“But they were livies, right? So a livie killed them.” Tina glanced from me to Petal.
I shrugged. “Maybe, but there’s no reason why one of us couldn’t have killed them. And they were all mediums, so it’s kind of weird that they all just happened to be here when we’re on a prearranged shopping trip, don’t you think?”
Tina narrowed her eyes at me. “How do you know they were all mediums?”
“I used to be a facilitator. They were all from my area.”
“Makes you a good suspect,” Clare pointed out.
“Bridget is not a suspect!” Petal snapped. We all stared at her. I’d never heard her snap at anyone. Ever. “Bridget is a good person. She’s not capable of these awful things. The only reason she is always in the middle of murdery things is because she’s trying to help people. So what do you two know that would help her?”
“I’m sorry, Petal, I wasn’t thinking,” Tina said.
“Me either,” Clare added and I noticed that neither apologised to me. Which was fine. As long as they were nice to Petal and gave me information. Clare nodded over my shoulder. “I saw that GB, the one who gave you that warning, wandering around the whole time we were trying stuff on.”
Did everyone know that he’d given me a warning?
“Me too,” Tina added. “I thought it was kind of inappropriate because he was near the changing rooms. Oz, being a gentleman, kept his distance. Even that Tarik who is always checking out anything that moves didn’t hover.”
“You think the GB killed them?” I asked, purposely not addressing her comment about Oz.
Clare shrugged. “Maybe they need more mediums so they can keep closer tabs on us. I heard a couple of the GBs talking about that earlier. They stopped when they realised I could hear them.”
“Do you remember which ones? Can you point them out?” I asked.
Clare shook her head. “They all look the same to me but their names were Fredrickson and Neals. I remembered because one of my neighbours growing up was called Neal Fredricks.”
“Weird world. How do you know their names?” I asked.
“That stupid GB who grins and fakes shoots at everyone called them by name,” Clare said.
“And the only reason I remembered that one who gave you the warning was because I’d clocked him in case anyone was assaulted in the fitting rooms,” Tina said.
“Is that something that happens?” I asked.
Tina shrugged. “There’s always a first time.”
“How exactly do the GBs use mediums to keep track of us?” I asked, trying to get back on track. I was getting a heavy anarchist vibe all of a sudden.
Tina glanced at Clare, who nodded. Tina lowered her voice. “They mark you at Arrivals. All those forms you fill out when you get here mean nothing. They’ve already decided how to best use you to their own ends.”
“Who? The GBs?” I asked and both girls nodded solemnly. I was pretty sure the mass of forms you filled out in Afterlife Arrivals went into your file. The one that Sabrina always searched for information. And I’d not seen anyone get marked while I’d been at Arrivals. I’d still check with Sean, though. “How do they mark you?”
“I don’t know how they do it. All I know is that they do.” Tina checked around us. “Don’t let on you know. Or they’ll come for you. People disappear all the time.”
“Cheap labour,” Clare agreed.
“Labour for what?” I asked, thinking the anarchist vibe had been camouflage for the super crazy vibe that was rippling off them in waves.
Tina’s eyes stretched wide. “Who knows? That’s why I always keep this on me.” Tina opened her jacket a little way. I think she only intended to show me what looked like a powder pink shower cap with small white polka dots but I also saw the handle of what I was pretty sure was a switchblade. Sabrina had one so I was a little familiar with them, though hers had a unicorn handle.
“It’s foil lined so they can’t read our thoughts. You both need to get one.” Clare mimed putting on a hat and I nodded so not to antagonise the crazy people.
I pulled Petal a little closer. “Uh-huh, yeah, we will. So, do you suspect anyone other than the GBs?”
Clare and Tina burst out laughing in sync. It was high-pitched and super false. Like a hyena. A pair of crazy hyenas. With switchblades.
“Oh, you guys,” Tina said and waved at us.
I was an inch away from bolting across the room, dragging Petal with me and hiding behind Oz. I didn’t care that was a girly thing to do. It wasn’t like I was the type of gal who backed down from a fight but everyone knew you didn’t fight with crazy people. They were crazy. And then I felt someone move up behind me.
