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I can’t help but frown at the tiny menace. I’m not sure how Nettie procured it, but he’s dressed in a denim suit reminiscent of the one the surly specter in my life has been known to don.
Speaking of which.
“Boo.” A handsome steed in a denim suit with jet-black hair and dreamy eyes wraps his arms around me and lands a wet one over my lips.
“Phineas,” I snip as I slap him on the chest with both hands. “You don’t get to see me in my birthday suit, and you certainly don’t get to kiss me.”
“Did you say Phineas?” He pulls back a notch and his left brow fishhooks into his forehead.
“Hey”—Nettie muses with a blooming grin—“I can see him! I can see ghosts just like you, Trixie. I bet it’s because I’ve got my lucky muse with me.” She bounces Sparky over her arm and his head bobbles as if it threatened to fall off. A part of me wishes it would.
“Wow, Trixie.” Bess squints at the man before me. “I can see him, too. I think you might be rubbing off on us.”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to see me?” Phineas asks, sounding an awful lot like a certain detective that I have the hots for.
A breath hitches in my throat.
“Ransom?” My voice hikes as I say it.
“That is the moniker I prefer,” he says, going in for another kiss then hesitating.
“Oh, wow.” I pull him close by the back of the neck and land my lips to his. “We were just playing a game called I wish I didn’t see any of these people. But, of course, we all want to see you.” I bite down hard on my lower lip. “Anyway, stunning suit,” I say, ironing it out with my hands, and I can’t help but marvel at what a dead ringer it is for the one Phineas wears.
“Thank you,” he says wearily. “I heard you mention something about wanting to see me in a denim suit and, well, Elodie worked her wardrobe magic.” He gives a cool look around at the crowd. “It looks as if all of our suspects are here tonight.”
“Yes, but is the killer?” I ask, hesitantly wrapping my arms around him. There’s no way I’d be convinced this isn’t Phineas if it weren’t for Bess and Nettie.
“That’s for me to know and you not to worry about.” He frowns out at the crowd once again.
“You know something, don’t you?” I give his ribs a quick tweak and his lips curl for a second.
“I might,” he teases.
“Well, I know something, too,” I say, hoping he’ll take the bait.
The truth is, I gleaned zippo from all the research I did this afternoon. All I know for sure is that Julia was in bed financially with both Jane and Nadine. She spilled two secrets—that of Jane Hunt and Travis Weatherly, and cost them both their careers.
And Nadine? Well, she and Julia butted heads when it came to finances, but I gleaned that the day of the murder from Julia herself.
Ransom purses his lips as he examines me. “All right, Trixie. What do you know?”
“I know money is the root of all evil.”
And that money is a common theme across the board in this case.
His frown deepens. “You know about the loans?”
“Loans?” I bite down on my lip once again because I’m not sure if I’ve outed myself or not. It’s probably best I change the subject. “What about the snake venom? I bet you don’t know what I do about it.” I bat my lashes at him, wondering if he’s catching onto my scheme.
“That’s right,” Bess says. “Didn’t you just say that so-and-so owned an exotic reptile shop?”
Ransom’s chest expands. “You know about the ex?”
Before I can prod him, a herd of women break out into a shouting match nearby and hair pulling ensues.
“And I’m back on the clock,” he says as he darts off to save the day—or in the least save someone a few tresses.
“An ex owned an exotic reptile shop?” I clutch onto Bess’ shoulder as I say it. “You’re a genius, by the way.”
