Let Sleeping Ghosts Lie

by Elle Adams

  I didn’t need to accidentally introduce everyone in the building to the afterlife, for instance. Though it might have brought a bit of excitement to the coven meeting.

  “Fair enough,” said Allie. “Let me know if you need me.”

  I entered the ghost’s room, where all the covers had been stripped from the beds and slung around the room. Scanning for the ghost, I found her hiding behind a curtain made of bedsheets. When I spotted her, she yelped and clutched the sheet, only for her hands to pass right through it.

  “What are you doing in here?” I tried to keep my tone gentle. “Why’d you strip off the bedsheets?”

  “I didn’t mean to,” she whispered. “I heard loud voices downstairs, and I got scared.”

  “Scared of what?” I pressed.

  She shook her head. “The noise just frightened me, that’s all.”

  “All right, I’m going to fix the room.” I took out my wand and returned the covers to the bed. As I fixed up the place, she remained huddled in the corner, then slowly straightened upright.

  “Thanks for checking on me,” she whispered.

  “No worries,” I said. “Next time, if you need me, just ask. And please don’t turn the shower on, okay?”

  I backed out of the room and closed the door.

  “Everything okay?” asked Allie.

  “More or less. I don’t think she means any harm.”

  Yet there was definitely something not quite right about that ghost, not least of which was her sense of timing. But until I figured out what her deal was, I wouldn’t be banishing her.

  “What’s her problem?” Mart wanted to know.

  “Weren’t you watching her?” I asked. “You didn’t come to the Crooked Broomstick.”

  “That’s because the meeting bored me to death,” he said. “If I wasn’t already dead, I mean. I got fed up waiting for you to make a fool of yourself and sing karaoke, so I went for a walk.”

  That figured. I turned around to face Allie. “Do you know what might have upset her? She mentioned hearing noises…”

  “The singing downstairs, perhaps,” she said. “The wizards always go over the top on coven meeting nights. If anyone here could see ghosts, I’d have one of them keep an eye on her.”

  I paused. “I do have someone who can, but he’s not going to like it.”

  “What?” said Mart. “Why are you looking at me like… oh, no. Absolutely not.”

  “Sorry, Mart,” I said, “but you’re the only one I trust to do this.”

  Allie smiled, understanding. “Your brother will watch her?”

  “No, he won’t!” Mart howled.

  “Yes, he will.” I gave him a stern look. “I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”

  “No,” he said flatly.

  “I’ll give you access to my shower for an hour.”

  “No.”

  “Every day for a week.”

  “No.”

  “I’ll watch every single old Doctor Who episode with you.”

  “No.”

  “And all the Star Wars movies. Including the prequels.”

  He groaned. “And what? What do you want me to do?”

  “All you have to do is watch the ghost when I’m not around and let me know if she’s causing trouble,” I said. “Nothing too strenuous.”

  He gave a deep, heavy sigh, as though he had the weight of the world on his transparent shoulders. “I suppose I could make the sacrifice for you.”

  “Also,” I added, “if I find out you’re the one turning the shower on in her room, then I’ll let her move back in here instead.”

  He moaned and whined and generally made a nuisance of himself, but I was so tired that I passed out cold in the middle of his tirade.

  The following morning brought me a message from Drew while I was preparing for my shift at the restaurant. I’d taken a hangover potion to get rid of the effects of the night’s adventures, which I was glad of, considering Mart was still in a huff and floating around muttering to himself behind my back.

  I went to meet the detective in the lobby, my heart lifting at the sight of him despite my lingering bad mood from the previous night.

  “How was the coven meeting?” asked Drew.

  I pulled a face in answer.

  “That bad?”

  “You have no idea,” I said. “The witches argued for nearly an hour about magical shoe regulations and then I had to follow them to the pub to get a chance to talk to anyone, which ended with me having to pay for an entire round of expensive neon cocktails and listen to Marie’s singing.”

  “Next time, send me a message and I’ll come and rescue you.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “In fairness, the cocktail thing was my idea, and it was probably the only way I could get them to talk to me about Harriet.”

  “Did you find out anything?” he asked.

  “Not much of note.” I thought back. “I met Fran, Harriet’s friend, and confirmed that the two of them argued before her death, but it sounds like Fran was trying to give Harriet unwanted romantic advice on the situation with her ex. Not sure that’s a motive for murder. She seemed pretty torn up about Harriet’s death.”

  “So she hasn’t seen her ghost, I assume,” he said.

  “No, but apparently, Harriet had her heart set on becoming the coven’s new official healer after the last one retired, and ended up losing the position to someone called Cathy,” I said. “Fran was hopping mad on her behalf and throwing around accusations, but she was also pretty drunk, so I’m not sure if it’s worth checking out.”

  “Cathy works at the hospital, same as Harriet,” he said. “Her name’s already come up a couple of times. Is that all?”

  “Yeah.” At the expectant look on his face, I kind of wished I’d been bolder with my questions. “I didn’t get a complete picture of the coven from one night.”

  “You did great,” he said. “Thanks.”

  His words warmed me inside. “I should go and get ready for my shift.”