“Ms Sway, how’s the clothes shopping going?” Officer Leonard asked.
Clare and Tina stared at me. Obviously, in their minds I was now a GB sympathiser.
“Well, the dead bodies keep getting in the way of it, to be honest,” I said and adjusted my fringe. The intensity with which Petal’s friends were watching me was unnerving.
“Do you still not have anything to wear?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
“Not really. I do have some eyeliner, though, which nobody is noticing,” I said, pointing to my face.
Officer Leonard inclined his head. “I did notice, however, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to comment. If you’re still short of clothes, I can supervise you while you pick some things out, if that would be any help.”
Someone choked. I wasn’t sure if it was Clare or Tina.
“As much as I would appreciate that, I’m pretty sure my parole officer wouldn’t approve,” I said and checked over Officer Leonard’s shoulder to search out Oz. He was being questioned by another GB with his back to me. I wondered if the GB had purposely turned Oz around. Officer Leonard had timed that perfectly.
“He’s busy for the moment. Let me do you this favour as a thank you for the assistance you’ve previously given the GBs,” Officer Leonard said and Petal’s friends made some more spluttering noises. I had the impression Officer Leonard knew of their suspicions and was playing with them. And me.
Before I could refuse Officer Leonard placed a hand on my shoulder and tunnelled me. Happily, I’d had the presence of mind to grab Petal before I disappeared and pulled her along with me.
“I wasn’t expecting you to bring a friend,” Officer Leonard said as we appeared near the fitting rooms of the ladies’ floor in the same department store.
“Well, I couldn’t flipping well leave her with those two crazy people after you implied I was somehow affiliated with you, could I?” I snapped at him.
“By crazy do you mean poorly adjusted?” he asked.
“No, I mean tin-foil-shower-cap-wearing-switchblade-in-their-pocket crazy. And now they think Petal and I are in league with you.”
The smile dropped from his face. “They were carrying weapons?”
“Yes.” I slapped the back of my hand on his chest to stress the answer. Officer Leonard looked down at where my hand had hit him. I gestured to the same area. “Sorry.”
Officer Leonard nodded. “How are you coping, Ms Sway?”
My eyes darted around the floor, looking for something to explain his sudden change of topic. I reached out and pulled Petal a little closer to me. “Umm, fine?”
Officer Leonard glanced around the empty floor. “Dying can be scary. For those who die and those left behind. I sometimes wish we could provide a service where we could send some sort of comfort to the families.”
“Oh, Officer Leonard. That would be such a lovely thing to do,” Petal gushed while I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He was getting at something.
“I think the first medium had a nephew who used to help him with his shows. It will be hard for him, I think. If only there were a way to reassure him his uncle was okay.”
“His uncle took a broken coat hanger to the neck and died. I don’t think ‘okay’ is what Jeremy is,” I said. “And in any case, his nephew isn’t talented
that way.”
Officer Leonard raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Oh, isn’t he? Then I wonder why his mum asked Jeremy to take him when he did his shows.”
I stared at Officer Leonard for a long moment. So that meant the nephew was a medium. And how did Officer Leonard know the nephew was a medium? And if he was a medium, maybe he knew who Jeremy had been meeting. Maybe he knew who the killer was. And if he knew who the killer was, didn’t that put him in danger? Great. So that was someone else I now felt responsible for. I was going to have to start keeping a list. But if he knew who might have it in for Jeremy then I could tell Oz, or maybe not Oz, but someone, and then this whole mess would be over.
“I never met him. I can’t turn up and ask him questions,” I said.
“Isn’t that what you normally do?” Officer Leonard asked.
“Yes, and did you miss the parts where I was shot and you admitted me to a mental institution for my trouble?”
Officer Leonard sighed. “You’re not going to let that go anytime soon, are you?”
“I ran around the building in my underwear. And practically solved the murder all by myself, yet you didn’t even bring me ice cream. So, no. I am not letting it go.”
