The Case of the Sinister Spirit

by Leighann Dobbs

  “Permits?”

  “Yep, we issue permits here in this town. Surely the other treasure hunters mentioned it.”

  “What other treasure hunters? There was only one other guy here looking for that treasure, and he’s gone now. Just where did you say you heard that I was here?”

  I ignored his question and consulted my cell phone as if I had notes on it. “Looks like the other guy didn’t get a permit either.”

  “Look. I’m not going to be doing any more treasure hunting, so I don’t think I need to buy your permit.”

  “You’re not? Did you already find the treasure?”

  “I wish. It’s not that. That place is weird. All kinds of spooky noises and weird stuff going on up there.”

  “Ghosts?”

  “There’s no such thing as ghosts, lady. The biggest problem is that it’s hard to figure out where the treasure is. The treasure was buried in the 1600s, but all the original plot plans from that time are gone. A farmhouse was built there about a hundred and fifty years ago, but who knows if it’s on the original site of the Dunbuddy house? The geographic clues are in relation to the house that was there in the 1600s. Only someone who knows the area would know where to look for this treasure. It’s acres of land, and it’s just not worth my time digging for a treasure that might not even exist. If anyone knows where the treasure is, they ain’t talking. Even though there was plenty of people digging.”

  “Plenty of people?” I asked. “I thought you said it was just you and some other guy.”

  “Just me and one other guy from the treasure hunter community, or at least we were the only ones who owned up to it. I don’t know who the other person was, but after Seth left last week, someone else was digging around up there. Anyway, I’m done with that place.”

  My gaze drifted past his shoulder into the room, where I saw a duffel bag on the orange-and-brown-flowered bedspread, clothes folded beside it. “You leaving town?”

  “Yep. Like I said, I’m done digging around here.”

  “I don’t suppose you heard the guy who owns that land was murdered.”

  “Yeah. I heard. Sheriff was by here yesterday. I didn’t see anything, though, so I couldn’t help her much.”

  So O’Hara had questioned him. That didn’t mean much. He could’ve confessed, and she’d probably be too dumb to take it for what it was. “And she’s letting you leave town?”

  Dave laughed. “Of course. I didn’t kill the guy. I wasn’t even here that night. Sheriff checked out my alibi and everything. Not that I need to tell you about it.”

  “Right. Of course. And you’re sure someone else was digging around up there?”

  “Yep, just yesterday in fact. And since I’m not going to be hanging around, I won’t need a permit. Maybe you can go bug this other person to buy one of your permits. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got things to do.”

  Dave shut the door on me, and I went back to the car.

  Jinx had been sleeping on the passenger seat. He woke when I started the engine, yawning and stretching out his front legs. “You’re done in there? What did you find out?”

  Just like Jinx to have me do all the dirty work and then want to share in the spoils. “The guy in there claims he couldn’t have killed Bud. He wasn’t in town.”

  “You going to check his alibi?”

  “Apparently O’Hara already did.” Problem was I didn’t know what his alibi was or how I could check it. I wasn’t friendly enough with O’Hara to ask. And employing magic to put a blabbermouth spell on her and get the information out of her was skating the line. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go there, though maybe it qualified as expediting the gathering of information I could already get on my own.

  “I think you better check it. O’Hara doesn’t know her tail from her dewclaw.”

  “Maybe. But that’s not the most interesting thing I discovered.”

  “No?”

  “No. The guy said someone else was digging up there. But if the other treasure hunter had already left town, then who else was digging up on Bud’s property?”

  The dumpy part of Hallows Crossing abutted the more affluent section, which meant I had to pass my ex’s office on the way to mine.

  I closed my eyes when I drove past, as was my custom. I didn’t need to see his prestigious black-and-gold sign or the line of customers waiting for his services.

  “Hey, looks like you put the louse out of business,” Jinx said.

  “What?” My eyes flew open and homed in on Mitch’s office. The sign was gone.

  Maybe he was just getting a new sign. But as I slowed and peered in, I could see boxes piled up inside. What was going on? Had Mitch really gone out of business?

