Free Little Ghost Lost (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 5) by J.D. Winters Page A

Moore’s murder. She’d already heard about it from a friend, but was shocked to find out I was in any way involved.  
    “Stay out of it,” was her advice, and I knew it was tinged with the fact that she didn’t want me to have to deal with the captain.  
    “And by the way, you’ve had a couple of calls from people wondering how things are coming with the Wine Festival planning. Maybe you ought to give them a call. I put their numbers by the kitchen phone.”
    “Okay.” I sighed, knowing I just wasn’t going to have time to deal with that now. I had to gear up for the law enforcement interview I had coming up. Once I got past that, I would think about the rest of my life.  
    I had a piece of cheese and a cup of coffee, said goodbye and headed out.  

    I dropped by Mad for Mocha and parked there. Jill came out and we walked over to the station together. It was a lovely fall day and the breeze off the ocean countered the afternoon heat, making it perfect.  
    “This is glorious,” Jill said, reacting to the weather. She fluffed out her skirt and smiled as she lifted her face to the sunshine. “Don’t you just love living here in North Destiny Bay?”
    Did I? That was not such an easy one to answer. True, the weather couldn’t be beat. It was hardly ever too cold, hardly ever too hot. And the sun shone almost daily, making you smile even if you didn’t want to. But there were things here that chipped away at the perfection of it all. First among them—the ghosts. Then there were all these murders that kept landing on my doorstep.  
    But I didn’t want to rain on Jill’s parade.  
    “I do love it here,” I said, and realized I probably meant it just as I said it. “But you’ve got to remember—I grew up in Hawaii. Paradise. You’ve got to walk an extra mile to get better than that.”
    “Uh huh,” she said. “Then how come you’re still here?”
    Good question. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. I gave her a sideways grin. “But the fact that my best friend just happens to live here might have something to do with it.”
    She beamed at me. “Good answer, sweetie! For that, you get extra chocolate in your mocha when we get back.”
    Then she sobered a bit. “What do you think Roy will be asking when we give our statements?”
    I shrugged. “The usual I guess. What did we see and when did we see it? What do we know? What do we think? Then a nice thank you for your service to your community, and a ‘So long, see you next murder’.”
    “You really think it will be that simple?”
    “Let’s hope so.”
    We walked up to the front of the station and turned into the building, and suddenly there was Tom Hatchett, a bit wild–eyed, trapping me between the newsstand and the elevators.  
    “I need to talk to you,” he said in a whispering raspy voice. “I need to know…”
    “No!” I said, raising my hands as though to defend myself and backing away from him. “I’m here to give my statement. That’s all. I don’t want to talk.”
    His eyes looked a little crazed. “I need to know….”
    “No.” I shook my head emphatically and skirted the man, heading for the reception area. “Leave us alone.”
    Jill stuck with me and we left the man behind.  
    “What a weirdo,” she whispered, looking at me sideways.
    I nodded. “Scary,” I supplied, then we slipped into the office and went straight to the woman at the desk for instructions.  
    She looked down on a list. “Miss Jill DeJong?” she said. “You’re to go to room 6. Detective McKnight will take your statement.” She looked up at me. “Miss Mele Keahi? Captain Stone will see you in room 8. Just down the hall.”
    I groaned. Why me? Why couldn’t I see Roy and at least know that the person taking my statement believed what I said? But it was not to be. Resigned, I walked down the hall like a condemned prisoner and knocked on door number eight.  
    “Come in,” he called.  
    I went in.

Chapter Seven

    A half