“You’re late, again.”

  “I’ve been up for ages,” I said. “I was looking for you. When I couldn’t find you, I decided to have breakfast before we begin work.”

  Rose tutted and adjusted the folders she held in her arms. “You can eat later. There’s lots of work to do.” Her gaze slid to Helen. “I didn’t know we had guests.”

  “This is my best friend, Helen Holiday. She stopped by with breakfast.”

  “Come and join us.” Helen held up the plate of muffins. “Do you like blueberry muffins? I made them myself.”

  Rose’s gaze lingered on the muffins. It looked like Helen had found her weak spot. “I rarely eat cake. And never for breakfast.”

  “These are the healthy kind.” Helen winked at me discreetly. “They’re full of fruit. You get at least one serving of your five a day if you eat one.”

  Rose’s hand was slowly lifting, as if possessed, inching towards the muffins. Here was a woman who deprived herself of sweet treats.

  “Try one,” I said. “Helen makes the best muffins. You won’t taste any better.”

  Rose’s hand fell on a muffin, and she grabbed it.

  “There’s tea, as well, if you’d like some.” Helen gestured to the teapot.

  Rose frowned, but then pulled out a chair and sat down. “Five minutes for breakfast won’t do any harm.”

  Helen grabbed another cup and poured Rose some tea. “I was just hearing from Lorna about your excellent work here. She was praising your filing system. It sounds as if you like to keep everything in order.”

  “Naturally,” said Rose, her words muffled as she devoured the muffin. “If there’s no order, then all you have is chaos. You can’t work in that.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Helen smiled at her brightly. “Lorna is also excellent at keeping things in order.”

  “I’m sure I can learn a few things from you, though,” I said to Rose.

  Rose’s attention was on her muffin. She’d already eaten most of it.

  “I’ve made waffles, as well,” said Helen. “Would you like to try some of those?”

  “I haven’t eaten a waffle in years,” said Rose. A trace of a smile drifted across her face. “I’d love one.”

  So, this was the way to get around Rose, feed her sweet treats. That shouldn’t be too tricky.

  “Are there any preserves or maple syrup in the cupboards?” asked Helen.

  “They’re in the third cupboard.” Rose gestured at the wall, another muffin already in her hand.

  I hurried over and grabbed a selection of preserves before returning to the table.

  Helen had placed four waffles onto a plate and handed them to Rose.

  Rose’s eyes widened. “I won’t be able to eat all these.”

  I pushed the syrup and strawberry preserve in front of her.

  “Give it a try,” said Helen.

  Ten minutes later, Rose sat back in her seat and patted her stomach. “Those muffins were incredible. And as for the waffles, outstanding.” She licked strawberry preserve from her fingers.

  “A good breakfast sets you up for the day,” said Helen.

  She nodded at me, but I discreetly gestured at Helen to continue. It looked like Rose was happy to talk to her.

  “Lorna was telling me about the work Delilah does,” said Helen. “I had a private session with a medium a couple of years ago. I found it fascinating.”

  “You have?” asked Rose. “You don’t look familiar. You can’t have come here.”

  “No, not here,” said Helen. “I met a lovely lady called Rhyannon Raven.”

  Rose’s face soured. “Her. You don’t want to believe everything she has to tell you.”

  “Her reading was vague,” said Helen. “You don’t think she’s any good?”

  “She might have been when she first started,” said Rose, “but she got sloppy as she got older. And she hated Delilah. There was such a rivalry between them. Rhyannon used to undercut Delilah’s rates hoping to steal her clients.”

  “Would you like the last muffin?” Helen pulled a muffin from the picnic basket.

  Rose licked her lips. “I really shouldn’t.”

  “It will only go to waste.” Helen waggled the muffin in front of Rose.

  “Well, we can’t let good food go to waste.” Rose grabbed the muffin and took a bite.

  “You were talking about Rhyannon,” prompted Helen. “Did she ever work with your sister?”

