Givin' Up The Ghost (An Indigo Eady Paranormal Mystery) (17 page)

“Two young men were seen chasing Billy Radcliffe around 7:30
last night. They have your descriptions. They’ll be canvassing the area and
interviewing shopkeepers. Anyone with any information is asked to come
forward.”

“Bloody hell,” said Simon, looking at Badger. “Well, now
what do we do?”

“Crap!” I sat up straight. “I’ve got to talk to Padma!”

They looked at me uncomprehendingly.

“Don’t you get it? Padma was there! She knows you two were
chasing Billy. Billy’s name wasn’t mentioned, but when she hears two men were
chasing the victim, and puts two and two together...”

“She’ll know it was us. But will she tell the police?” asked
Badger.

“Of course she will,” I said, throwing my hands up. “She
doesn’t owe us anything – her best friend is dead.”

“Yes, but she does know we were investigating her friend’s
murder, along with Bart’s. That should count for something,” said Simon. “She
couldn’t possibly think we had anything to do with those murders.”

“True,” said Riley, “but think about it. You were seen
chasing the murder suspect, and then he ends up in the river. And like Indigo
said, Padma doesn’t owe us anything.”

We all turned to Badger for guidance.

“Then we’d better hurry up and solve this murder,” he said.

We were silent for a shocked moment.

“It’s back on then?” said Simon in excitement.

Badger looked around the room. “Right. We have no choice
now. We have to solve this murder and help my dad cross over before that evil
thing
gets him, as well as clear ourselves.” Our eyes met. “And figure out how to
make it leave Indigo alone, as well.”

Riley and I bounded up and hugged each other and then Simon.

I flung my arms around Badger. “Thank you,” I whispered in
his ear.

Hannah jumped up and down, fist pumping the air, “Yes! Yes!”
She employed the modern gesture and slang like a pro.

“Wait, wait, calm down you lot,” said Badger. “On one
condition.” His serious look silenced us. “No one goes anywhere alone. It’s too
dangerous. Understood?”

––––––––

I
didn’t know if Padma worked on Thursday mornings, but I
hoped so. I had to speak to her before the police did.

I put my hair in its usual loose braid, slipped into jeans
and purple thermal shirt, topped with my pea coat, hat and scarf and left the
house early. My face was bare of any makeup, the cut beneath my eye turning a
light shade of purple and blue. My burnt and cut hand was newly wrapped. Franny
tisked when she saw me.

I descended the front stairs, passing the living room where
our naked Christmas tree stood looking forlorn. Simon and I bought it the
previous evening on our way home. I sighed. Tonight we would have to decorate
it. I passed through to the kitchen for my morning jolt of coffee before
leaving the house.

My stomach churned, having nothing but coffee in it. I had
to make Padma understand that Simon and Badger did not harm Billy. I would beg
for time. That’s all we needed – a little time. We were getting close, and the
closer we got, the more dangerous it felt.

I stopped by the newsagents and picked up the morning local
paper. Billy smiled from the front page. The heading read,
Local Man
Murdered: Hunt on for Suspects
. It went on to say that Billy was seen being
chased by two youths and it gave their descriptions – which could have been any
young men living in Sabrina Shores. Darkness and beanies helped. I sighed with
relief and tucked the paper in my bag.

When I arrived at the MEC I checked the hours of operation
before going across the street to the coffee shop to wait. I bought a coffee
and took up a position near the window to watch for Padma.

The busy morning crowd provided all the decoration the coffee
shop could hold. Stark white walls. No pictures anywhere. Gray swirly patterns
topped wobbly tables rimmed with silver-colored aluminum and mismatched chairs.
The smell of moldy dishcloth wafted up from my table, mingling with the aroma
of brewing coffee, baking bread, and rain-soaked jackets. The buzz of many
conversations drifted through the room. 

I didn’t have long to wait. To my surprise, Padma came
through the door of the coffee shop and stopped abruptly. For a minute, I was
sure she would walk back out again without speaking to me. But she didn’t.
Instead, she walked over to my table.

“Let me get breakfast, then we’ll talk,” she said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. That was a start. She was
willing to speak to me.

Padma came back to the table, setting her coffee and
breakfast sandwich down before shrugging off her coat and draping it over the
chair back. She kept her eyes on me the whole time, taking in my scratched-up
face and black eye. She didn’t look as bad as I did. Dressed in a navy-blue suit,
she enjoyed a scratch-free face.

“How old are you?” asked Padma, sitting down and biting into
her breakfast sandwich.

“Sixteen.” I knew why she asked. With no makeup, I looked
about five years younger than I did yesterday.

Padma nodded. “I didn’t realize how young you were. You
sound older.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told that before.”

I pulled the morning newspaper out of my messenger bag,
unfolded to the front page. I handed it over to Padma. She sipped her coffee
and ate her sandwich and read while I waited, faking patience.

