about it.
âIs it legal?â
âBound to be. I figger itâll work, too. Seepyâs a professional.â
âA professional what?â
âGhost hunter. You know that.â
Rhodes took off his glasses, closed his eyes, and squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. âWhat do imaginary naked people have to do with ghosts?â
âNot a thing,â Hack said.
Rhodes put his glasses back on and leaned back in his chair. âHack, just tell the story.â
âYouâre mighty impatient lately.â
âI have a murder investigation to work on. That makes me impatient. Tell the story.â
âAll right, if youâre gonna be that way about it. See, Seepy got the idea from an ad he saw for some ghost repellent. He thought it might be something he could offer his customers.â
âHeâs not working the ghost-hunting job right now,â Rhodes said.
âNope, but heâs always thinking. You know how he is. That mind of his is workinâ all the time.â
Rhodes knew. âDoes ghost repellent work?â
âDonât matter if it does or not, according to Seepy. As long as somebody believes in it, thatâs as good as if it works.â
Rhodes was beginning to catch on. Seepy had solved a similar problem once before. âSo Seepy made some kind of repellent?â
âNudist repellent,â Hack said. âGot him a big spray bottle at Walmartâs and printed up a label. Ruth showed it to me. Looks real professional, like itâs the real thing. Sheâs gonna spray some of the stuff around all the windows at Oscarâs house and leave the bottle with him. She figgers thatâll solve the problem.â
âWhatâs in the bottle? Water?â
âWater that Seepy fixed up with some colorinâ and odor. Smells pretty good.â
Rhodes thought it might work. It would depend on Oscar. He turned his chair back to the computer and said, âI need to get this report done.â
âYou do that,â Hack said. âDonât mind me. Itâs not like Iâm doinâ anything important. Iâm just takinâ up space around here.â
When Rhodes was finished with the report, he called Ivy and asked if she wanted to go out to dinner. She said yes, and he told her that heâd pick her up when he was done with interviewing someone.
âWho?â Ivy asked.
âBilly Bacon and his wife. Iâll tell you about it later. Where do you want to eat?â
Ivy preferred healthy food at home, and Rhodes had even been persuaded to try turkey bologna. It wasnât his favorite thing. The good news was that when they ate out, Ivy was happy to eat things that she didnât often serve at home.
âWe havenât been to the Jolly Tamale for a while,â she said. âDoes that sound good?â
It sounded great, but Rhodes tried not to be let his enthusiasm show too much, even though visions of chiles rellenos danced in his head.
âItâll do,â he said.
After heâd hung up, he asked Hack if he wanted some Mexican food.
âYou gonna bring it to me?â
âSure.â
âItâll still be hot when you get here with it?â
âAbsolutely.â
âGuess thatâd be nice, but I donât want it. Lawtonâs gonna bring me a cheeseburger. I like a good cheeseburger âbout as well as anything.â
âDonât say I didnât offer.â
âBe better if youâd keep me in the loop.â
âIâll try to remember that,â Rhodes said. âCall Mika and have her come in tomorrow. She can check the cell phone to see if she can find anything useful.â
Mika Blackfield did the forensics work for the department. Sheâd come to Clearview with her husband, who was a pharmacist at Walmart. When sheâd applied for a job with the sheriffâs department and told Rhodes that she had a