Free Secret Hollows by Terri Reid Page B

his mom. I don’t know if he was supporting her or if she was kind of helping him. He was a little slow.”
    He floated across the dining room and looked into the living room to check on Timmy. A half-smile flitted over his lips as he watched the young ghost mimic the actions of Batman as he sped through the sewers of Gotham City on the back of the BatSki-boat. Timmy, his hands in front of him holding on to an imaginary steering wheel, twisted and swayed to the action on the television.
    I guess you’re still the same whether you’re dead or alive , Mike thought.
    Ian walked over and stood next to him, watching the boy. “I loved that movie,” Ian said. “Actually, I loved Catwoman.”
    Mike turned to him and smiled. “Yeah, I put out extra food for our barn cats for months, hoping they’d pass the word and she’d show up at our place.”
    Laughing, Ian nodded. “Brilliant idea, that.”
    Reassured that Timmy was content, they both went back to the table.
    “How’s he doing?” Mary asked.
    “Better than me,” Mike responded.
    “Tell me about Emil,” Bradley said. “What did you think when you found out he was the killer?”
    Shaking his head, Mike shrugged slightly. “I couldn’t believe it was him. Emil was our friend. Emil had always worried about us – sometimes even driving the bus up our driveways in bad weather. He....”
    He sighed deeply. “I guess some people are better at fooling you.”
    “Yes, and sometimes investigations are wrong,” Mary said. “Timmy told you it wasn’t Emil.”
    “Yeah, but it’s been a long time,” Mike replied. “He could have forgotten.”
    Ian shook his head. “Ghosts do forget things, but as odd as this may sound, they remember when they forget.”
    “Come again?” Mike asked.
    “Ghosts will be able to tell you when they forget something,” he explained. “They will know they don’t have the information. For Timmy to so adamantly state it wasn’t Emil leads me to believe Emil didn’t do it.”
    “Okay, but he could have been disguised,” Mike said. “He could have not looked like Emil.”
    Mary stood and walked over to the refrigerator, pulling out another round of Diet Pepsi. “That’s true,” she replied slowly. “But he didn’t say the man was masked or his face was hidden. He said he couldn’t remember the man’s face. But perhaps he’d be able to remember the man’s voice. Did Emil have a unique voice?”
    Nodding, Mike paused, considering her question. “Yeah, he was a little slow, so his speech was, you know, a little staggered.”
    “So, he’d know if it were Emil because of his voice,” Ian said.
    “Sounds to me that Emil might have been framed,” Bradley said.
    “I can’t believe this,” Mike said, shaking his head again. “All these years in prison and he’s innocent?”
    Bradley took a quick drink of his soda. “Well, we don’t know if he’s innocent yet,” he said. “But, it certainly seems that we should be looking into the details of the murders.”
    “It also means that there could be someone out there who has gotten away with murder for more than twenty years,” Mary said. “So, we need to be discreet until we can gather enough information to convict him.”
    “Yeah, we don’t want him to get wind of another investigation and decide to leave town,” Bradley agreed.
    Mike looked up suddenly. “Hey, no problem,” Mike said. “My uncle, Chuck, is now the Chief of Police in Lena.”
    “You’re kidding?” Mary said.
    “No, he joined the force right after the murders,” he explained, “said he wanted to protect the kids in the community. I just figured he was tired of working the farm with my dad. But, he said he was determined to keep kids safe.”
    “That’s good to know. When the time is right, I’ll give him a call,” Bradley said, “and see what kind of information he can share with me.”
    “I’ll go talk with Linda at the Courthouse tomorrow morning,” Mary added. “Since it was