I looked around the room at the other patrons. Not that I
expected to see anybody I recognized, but after last night I was paranoid. It
didn’t take long for me to break Badger’s only condition: don’t go anywhere
alone. But it couldn’t be helped, everyone else had to work and the
conversation with Padma couldn’t wait.

I turned back to Padma as she finished the article, passing
the newspaper back across the table.

“So,” she said. “Your two friends from last night – they
were the ones chasing him.”

“Yes. But they didn’t catch him.”

Padma look at me skeptically. “Uh huh.”

“They didn’t. They arrived at my house five minutes after I
did. I think you’ll find that Billy died several hours after that. I mean, once
they get the autopsy,” I concluded.

“Indigo, this is a dangerous game you and your friends are
playing. Why do you think you can solve Bart’s murder when the police can’t?”

“The police have had months to solve these crimes - they’ve
bungled it from the start,” I said. And then a voice whispered in my left ear:
ask
her about the day I left early.

I jumped slightly. “Shelly?” The voice was so clear, as if
she was standing right next to me. I recognized her voice from the other night.
It must be a clue!

“What about Shelly?” said Padma, a frown appearing across
her smooth features.

I decided to take the plunge and risk Padma knowing what I
was. It couldn’t make things any worse. I took a deep breath.

“Shelly wants me to ask you about the day she left work
early.” I watched Padma’s dark skin go pale.

“Wha? What do you mean?” She coughed and sputtered after
choking on her coffee. “What do you mean,
wants?
”

“Padma, I hope I can trust you.” I looked down and
hesitated. “Shelly just whispered in my ear to ask you about the day she left
work early.”

Padma looked to both sides of me and then around the
restaurant. “So...what are you saying? She’s here? Right now?”

“I talk to ghosts,” I said matter-of-factly. I waited,
watching the flicker of emotions cross her face. The silence seemed interminable,
but Padma finally spoke.

“Did you know Shelly? Did you ever meet her?” She was still
trying to understand where the information came from.

“No, I never met her. I only moved here six months ago.”

“How did you know to ask me...” she began. “No, never mind.
You already said. This sort of thing is hard to believe, I mean, I’ve never met
anyone who could...you know.”

Why did people always twirl their finger and say
you know
when they found out about me?

“I know,” I said. “So tell me. What happened on the day
Shelly left work early?” I sipped my now-cold coffee, waiting for her reply.

Padma hesitated. “I’m not certain,” she began. “We had a
customer in and Shelly was helping him. Something about not getting paid on a
project. He was a contractor. I couldn’t hear what was being said – I had my
own customer. But the man was visibly upset. Even more unusual was that Shelly
became upset, too. It showed on her face – our cubicles faced each other – she
claimed illness and said she had to go home.”

“Who was this man?” My heart skipped a beat. That familiar
tingle crawled up my neck. We were on to something. 

“You must know I can’t tell you that,” she said, a frown
between her eyes. “As a non-profit organization that serves immigrant needs,
our records are confidential.”

I stared blankly. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We
had a chance to solve the death of three people, and she wouldn’t give me the
information?  “Are you kidding me? Shelly was your friend. How could you – what
are you...” I clamped my jaws shut, unable to speak.

Padma stood up and put her coat on. “Come with me.”

Darn right I would come with her
. I’d haunt her like
an angry spirit until she parted with the information I needed. I slipped into
my coat and followed her across the street.

We went up the stairwell and I waited while Padma unlocked
the door and then re-locked it once we were inside. The office didn’t open for
another hour yet.

Padma flipped on the lights on the way to her cubicle. She
took off her coat and stowed her purse under the desk. Then she began to flip
back through her desk calendar. When she found what she was looking for, she
pointed and tapped.

“There,” said Padma. “August 16th is the day Shelly left
early. If the problem had to do with not being paid, Shelly would have helped
him file a claim.”

“Okaay.”
I was confused. What was she trying to tell
me?

Padma, exasperated, said, “On August 16th at the courthouse,
there should be a claim filed – it’s public record.”

“Oh!” Suddenly I understood. I could get the man’s name from
the public records! His name would be on the lien at the courthouse. And the
man’s name was a clue given to us by Shelly herself. What could be better?
“Thank you!” I hugged her spontaneously. “Thank you, thank you!”

“No problem,” she said. “I hope you find what you’re looking
for.”

I hesitated, but asked anyway. “About Simon and Badger,” I
began. “Do you...can you...”

“I won’t say anything – for now.”

“Fair enough,” I said.

“Be careful, okay?” Padma remonstrated. “I know I shouldn’t
be letting you do this, but I want Shelly’s murderer caught.”

“So do we,” I agreed. “We’ll be careful, don’t worry.”

