Page 18 of My Blind Date is a Ghost

Beverly scoffed. “You are the cold case detective. You tell me.”

“Hmm, it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to work a cold case. In a town of witches, it’s usually only a matter of time before the truth comes out.”

“Better dust off your detecting skills then, son,” she says.

So that was how I found myself here, in the dusty archive room of the Mystic Cove city library. In order to find out who might have wanted to bring Cora Barnes back to life, I needed to know more about her death. Who was most impacted—positively or negatively—by her death?

First, I checked census records. Cora LaFleur was born in 1760 to parents Marcus and Julia LaFleur. Marcus LaFleur was the son of French immigrants. She had two older brothers and an older sister. In 1778, Cora married Edward Barnes. In 1783, Cora gave birth to a son, Joseph Barnes. She died July 17, 1788.

I jot down all the names of Cora’s family members in case I want to do more research into them later. I then turn to newspaper articles in the days after Cora’s death.

According to witness Elizabeth Crowley, she arrived at The Book Coven for a regular book club meeting and saw Jeremiah Holland crouched over Cora in a “wolfish” form. She screamed and Jeremiah ran away. She went to Cora’s side and found that she was already dead.

I am frustrated by the lack of details in the first article. And what did it mean that the man was in a “wolfish” form? I realize that the newspapers might not be the way to go. Examining a cold case in Mystic Cove isn’t like researching one in any other place. The newspapers of Mystic Cove have to walk a fine line between reporting the truth and keeping the secrets of Mystic Cove…umm, secret. The newspaper can’t come out and say that Jeremiah Holland was a werewolf for just anyone to read. I go to the librarian for help.

“Hello, Greta,” I say to the pale girl behind the counter. Greta is a newer resident of Mystic Cove as well. She was brought here by Pastor Grainger after she was turned into a vampire. Pastor Grainger has made it a sort of personal mission to collect the lost souls of the world and help them make a life for themselves here.

Greta jumps at my voice, looking up from the book she was engrossed in. “I’m here. I’m working. I wasn’t reading,” she says. I’m sure if she could blush, she would.

“Hey, I’m not your boss,” I say.

She carefully puts a bookmark in her book and stands up, smoothing down the front of her dress. “How can I help you, Detective?” she asks.

“I’m looking into a death from 1788,” I say. “I started with the newspaper, but the woman was killed by a werewolf. Of course, the real details aren’t printed. I need to know what really happened. Would it be possible to find a more accurate account of the event somewhere?”

“Oh, from 1788?” she presses her lips as she thinks. “Well, nowadays, we have the Mystic Cove Citizen, which publishes real details and is only available for residents. But it did not start printing until 1850.”

I nod. I’d been a resident of Mystic Cove for a year and had to have the approval of the town council before I could be subscribed to the Citizen.

“Prior to that, I think you’d have to check the records of the town council meetings,” she says. “They make for rather dry readings though, like court reports today.” She tells me where I can find them, and I give her my thanks.

“Anytime, detective,” she says, giving me a sweet smile and looking at me appreciatively. I walk away and can feel her eyes on my butt. As a newer member of the city and a man with a lot of authority, I’ve been careful not to get involved with anyone just yet.

In many ways, I’m still an outsider here and am still learning the ins and outs of being a member of this crazy community. I really like it here, and plan to live here for the rest of my life. But am I ready to take on being the husband to a witch or vampire? I don’t know about that. If I do date, I know it would be easier to date a fellow human. But human women in this town a bit harder to find.

My thoughts, naturally, drift to Cora. When I first saw her, looking so cold and vulnerable, I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and keep her safe. Even now, every time I see her, I just want to cup her pale face in my hands. I can’t wait to get to know her better—purely in a platonic sense, of course. I mean, she was alive during the American Revolution! Think of the stories she could tell. She should write a book.

Cora is a human, but isn’t. As Beverly said, there’s never been another person like her before, a person who was dead for two hundred years. But I want to help her. I want to protect her. If there really is a powerful witch out there who brought Cora back from the dead, I need to know who they are and what they intend for Cora.

I pull out the notebook with handwritten remarks regarding the attack on Cora Barnes. It’s hard to read, both because of the handwriting and the diction. They simply spoke differently back then. I wish I could ask for Cora’s help, but she can’t know I’m looking into this, not yet anyway.

After a while, I get a bit more used to the writing style and I’m able to make out what happened, at least according to witnesses, which I know from experience are not always reliable.

The basics of what happened are similar to what was reported in the newspaper. Elizabeth Crowley arrived at The Book Coven and saw the door was open. She walked in and saw Jeremiah Holland crouched over Cora Barnes. He was in a half-transformed state. That must be what she meant by “wolfish.” But still, what does that mean? Did he have fangs? Claws? Was he just very hairy?

Elizabeth Crawley then stated that she screamed, and Jeremiah ran away. But again, what was the state of him? Was he angry? Afraid? Why did he not attack Elizabeth?

Elizabeth went to Cora’s side and shook her, but she was already dead. But how did Elizabeth know she was dead? Was she breathing? Was she injured. I would imagine that if she had been attacked by a werewolf there would be a lot of blood, but there is no mention of blood at all. Is that just because of sensibilities at the time? It’s possible.

I think back to when I found Cora in the woods. She was disheveled, but not injured. Her dress wasn’t torn or bloody. Her hair was even pinned up. Was she brought back to life in pristine order? Or did she look how she did at death? I wish I could ask her. But she if she knew I was looking into her death, she would be furious, I’m sure.

I decide to check the trial records for Jeremiah Holland. I find a bit more information there. The coroner says that he found some “scratches” on her arms and her dress was torn, and she was not “defiled,” I assume an archaic way to say she had not been raped. He says that she died of “shock” due to her “delicate disposition.” I assume he means shock at being attacked.

I sit back in my seat at this, my jaw practically in my lap. I try to reconcile the woman I have gotten to know with the idea that she died of fright. It’s impossible. She was a correspondent during the American Revolution. Who knows what horrors she had witnessed. She’d given birth to a child and ran her own business. She was not a shrinking violet. If anything, she would have fought back. What did her mother make of this determination? Surely, she would not think her daughter was so delicate.

I read the rest of the record and discover that Jeremiah Holland was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged immediately following the verdict. It seems that the jury was out for blood. I don’t blame them. The records indicate that Cora was much loved by the townspeople. She was known to be kind and charitable and an outspoken abolitionist.

However, something about all of this greatly bothers me. I don’t see any actual evidence that Jeremiah Holland killed Cora. Her supposed injuries were not consistent with a murder. There were also no witnesses. Yes, Miss Elizabeth Crawley saw Jeremiah in the shop, but she didn’t see him attack Cora or do her injury.

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