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Perfect,I thought as a little thrill of triumph went through me. That’s what I’d suspected, but it was nice to have him confirm those suspicions. “Who?” I asked next.
His grin slipped a little. “I don’t know.”
Well, I hadn’t been expecting that particular reply. It wasn’t that ghosts were omniscient, but in general, they had access to information we mere mortals didn’t. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”
He shrugged. “I mean I don’t know. I didn’t see who did it. That’s why I’m here. I want you to help me figure out who murdered me.”
Oh, boy. I stared at him blankly for a second, then said, “Why do you think I’d be able to do that?”
“Because you figured out who all those other murderers were,” he replied easily. “No point in trying to get help from Chief Lewis — the guy doesn’t believe in ghosts, and besides, I don’t think he could find his ass with both hands.”
Although I was anything but a fan of Henry Lewis, I couldn’t help thinking Danny Ortega’s assessment wasn’t exactly fair. Globe’s police chief seemed competent enough when it came to regular policing. He just wasn’t equipped to deal with the sorts of supernatural goings-on that seemed to have descended after I came to town.
No wonder he didn’t like me very much.
“He does a good job,” I said, even as I marveled at myself for defending Henry Lewis. Who’d have thought? “Besides, in all of those cases, the murderers ended up confessing everything to me. It wasn’t as though I figured out who they were through my superior sleuthing skills.”
Danny shoved his hands in his pants pockets and rocked back slightly on the heels of the black boots he wore. “Maybe,” he allowed. “But still, you have good instincts. And you’re psychic, right? You should be able to track down who slipped me the mickey.”
I reflected I hadn’t heard that phrase since I’d watched an old black and white detective movie on KTLA back when I was still living in Los Angeles. And I wasn’t sure whether it was even accurate, since I thought a “mickey” referred to a knock-out drug, and not an actual poison.
Still….
“I’m not that kind of psychic,” I said, wondering how many times over the years I’d been forced to make that particular point of distinction. “I don’t read minds. I…sense things. I interpret the messages the universe is sending me.”
“Well, get the universe to send you a message about who killed me,” Danny returned. A faint smile still rested on his lips, and I could tell that it didn’t matter how many objections I raised. For whatever reason, he’d decided I was the one person who could help him with this mystery. And if all the accounts of hauntings I’d read were even remotely accurate, that also meant I was going to be stuck with him until I either solved his problem or cast some kind of banishing spell, which didn’t seem very fair. The poor guy had been through enough already.
“It doesn’t work that way, either,” I said. “I mean,” I continued hastily as he began to frown at last, “it can work, but I can’t force it. All I can do is make myself receptive to the messages the universe is sending out.”
“I’m willing to wait and see how that works,” Danny replied. “It’s not as though I don’t have plenty of time.”
Well, that was true. Once you were dead, you had all of eternity to play with.
I was about to reply, but then someone knocked on the door to the shop. Frowning, I looked to see who it was. A couple around my age, both in jeans and long-sleeved outdoorsy-looking shirts, were standing in front of the door and staring right at me.
Clearly, they couldn’t understand why the shop wasn’t open.
I pointed at the “be back at” sign in the window and mouthed,We’re closed.
Their response was to rattle the doorknob.
Okay, this was ridiculous.
“Go ahead and let them in,” Danny said. “I can wait.”
“But — ”
“No, really. It’s fine.”
I abandoned the argument and went to the front door.
“Sorry,” I said after I opened it. “We’re really not open today. I’m just here doing inventory.”
“Just for a couple of minutes?” the woman asked. “Your shop looks so interesting.”
Maybe I could have wasted more breath on arguments, but right then, it sounded easier to just let them in and get it over with. “Okay,” I said, and stepped out of the way so they could come inside. “Let me know if I can help you with anything.”
They smiled at me, murmured a thank-you, and headed to the bookshelves.