I left and went straight to the courthouse. I searched
through the public records on the computer provided and found five liens
recorded that day. Unfortunately, you had to order the documents before seeing
them. I paid the clerk and was told the records would be mailed to me in the
next five to ten days. I prayed for five days. We were running out of time.

––––––––

S
imon cut a deal with me that he would make dinner for the
whole gang that evening, which would be allowed to count for the remaining four
days of cooking he owed me because he lost our race. Truthfully, getting Simon
away from the stove benefitted me more than him.

Yeah. It was like that.

He recruited Cappy to help him make spaghetti and meatballs
with garlic bread, so Cappy arrived early. With him guiding Simon, I hoped we’d
have a decent meal for a change. Pub grub at the Blind Badger was good, but I
didn’t want to eat that heavily every night. I don’t know how many ginnels I’d
have to run through to shed those extra calories.

“Did you get everything from the list I gave you?” asked
Cappy. Since he was Italian, I think Simon figured he’d be an ace at making
spaghetti. I have to admit, Cappy looked like he had done this before.

“Yep, it’s all here,” said Simon. “Pasta, pasta sauce,
garlic, tomatoes, Italian sausage and a loaf of French bread.”

I sat beside the fire grinning. I twisted my chair so I sat
facing toward the stove – I wanted the best view of this spectacle.

“Right. What’s first?” asked Simon.

“Put a pot of water on the stove,” said Cappy. “And add a
dash of salt and a drizzle of olive oil to it.”

Simon retrieved a small pot from above the butcher block
table and took it to the sink.

“Not that one, mate! That wouldn’t even feed two of us,”
said Cappy. He plucked a larger pot from a hook and handed it to Simon. “This
one.”

Simon happily filled the pot with water and set it on the
stove. He was willing to take abuse from Cappy, as long as Cappy helped him
cook.

Cappy grabbed another big sauce pan and set it on the stove
as well. He opened two jars of red pasta sauce and poured them in, setting the
heat on low. “No time to make homemade sauce.” As he minced garlic, he said,
“You know, I was thinkin’.”

Cleo rubbed against his legs, arching her back in ecstasy.

“Yeah, what about?” asked Simon. He dumped sausage into the
pot, the boiling water splashing onto the burner. Cleo jumped and ran,
twitching her tail in annoyance as she perched next to the fire, licking the
offending water from her fur.

Simon jumped back as well, as the burner spat and hissed
like Cleo. He held a dishtowel in front of him to avoid getting burned by
boiling water. I’m almost ashamed to say I enjoyed it.
Almost
. For a
change someone else was creating the havoc.

“Billy – and Gerry – that day we were at Puttock’s making a
delivery.” He expertly sliced the French loaf the long way, and then cut it in
half. He turned so he faced both of us. “I got the feelin’ that Billy ‘ad done
a job for ‘im, and Gerry wasn’t too ‘appy about it. I’m wondering what the job
was.” He looked at Simon standing idly by. “Make yerself useful, mate. Melt the
butter and add this garlic to sauté.”

Cappy turned back to me. He had dressed for the occasion in
a long-sleeved, button-down, over-large baby blue shirt that hung from his bony
shoulders, and black Dockers, the pant-legs too long and frayed. His wet, black
hoodie lay over a chair back near the fire to dry. I was touched. He had gone
from purposely ragged to making an effort. I was glad he now considered himself
part of our group. I was getting there, too.

“Hmm,” I said. “Do you think Gerry hired Billy to follow
us?” Why hadn’t we considered that before? Because we basically dismissed Gerry
as a suspect – a high school crush wasn’t a good motive for murder.

“Well, I’m not counting that out,” he said, “but I don’t
think that’s what they were talking about. If you remember...” He shook his
head. “It doesn’t make sense, because I’m sure Gerry said something about a
prostitute – and ‘e was angry. Billy seemed to be defending himself – or
someone.”

The butter began sizzling on the stove and Cappy reached
around Simon and took it off the burner. “Hey, mate, watch it. Yer burning it.”
He turned the flame to low and put the butter with garlic back on.

“Did Billy have a girlfriend?” asked Simon. “And could she
be the prostitute Gerry was talking about? It wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Nobody ever reported ‘e had a girl with ‘im on any of the
surveillances – or that ‘e ever went to see a girl, so I don’t think so...I
don’t know for sure,” finished Cappy. “I can’t imagine ‘im having a girlfriend
– ‘e was kind of gross - but there’s no accounting for taste.” He shrugged.

“I think we should find out,” I said. “If Gerry fought with
Billy – and then Billy ended up dead...” I left off. “Of course he moves back
to the top of our list.” We looked at each other in amazement. Why hadn’t we
grasped the connection earlier?

“We suck,” said Simon. “We should have investigated that
fight earlier – it may have helped.” He slung the wet dish towel over his
shoulder and leaned against the sink. “And we should have remembered the fight,
too. Because that fight makes him a bigger suspect now that Billy’s dead.”

