Pennies for the Ferryman - 01 (19 page)

I didn’t feel like surfing the Internet anymore. Someone probably needed to use the terminal anyway.

After a fitful night of sleep, I woke up to find Elsbeth waiting in my room. Under other circumstances, I wouldn’t mind finding a female was in my room when I woke up, but since she’s dead, it more than qualified as a bit creepy.

I reach out and touch her hand, “What’s the word?”

“I spent the afternoon talking with Kevin. He’s a very nice man. Maybe you should just let it go? I’m sure there are other rewards out there.”

Oh god, Elsbeth had the hots for him!

“So, he doesn’t want the mystery of his death solved?”

“No, I don’t think so,”
she whined.

“That just means he has something to hide.”

“Must you always be suspicious of everyone?”
she asked sharply.

I bit back my reply. Harsh words weren’t going to get me any closer to payday and I tried thinking it through. Given that I’d been awake for less than two minutes, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. From an objective, completely hetero standpoint, Kevin was a pretty good looking guy. Also, considering Elsbeth was now asking me to abandon my hopes of “The Big Score” along with the associated vacation for her grammy meant that Kevin must be one sweet talker.

“What did you two talk about?”

“We had a very long and pleasant chat. He talked about going to watch his son’s basketball games and how proud he was of him and his two girls. His oldest is applying to Princeton,”
Elsbeth said wistfully.

“That’s fascinating. What did he say about his wife?”

“We didn’t really talk that much about her.”

“Of course, you two didn’t.”

“Why do you say that?”
she sounded defensive.

I switched hands because it was getting irritating, much like leading this “horse to water” and watching her not drink.
 
Maybe it was time for some harsh words.

“Because he was flirting with you! You never talk about your ex-girlfriend or, god forbid, your
wife
to someone you’re sweet talking.”

“You shouldn’t say such things about Kevin. He’s a nice man. Quit being an ass!”
Elsbeth said with more than a measure of self-righteousness.

Almost laughing at how remarkably similar she’d sounded to another annoying female who’d recently crossed my path, I continued, “What I see is a guy who was screwing around on his wife.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Did he ask you to come visit him again?”

“Um, yes, but what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that he’s a cheater who hasn’t had an opportunity to score with a willing female in months. So are you going back to see him?”

She looked angry at me. I wanted to scream that I wasn’t the one “playing her,” but even dead people seem to be unable to grasp what’s really going on sometimes.

“What if I am?”
she said indignantly.
“He’s lonely and I’m lonely too!”

“Fine, go be lonely together! Get naked and make little ghost babies for all I care! However, if you want Megan to see the fiftieth state anytime soon, you’ll realize that the reason he doesn’t talk about his wife is that when he was alive, he was probably diddling someone else. Ask yourself, why he wouldn’t want his murder solved. What’s he got to lose? It’s not one of his kids. It’s probably not his wife. The police ruled them out early on. They were on vacation in Florida when he went missing. Everything I’ve read about him says that he was a ‘well respected family man. That means he’s more interested in maintaining his perfect image than he is in moving on in the afterlife.”

She faded away before I could tell her what I really thought of Mr. “Smooth Talking” Kevin McNeil, but I had a good theory. Now I just had to find the facts that the police had missed.

Two days later, I delivered groceries to Megan. Elsbeth was nowhere to be found. The retiree looked at me through those big glasses of hers; reminding me of that woman Mom always enjoys watching on the “Golden Girls.” I reached down to pet the excited Sheba. It still didn’t hurt that much.

“Elsbeth’s been out a lot lately and her new pet has been a bit lonely. Normally, I ask if she’s here and she’ll make that little bell ring and I’ll talk to her for awhile. Has she been helping you out?”

“Not for the past few days. I think she’s talking to some other ghosts.” I refrained from saying exactly what I thought she was doing. They say it’s not good to speak ill of the dead. Except of course, so many of the dead people I’d met so far deserved it.

“Well, I suppose I shouldn’t begrudge her the opportunity to meet some other people. Charles was very domineering and didn’t allow her to socialize all that much.” She stopped and sniffled for a moment before dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “Forgive an old woman, but it seems like I have a better relationship with her now than when she was alive.”

I did my best to reassure her. “It’s obvious that she cares a great deal for you.”

“I know that. Now let’s put this away and I’ll make you some iced tea. Mr. Parker said that you helped a young man out with some spirits and rescued this dog. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling me about your adventure?”

For a change, it was nice to talk to a female who wasn’t scolding me. So, I sat down for a nice long chat.
 
Megan made a point of telling me at the end that it was a very brave thing to do. We were just finishing up when Sheba sat up and looked very excited. Elsbeth walked through the door, apparently laughing, accompanied by Kevin McNeil.

I did mention that I specialize in awkward moments, didn’t I?

