All the Wicked Ways

by E. M. Moore

  I stared down at my plate, taking this all in, until Mrs. Paladino popped in next to me. In her screeching, irritating voice, she said, “I knew it! It’s her! It’s his bimbo girlfriend whose killed him!”

  Jackson’s hand reached for mine on the table. “You okay?”

  I hadn’t realized my shoulders stiffened and I probably jumped about two feet while Mrs. Paladino yelled in my face.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” I shot Mrs. Paladino a look, hoping she’d get the gist and leave me alone, at least in front of other people. “Is it possible he was murdered?” I asked.

  Jackson nodded gravely. “It’s possible. People don’t usually get threatening emails telling them to keep their mouth shut or else and then just happen to be found dead days later.”

  “Not just possible then, Jackson. It’s probable,” Mrs. Ward said, her tone matter-of-fact.

  Jackson rolled his eyes. “Since when did you go from library assistant to homicide detective? Leave it to me, please.”

  “I knew I liked Mrs. Ward when I was alive,” Mrs. Paladino chimed in. “The son should pay more attention to her. Tell him.”

  “I’m not going to do that.”

  Jackson raised his eyebrows. “You’re not going to do what?”

  I sighed in frustration. “Nothing.”

  It was bad enough Mr. Paladino’s cause of death was now a mystery, but to have his wife follow me around about it was going to be killer.

  Chapter 5

  As the night wore on, I finally got Mrs. Paladino to leave me alone. It took a whole lot of ignoring her and even more dirty looks until she just poofed. I sat there, trying to look as normal as possible after she left considering I must have acted like a freak when she was around, forgetting when I could talk and when I couldn’t.

  In a not so surprising turn of events, Eliza Penn decided she was going to auction off herself at the end of the night. It really wouldn’t have been a big deal except she went for twice as much as I had. I looked at Jackson from the corner of my eye. He applauded and smiled, obviously taking some sort of delight in this night. I’d have to pay him back the money he spent for bidding on me, I realized. There was no other way I could let him go through with this. I felt like a charity case. After Eliza strode off with her winning bidder, Mrs. Ward stood and declared it was time she go home.

  Jackson stood with her and I followed suit. Making our way through the crowd, we headed toward the front doors. Once we got outside, though, Mrs. Ward excused herself to go back to the table for something. I took it as an opportunity to tell Jackson he didn’t need to spend the money on me. I’d pay him back.

  He shook his head, and a downright angry look darkened his face like clouds passing over the sun. “Are you kidding?”

  “Um, no. Should I be?”

  “You’re so smart, but sometimes…sometimes you’re so dense.”

  Nerves tickled my insides. “I know you just bid on me because your mom asked you to. I can’t just sit back and act like you wanted to spend money to have the pleasure of my company. I appreciate you bidding on me, I really do. That doesn’t mean you have to actually spend the money to do it, though. I’m glad you were there to save me from going to Pete or someone else, but I want to pay you back the money.”

  Jackson’s gaze narrowed. “My mom asked me to bid on you, that’s true. However, I would’ve bid on you anyways, Maddie.”

  “But, why? We can hang out whenever you want and you don’t have to pay money to do it.”

  Jackson shook his head. Sometimes it felt like that was the only thing he ever did around me. “We have more important things to discuss. Starting with, what’s going on with you? No, I’m not talking about wanting to pay me back for bidding on you. I’m talking about how you’ve been acting lately. How’d you know Mr. Paladino was murdered before anyone else did? You guessed it, when we were at the Danvers yesterday.”

  “So he has been murdered? For sure?” I didn’t know why I was drilling the point home. Part of me hoped this was still just a misunderstanding.

  “It’s a possibility. Why’d you think that? He’s old. Old people die from natural causes. Why did your first thought go to homicide?”

  Questions lingered in Jackson’s eyes as he regarded me. I could tell he wanted to know a lot more. More questions were spinning around in his brain and he may have even had one or two hypotheses, but I was willing to bet whatever he thought he knew was wrong. Who would guess I was seeing ghosts? “That was nothing. Really. Just from everything else happening lately, I kind of just assumed his death was a murder.”