  “When do you finish?”

  “Mid-afternoon,” I responded.

  “If that’s the case, then I’ll see if I can get us permission from the coven leader to speak to Cathy at the hospital this afternoon,” he said. “I’m keeping the investigation open for now.”

  “Good thinking.” Even if Cathy turned out to be innocent, speaking to her might unearth more details about Harriet and help us to fill in the gaps around what happened to her the night of her death. Learning more about this coven healer business would be a good start. As a bonus, anything that didn’t involve another coven meeting was more than okay in my book.

  “It’s up to you if you want to come,” he added. “I know Mina is unlikely to be thrilled, and if you’d prefer not to risk getting on her bad side, you can sit this one out.”

  “Nah, I’m pretty sure our friendship is a lost cause already.” I wouldn’t object to the notion of getting to spend more time with the detective, and besides, maybe the new healer could shed some light on what was really going on in the coven.

  7

  Firstly, I had to get through another shift at work. The restaurant was fairly quiet while Carey was at school, and Mart had gone to sulk in my room after he’d got bored with flying around being dramatic and complaining about the ghost’s presence next door. That gave me time to think on what I’d learned at the coven meeting last night. Aside from everything it was possible to know about the local witches’ views on magical boots and broomstick regulations, that is.

  I brewed up a second hangover cure as my headache began to return, wondering what had possessed the coven to hold their meeting on a Monday night. Carey’s mother walked into view as I tipped it into a mug.

  “Those coven witches can really drink, can’t they?” said Allie. “Sorry I dragged you upstairs to deal with the ghost when you’d already had a day of it.”

  “No worries.” I finished making the hangover cure and took a long sip. “Mart’s
keeping an eye on her. Anyway, the after-party was the best part of last night, and that’s not saying much.”

  “You went to the Crooked Broomstick?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Ended up dealing with Fran sobbing over her friend’s death and throwing accusations around, and old Marie being escorted from the premises for drunkenly falling asleep during karaoke.”

  “And then you came back here to find Hayley doing the same to those wizards.” She shook her head. “Menaces, they are.”

  “Are they always that bad?” I drank the rest of the mug’s contents in two big gulps.

  “Unfortunately,” she responded. “They seem to have taken it upon themselves to be their own coven in all but name, but with zero discipline or leadership. Was it worth going to the meeting, then?”

  “I know more about the hazards of Seven Millimetre Boots now,” I said. “Other than that… not really.”

  “I gathered.” She tilted her head. “I assume it had nothing whatsoever to do with the detective asking you to speak to the coven as a favour, did it?”

  Busted. “I’m a witch and he isn’t, so he asked if I could drop by a meeting to get some useful information on Harriet. Seemed easy enough in theory.”

  “But it didn’t work out?”

  I shrugged. “I did learn that Harriet was trying out for the position of coven healer not long ago but didn’t get it. Who was the last coven healer?”

  “Angie retired last week,” she said. “She still works at the local apothecary, but she’s officially retired from coven duties, so it makes sense that the coven would have recently brought in a replacement. I’m surprised she stayed in the job for so long, given how ungrateful Mina is known to be to her staff.”

  I turned this information over in my mind. It might be worth speaking to Angie next, as well as her replacement, if I wanted to learn how this coven healer business operated. I made a mental note to tell the detective and busied myself with the tasks of the day.

  When Carey came back from school, she brought her homework into the restaurant and claimed her usual table to work at near the bar, where we could talk to one another easily.

  “I think we should go back to Healey House this weekend,” she said. “It’s worth having another look around. Sometimes ghosts can vanish and then reappear later on, right?”

  “They can.” Perhaps it was worth heading back, given how distracted I’d been while we’d been exploring the old house the first time around, but I’d rather leave it until after the detective and I had finished looking into Harriet’s death. The old house sat too close to the river for my liking.

  “I haven’t posted anything new on my blog in days,” she admitted. “I think my readers are getting fed up with me posting videos of your brother levitating things and switching lights off to make up for any actual ghost-hunting missions.”

  “Better not tell him that,” I said. “He’s more sensitive than he lets on, and he’s having a challenging week.”

  “Because of the other ghost?” she guessed. “How about we ask them to do a double act?”

  “Not sure Mart would like that idea either,” I said. “Mandy definitely wouldn’t. She hates attention.”

  She nodded. “Oh, of course. I don’t want to upset her. I was thinking, though, about your idea of using the ghosts to advertise the inn…”

  “Depends how many people like the idea of a screaming ghost keeping them awake all night,” I said. “Mandy would fit the bill if she wanted to haunt anyone except for me, but half the attraction of a haunted hotel is knowing who the ghosts were when they were still alive. We don’t know who she is, not really.”

  “Yeah, we need to find out her story if we want her to help us run a ghost tour,” she said. “You never know, though. Her friends might follow.”

  “Hopefully not into my room.” Mostly for Mart’s sake. He was still sulking somewhere and avoiding me, and I owed him for keeping an eye on the ghost as it was.

