Page 43 of Real Fake Hauntings

“What broker business?” Shane asked.

I told him and Alex about Crane’s secret identity as a dark marketplace broker.

“Dude sure knew how to rack up enemies,” Alex said.

“Did you have a beef with him?” Shane asked. “Is that why they chose to frame you?”

I thought about it, then shook my head. “No, I doubt Crane told anyone about our deal. And we didn’t part on bad terms. As far as everyone knows, he’s only my accountant. But…”

“But?” Ian prodded.

“What if it has something to do with the pentagrams?”

“How?”

“Janet said she saw Crane walk by before she was told about the pentagram behind her shop. What if Crane saw something he shouldn’t have? What if he saw the culprit and recognized them through the glamour?”

“It’s a big jump from painting on a wall to murder,” Ian said.

“Maybe the pentagrams are more serious than we realize. Think about it: if Crane saw something, killing him and dropping him in my shop to frame me while I’m in charge of investigating the pentagrams would take care of two problems with one crystal.” My brain grabbed the premise and hurled itself down the hill, throwing out idea after idea. “Maybe Crane was involved with the pentagrams. Maybe he was an accomplice, and they came to paint one on my shop.”

“The pentagrams were outside the buildings. Why would they go inside?” Ian asked.

“Maybe they planned on doing more than painting outside for the second night,” I told him in triumph. “Maybe he was the lookout man, but something went wrong and he died, and his partner decided to leave him there. The blood was an unintended extra.”

“And they just happened to have blood-sucking supplies with them?” Ian asked dryly.

“A witch always comes prepared. Maybe they had the equipment in their car, or they planned on getting Crane’s blood or someone else’s from the start, just not right away.”

“That makes sense, boss,” Alex said.

Shane nodded in agreement.

I beamed at Ian.

“Lots of ‘maybes’ in there,” Ian pointed out.

“Sometimes ‘maybes’ are all one has.”

Not as awed by my wise words as I wished he’d been, Ian gestured toward Crane’s corpse. “We done with this?”

When nobody answered, he arched his eyebrows. “Hope?”

“What? Oh!” I ran through a mental list of things to check on dead bodies. Admittedly, it was short and haphazardly put together. “Yeah, I think so.”

Ian jerked his head toward the house and the cemetery beyond. “Go start digging a hole out of sight.”

Shane went to retrieve a couple of shovels.

Alex sent me a pleading look. “Can’t we call Key?”

“No,” Shane said, handing him a shovel.

Alex grumbled but followed Shane out of the garage.

I watched them go. “Seems unfair to have them dig the grave.”

“You wanted me to involve Alex more in my business.”

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