  “You just assumed?”

  “Yes, an assumption. That’s all. I mean, I wish I knew things like that. Wouldn’t it make it easier on you if I did know things like that?” I added a laugh at the end, hoping to throw him off the scent.

  Jackson was a lot smarter than I gave him credit for though. He didn’t look convinced. Not one bit.

  Mrs. Paladino’s words came back to me. She thought Mr. Paladino’s girlfriend killed him. She’d been egging me on all night, even tipping over my water glass when I didn’t tell Jackson what she wanted. I had to tell him now. Just on the off chance she was right. “Now that you know the death is suspicious, are you looking at the girlfriend?”

  “Why would I look at the girlfriend? Hannah Sparks has been calling the police department every few hours asking about the case. She seems like nothing but a distraught widow.”

  “But she isn’t a widow, is she? She’s just the girlfriend.”

  Jackson scratched the brown stubble on his chin. “Well, that’s not very fair. No one said that to you.”

  If Jackson had punched me in the gut, it would’ve felt better. He was right, of course. I’d never been a judgmental person. I’d seen Mr. Paladino and Hannah Sparks around and never thought anything of it. It was Mrs. Paladino and her constant accusations in my head. Even dead she was torturing me. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Listen,” Jackson said. He stared at the ground, then looked off in the direction his mother went. “I know something’s going on. You don’t need to tell me right now, but you know you can tell me anything. Even if it’s…witch-related. I promise I’ll be cool with it.”

  I nodded, eager to be done with this conversation. Whether he was cool with it or not, I wasn’t. I didn’t want people looking at me all the time as if at any moment I would don a pointy black hat and start an incantation. I’d gone through that in high school. It wasn’t something I wanted to re-live. Thankfully, Mrs. Ward walked up to us then, all smiles. I turned away, not wanting to see the excitement on her face. She wanted nothing more than Jackson and I to be together, and it wasn’t something I thought I could do. It wasn’t that Jackson wasn’t a good person or an eligible bachelor, so to speak. He was actually recruited heavily by Eliza Penn to get auctioned off himself, but he refused. It was just that Derek and Jackson were best friends. It would take a lot to go out with Jackson, and I didn’t know if I had it in me.

  I strode off toward the car, my bare arms chilled to the bone under the moonlight. I waved goodbye to Jackson and his mother after she tried to tell me I’d had a glass of wine and therefore Jackson needed to drive me home. I waved her away, and at least Jackson was on my side. One glass of wine an hour ago didn’t mean I couldn’t drive. It was just an excuse for Jackson and I to spend more time together.

  Shaking my head at her blatant attempts, I got in the car, shut the door, and started it. Just then, Mrs. Paladino appeared in the front seat. “Well, that was awkward.”

  I groaned, not able to stop myself. So much for having a peaceful night. “What are you talking about now? And don’t think for one second I’m going to forgive you about knocking that glass of water over.”

  Mrs. Paladino darn near rolled her eyes. It was such a human-like reaction that it caught me off guard. “I know even you can see this,” she said. “It’s obvious Penelope Ward wants you to date her son. I mean, she was practically all over him asking
him to bid on you. That didn’t mean he didn’t—”

  “Enough,” I said. I didn’t want to hear the last part. It didn’t matter. The only thing I cared about was why Mrs. Paladino was still here and talking to me. “What do you want?”

  “Well, since Detective Ward doesn’t seem to want to do his job—maybe it’s a good thing you’re choosing to look past Penelope’s not-so-subtle hints. A man like that would drive me—”

  “On with it, Mrs. P. What were you going to say?”

  She crossed her hands over her chest. “I’ve been following Hannah Sparks. Right now, she’s at that local biker bar just on the outskirts of the Historic District. That little hussy has her lips locked on another man’s.”

  “A boyfriend?”

  “I don’t know what you kids do nowadays…” Kids…? Jeez. I was in my mid-twenties. I guess when you’re ancient—or dead—anyone younger than fifty is a kid. “I never would’ve been caught in such an intimate situation with anyone else other than my husband. Cheater. I knew she’d be the death of him. Trollop.”

