preparing herself for an answer she might not want to hear.
“Sure we are,” Mimi said in a perfunctory way. Then she smiled, and Allie relaxed. Of course Zeke and Mimi were happy. They were the most in love couple Allie knew.
*~*~*
They arrived at the offices of the Whispering Bay Gazette, where they were greeted by the receptionist, who happened to be none other than Boston Betty, the Prepper.
“Nice to see you again,” Allie said, inwardly cringing. Not that Betty didn’t seem like a nice enough lady. Except she was so… negative.
Betty immediately honed in on Mimi. “Hey there, Mrs. Chief-of-Police. You bring your hottie husband with you?”
“Zeke is at a police conference in Tallahassee.”
“Too bad. I could have used some pretty scenery around here today.”
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Mimi smiled as if she were used to this kind of thing.
Allie coughed. “Um, yeah, Betty, I was wondering if you could help me?”
“I take it this visit has something to do with that anonymous letter and the ghost?”
It occurred to Allie while she was doing her computer research that Concerned Citizen might have contacted other journalists with a similar version of that anonymous letter. Her vanity hated to think that, (after all, Concerned Citizen did state they’d chosen her because of the Perky the Duck story) but the pragmatist in her had to consider that a slightly different version of that letter could be in circulation.
“I was wondering if maybe the Gazette had received a similar letter.”
“Would have told you this morning if we had,” Betty said, cracking her knuckles. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“Well, maybe if you know of anything unusual that ever happened in the senior center? Something that would inspire a person, or, I guess a former person, to come back and haunt the place?”
“That’s it?” Betty said. “Sounds like you don’t have much to go on.”
“I have other leads. This is just one facet of my investigation,” Allie said, putting a little steel in her voice. The thing was, Betty was right. Allie had precious little to go on. “So, back to the information I need. Can you recall anything dramatic happening in the building?”
Betty perked up. “Like a murder?”
“Um, well, I was thinking more along the lines of a heart attack or something. But yeah, a murder. That would be unusual, all right. Especially for Whispering Bay.”
“I’ll say, this town is about as boring as it gets.” She warmed up her computer and went through the files but all Betty came up with was some general background information on the building. Nothing Allie didn’t already know. Not that Allie was surprised. If anything as sinister as a murder had ever occurred in Whispering Bay, she’d have heard of it. No matter how long ago it had occurred. What she was looking for was probably something much simpler and less…evil. Of course, the ghost (assuming there was a ghost) could be attached to the senior center because he or she just liked hanging out there while they were alive. The journalist in her, however, wanted to scratch out that possibility. One, because it opened the field to too many potential ghosts, and two, it simply wasn’t as good a story.
Betty provided her with a few old black and white snapshots of the original building that could prove helpful if the piece ever made it to print, as well as some more recent photos.
“These are really good,” Allie said, studying one photo in particular. It was a candid shot of Viola and Gus along with another couple playing cards. They were sitting in the building’s back porch with the gulf in the background. The blues from the water and the bright sky were muted causing the viewer to focus on the subjects’ faces. Both couples looked happy and somehow younger than what Allie knew them to be.
She stuffed the photos in her leather tote, next to her story notes, and promised to mail a waiver for their use.
“Good luck,” Betty said. “Sounds like you’re going to need it.”
*~*~*
“Sorry that wasn’t more helpful,” Mimi said. She slipped a key into the van’s ignition. “Any more ideas?”
“I think I’m fresh out of those.”
