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As she spoke, though, her gaze slid toward me, faintly questioning.
I understood the inquiry in that look. She wanted to know if she needed to worry about Danny Ortega hanging around and haunting the place.
Because Chief Lewis was staring at both of us, expression suspicious as usual, about all I could do was allow myself a very small head shake. Not that I’d had much of a chance to reach out and make sure, but as far as I could tell, Danny was long gone. I hadn’t caught even the slightest whiff of a ghostly presence.
Josie’s posture relaxed slightly, and she went on, “I’m fine, Henry. I just want to go to bed, if your men are done here.”
“Done…for now,” he said, a hint of menace in his tone. “After that, we’ll just have to see.”
“I can come back tomorrow and help you clean up,” I offered, and Josie sent me a grateful smile.
“If you’re sure — didn’t you tell me you were going to be doing inventory tomorrow?”
“It’s fine,” I said stoutly. “I’ll come by in the morning. Since the shop won’t be open to the public, it really doesn’t matter what time I get in and start working.”
“Then thank you,” she replied, which told me how shaken up she really was, even if she’d been doing her best to hide her inner disquiet. The Josie I knew and loved would have protested the offer for at least a few minutes more.
Calvin had to work, or I knew he would have been there to help out as well. As it was, he told Josie that she could always call him if she needed anything, and she thanked him but said she doubted it would be necessary.
And after that, we waited while she went inside and shut the door. Chief Lewis shot me another suspicious look, but because I was with Calvin, he remained silent.
He said, his tone easy, “Is it all right for us to go, Henry?”
“Yes,” Henry Lewis replied, sounding grudging at best. Then he surprised me by saying to Calvin, “Thanks for stepping in like that.”
“I just wish there had been a different outcome,” he said. “But I’m pretty sure Danny was dead before he hit the floor.”
I couldn’t help wincing at the mental image. It would probably be a long time — if ever — before I forgot the startled expression on Danny Ortega’s face right before he collapsed, as if Death had stepped up behind him and given him a him a colossal wedgie in that last moment before he was gone.
“Hmm,” Chief Lewis said, his tone noncommittal. “It’ll be interesting to see the tox report. You two have a good evening.”
He nodded at us, then headed over to his squad car. I glanced up at Calvin, realizing as if for the first time that the entire conversation had been conducted while the two of us were wearing our Herman and Lily Munster getups. I suppose I should have guessed that only Henry Lewis could have been able to keep a straight face during such a convo.
“Come on,” Calvin said. “Let’s go home.”
* * *
In this particular case, “home” was his place. But since I’d spent so much time there over the past few months, it felt pretty much like home to me, too. Neither of us spoke much on the drive, nor during the twenty minutes or so we spent getting out of our makeup and costumes. Faces scrubbed — and the both of us with hair pulled back in ponytails for the night — we collapsed into bed together.
Even though sex was a common reaction to experiencing death, neither one of us seemed too inclined that way. No, we snuggled into each other’s arms as we fell asleep, glad we didn’t have to be alone that evening.
As usual, I made breakfast the next morning. More than once while I was showering, I’d wondered if I should tell Calvin about the card spread I’d done for Danny less than half an hour before his death, and each time I told myself that just because the querent was dead, it didn’t mean I had the right to go around discussing his private business. The warring thoughts in my head made me quieter than normal, but if Calvin noticed, he didn’t mention it. Most likely, he guessed I was still rattled by the events of the night before, even if he couldn’t really know the exact reason why.
Expression solemn, he said, “I wish I didn’t have to work today. It feels wrong to go off and leave you and Josie to fend for yourselves.”
I set down my mug of coffee. “It’s fine,” I assured him. “I mean, the whole thing is shocking, but I barely knew Danny Ortega. I’m more worried about Josie having to cope with this sort of thing happening in her house. Even if he’s not haunting the place — ”
“And he’s not, right?” Calvin cut in, dark eyes worried. “You would have felt it if he were, wouldn’t you?”
“Probably,” I said. “I’m not claiming to be a medium or anything, but I generally can sense when spirits are around. No, I was just about to say that even if he’s not haunting her house, it can be rough to deal with the mere notion of someone dying on your property.”
I paused there, thinking of how the amateur exorcist Brant Thoreau had met his untimely end in the historic mansion my parents had purchased over the summer. Brant’s spirit had shown absolutely no sign of hanging around the place — and the demons he’d been there to investigate had turned out to be a total sham — but my mother and her husband Tom had still been pretty rattled by the experience. In fact, even though they’d promised to come out and visit again now that all the repairs to the house had been completed, they had yet to return. Now my mother was promising to return in December so they could see Globe’s famous Festival of Lights, but at this point, I’d believe it when I saw it.
Calvin was quiet for a moment as well, probably thinking the same thing. Then he said, “Well, I’m glad you’ll be able to be with her for a bit, even if it’s only for a few hours.”
“I hope it will help,” I responded, then returned to my neglected breakfast. I really wasn’t too hungry, but I figured I might as well fortify myself for the clean-up that awaited me at Josie’s house.
I had no idea what to expect.