Back in the days of silent movies, people were pretty good at picking up the conversation from watching the actors. I was getting pretty good at by necessity, which reminded me that I still needed to look into a lip reading course. What with being deaf in one ear, the VA should pay for it.

From the blatant rage on McNeil’s face, I also needed to remember to bring that sword with me all the time. The only problem was I didn’t exactly swipe Colonel Vincent’s scabbard at the same time. Things were moving quickly on that particular day.

What this all meant was that once again, I didn’t have the sword on me just as things looked like they were about to get “ugly.” I did have that pouch full of iron filings, but they were over in my coat which was hung up in the closet.

Turning to the little old lady on the couch, I said, “Pardon us Megan, but it looks like Elsbeth brought some company over and that company isn’t too happy to see me. Kevin! Buddy! Pal! Long time no see! Oh, I don’t have to be able to hear you to tell that you just said a naughty word.”

If I wasn’t scared of that man-mountain named Charlie Snowden, a slightly pudgy and out of shape dentist didn’t really intimidate me at all. I started walking towards him while Elsbeth seemed to be clutching at his arm and whining that this wasn’t what it looked like.

“Actually Kevin, it is what it looks like. You see, I asked her to figure out why you don’t want your murder solved, but seeing how quickly you charmed her, I’m pretty sure what really went on.”

I sidestepped his clumsy punch and drove my fist into his gut enjoying the whoosh as his “breath” left him. He tried to grab me, but it was the wrong move. A few grapples later, I was free to hurt him and put him into a submission hold. A minute later, my left knee was jammed into his back and his face shoved into the carpet, visiting a bit of pain upon him that I was certain his patients would have appreciated.

“Mike! Stop it and let him go!”
Nearly panicked, Elsbeth was smacking at me.

“No thanks. You’ll notice who threw the first punch. I think I’ll talk to him down here. Kevin, how about we start with who offed you?”

“Go to hell!”

“I can’t do that right now, you see I’m still alive. Check back with me after the holidays. Now you can either start talking, or I’m going to round up some of my other ghostly friends and have them start investigating.”

I was lying of course, Elsbeth was the only “Casper” I knew of at the moment, but there were times when a good bluff was just as effective.

“It won’t help. You won’t find anything! You can’t keep me here forever.”
He did sound a bit worried.

“We’ll just see about that. I won’t lie to you. I want the reward money. You’re not protecting your family. I can’t see why you’d be protecting the person that killed you. The fact you don’t want your family to get closure means you care more about your image than you do about them! No, I’m afraid you’re not getting away that easily, Kevin.” He tried to “fade away” and escape back to his burial site. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that when he was in my grip.

“You’re nothing but a money-grubbing soulless bastard!”

Fortunately, my self-esteem was bolstered by Megan’s kind words from a few minutes before. Standing up, I let him go with a warning. “That’s rich coming from man who cheated on his wife and is still lying to himself. Go ahead and leave, Kevin. The truth has a way of coming out. It might not set you free, but as you might have guessed, I don’t really care.”

He disappeared and I was left facing a fuming Elsbeth.

“Sorry I ruined your date.”

“You couldn’t leave well enough alone!”
Elsbeth raged.

“What can I say? It’s a character flaw.”

She looked at me incensed.
“Does the money really mean that much to you?”

“Put yourself in his wife and his kids’ place, Elsbeth.
They
want to know the truth. They wouldn’t have put up ten large for a reward if they didn’t. If money meant everything to me, I’d have never helped you out in the first place.”

I wasn’t really getting through to her. “He just wants to be remembered as a loving family man and I’m sure your husband wants to be known as a guy who wouldn’t poison his deceased wife’s grandmother, but it’s like what Mick Jagger said about always getting what you want – you can’t!”

“May I say something?” Megan said interrupting our conversation even though she only heard my side of it.

“Elsbeth, honey, you’ve never been good at picking men. It looks like that hasn’t changed either. From the sounds of things, this one certainly isn’t a winner.”

I was fighting back a smile when she started dressing me down, “Mr. Ross, I’m more than a bit disappointed in you. It’s okay to help people who ask for it. It’s okay to want to use your gift to better your own life. That said; ruining a man’s reputation just for the sake of a reward isn’t something to be proud of, young man! You don’t even know his family, so I find it difficult to believe that you are more concerned about them than you are a financial windfall.”

I looked away suitably rebuffed. It was embarrassing to have your behavior pointed out in such a manner.

“Why don’t you go home and think about you motivations, Michael? It’s been my experience that money causes just as many problems as it solves. Charles coveted this house because he was obsessed with what he could sell it for after I was gone. Temptation is the way to weakness and I think you’re a better man than that!”

I left for the day properly chastened with my tail between my legs. I didn’t even ask Elsbeth to test out the various as of yet theoretical uses Silas and I came up with for the pouch full of iron filings.