  “She was more interested in getting her hands on Delilah’s husband.” Rose scowled as she pulled apart the muffin. “When I first met Rhyannon, she had a natural talent for talking to the dead. She’d often speak to Fred about the other side and his thoughts on death. I would find them huddled in some corner swapping stories and theories. I found it distasteful. She was so gaudy, strutting around in fancy clothes and flashy gold jewelry.”

  “Your sister can’t have liked the attention Rhyannon paid her husband,” said Helen.

  Rose snorted. “She definitely didn’t. But Rhyannon’s talent faded as her interest in alcohol grew. It dulls the connection to the other side and makes it hard for the ghosts to come through.”

  “Rhyannon was a drinker?” I asked. Perhaps she’d been drinking the night she’d crashed her car.

  “It’s not uncommon in this business. Legitimate mediums can find speaking to confused, lost souls difficult. Alcohol helps with that.” Rose glanced at me. “You might have noticed my sister enjoys a drink or two. I keep her in check, so nothing gets out of hand. We can’t afford to damage the successful business we’ve built.”

  The front door of the house banged open and shut. Rose tutted, and she jumped to her feet. “That will be Crystal.” The disdain in her voice was clear. “I’d better make sure she’s not causing any trouble. She relies too heavily on Delilah. My sister is too soft for her own good. It will be her undoing.”

  Rose left the kitchen without another word, the half-eaten muffin in her hand.

  “She was fun,” said Helen.

  “She liked you.”

  “Only because I plied her with treats.”

  “Rose hinted Fred and Rhyannon were close,” I said. “It supports the theory of adultery.”

  “If my husband and friend were being naughty together behind my back, I’d have killed them both,” said Helen.

  “Fred needs to watch himself,” I said. “Delilah might not have finished with getting her revenge.”

  Helen grimaced. “Don’t say that. I won’t sleep at night if I know you’re in a house with a murderer.”

  “We’ve done it before,” I said. “We’re still alive.”

  “More by luck than anything else,” said Helen. “Besides, you had me there then. I could watch your back and make sure there were no creepy killers stalking you.”

  It was true; without Helen by my side, I felt less confident about what I was doing. Still, there was no point in worrying her. I’d made the decision to move out and take this job; I had to live with it.

  “Come on. Let’s finish this food,” said Helen. “Then you’d better get to work with old frosty knickers before she complains about you slacking off.”

  Chapter 10

  I waved goodbye to Helen as she drove away from the house before shutting the door.

  Rose poked her head out of her office. “Bring me the newspaper clippings you sorted yesterday. I want to check your progress.”

  I nodded and hurried down to the cellar, grabbed the file, and then returned to her office.

  She didn’t offer me a seat as I stood and watched her flicking through the clippings. The smile-inducing effect of the muffins and waffles had already worn off.

  “These will do.”

  “I’m glad you like them.”

  “There were most likely more suitable ones, but these will suffice. I want to launch the pre-show publicity in two weeks’ time and have to allow for the printers to get their act together. They always miss their deadlines. I’m meeting with them today to make sure they don’t make any mistakes.”

  That would be a joyful meeting. “I can help to source promotional materials if you need it.”

  “No, you can work up here today. Use the office while I’m not here.” She looked at me sharply. “Make sure you don’t make a mess. I need to know where everything is.”

  “You won’t even know I’ve been here.”

  “I’m sure I will.” Rose stood and grabbed her brown purse from the floor. “I’m assuming you know how to use image manipulation software?”

  “Of course.”

  “Get to work on adding these quotes from the newspaper clippings to the banner mock ups. You’ll find the file easily. One quote per banner will do. You don’t want to overdo things and make it look tacky.”

  “I’ll get to work on that right away.” I waited until Rose had vacated her seat and pulled on her coat before risking sitting in her chair. Her desk was immaculate. Everything looked like it had been lined up using a ruler.

  “I’ll be back this afternoon,” said Rose. “You can show me what you’ve done then.”

