Her brother’s face was hard. Then he grated his teeth, and let out a long breath. “Bartholomew. All right. Bartholomew the ghost. Tell him that I have to be in love-and that I am heterosexual-to enjoy anyone messing with my hair,” Sean said.
“I’ve told you. He can hear you,” Katie said.
Bartholomew proudly made a mess of Sean’s hair again.
“Eh! Tell him to stop that,” Sean said. His eyes narrowed. “If he’s a damned ghost, why can’t he help us solve the killings?”
“He doesn’t know,” Katie said.
“Why doesn’t he just ask the other ghosts?”
“Sean, I’ve tried to explain. They don’t know.” She turned away from him. “I’m just going to grab a cup of coffee quickly, all right?”
“Sure. Then I’ll get you over there. I’m running up to my room for a minute. I’ll be right back down.”
She went to pour herself coffee. Bartholomew leaned against the counter casually. “So?”
“So what?”
“Danny Zigler has nothing?” he asked.
“Bartholomew, if I knew who the killer was, I’d be announcing it to the world.”
Bartholomew was thoughtful. “So, Danny was taken by surprise, from the back, just like the others. Odd, though. I have a feeling that Danny knows something.”
“He’s not a talkative ghost. Except for…”
“For?”
“Last night, I had a dream, or a nightmare, whichever way you want to look at it. Danny was in it, and so were Tanya and Stella. First, I asked him about the books and the money. He received a threatening call-to drop looking into the books. Then, he found the money under his doormat. I don’t think that the killer wanted to kill him, but finally felt that he had to. Oh! He saw Stella before she died. Maybe the killer thought that he might have seen something.”
“But he didn’t.”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I begged them to help me.”
“And?”
“We went on a ghost tour together.”
“Danny did enjoy giving a ghost tour,” Bartholomew said.
“The dream ended at the hanging tree. Bartholomew, you must know something more. Let’s say that we’re figuring this thing correctly. The killer is an islander. Someone with an old grudge, trying to relive a past they don’t even really know. Can you think of anything?”
“Hey, it’s not a descendant of mine!” Bartholomew said defensively. “I was avenged.”
“By David Beckett’s ancestor. But what about Smith?” she asked.
“Do you know a Smith?” he asked.
“No,” she said with a sigh. “But decades-almost two centuries-have gone by.”
“You don’t think that the ghost of Eli Smith has come back, do you? I’m telling you, I’m a dammed good ghost, and I couldn’t sneak up behind someone, smother them and then strangle them.”
“There’s no ghost. There’s a human being out there doing all this,” Katie said.
Sean came quickly back down the stairs. His hair had been brushed. “Ready?” he asked his sister.
She nodded.
Bartholomew followed as they left the house, waiting patiently as Sean made sure that he locked the door. Katie picked up the newspaper and read the headline.
“Anything?” Bartholomew asked.
“No. Just the facts we already know.”
“No what?” Sean asked.
“No, there’s nothing new on Danny,” Katie said.
“Bartholomew asked first, right?” Sean asked with a groan.
“Sean, he’s real,” she said softly.
Sean squeezed her arm. “I believe you. Well, I believe something, anyway. Let’s get this straight then. You’re there, Bartholomew? Quit being a horse’s ass! Flipping my hair around is really beneath your dignity.”
Bartholomew puffed himself up. Katie thought that he was going to explode with anger.
He didn’t. He laughed. “Tell Sean that he’s all right.”
Katie did so.
Sean lowered his head, hiding a smile. “Let’s go.”
They walked the few blocks to David’s house.
Sean knocked on the door, stepped back, frowned and rang the bell.
Katie did the same.
“He’s not here,” she said with dismay. “Or, he’s not opening the door if he is!”
“Katie, there’s this modern invention. It’s called a cell phone,” Sean reminded her.
“Funny,” she told her brother. She pulled her phone out and dialed David’s number. He answered before it seemed to ring.
“Katie,” he said, sounding as if he were aggravated with himself.
“Hey. Where are you?” she asked him.
“With Liam,” he said briefly. He groaned. “I should have gotten those books out and given them to you.”
“I can go back to the library. They might have more copies,” she said.
Sean nudged her, glaring at her. “Well? Where is he?” he asked.
“Indeed, where the hell is he?” Bartholomew asked.
She covered the phone. “With Liam.”
“Great,” Sean said.
“Katie, Danny had the books-and you found them for me at the library. I’m not sure how many more the library will have. They’re research books. Look, I probably won’t be more than a few hours.”
“I want to start reading now. It’s worth a try. I’ll go to the library.”
“Wait. You don’t need to do that. You still have keys to the family museum, right?”