  This wasn’t looking good for Hannah. So soon after her older boyfriend’s death, she’s seen making out with someone else? If Mrs. Paladino was right, she could’ve wanted Victor dead. She could’ve locked him in the freezer on her own. She obviously had the opportunity to lure him in there because he trusted her.

  “You have a cellular phone, right?” Mrs. Paladino asked. “Drive by the bar and take a picture of them. Then you can send it to your detective boyfriend.”

  I backed out of the parking space and rolled my eyes. “Jackson’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Did that part of the conversation really matter? Maybe I’m not making myself clear, but the person who murdered my husband is in a bar right now sucking face with a man when her boyfriend just died. That’s evidence against her. Since I can’t talk to anyone but you, I need you to drive to the bar, take out your cell phone, and get a picture of them. Should I break it down into steps like I used it with the old science labs? Oh, right. You never could do those either.”

  I tried to shrug off her words. She was dead after all, and couldn’t really do anything to me. Or shouldn’t be able to do anything to me. For being the only person who could see her, who could help her, she wasn’t being very nice. “All right, Mrs. Paladino, if we’re going to work together on this, you have to learn some manners. That means A, do not make fun of my intelligence. I’m far smarter than you ever gave me credit for. B, do not talk to me when I am in a group of people. I don’t need to look like a freak. If I do, people won’t pay attention to what I’m saying. C, if at any time I want you to disappear, please do so. I still need to live my normal life. I will try to help you as much as possible, but I will also not be bossed around by someone who’s already dead. Are we clear?”

  Mrs. Paladino actually shrank back into the passenger seat. A flicker of guilt washed over me, but I pushed it aside. Mrs. Paladino had been making my life miserable for years and she certainly wasn’t going to make my life miserable when she was dead. I wouldn’t stand for that.

  She didn’t say anything as I continued driving toward the biker bar. Not that I’d ever go there myself, but I knew where it was. A few motorcycles were parked out front, guys in leather jackets and their trophy girls sat on them talking. Definitely not a place I, or anyone else I knew, frequented. I felt a little odd just driving past it.

  I pulled up to the bar and parked across the street. Looking over, I checked out the bikes up front. Next to me, Mrs. Paladino said, “That’s his bike, on the right. The far right.”

  “No one’s there.”

  “Well, it’s not my fault they went inside.” I gave her a look and she bit her tongue. Good, I was glad she was taking my threat seriously. “Hopefully we only have to wait a few minutes for them to come out again.”

  I took out my cell phone, turned it on, and brought up the camera app. At least I’d be ready if they did come out of the bar. I rolled down the window, letting the fresh air wash over me. Mrs. Paladino sat in silence for once. It was eerie having her there. Because she was a ghost, she made no noise at all, she barely even moved. Honestly, I didn’t think I saw her move since we pulled up. Not even a small fidget or even breathing. Nothing. It was disconcerting.

  It wasn’t until the bar door opened that Mrs. Paladino leaned forward. A woman walked out with long, blonde hair and a red miniskirt dress. Mrs. Paladino gasped. Sure enough, it was Hannah Sparks. She held hands with a biker guy, dressed all in leather with a beard and earrings. He was pretty much the exact opposite of Mr. Paladino. I didn’t know Hannah personally, but I didn’t think she’d be the type of person to kill. Sure, have an affair with the younger guy. I could see that. But I couldn’t see her killing Victor. For what reason? We still didn’t have a motive.

  Then again, as Jackson was always pointing out, I wasn’t the murder investigator. I was just a librarian.

  I zoomed in with my camera and took several shots. There was one of them holding hands, then leaning forward to kiss, then finally another of them making out. With ten pictures under my belt, I put the cell phone aside and drove away.

  “Are you going to take them to Jackson now?”

  I shook my head. No way. I got the feeling Jackson wasn’t too happy with me right now. “I’m sure Jackson is sleeping. I’ll take it to him in the morning. If I take it to him now, he’s going to get suspicious. In case you didn’t hear earlier, he was already interrogating me about what was wrong with me. The only thing that’s different with me is the fact that I can see you. How would I explain that I knew where Hannah Sparks was going to be?”