  I should’ve been overjoyed, but instead, a pang of sadness bubbled up inside me. That had been the office that Mitch and I had shared. The one we’d opened together back when things were good between us.

  No! I didn’t still have feelings for him. This was just some sort of weird nostalgia messing with my head. I was glad he was out of business. Wasn’t I?

  But I didn’t have time to dwell on it, because the next thing I saw was a large sign in the window of Kellerman’s hardware store announcing they were out of brooms.

  My anxiety ratcheted up a notch. Aunt Gladys hadn’t made any progress in recapturing her broom-flying skills. She was going to have to renew her broom license soon. If she didn’t get the license renewed, she’d have to go to rehab. And if she didn’t start making headway soon, she’d get more and more desperate, and there was no telling what she’d do. I just hoped Tess’s potion would work. Better than that, I hoped Glad could stop herself from guzzling down the whole thing at once in her eagerness to fix the matter.

  I pulled up in front of the old brick mill building that housed my office. It wasn’t as fancy as Mitch’s building, but I kind of liked the old-school vibe, and even though the stairs creaked and the building didn’t have air conditioning, it was all mine.

  The Hallow Crossing Cackler was lying in front of my office door. Big, bold headlines announced that a ghost had murdered an old-time town resident. My anxiety ratcheted up even further. Vera Hightower was going to be all over that. I was surprised she wasn’t standing right here in front of my office, trying to blame me or my aunt. At least Bud had been killed with a pitchfork and not a broom.

  Inside the office, Moe lounged in the guest chair, his feet up on the desk, tossing cards into the trash barrel. Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh. They flew through the air, disappearing when they hit the rim of the barrel.

  He looked at his watch. “I’ve been waiting. Where you been? Someone knocked on the door.”

  I glanced back at the solid oak door with its pane of smoked glass in the middle. “Who?”

  “I have no idea. It’s not like I can answer it. Maybe you missed a paying client. You might want to get here on time, Red.”

  It had probably been Connie dropping off the paper. It wasn’t as if people were fighting each other off to employ my services. Then again, if Mitch had gone out of business, maybe client traffic was picking up.

  “So where you been?” Moe repeated himself.

  “We were out detecting,” Jinx said, taking his usual spot on the couch.

  I raised a brow at Jinx. “Well, one of us was.”

  “Yeah, I really wish you’d put more effort into this business, Jane,” Jinx said. “I can’t do everything by myself.”

  Moe put the cards in his pocket, slid his feet off the desk, and sat up straight in the chair. “So what did you find out?”

  I told him about my visit to the motel and my talk with Dave Brown.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Moe said. “When you mentioned a barn, I knew the property had been changed. That house can’t be more than eighty years old. There was an old farm on the property before that, but they must’ve rebuilt. Too bad we can’t look back and see what buildings were there in Mary Dunbuddy’s day. That’s impossible now.”

  “It is? Why?�
�

  “Everything was burned up in the fire of ’44.”

  “The fire of ’44?” I hadn’t heard about that.

  “Yeah, the town hall burned down. Arson. You see, Two Fingers Marchiano was about to go to trial for shooting up the Langly brothers. Back then, the police station was in the same building as the town hall. They didn’t have fancy computers and stuff.” Moe gestured to the laptop sitting on the desk. “Anyway, Two Fingers figured the best way to get rid of all the evidence against him was to burn the police station down.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “All the property records at the town hall were lost in the fire, so no one knows what the property looked like before Bud’s family built the farm.”

  Moe shrugged. “Well, almost nobody. Course, you know how those old-timers are. They pass down information from generation to generation. Someone familiar with the property who has been around for a while might have a better idea of where the treasure was rumored to be buried. Bud’s own kin might know what the property looked like before they bought it. Might even have an old picture. One of those tintypes or something.”

  That made sense, though it didn’t narrow down my suspect pool. It just solidified my suspicions.

  “Dave Brown also told me he heard weird things out there. That’s one of the other reasons he’s leaving.”