  She left without saying goodbye. I heard the front door slam behind her. The atmosphere changed as soon as Rose had left the house. The tension evaporated, and several ghost animals blinked into view and floated around the room. It looked like they were scared of her, as well.

  A large, brown rabbit floated over the desk and knocked over a tin of pencils.

  “Don’t misbehave.” I grabbed the pencils and placed them back in the pot, trying to put the pot in exactly the same spot as it had fallen from. If I didn’t, Rose would notice.

  A ghost cat ran up the curtain and shimmied along the rail before going down the other side.

  “I know Rose isn’t here, but she’ll know what you’ve been doing. Pack it in.” I watched as the cat repeated its frantic circuit around the curtains. I know I shouldn’t let it, but it was fun to watch.

  A black cat with a white bib appeared on the carpet. It turned in a circle several times, its nose wrinkled. The cat suddenly hunched over. It threw up a small pile of ectoplasm before blinking out of sight.

  I groaned as I pushed back my seat. I scooped up the ectoplasm with a piece of card and flipped it into the bin. Fortunately, the carpet was a deep maroon color and patterned with navy flecks, so once I’d scraped my foot over the ectoplasmic residue, you could barely notice it.

  “No more being sick or being naughty.” I looked around the room at the half a dozen ghost animals who had appeared. “I’ll lose my job if you keep misbehaving.”

  A quiet knock came on the office door. It opened, and Crystal looked in. “Hello. I heard voices. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay in here.”

  I looked at the ghost animals. “Everything is fine.”

  Crystal walked in and shut the door behind her. “Has Rose finally gone?”

  “She left a few minutes ago.”

  “She scares me. She’s always snapping at me and telling me off. I avoid her when I can.” Crystal grinned at me as she petted Flipper. “Delilah is lovely, but her sister got all the mean genes.”

  “She is a bit spiky,” I said. “I think she just likes everything done a certain way and worries we’ll mess up her careful order.”

  “Rose doesn’t like the way I do things.” Crystal sat in a seat by the desk. “She thinks I’m too loud and disturb the spirits.”

  “It’s more likely she’s the one who doesn’t like any noise.” I sat back in the desk chair. “I don’t think you’re noisy.”

  “Rose doesn’t understand the way of the medium.” Crystal tilted her head to the side. “How about you? When we met last night, you seemed surprisingly open-minded about all of this.” She waved a hand in the air.

  “I like to think I am,” I said. “We don’t know everything there is to know about the universe.”

  Crystal looked around the room. Her gaze stopped at each ghost animal. “Do you see them?”

  I resisted the urge to look at the animals. “Who?”

  “The ghost animals in the room with you,” said Crystal. “They seem to like you. Some people are sensitive to their presence. I just wondered if you were.”

  I kept my gaze fixed on Crystal. “It’s not something I know much about.”

  “It can get cold when they’re around,” said Crystal. “It’s an easy way to know they’re here.”

  “I thought the room was on the chilly side,” I said.

  “Delilah has the heating going all year round to take off the chill,” said Crystal. “The ghosts draw on the energy in the atmosphere. It affects the temperature.”

  “What are you seeing?” I was interested in how attuned Crystal was to the ghost animals.

  Crystal pointed to the first dog. “You’ve got a golden retriever; he seems like a friendly guy. It looks like he wants to make friends with your dog.”

  Flipper was staring at the ghost dog. He didn’t look keen on making friends. His tail was down and his shoulders hunched.

  “There’s also a cat racing up the curtains. If you look closely, you can see the curtain shake. There are two more cats on the rug. One is black with a white chin, and the other one is a tabby color. And then two giant rabbits are hovering over the desk.”

  I nodded. Crystal really was good at seeing ghosts.

  Flipper’s head shot around. He jumped up and walked over to me.

  “Oh, and then there’s the dark-haired ghost who’s been hanging around.” Crystal pointed over my shoulder. “Don’t be nervous, but she’s right behind you.”

  I’d been so focused on Crystal, I hadn’t even sensed Rhyannon’s arrival. “You mean an actual human ghost?”