“I don’t mean to take sides, Officer Leonard, but it’s important to be appropriately grateful when people help you,” Petal said quietly.
“She means they supported me and they didn’t get ice cream either,” I explained.
“That wasn’t exactly what I meant,” Petal said.
Officer Leonard checked his watch. “I’m going to check on those two ladies.”
“How? Are you going to go up and ask them if they’re carrying weapons? Blatantly?” Because they totally wouldn’t automatically assume we, or I, had set Officer Leonard on them.
“No.” Officer Leonard drew the word out. “We do random searches all the time.”
“They’re not going to see it as random,” I said.
“Would you prefer them to be walking around with knives?” he asked and checked his watch again. “I’ll be back in roughly five minutes.” And then he disappeared.
I offered Petal my hand. “Come on.”
“Where are we going? I thought we were going to shop?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No, we’re going to do Officer Leonard’s dirty work for him.”
Chapter Twelve
“No!” Sabrina yelled as we appeared in Madame Zorina’s office.
I was barely solid when a chair came whizzing toward me. I wasn’t sure exactly how I did it, or if I could’ve done it again, but I reversed in completing the tunnelling process so neither Petal or I were totally solid. Once the chair passed through my abdomen I finished tunnelling.
“What is wrong with you?” I wasn’t sure if I was angry that we’d nearly been taken out by a flying chair or thrilled I’d done a fancy tunnelling thing. No, I did know. I was angry at Madame Zorina and thrilled I’d done a fancy tunnelling thing.
“I didn’t know who you were. Maybe you were the shadow coming back to kill me.” Madame Zorina screeched, her hands fisted in her hair while her eyes darted around the room like a caged, wild animal looking for an escape.
“Sorry.” Sabrina gave a small shake of her head, lack of patience all over her face.
“Where’s Edith?” I asked.
“She had to go before I could get anything good out of her.” Sabrina took a very long sip from her mug.
“Did you hear that?” Madame Zorina cocked her head and spun in a circle, her attention jumping around the room.
“What’s wrong with her?” Petal whispered, inching slightly behind me.
“Someone tried to kill her and now she’s overreacting about it,” I mumbled.
“Overreacting?” cried Madame Zorina, in the definition of overreacting.
“Yes. Over. Reacting.” I stressed.
“Look on the bright side. At least you’re not dead. That’s something to be happy about,” Petal offered with her usual positivity.
“You’ve done it now,” Sabrina mumbled and headed over to the coffee pot. She turned her back on us as she refilled her mug.
“Something to be happy about? Be happy about?” Madame Zorina's voice was like nails scratching down a chalk board. How the neighbours were not complaining was beyond me. “If I’m alive then that means someone could kill me.”
I held a hand up. “Wait. So you’re mad because you’re alive instead of dead? You are so difficult to please.”
“If I’m murdered I’ll go crazy in the afterlife.” Madame Zorina circled her forefinger by her temple, crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out. “Remember?”
“I’m sure that rule doesn’t apply if you’re a livie murdered by a ghost,” Sabrina said.
“Okay. Go and stand against the wall.” I pointed to a section of exposed brick between the sash windows.
“Ghosts can walk through walls.” Madame Zorina’s voice was heaped with scorn.
“Yes. But they can’t fly. We’re three stories up and that is a sheer wall,” I said, impressed with the lack of attitude in my voice.
Madame Zorina hesitated and then crossed the room. She peered out of the window, then rested her back against the brick and slid down to the floor.
“What are you guys doing here?” Sabrina asked, now that Madame Zorina seemed temporarily appeased.
“Bridget’s in league with the GBs and she told on my friends,” Petal said, pouting at me as she dropped into a visitor’s chair.
Sabrina leaned forward as if she’d misheard. “Bridget is what, now?”
“Petal, I know you’re upset with me but you know I’m not in league with the GBs and I’m not going to apologise for telling Officer Leonard about your friends because they had weapons,” I said.
Sabrina paused in sipping her coffee. “Petal has armed friends?”
