Page 53 of Real Fake Hauntings

“None. You?”

“Nope.” But I wondered how Ian’s kids would look. I bet they’d be adorable grumpy babies with green eyes like their father.

Startled by the errant thought, I decided to bury it in a locked box deep within my brain and throw the key into the sea. Focus, Hope. “You close the office during Halloween?”

“Oh, yes. Mr. Crane always takes three days off.” She leaned closer and added in a low voice, “I sometimes wonder if he has some kind of kink and dresses up and does one of those one-man shows in Balton square or something.”

I shuddered at the image that conjured. Talk about creepy Halloweens.

She nodded in understanding. “Yeah, it’s weird. Why did you need to talk with him? Something wrong with your account?”

“I’m investigating the pentagrams.” Being Crane’s assistant, April was most definitely part of the paranormal community.

She winced in disgust. “I heard about those. Creepy.”

“Mr. Crane was seen at the scene of one.”

“You think he’s involved?” she asked in shock.

“No.” Maybe. “But maybe he saw who did them.”

Understanding replaced the horror in her expression. “I see. That makes sense.”

“Do you know if he dealt with any of the shops with the pentagrams? Bosko’s, Janet’s flower shop, and the Cabinet?”

“Oh, yes. All of them.”

“Even the Cabinet?”

“Yes. They have an account with us.” Once again, she leaned in to confide another secret. “Mr. Crane is trying to break into the non-paranormal market.”

How did the man have time to run all these people’s and businesses’ accounts on top of his dark web market dealings as an information broker? From what I understood, he had no interns or helpers besides April, and I was pretty sure she didn’t deal with the actual tax calculations.

Did Crane import potions from outside Olmeda? Some kind of super-focus dark-magic potion that allowed him to do the work of five people?

I pursed my lips. Crane and I were going to have to have a talk.

Wait, no, he was dead.

Clearing my throat, I asked, “Anyone who has gotten into a fight with Mr. Crane lately?”

“He had a big blowout with Bosko earlier this week.”

Interesting. “He did?”

April nodded while still acting like a zombie and dragging the same foot. Talk about being a professional. “Bosko came in very angry and went into Mr. Crane’s office. I was on the phone so I couldn’t… Erm, anyway, I’m not sure what they discussed, but he rushed out of the office five minutes later just as angry.”

“Anyone else have words with him?”

“I mean, nobody is ever happy to see him, if you know what I mean.”

I did, which is why I wasn’t asking her for anyone who might have a beef with Crane—the list would be endless. “I do.”

“Only Bosko came to the office lately, though. They usually talk over the phone.” She grinned. “I can hear Mr. Crane shouting through the door.”

Could Bosko have marked his own shop as a distraction before killing Crane? What would be the use of leaving his corpse for me to discover, though?

“Nobody else lately?”

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