At the light knock, I got up to peek through the window. I
opened the door to Badger and Riley. They were bundled up against the cold and
looked quite as ragged as I did. This investigation was taking a toll on all of
us. We were all exhausted.

“Anything new?” I asked.

“No,” said Badger. “How about you? Did you talk to Padma?”

“Yes, sorry. I should have called – “

I hung up their jackets on pegs and they moved further into
the kitchen.

Riley took the other armchair next to the fire, nearly
sitting on Cleo, who strutted away perturbed, twitching and quivering her
displeasure.

Badger sat at the table.

“Padma won’t say anything for now – she believed me, for
what it’s worth.” I explained about my meeting with Padma and told them about
Shelly being upset and leaving work early – that would have been the Tuesday
before she disappeared.

“But we don’t know who the man was, or the project he was
working on?” asked Badger. He thought for a minute. “So this lead takes us back
to projects my dad was working on, then.”

I nodded in agreement, and then looked at Cappy before
continuing. “We were talking. Remember the argument between Gerry and Billy?”

Badger and Riley both nodded. And then I told them about
what we had been discussing.

“And so Gerry and Billy got in a fight, and Billy ended up
dead,” said Badger.

“And Gerry is now a serious suspect,” added Riley. She
walked over to the stove. “God that smells good! I’m starving,” she said to
Simon, who was stirring the sauce.

Riley, as always, looked elegant. In her dress, walk, and
manner. Everything. Tonight she wore jeans and boots, with a feminine
lavender-colored blouse and scarf wrapped intricately around her neck as an
accessory. Her hair, as always, was shiny and sleek – perfectly groomed.

In contrast, I wore jeans, bunny slippers and one of Simon’s
over-sized sweat shirts. My hair was slipping out of its braid. The black eye,
scratches, burns and cuts were my accessories.

“Yeah, it’s sort of my specialty,” said Simon, looking
surreptitiously at Cappy to see if he was listening. The dinner was basically
ready, Cappy having done most of the work.

Cappy pulled a chair from the table and sat opposite Badger,
rolling his eyes at Simon, but continued with what he had been saying. “Other
people were in the pub that day – the cook and another guy I ‘eard down the
hall. We won’t learn anything from the cook, the old codger. But another of the
worker’s might ‘ave ‘eard the argument.”

“Hang on a minutes,” said Badger, turning to Simon. “Did you
ever talk to Patricia?”

“Nah,” said Simon. “She’s a little sore at me at the
moment.”

Riley snorted.

“All right. How about you, Riley?” Badger asked. “Don’t you
know that kid that waits tables over at Puttock’s?”

Riley turned with a slice of garlic bread in her hand and
came over to the table. “You mean Danny? Yeah, we’re in the same class at
school.”

“Great – then you can ask him about the fight,” said Badger.

“Sure, no problem.”

Simon set the table and then announced that dinner was
served. As always, we dug in like we hadn’t eaten in a week. The entire meal
was devoured before we sat back in our chairs.

“Good job,” said Riley, clearly impressed. “I didn’t know
you could cook.”

“Thanks - Cappy helped,” said Simon, looking at Cappy
sideways to see if he would object. Cappy let it slide.

“So what did you find out about the lunch at Jake’s?” asked
Badger.

“Oh. Right. I called Beth, a girl I know who works there,”
said Simon.

Riley rolled her eyes.

”There had been an argument,” he continued. “Loud enough to
disturb the other patrons. Unfortunately, Beth couldn’t hear much –only the
word ‘project’.”

“That lying git,” said Riley, looking around the table.
“Andy told you guys their lunch that day was nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Yeah, but think about it,” said Simon. “If you had an
argument a few days before a guy was found dead, would you mention it?” Riley
sat cross-armed and stony-faced and stared at Simon. Looking around, he wasn’t
getting any help from the rest of us.

“Come on, you know you wouldn’t. It’s like us chasing Billy.
No way are we going to the police and say,
yeah, we chased Billy – but we
didn’t kill him
. They wouldn’t believe us!”

“Simon’s right,” said Badger, reluctantly. “I don’t blame
him for not telling us. And as we well know, circumstantial evidence doesn’t
make him guilty.”

I got up and began to clear the table. Badger joined me. I
started hot water in the sink and added the dish soap. I threw the dishtowel at
Badger and grinned. He grinned back and rolled up his sleeves. Have I mentioned
he has the best smile ever? “Obviously,” said Badger, “we have to try and find
out what the argument was about.” He draped the towel over his shoulder so he
could rinse the clean dishes.

A comfortable silence filled the room, until Riley’s voice
spoke quietly. “Dad sure had a rough week, didn’t he? First he had a fight with
Butch, and then he had a fight with Andy.”

“And then he was murdered,” added Badger, nodding. “
Yeah
.
You could say he had a rough week.”