A Guilty Ghost Surprised (An Indigo Eady Paranormal Cozy Mystery series) by Gwen Gardner

all kinds of danger and nearly got killed ourselves, if you wanted to get picky about the details. And maybe Claire did want to get picky. We’d have to be careful.
    Simon and Riley sat next to each other as they both recorded information. It would have looked strange if they hadn’t. But they carefully avoided meeting eyes or inadvertently touching. They were uber polite, too. I wondered if anyone but me noticed.
    With the murder map rolled out on the table, Riley filled us in on Michael Potter’s employee file. “He has a terrible driving record,” she said. “He was actually on probation at the time of the accident.” She passed the report around the table. “He hit a parked car in a lot, side-swiped another car parked along a residential street, and rear-ended another car at a stop light. All while on the job.”
    Simon read through the report. “I see they did a thorough sweep of his police cruiser, looking for any evidence of his involvement in our accident,” said Simon. “They didn’t find anything.”
    “Yes,” said Riley. “But the question is, do we believe it?”
    “I don’t.” Cappy, of course, didn’t have to think about his answer.
    “Why did they leave this information out of the official report?” asked Badger. “If truly innocent, why not include it?”
    “Because it muddies the water?” I said.
    “Or,” said Simon, “because the information contained in his employee file is all lies, and they’re just covering their arses. He was a bad driver with three on-the-job accidents already under his belt.”
    “And that could have opened them up to a slew of wrongful death lawsuits,” I added.
    “Right, and they can’t afford that added to their already tarnished reputation,” added Badger.
    “So what do we do?” asked Cappy.
    “If there’s been a cover-up, I doubt we could uncover it. The police know how to correct the damage and avoid forensic detection,” said Riley. “Unless someone talks.”
    All eyes turned to me.
    “What?” I said. I certainly hadn’t held back any information at this point.
    “Robbie seems to like you a lot,” Riley observed. “He’d do it for you, if you asked him nicely.”
    Badger frowned.
    So did I.
    “Do what?” Alarmed, I wasn’t quite sure what she suggested.  
    “Ask him to snoop fer us, o’ course,” said Cappy. “Subtle inquiries into Michael Potter’s work ‘abits, encouraging gossip about ‘im, that sorta thing. There must ‘ave been gossip at the time. Coworkers will ‘ave wondered why all the interest in ‘is car.”
    I shook my head. “I can’t ask Robbie without telling him we’re investigating. Surely we don’t want him to know.”
    Nobody had an answer to the dilemma.
    “Let’s keep it in mind, shall we?” said Riley. “If our investigation turns in that direction, then we’ll pursue it.”
    I sighed inwardly and sent up a muttered thank you heavenward. I didn’t want to ask D.S. Robbie O’Boyle to spy for us. It would certainly be my last resort. Besides, I don’t think he’d do it anyway. Not unless convinced of his fellow officer’s guilt, or a reasonable doubt existed.
    Hannah, our nosy spirit serving girl, poked her head through the door and looked under the table. Once sure the ghost-dog wasn’t there, she floated through and set invisible mugs of ale on the table. She drifted around to read the murder board, playing with Simon’s hair as she did so.
    Simon swatted her hand away, as if shooing a stray fly or other annoying insect.
    “Is there any news from forensics on the paint samples?” Riley asked Simon.
    “Nah. It’s a slow process. They’re shorthanded with all the budget cuts, too.” He swatted away Hannah’s hand again.
    “But we do have something else to report,” I said, looking at Cappy. “We were followed on Tuesday night when we left here.” I filled him in on what happened. Leaving out that extra bit of information, of course.  
    “We’re making someone nervous,