Make the Ghost of It (Witch Woods Funeral Home Book 3): (Ghost Cozy Mystery series) by Morgana Best
Authors: Morgana Best
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on it until after probate. By then, I could well and truly be awaiting trial for murder.”
I held up a finger. “Hear me out. You could tell the police that Lewis told you about Simon Smarts’ firm the day that he was killed. It’s not a lie as such. Lewis did tell us that he uncovered the evidence about the firm; it’s only that he did it in his ghost form. The police won’t believe that, so you have to get the information to them from some other angle. Let’s go and tell them that Simon Smarts has just made you an offer for the business—I was a witness to it—and then you can say that Lewis told you about the embezzlement before he was killed, rather than after.”
Basil took me by the shoulders, and electric tingles ran right through my body. “Laurel, you’re a genius!” he said, and then he kissed me hard.
Chapter 14
Basil and I were sitting in the police station’s waiting room. The station was in the next town, which was considerably bigger than Witch Woods and only a half-hour drive away.
I was starting to think this was all a bad idea. We had been waiting there for ages, and I wondered if this was a ploy by the detectives to make us feel uneasy. Perhaps they thought they’d get more out of us that way. The seats themselves were comfortable enough, black vinyl and pushed against a cream wall. In fact, every wall I could see was a different shade of cream. Even the floor tiles were cream, in vinyl squares. The ceiling did not look to be in terribly good condition, and the fluorescent lights beat down upon us, several of them flickering and threatening to give me a headache.
Finally Detective Brand came out and said—or rather, grunted—that we were to follow him into an office. Detective Brand took his seat at a large but old wooden desk that looked like a government issue from the 1950’s. Detective Swan leaned against a window, underneath crooked and aged gray venetian blinds that had seen better days. There was a modern desktop computer on the desk, but everything else appeared to have been caught in a time warp.
There was a government-issue wooden bookcase, and two cream filing cabinets with their doors hanging half open. Files were tossed haphazardly on top, along with a vintage fan. I figured that could bring some money on eBay! Behind the fan were various certificates, and three wooden shields. I was too far away to read the inscriptions.
The smell of stale cigarette smoke hung in the air, although I did not see any ashtrays. Perhaps it clung to the clothes of the detectives themselves.
Detective Brand was scribbling furiously on a notepad in front of him, and Detective Swan was just looking at it, so I continued to look around the room. The floor was mainly olive green, with black and white running through it in rivulets, and there were red squares placed at random. The walls here, too, were cream, although there was a strange navy blue stripe about eight inches wide along the perimeter of the floor. Bizarrely, there was an old framed photo of someone sitting on a horse hanging on the wall to our right.
Finally, Detective Brand looked up. “The desk sergeant said you had some information for us.” The way he said it made it sound like an accusation.
Basil looked him straight in the eye. “As you know, Lewis stayed in my house the night before we went skydiving. He told me that he was auditing an accounting firm, and that he had just uncovered evidence of embezzlement. Just before he drove to Witch Woods, he had called the principle of the firm, Simon Smarts, and told him.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Detective Swan said.
“I didn’t think anything of it at the time,” Basil said, “but today, Simon Smarts came to my office, and offered to buy Lewis’s firm from me. I think he was only doing that so he could bury the evidence of embezzlement.”
Detective Brand raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.
Basil continued. “Lewis told me
I held up a finger. “Hear me out. You could tell the police that Lewis told you about Simon Smarts’ firm the day that he was killed. It’s not a lie as such. Lewis did tell us that he uncovered the evidence about the firm; it’s only that he did it in his ghost form. The police won’t believe that, so you have to get the information to them from some other angle. Let’s go and tell them that Simon Smarts has just made you an offer for the business—I was a witness to it—and then you can say that Lewis told you about the embezzlement before he was killed, rather than after.”
Basil took me by the shoulders, and electric tingles ran right through my body. “Laurel, you’re a genius!” he said, and then he kissed me hard.
Chapter 14
Basil and I were sitting in the police station’s waiting room. The station was in the next town, which was considerably bigger than Witch Woods and only a half-hour drive away.
I was starting to think this was all a bad idea. We had been waiting there for ages, and I wondered if this was a ploy by the detectives to make us feel uneasy. Perhaps they thought they’d get more out of us that way. The seats themselves were comfortable enough, black vinyl and pushed against a cream wall. In fact, every wall I could see was a different shade of cream. Even the floor tiles were cream, in vinyl squares. The ceiling did not look to be in terribly good condition, and the fluorescent lights beat down upon us, several of them flickering and threatening to give me a headache.
Finally Detective Brand came out and said—or rather, grunted—that we were to follow him into an office. Detective Brand took his seat at a large but old wooden desk that looked like a government issue from the 1950’s. Detective Swan leaned against a window, underneath crooked and aged gray venetian blinds that had seen better days. There was a modern desktop computer on the desk, but everything else appeared to have been caught in a time warp.
There was a government-issue wooden bookcase, and two cream filing cabinets with their doors hanging half open. Files were tossed haphazardly on top, along with a vintage fan. I figured that could bring some money on eBay! Behind the fan were various certificates, and three wooden shields. I was too far away to read the inscriptions.
The smell of stale cigarette smoke hung in the air, although I did not see any ashtrays. Perhaps it clung to the clothes of the detectives themselves.
Detective Brand was scribbling furiously on a notepad in front of him, and Detective Swan was just looking at it, so I continued to look around the room. The floor was mainly olive green, with black and white running through it in rivulets, and there were red squares placed at random. The walls here, too, were cream, although there was a strange navy blue stripe about eight inches wide along the perimeter of the floor. Bizarrely, there was an old framed photo of someone sitting on a horse hanging on the wall to our right.
Finally, Detective Brand looked up. “The desk sergeant said you had some information for us.” The way he said it made it sound like an accusation.
Basil looked him straight in the eye. “As you know, Lewis stayed in my house the night before we went skydiving. He told me that he was auditing an accounting firm, and that he had just uncovered evidence of embezzlement. Just before he drove to Witch Woods, he had called the principle of the firm, Simon Smarts, and told him.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Detective Swan said.
“I didn’t think anything of it at the time,” Basil said, “but today, Simon Smarts came to my office, and offered to buy Lewis’s firm from me. I think he was only doing that so he could bury the evidence of embezzlement.”
Detective Brand raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.
Basil continued. “Lewis told me
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