Free Dummy of a Ghost (Novella) (Ghost of Granny Apples) by Sue Ann Jaffarian

the outside, the heavy feeling will remain.”
    “But even Shirley and Doug said they didn’t know of any other ghosts at the house,” Kelly reminded her mother.
    “Even ghosts don’t necessarily see other spirits,” Emma said. She pulled into a parking spot on the street about a half block from their destination and stopped the engine. “We really need to speak to Shirley and Doug again and ask specific questions. I’ll bet it might jar some information loose that they don’t even realize they possess.”
    Kelly and Emma both looked at Granny.
    “I told you, I’m on it.” The ghost disappeared. “Later.”

Chapter 9
    After dinner, Emma called Phil. They spoke on the phone almost every night when they weren’t together, but tonight Emma called a little earlier and from her office in the guesthouse. She put the call on speaker so Kelly could hear it.
    “Phil,” Emma said, “Kelly and I have a favor to ask.”
    “Shoot,” said Phil Bowers, who was at his condo in San Diego.
    “Can you run a background check on an Edgar Fairchild for me? He’s from Chicago but lives in Encino now. He’s African American and between twenty-five and thirty years old.”
    “Are you thinking of hiring him for the show?” Phil asked.
    “No,” Kelly answered for her mother. “He’s the partner of a good friend of mine and we think he may have something in his past that he’s hiding.”
    “An unsavory sort, then,” Phil said.
    “Not that we can see,” answered Emma. “He seems like a really nice young man, but we understand he’s had a rough past.”
    “What ghosts are you two chasing down now?” Phil asked, his voice his usual blend of amusement and concern when it came to ghosts.
    “We’re not chasing ghosts, Phil,” Emma told him. “The ghosts are the grandparents of Kelly’s friend Chris May, and they told Kelly that they think Chris is in danger. Edgar is Chris’s partner.”
    “They came to you, Kelly?”
    “Yes,” Kelly told him, “when I was at Elaine and Keith’s party yesterday.”
    “Oh boy,” he said, air whistling through his teeth during a slight pause. “So the thing in Boston last fall wasn’t a fluke.”
    “Doesn’t look that way,” Emma told him.
    “Well, here’s the thing,” Phil finally said. “Unless you can provide a social security number or at least a birthdate or driver’s license number for this guy, it’s nearly impossible to do a background check. I can run his name through Westlaw or Lexis and see what pops up, then eliminate any subjects that don’t fit the age and geographical range, but that’s about it.”
    Kelly gave Phil a quick rundown of what had happened since the party. When she was finished, Phil said, “It certainly does sound like those guys are covering up something. I’ll run the broad check and get back to you later tonight or tomorrow.”
    “I’ll be at the movies with Nate,” Kelly told him. “So just let Mom know.”
    “I will, sugar, but you be careful, you hear?”
    Kelly smiled. She had grown to love Phil Bowers like a second father and knew he considered her the daughter he never had. He could sometimes be overprotective, but she liked the secure feeling he gave her. Her own father, while he loved her, didn’t have that protective papa bear gene. “I will, Phil. I promise.”
    After the call, Emma and Kelly went back over their time in Encino with Emma jotting down a loose timeline of the events on a notepad. They had just put down everything they could remember when Granny popped in with Doug and Shirley.
    “As you requested,” Granny said, presenting them as if on a silver platter.
    “Thank you, Granny,” Emma said. “And thank you for coming, Doug and Shirley.” The husband and wife spirits seemed bewildered.
    “Is this allowed?” asked Shirley looking around Emma’s office.
    “What Shirl means,” said Doug, “is that we’ve never been away from the puppets before. Except to wander around Chris and Edgar’s place,