Page 15 of Ghost of You
He'd then moved on to criminal history. Unsurprisingly, neither of Francesca’s parents had criminal records. Sofia had a speeding ticket in 2022, but other than that, the Conti’s records were clean. The couple had no pending civil litigation against them either. From what Jude had seen, these were two hardworking people who had the misfortune of tragedy striking at the heart of their family. Jude hoped Ronan had more luck going through interview transcripts to see if anything the parents said was an inadvertent clue.
He'd gotten Wolf onto the school bus with the other big kids and dropped Lizbet off with Nana Kaye and Ezra. The plan for the day was for the kids to play outside and then “help” Kaye bake cookies.
Jude was in the middle of his bowl of cereal when his phone chimed. It was a message from Ronan letting him know he and Fitz were ready to go. “Cope? Are you ready to leave the house?” Jude called up the stairs.
“Yeah, just a minute,” Cope called back.
Jude finished the dregs of his cereal and was toeing into his shoes when Cope came downstairs. “You good?”
“Yeah, I was chatting with Bertha. She’s been on the lookout for Frankie Adams and hasn’t had any luck finding her.”
“I had a feeling you were going to say that.” Jude handed Cope his jacket and ushered him out the door. Fitz was parked in front of the house, ready for action. They got into the backseat and clicked their seatbelts.
“Before we came out to the car,” Jude began, “Cope said he’d been talking with Bertha Craig who hadn’t been able to locate Frankie. I have a question about that, but wanted to ask it with everyone here.”
“Go for it.” Cope reached for Jude’s hand.
“How rare is it for a spirit to disappear like this? The majority of cases we’ve worked in the past had the murder victim showing up at some point. Should we be worried that Frankie hasn’t shown herself to you?”
“Spirits are just like people. Some are gregarious and outgoing, while others are mistrustful or shy. It could be that Frankie has crossed over and is happy on the other side or she could be in a specific place that we haven’t been to yet.”
“Are you saying she could be trapped somewhere?” Ronan asked.
“It’s a possibility, but remember when we were at the morgue the other day and I was telling you I encountered a bunch of spirits who didn’t know they were dead?” Cope asked. “They were stuck in the morgue, because they didn’t know they could go somewhere else. Frankie could be in that boat. She could also be stuck in the place her body was found.”
Ronan sighed. “Shit, I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“If I don’t see her today at her parents’ house, we might want to go out to the Salem Towne Forest and visit the crime scene.” Cope sighed. “There’s one more thing.”
Jude was almost afraid to ask. “What’s that?”
“Frankie’s body isn’t whole. The ME showed us how many bones were missing. It’s also possible she’s with those remains, waiting for them to be discovered. Is there any plan to get scent dogs in the field to see if those bones can be located?”
“Cisco said he was going to get a K9 team out there to conduct a search, but I have to tell you that it might not be possible to find all the remains. Predators tend to grab what they can and run so that other animals don’t try to take what’s theirs,” Fitzgibbon said.
“I can’t imagine what this is like for Frankie’s parents,” Ronan continued. “Is there anything we can do to help the search team recover everything, Cope?”
“Possibly. Everything hinges on Frankie making contact. I’ve been reaching out to her with no luck. I’m really hoping I’ll encounter her today.”
Jude gave their joined hands a squeeze. He knew how hard these cases were on Cope. Speaking with spirits who’d died violently at the hands of another drained Cope completely. The only advantage he had in this case was already knowing Francesca Adams was murdered. However, that advantage wouldn’t count for much if Cope couldn’t find her spirit.
“This is it up here on the right,” Ronan said. “Yellow house with white shutters.”
The house was a simple Cape Cod design. The most striking detail of the property was that the entire front yard was filled with tulips in a rainbow of colors. “Wow,” Jude said. “Talk about a labor of love.”
“Tulips are Frankie’s favorite flower,” Cope said. “She and her mother used to plant bulbs every fall together. When Frankie went missing, Sofia turned the yard into one giant tulip bed, for her daughter to see when she came home.” He blew out a shaky breath. “Sofia is in a bad way.”
“Any sign she was the one who killed Frankie?” Fitzgibbon asked.
“None,” Cope said, shaking his head. “The ramifications of Frankie’s death are hitting Sofia like a literal ton of bricks. I’ve never sensed this much guilt in all my years of having this gift.”
“We need to treat this as a fact-finding mission, unless or until either of the parents say something that points to their involvement in Frankie’s murder. Got it?” Fitzgibbon asked.
“Got it,” Jude and Ronan chorused back.
Jude’s mind spun as he and the other detectives approached the house. His brain bounced back and forth between Cope and how he was going to handle the Contis’ grief. Before he’d met Ten and Ronan, Jude wasn’t an emotional person. He didn’t cry or get attached to anything or anyone. Ronan changed that. Everly, even more so. The thought of losing either of his kids turned Jude’s knees to jelly. He didn’t know how Frankie’s parents had kept going in light of her disappearance.
“Good morning, Mr. Conti,” Fitzgibbon said, breaking Jude out of his train of thought. “I’m Captain Kevin Fitzgibbon and these are my detectives, and consultant. We’re here to speak with you about your daughter.”