  Mrs. Paladino shrugged. “I guess when you put it that way…”

  When we got to my street, I parked next to my apartment building and turned the car off. “Well, I’m going to go up to bed now.” I looked at her, raising my eyebrows.

  “Would you like me to leave?”

  I nodded.

  Poof, she was gone. Thankfully, I didn’t have to ask twice.

  Chapter 6

  The truce Mrs. Paladino and I had come to last night only lasted until the wee hours of the next morning. All day she’d been bugging me about taking the picture of Hannah Sparks and her biker boyfriend to Jackson. I ignored her as I ate my cereal, ignored her on the way to work, and even ignored her as I opened up the library for the day.

  Mrs. Ward was unusually quiet. Since it also looked as if she wasn’t paying much attention to me, it made it easier to go on ignoring Mrs. Paladino. By the time lunchtime rolled around, and I had an opportunity to leave work, I told Mrs. Ward I was going out for lunch. What I didn’t tell her was that my first stop would be the police station to show her son the picture I’d taken in secret last night. Second on my list was stopping by the Danvers because I’d accidentally left my jacket there yesterday. Mrs. Ward gave me a halfhearted wave as I left the building and told me to have fun.

  That was strange. Now there was something else I’d be asking Jackson. I’d never seen Mrs. Ward sad like this. Then again, I was acting strange, too. Maybe I only thought she was acting funny and it was really in response to my strange antics ever since Mrs. Paladino poofed into my life again.

  Jackson was in his office when I got there, but he wasn’t alone. I could hear Eliza Penn’s voice so I stuck to the desk near Dezi. He smiled and offered me a seat. “How was last night? I heard Jackson won you.”

  I cringed at his words, but since Dezi was always super nice, I let it slide. He didn’t mean anything by it. “Yeah, it was nice. I’m glad I have that much more money to put towards the library’s new elevator.” I nodded toward Jackson’s office. “How long has she been in there?”

  “Twenty minutes or so. I don’t think Detective Ward’s having much fun.”

  I laughed, which got me a severe look from my very own shadow in the form of Mrs. Paladino. “I’ll have you know, Eliza Penn was my best friend when I was alive. You know what she’s saying to him in there? She’s sayin
g exactly what I’ve been telling you. Hannah Sparks was the one who killed my husband. She’s a good friend.”

  If Eliza was such a good friend, maybe she should go show herself to her and leave me alone.

  Ugh, I didn’t mean that. Not really. But having a ghost in your life was just not fun at all. She was right, I wasn’t her friend, yet I was still sitting here waiting to tell Jackson the very same thing. The least she could do was give me a little respect. Instead of saying all that, I smiled at Dezi. “I bet. She has a way of getting things done, doesn’t she?”

  “You’re not kidding.”

  Just then, the door to Detective Jackson Ward’s office opened and Eliza Penn strode through. She stopped abruptly when I met her gaze. Then, she recovered, pasting a smile on her face and continuing to walk. Mrs. Paladino, who had a wistful look on her face, looked after her friend. It was evident Eliza Penn had meant a lot to her.

  As soon as Eliza Penn was on the other side of the doors, Jackson raised his eyebrows and whistled. “That lady is something else. She’s convinced Victor Paladino’s girlfriend, Hannah Sparks, is the reason why Victor’s dead. She can’t prove it, mind you, but she’s still sure.”

  My cell phone felt like it was burning in my pocket. Here I had some evidence against Hannah Sparks. Still, I was reluctant to turn it over. Jackson would see right through it, but also, who was I to condemn someone else? Yes, Hannah Sparks had a boyfriend, but that didn’t mean she killed her other boyfriend. It wasn’t really my place to make those determinations though, was it? All I could do was help Jackson with the evidence we had.

  Dezi stood and moved into the space Mrs. Penn just occupied. “Miss Sparks lawyer has been phoning every five minutes.” He ripped off a piece of paper from the pad on his desk and handed it to Jackson. “They really want that cause of death, Detective.”

  I looked to both of them. “Do you guys think Hannah Sparks could’ve done it?”

  “Of course, she did!” Mrs. Paladino yelled.