“Sabrina’s armed,” Petal murmured.
“Sabrina’s sane,” I countered.
“You still didn’t need to tell on them. They won’t like me now. And I think you’re only saying that because of how they looked.” Petal tossed her head in a way that reminded me of Lucy.
“No, Petal, I’m saying that because they each had a tin foil lined shower cap and a switchblade.”
“Someone had a tin foil lined shower cap and a switchblade?” Sabrina asked, with extreme interest.
“Well, they were quite clearly murdered in life,” Madame Zorina exclaimed. “Just like I’m about to be. Is this what my future holds? Tin foil lined shower caps and switchblades?”
“Madame Zorina. I’m glad you’re not dead. I’m sorry if you feel we’re not paying enough attention to that. We are. We’re trying to find the killer so we can save you. Again.” Yep, I was getting that dig in. “We don’t want you to die, even if that would mean that you could no longer summon me on a whim. On that topic, Petal can you stay here for a minute? Sabrina and I need to nip out.”
“For investigation stuff? Can’t I come with you?” Petal asked.
“Division of labour. Madame Zorina needs a friend at the moment. We both know you’re better at that stuff than me.”
Petal gave me an encouraging smile. “You’re getting better, though.”
“I’m trying and we’ll only be a few minutes.” I beckoned Sabrina over to me and I tunnelled us to the theatre where I’d first met Jeremy. I had no idea if that was where Jeremy’s nephew would be but I didn’t know of anywhere else to check.
“So, why are we here?” Sabrina glanced along the corridor that was lined with battered posters of acts that had appeared at the venue. “And who are Petal’s friends with tin foil shower caps? And where’s everybody else?”
Before I could answer Charon rounded the corner ahead of us, dragging a kicking and screaming man behind him by the back of his collar.
“Bridget!” Completely unmoved by the man’s distress, Charon spread his free arm as wide as the narrow corridor would allow. “What are you doing here?”
&n
bsp; I nodded at the still screaming man. “Who’s that?”
Charon shrugged. “You know I don’t pay attention to that. I simply grab whoever’s floating around. On that topic, I was thinking of petitioning to have you work full time. You make my life so much easier and you’re always in trouble. It brightens my day.”
“Oh my god, the collector of the dead doesn’t check his list,” Sabrina mumbled.
“You really don’t know his name?” I asked, pointing to the guy who was still trying to wriggle out of Charon’s hold. I was not touching the full-time conductor comment or Sabrina’s comment.
“My little Bridget wants to know your name.” Charon heaved the guy up by his collar and shook him like a rag doll. The man screamed. Charon frowned at the man and shook him again.
“George! George! George!” the man screamed.
Charon turned back to me with a grin, happy at the man’s cooperation, and lowered George back to the floor. “And what mischief are we making this evening?”
“We dropped by to talk to someone,” I said. Charon raised his eyebrows as if questioning if it was the man he was holding. I shook my head. “No, you can take him.”
“Wait, where did you find him? Can we question him first?” Sabrina asked. “See if he remembers who killed him? Or what’s going on. He’s obviously connected to all this.”
Charon arched an eyebrow at me and then turned to Sabrina. “No, Bridget’s friend. When they are in this state they’re not entirely conversant. These are my least favourite.”
“Well, if you weren’t treating him like a rag doll …” Sabrina said.
“Okay, Bridget’s friend. You may question him. If I let him go, he becomes your responsibility until you bring him outside to my bus.”
“No!” I yelled and reached forward as if to stop Charon from disappearing but he was already gone. George crumpled all the way to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
I’d once made the mistake of chastising the way Charon dealt with his passengers and he’d done the same thing to me. I’d quickly realised there were three types of newly transition. Those who were too stunned by dying to be any trouble. Those who were too stunned by dying and were a whole heap of trouble. And those who were mentally agile enough to understand what was happening and took it on the chin. George was the second one.
Dead and Buried: A Bridget Sway Novel (A Paranormal Ghost Cozy Mystery Series Book 4) Page 14