  “The ghost? Did you ever get rid of that thing?”

  “Haven’t seen hide nor hair of it. Weird, because they usually like to make themselves known, and the neighbors said it made a ruckus.”

  “Maybe the ghost got what it wanted. Maybe Bud’s death was the thing that sent it back over to the other side. Who knows? But I know one thing.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, half afraid to hear his answer.

  “It wasn’t no ghost that was digging up Bud’s yard looking for the treasure.”

  Chapter Eleven

  I wanted to see if I could locate the spot where people had been digging for the treasure, so I headed over to Bud’s. If I could figure out where they’d been digging, I might find some clues as to who had been digging, and that might lead me to Bud’s killer.

  I hadn’t forgotten about the little red clue I’d found inside the barn. Could the treasure be near the barn, or maybe even possibly under the floorboards inside it? I wasn’t sure, but I thought that sometimes when people replaced an old structure, they built right next to it. Maybe the original barn had been next to the new one, and his family had built right over the treasure.

  Back to the clue. I was pretty sure it was from one of Charlie’s vignettes. Maybe I could sneak over to his land and see if I could find a piece missing out of one of them. Charlie had grown up on the abutting property. It had been in his family for generations. The treasure rumor and location might have been handed down by one of his ancestors. Maybe Charlie had been inside the barn looking, and Bud had caught him.

  Not wanting to alert anyone to my presence and risk another altercation with Bud’s sons, I parked in front of Minnie Wheeler’s. This time Jinx had decided to come along with me. No sooner had we hopped out of the car when Minnie’s door flew open.

  “Jane! Coming to visit again so soon. How wonderful!” Minnie rushed out the door, Sophie behind her.

  Minnie rushed over to me while Sophie fixated on Jinx. “What a cute kitty.”

  Jinx scowled up at her with his best Grumpy Cat face. “Cute, my hiney. I am not cute. I’m fierce.”

  “Would you like to come in for a treat?” Sophie asked the cat.

  Jinx’s demeanor did a complete one-eighty. His grumpy face softened, and he rushed over to her, rubbing against her ankles and purring.

  “Can you stay for tea?” Minnie said as we followed Jinx and Sophie into the house.

  “No. I’m sorry, but I can’t. I just wanted to stop by and let you know that my aunts send their regards.” And have an excuse for parking in front of your house while I scour Bud’s yard.

  “Oh, how wonderful. They’re really lovely ladies.” Minnie’s forehead creased slightly. “Though I do recall they are a little quirky.”

  “Quirkiness is a family trait,” I said.

  I followed Minnie into the living room. I could see Sophie tossing treats to Jinx in the kitchen. I wasn’t sure what the treats were, but they must have met with his approval, because he was scarfing them right down instead of subjecting them to his usual sniffing routine.

  Meanwhile, the clock was ticking, but I didn’t mind the slight delay in my plans. I had a question for Minnie.

  “Did the ghost make its appearance again last night?” I asked.

  Minnie looked thoughtful. Sophie came into the room, wiping her hands, Jinx at her side.

  Minnie turned to her. “Did you hear the ghost last night?”

  Sophie scrunched her face for a few seconds. “No, come to think of it, I didn’t hear it at all.”

  “Did you see any lights?” I asked.

  “No. Maybe Bud’s ghost chased it away.”

  “You know, I’m surprised Bud’s ghost doesn’t take its place,” Sophie said.

  “Maybe they’re battling it out over in the hereafter,” Minnie suggested.

  “Like a turf war,” Sophie said.

  “Well, I hope Bud wins.”

  “Yeah, and I hope he’s not as loud as the last ghost.”

  I bid them good-bye and left them discussing the merits of Bud’s ghost versus the old ghost then headed over to Bud’s. My eyes scanned the large yard and acreage beyond for signs of digging.

  “Where do you think that treasure would be?” I asked Jinx.

  “Beats me. I’d bury it under a tree,” Jinx said.