  Crystal leaned forward. “That’s right. She used to be a medium. She died recently in a car crash.”

  “You know this ghost?”

  Crystal nodded. “It’s strange. Delilah can’t see her. She’s normally so good at seeing ghosts. Well, she’s great at seeing ghost animals. She gets me confused sometimes. I think she’s talking to the ghost animals when she needs to communicate with the human ghosts.”

  “You see both kinds of ghosts?”

  “I can.” Crystal twirled a strand of hair around her fingers. “I don’t know, maybe Delilah simply enjoys spending time with the ghost animals. The human ones can be disruptive.”

  “Who is the ghost behind me?”

  “Her name’s Rhyannon Raven.” Crystal clasped her hands together. “Don’t tell anyone, but I would have loved her as my mentor. She was incredible. You should look up her website. It’s still active. There are hundreds of people’s recommendations on there, all swearing that everything she told them was the truth. I saw several of her shows when she was alive. She was the real deal.”

  “You don’t think Delilah is?”

  Crystal looked down at her hands. “She has an ability, and I’m grateful she’s taken me under her wing. You get nowhere in this business if someone doesn’t open the door for you. I’m just not sure we do the same mediumship. The ghost animals are cute enough, but I want to help actual ghosts. I want to help people trapped here and who can’t move on. Delilah doesn’t seem so interested in that.”

  I longed to share my own abilities with Crystal. She seemed sweet and genuine. But how did I know she wasn’t involved in Rhyannon’s murder? I shouldn’t confide in a suspect.

  “It sounds like you won’t need a mentor for much longer,” I said.

  “I’m getting there,” said Crystal. “I’m looking forward to going on the European tour next year. After that, I should have a good enough name for myself and can book my own gigs.”

  “That will keep you busy.”

  “I will need someone like Rose to help keep me sorted out,” said Crystal. “Although my assistant will have to be a lot less scary than Rose. Hey, maybe you’d be interested? Do you fancy a life on the road, touring around Europe and helping lost souls?”

  That didn’t sound too bad. “I’ll give it some thought. I’ve got a few things going on in my life I need to get sorted before I go gallivanting around Europe.”

  Crystal smiled at me. “I like you, Lorna Shadow. Delilah said you can be trusted, and I believe her.”

  “That’s nice to hear.”

  Crystal looked around the room as she chewed on a nail. “I don’t suppose you could help me?”

  “What do you need?”

  “It’s Rhyannon. She’s in this house for a reason. I want to help if I can.”

  I tried to look suitably surprised. “Do you think she needs something to happen before she can move on?”

  “I do.” Crystal’s expression was serious. “She’s stuck here. She needs help before she can leave.”

  I really wanted to turn and look at Rhyannon to see her reaction, but I didn’t dare. “What do you need my help for?”

  “I want to visit the place Rhyannon died.”

  “You can’t do that alone?”

  Crystal shrugged. “I can, but sometimes visiting the place where a violent or sudden death occurred has a strange effect on me. I can get dizzy and sick. Sometimes, I get thrown back into the last moment of the person’s death. It can be traumatic. I wouldn’t mind having someone by my side if I begin to act oddly.”

  She had my sympathy. I knew exactly what Crystal was talking about. Plus, I wanted to look at the place Rhyannon died and see if I could pick up anything. “If you think I can help, then I’m happy to come along. Will this trip also help Rhyannon?”

  “It might,” said Crystal. “Maybe she’s gotten confused and needs to see for herself where her death happened. It might jog her memory.” She looked behind me at Rhyannon. “Will you come with us?”

  I made the mistake of turning and looking straight at Rhyannon. I saw her nod.

  Crystal gave me a curious look. “You looked right at her.”

  “It was a lucky guess,” I said. “You pointed over my shoulder a minute ago, so I figured the ghost would still be there.”

  Crystal smiled. “So, what do you reckon? Shall we go for a drive? It’s only twenty minutes away. We’ll be there and back before anyone notices.”

 

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