  This was precisely why I’d stopped being a Reaper, even on an unofficial basis. Things just got way too complicated whenever the dead were involved. One minute I’d been helping a ghost, the next I was stuck at a coven meeting listening to witches argue about shoes. Admittedly, it was possible the detective had had more to do with that particular decision than my compulsion to get involved with ghosts, but still. The new spirit next door to my room was a complication I didn’t need, and I’d have to learn her story so I could figure out how to deal with her long-term. Once I dealt with the more pressing mystery, that is.

  When I reached the end of my shift, Hayley walked in to take over from me, looking much more alert than she had a couple of days ago.

  “What’s that?” she asked Carey, peering at her laptop screen.

  “Ghost research,” Carey replied. “We’re figuring out how to set up a ghost tour here at the inn.”

  “I think a karaoke night would be more popular,” she said.

  “Why do the coven’s witches go to the Crooked Broomstick instead?” I asked. “It’s much nicer here. That place looks like it’s been dragged up from the bottom of the river.”

  “We’re not part of the coven,” said Hayley. “Mina won’t let the coven meet at non-coven-owned locations.”

  I arched a brow. “It was more of a karaoke night than an actual meeting, though it’ll be my last. Not just because of Marie’s singing, either.”

  “I won’t say ‘I told you so’,” said Carey, with a grin.

  “Hey, nobody warned me there’d be singing,” I said. “As well as all the arguments about shoes and broomsticks. I guess I’ll have to bury all my dreams of taking up a position on the witches’ council.”

  “They wouldn’t appoint you,” said Hayley, her tone uncharacteristically sharp. “They’re set in their ways and only hire people who Mina personally likes.”

  “I know,” I said. “I prefer hanging out here to dealing with coven drama. Just a joke.”

  The coven must be a sore point with her. Her expression softened a little as though she’d picked up on my thoughts. “Sorry. Mina and my mum didn’t get along back when she was still alive.”

  “When did she die, in the floods?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Cancer. The coven didn’t do a thing for her, so I don’t feel like I owe them anything, either. I wish there was an alternative, to be honest.”

  “I’m sorry.” I hadn’t known, but it made me like Mina even less, if possible.

  Allie called to me, “You can go now, Maura.”

  I let Hayley take over from me and went to talk to Carey’s mother. “The ghost isn’t causing trouble again, is she?”

  “No, thankfully,” she said. “I have a key to her room, so I can check up on her. You should get ready for your date with the detective.”

  “It’s not a date,” I said ineffectually. “We’re going to talk to the coven healer, assuming Mina doesn’t object.”

  “Of course.” She shot me a wink over her shoulder and walked away.

  Shaking my head, I went upstairs to change. At this rate, everyone except for the detective himself would be in on the shared joke.

  I most definitely did not spend longer than necessary picking my outfit for that evening, without a spidery hat in sight. The ghost made no appearance in my room, thankfully, and I went down to the lobby when I was ready.

  “The detective’s here,” said Allie, unnecessarily. I could see him through the glass doors, waiting for me.

  “I’ll be back later.” I pushed open the door. “Hey, Drew.”

  He smiled at me. “Ready?”

  “Sure.” I fell into step alongside him as we left the inn, spotting Mart out of the corner of my eye. When I gave him a stern look, he turned his back and folded his arms. I hoped he’d get over his little huff soon, but I wouldn’t deny that it was nice not to have him following me around every time the detective and I went anywhere together. “So who are we speaking to first?”

  “Angie, th
e former coven healer,” he said. “The apothecary closes in an hour, so we should go there first. As a bonus, she’s no longer working for the coven, so Mina shouldn’t have an issue with us speaking to her.”

  The apothecary sat in the main high street, nestled between a clothes shop and a bakery. We entered, and found a small room filled with barrels of herbs and containers of less savoury substances. Like floating petrified insects, for instance.

  An elderly witch with piercing blue eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses sat at the wooden desk at the back of the shop, scribbling in a notebook. She glanced up as we walked in.

  “Hello?” she said. “Who is it?”

  “Maura,” I said. “I’m new in town.”

  She laid down her pen. “Need a healer, do you?”

  I shook my head. “No, but I heard you knew Harriet before she died, and we’re looking into the possibility that her death might not have been an accident.”

  Angie pushed to her feet and stepped away from the desk towards a door hidden at the back of the shop. “Yes, I knew her. You’d better come in here.”

  She beckoned us though the door into the back room. The detective and I exchanged glances, then followed her.

  The room in the back smelled so strongly of herbal concoctions that my eyes and nose began streaming almost instantly. There was nowhere to sit, so we had to awkwardly stand between piles of boxes and books and hold our arms at our sides to avoid knocking anything over. The detective in particular had to stoop under the low ceiling, while I held my breath to keep from coughing.

  “So you and Harriet were close?” I managed to croak out.

  “We were,” she said. “Particularly in the last few weeks. She spent a fair bit of time in here, asking for my help preparing for the test.”

  “Test?” I said.

  “For the position of coven healer,” she said. “Mina had every potential healer demonstrate their skills. Harriet spent weeks preparing. She must have borrowed every book on the subject, too. If it’d been up to me, I would have given her the position for her persistence alone. She got perfect marks on the test. I saw it.”