  An old stone wall ran along the edge of Bud’s property. Grass and shrubs had grown up in some spots, trees in others. One of them was a giant, gnarled oak. Moe had mentioned something about an oak tree and how he didn’t know if the old trees would still be standing after all this time. That tree looked ancient.

  “It might be over at—”

  “Oh look. A squirrel!” Jinx ran off behind the barn, where I glimpsed the end of a bushy tail. Apparently what I’d been about to say held less importance than a squirrel. I guessed I was on my own.

  I headed over to the tree. Dropping my purse on top of the stone wall, I poked around at the base of the tree, brushing aside leaves and poking the ground with an old dried branch. I didn’t find any signs of digging.

  A stone wall would be a great place for burying treasure. You could even leave some sort of a clue as to where it was, guided by the shapes of the stones. But when had they started marking the boundaries with stone walls? Was it as far back as Mary Dunbuddy’s time?

  I stepped back from the wall to look at it from a distance, searching for any inconsistencies in the wall. Perhaps an unusual stone or one that seemed misplaced or jutted out. If I were burying a treasure, I’d want some kind of marker like that. I didn’t see anything though. I turned to look at the rest of the property, shading my eyes from the sun as I scanned the landscape.

  Jinx trotted up next to me. “Jane, you gotta see this.”

  I followed Jinx along the stone wall to where it ran behind the barn. My heartbeat kicked up a notch when I saw evidence of digging.

  “Someone was digging here!”

  “No. That was me. I needed to bury the remains of that squirrel. But look what I dug up.” Jinx skewered a wire with one of his razor-sharp claws. It looked like some sort of an electrical cord.

  I crouched and pulled. The cord wasn’t buried, just camouflaged. It came up easily when I tugged. I pulled a length of it up. It led directly to the path in the woods.

  “Why would an electrical cord be coming from the middle of the woods?”

  Jinx shrugged. “Maybe the treasure hunter was using power tools to dig up the treasure.”

  “But where does it plug in? There’s nothing in that direction ... except Charlie Henderson’s.”

  I followed the cord, pulling it from its hiding place beneath l
eaves and pine needles. It was actually several cords, each re-wired so that it plugged into the end of the other. It led me straight down the path toward Charlie’s. I must have been so engrossed in my task that I didn’t hear someone coming up beside me until...

  Click.

  The heart-stopping sound of a shotgun being cocked froze me in my tracks.

  “Oh, crap,” Jinx said as he backpedaled toward the barn. I guessed I was on my own again.

  I cursed myself for not being more aware. A private investigator needs to have eyes in the back of her head so no one ever gets the jump on her. At least that was what Moe had told me. It was a good thing Moe couldn’t leave the office, because if he could have seen me, he would have been very disappointed.

  As I turned slowly, I briefly wondered if I would be joining Moe as a ghost in my own office.

  “Trespassing again?”

  As I looked into Charlie’s dark eyes, visions of his murder vignettes danced through my head. Had he already made one featuring me lying here in the woods with my chest blown open by a shotgun? Even worse than letting him sneak up on me, I had left my purse on the stone wall when Jinx had interrupted me. I didn’t have any chocolate available to cast a spell and get myself out of this.

  I decided to take a confrontational tack. Maybe I could shame him into confessing and giving himself up. Okay, probably not. He’d already killed one person and wouldn’t hesitate to kill me too, but I didn’t have any better ideas. I wondered briefly what Moe would do. Maybe I should have listened to his lessons a little more carefully.

  I held the cord up between us. “What’s this? Electricity leading straight from your house to Bud’s barn.”

  His eyes flicked from my hand to the barn. “What of it? This is my property. I can have electricity leading anywhere I want.”

  “Yeah, but it didn’t stay on your property. It went right over the wall to Bud’s.”

  Charlie scowled. “That portion of the land is my property. I own five feet past that stone wall there.” He gestured with the barrel of the shotgun to the wall before swiveling it back to point at my chest. “What exactly are you doing here again? You’re working for Bud’s sons, aren’t you?”