Free The First Ghost by Nicole Dennis Page A

looking to solve the crime myself, Ellie.”
    “It’s no trouble. It’s what I do. Do you have anything that belongs to her?”
    Another battle I couldn’t win. She was determined to show me what she could do. The production she creates of picking up impressions from objects makes me queasy. “I don’t think so.” Billy stirred under my feet. It was too warm in the kitchen, and he leaned against my leg panting. “Nothing but the dog.”
    “Can you get something? Something personal?”
    “Sure, but Corinne doesn’t know who killed her.”
    “That’s all right. I still might be able to get an accurate picture of the last moments of her life.”
    “I’m supposed to call her aunt in Omaha tonight. I’ll try to get some things. I can tell her I want some personal mementos.”
    “What are you going to do with the dog? He sure is a sweetie pie. Aren’t you, baby,” she cooed, rubbing his soft ears.
    I perked up. “You want him? He needs a home.”
    “Are you serious?” She looked truly delighted. “The kids have all been after me for a dog. I was researching Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, but I’m afraid they might shed. Julia wants a Bichon Frise, but Trinity is thinking poodle. Neither one of those shed, you know. Mackenzie wants a Chihuahua like Paris Hilton, but I refuse, simply refuse, to give in to a trend.”
    I promised to hand over the dog as soon as Corinne crossed over. I was feeling positively giddy, but as I looked out the window, I noticed a woman standing by the hearse. She was blond from a bottle with cheap clothes and a hard-bitten, been-there-done-that expression. She didn’t scan with the neighborhood.
    I blinked and she was gone, but my uneasiness remained.
    Eleanor babbled away. I turned back and tried to concentrate. “We really should be working as a team. If we put our talents together…”
    I pictured Mother’s face. “No publicity. I don’t want to hear my name in any interviews.”
    “Honestly, Portia, you’re as bad as Agnes.” Eleanor’s sister Agnes is a Sister, Sister Mary Esperanza to be exact, but I was hardly as reclusive as a nun who converses with the dead in the ruins of a Romanian nunnery.
    I rolled my eyes. “I don’t shun the world, El. I’m just not prepared for life in the public eye.”
    I looked out the window and for a moment I thought I saw a figure sitting inside the hearse. It could have been a trick of shadow and light. When I looked more carefully, the seat was empty.
    * * * *
    The feeling of impending closure buoyed me to the evening. “You know what to say?” Corinne asked for the zillionth time.
    “I’m sure you’ll remind me if I forget.” I dialed the number off my notepad.
    Billy sacked out by the fireplace, snoring and farting happily. How any creature so small could make so much noise was beyond me.
    The phone rang several times. “I don’t think she’s there,” I said.
    “Hello?”
    “Is this Susie Simpson?”
    “Of course it is. It’s her,” said Corinne, floating near my cellphone.
    I put a finger to my lips.
    “Why yes, it is. Do I know you?”
    “No, you don’t. I am...I mean, I was a friend of Corinne’s. I promised her--”Deep breath time. “I promised that if anything ever happened I would take care of Billy and make sure you were doing okay and stuff.” That sounded weak.
    “Cori’s friend? She never mentioned you. Did you work at the lab with her?”
    “No, we...uh...met at a bar.” I winced. That sounded like I had picked her niece up. “Through friends,” I added hastily. “We knew some of the same people.”
    “That’s so nice to hear. I thought she was struggling there in the city. She never mentioned friends.”
    Here was the hard part. “Corinne talked about you a lot, how much she loved and admired you. I thought you should know. In case she never told you. I know she meant to.”
    “I’m so sorry,” Corinne whispered. “I should have called her more.”
    “She says...she always said