Page 31 of Ghostly Bother
"Probably the bad batch of heroin we've seen recently." The officer gestured to the drug paraphernalia sitting on the nightstand.
"Yeah, we've had several come through because of it." Lance figured there had to be a lot more he didn't see who hadn't ended up at the M.E.'s Office. He glanced around the bedroom, getting a sense of the deceased from the little things around. Makeup on the dresser, a teddy bear on a pillow at the head of the bed. He could only be thankful that there wasn't a grieving family in the next room. That was when things got hard for him. He knew their pain. Remembered the feeling when he'd been told his parents were dead. He pushed the thoughts away as Carrie pushed the gurney into the room.
"Let me help," the officer by him offered when Carrie went to help Lance lift the bag.
"Thanks." Carrie smiled.
"Who gets to clean up that mess?" Eden asked as she looked at the stains the body had left on the floor.
Lance didn't answer, but thought, not for the first time, that there were jobs much worse than his. Cleaning up a deathscene would have been much harder on him than dealing with the actual body. At least during an autopsy everything was somewhat contained and not splattered over walls or carpet.
"I hate that you won't talk to me," Eden huffed.
Lance raised a brow and looked around the room where Carrie and several officers stood. How the hell was he supposed to talk to her with others around? The woman just didn't get it. Or probably didn't care if the world thought he was crazy. "Let's get out of here," Lance told Carrie as they pushed the gurney out of the apartment and to the van.
Once loaded, Carrie rushed back inside to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. That gave Lance a chance to talk to the officers and make sure the Medical Examiner's Office would get any information on the victim's family once it was available. He climbed into the van a moment later and started it as he waited for Carrie to return. Eden stood between the driver and passenger seat. Had she been a solid form, she would have been in his way. Still, his arm kept moving through her because she was so close. "Personal space." Lance stared at her.
"I'm not riding back there with the body. I'm fine here. It's not as if I take up any room," Eden told him.
"Move over a bit. It's distracting to have my elbow go through you." He glanced over at her. "You did a good thing helping that woman go into the light."
"I didn't do anything. She made the choice." Eden moved so she was more on the passenger side.
"You kept her calm and gave her the courage to move on. I can't tell you how many ghosts I come across who are scared and confused. I can't talk to them. It was nice having you there to help her since I couldn't." Lance smiled as Carrie opened the passenger door.
"Ready." Carrie climbed in and buckled her seatbelt. "Wow, it's cold in here." She reached out and flipped the air conditioneroff as she rubbed the arm that was going through Eden's ghostly body.
"So, are you saying I helped you, so you'll help me now?" Eden grinned at Lance.
Lance didn't look at Eden as he pulled the van away and headed back to the Medical Examiner's Office. She had helped the ghost, not him. Besides, he didn't have any information to give her. If she wanted information, she needed to go hang out with Angus.
As he drove, he wondered how he could get rid of her but also wondered when Jeremy would be back. Having him around would go a long way in keeping Eden busy and give her someone besides him to talk to. He hadn't seen Jeremy in days, and that wasn't like Jeremy. Even when helping Isaac, he'd check in almost daily. It was something he'd ask Ray and Bethany to look into when he got home.
"Will you call Angus when we get back?" Eden asked.
Lance rolled his eyes, but didn't answer.
"Come on. Something has to happen. I know you want me to go there, but they can't hear me. What if I have questions?" Eden was now almost sitting on the seat with Carrie.
Lance glanced at her.
"I know, you can't talk with her around. I can't wait to get back to your office." Eden frowned.
Lance decided then and there to avoid his office and being alone the rest of the afternoon. If he didn't give Eden a chance to catch him alone, then she might leave. He had two autopsies to get done, and if that didn't take up all his time, he'd find something else to occupy his day. Reports could wait until tomorrow, or he'd pull a laptop out and work at the front desk with Gretta. One way or another, he'd get her to leave.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Angus sat down at the conference table, slapping a thick folder down in front of him. "We have got to find a way to sort all the information we have. I have no damn idea what's going on, who we're investigating, or who is a suspect." He was tired, and with so many different groups investigating the mayor's murder, he had no solid direction to work. The case was all over the place.
"I agree." Captain Marshall took a seat beside him. "That's why we're here this afternoon. I'm getting reports from all sides, but I'm not seeing any advancement in the murder investigation. We have a ton of leads in fraud and bribery, but not one damn bit of evidence on who might have killed the mayor."
Franks set his coffee on the table and took a seat on the other side of Angus. "Have we gone through the audit report?"
Detective Amy Burns took a seat across from them, pushing another large folder toward the center of the table. "There's your report. I've looked through it but not done a full read. I got the names of some of the companies who have been confirmed to be bribing the Mayor's Office. The thing is, there are ongoing investigations and court cases happening that we have to be careful not to impede."
"Murder trumps bribery. I don't care about their cases. Sure, we'll do our best to keep things quiet and not cause any problems with the ongoing cases, but we need to interview these owners and find out where they were the night the mayor was killed." Captain Marshall pulled the large folder toward him. "How many companies are we talking?"
"Six who were actively bribing, but four more who had been and suddenly stopped," Amy told them.
