Page 35 of Gumbo, Ghosts, and Deadly Deception
"I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Maybe Ginger really did kill Delia out of professional jealousy or some forty-year-old grudge. Maybe I should just get back to running a haunted bed-and-breakfast instead of playing amateur detective."
Maggie studied my face. "But?"
"But it doesn't feel finished. Ginger might have had motive to kill Delia, but what about Francine? What happened to her? And why was Delia so sure that Francine's killer was still alive and dangerous?"
"Maybe Francine's case is separate. Maybe Delia was wrong about the connection."
"Maybe." I finished my coffee. "I guess we'll know more when Ginger wakes up."
Teddy the skunk was dragging a plastic bat across the front yard like it was his latest trophy kill when Hollis popped through the bushes between my house and Mrs. Patterson’s.
“Hey.”
“Jeez!” I shrieked, nearly falling off the ladder I was using to string lights on the front porch. “Hollis, you scared the scream out of me.”
“Clearly not,” he said wryly. He set down a cardboard box. “Need help?”
I was trying to return to some semblance of normalcy by decorating. Halloween was only a few weeks away, and despite everything that had happened, I had guests coming for the weekend who were expecting a properly spooky atmosphere.
Besides, the house basically begged to be decorated for any and all holidays. She was a fancy lady who liked to put on her lipstick, that was for sure.
“You can help me hang the fake spider webs from the bushes if you want. Do I even want to know what’s in that box?” I wasn’t sure if Hollis was trying to be genuinely neighborly or if he wanted something from me.
He was a hard man to read.
Or maybe I hadn’t tried hard enough. I had been busy since I’d moved in and hadn’t really given Hollis much thought beyond Maggie’s teasing until death showed up on my doorstep.
"It’s just more Halloween decorations. I figured you could use some help getting the place back to normal." He set the box down and pulled out a couple of fake pumpkins. "Mrs. Patterson next door made these. She said you've had enough real scares lately."
That was sweet of both of them. "Thank you. I was dreading doing this alone."
“I wanted to apologize too for accidentally taking your phone the other night.”
Hollis had given my phone back relatively quickly, but I still wasn’t convinced he hadn’t done it on purpose. Like he suspected I would film something or whether he wanted to download my phone’s contents, I didn’t know. Not that he could do that without a search warrant. But my paranoia was on hyperdrive these days.
“No problem,” I said carefully. He hadn’t brought up the journal pages and I hadn’t either because I didn’t think he would take any of it seriously. He had made it pretty clear he didn’t see any connection between the past and what was currently happening at Midnight House.
We worked in silence for a while, continuing with stringing orange lights around the porch railings and positioning jack-o'-lanterns on the front steps. It felt good to do something normal, something that didn't involve police investigations or mysterious deaths.
Even if I was doing it with a homicide detective while having intrusive thoughts.
"Harper," Hollis said eventually, hanging a cloth ghost from the porch ceiling. "I know you don't want to hear this, but you need to let this go."
Teddy was toddling around under the dangling ghost. Hollis nearly tripped over him.
“Watch Teddy!” I yelled in warning.
Hollis moved so fast he almost fell down the stairs. He swore loudly.
I made a show of covering Teddy’s ears. “Not in front of the baby.”
Hollis snorted. “Don’t try to distract me.”
“From what?” I asked, striving for cheeky. It’s not like he could prohibit me from researching Delia or Ginger or angel’s trumpet, but I don’t really like it when someone doesn’t like me.
I wanted Hollis to like me because I liked to be liked. It was a problem.
“Just be careful,” Hollis finally said. “This isn’t a podcast. This is real life.”
