Olivia doubted she would tell her sister, Shanice, how she had spent the previous evening. While Shanice had accepted Olivia’s stories about her adventures in astral projection, she suspected Shanice might wonder if her younger sister was actually experiencing a mental breakdown. She wouldn’t blame Shanice, because even she was finding it difficult to believe two ghosts had babysat her Thursday evening while playing cards. Witnessing those cards floating around hadn’t helped her accept what she had just learned. Instead, it made her question her own sanity.
Eva had left before sunrise, and only Marie remained by Olivia’s side and was now with her as she walked to her car, preparing to head off to the library for her first day on the new job. When she reached the car, she peeked under the vehicle, checking to see if the bomber had returned. Convinced nothing suspicious had been attached to the underside of her vehicle, she stood by the engine, wondering if the bomber might have put the mechanism under the hood. If so, how could she check? Just opening the hood might trigger the bomb—if there was one.
Marie stood by her side, watching. When Olivia initially looked under the car, Marie assumed she was looking for Max. After all, he had been under the car before. But when Olivia began staring at the engine and absently chewing on her lower lip as if in deep contemplation, Marie had an aha moment.
“You are looking for another bomb, aren’t you?” Marie asked, knowing the woman couldn’t hear her. “I can understand why you’re reluctant to open the hood. Let’s see if I can help.” The next moment, Marie stuck her head through the hood and was annoyed to find it was too dark to see anything.
Marie pulled her head out of the engine and looked over at Olivia. She did the only responsible thing she could do before opening the hood to check for a bomb. She sent Olivia flying over the fence to Marlow House, depositing her in the middle of the yard. After placing Olivia at what she believed a safe distance away, the engine hood popped open.
Dazed, Olivia found herself sitting in the middle of Marlow House’s side yard. “What just happened?” she muttered, getting to her feet. The next moment, an invisible force picked her up and sent her flying over the fence, back into her own yard, and this time set her on her feet in front of her car, its hood open.
“What are you doing, Marie?” Olivia heard Heather call from the other side of the driveway. She looked up to see Heather walking over from next door.
Still confused, Olivia looked at Heather. “Did you see what happened?”
“Yes, I did. Marie sent you flying next door and back again.” Heather turned her attention to the other side of the car and started talking as if someone was standing there. “Well, you’re lucky she didn’t faint again… You sure?… I suppose I can understand.” Heather stepped closer to the car and looked at the engine. After inspecting it, she reached up, grabbed hold of the engine hood, and slammed it shut.
“What is going on?” Olivia demanded.
Heather turned to her. “Marie said you were worried about another bomb, and she just wanted to help. Good news. There is no bomb.”
Olivia wasn’t sure how she felt knowing a ghost sat in her passenger seat, going to work with her, to keep her safe until they felt the bomber had no reason to try again. At least, that was how Heather explained it all. Had Heather not been getting ready to go to work herself and witnessed her flight over the Marlow fence and back, Olivia doubted she would be on her way to work right now. Instead, she might be checking into a mental institution.
When she arrived at the library, Josephine greeted her with a part-time employee who was filling in for Betty until they hired someone. Josephine took Olivia into her office to discuss the head librarian’s job in private.
“Are you okay, dear?” Josephine asked after noticing Olivia seemed distracted and kept glancing around the office as if looking for someone.
Olivia smiled weakly at Josephine. “I’m just a little out of sorts. This week has been stressful.”
“I’m so sorry your first week in Frederickport has been, well, I imagine something of a nightmare. Is it true someone put a bomb under your car?”
Olivia nodded. “Yes. Fortunately, it didn’t go off.”
“Do you have any idea why someone would want to hurt you?”
“You mean kill me?”
Josephine cringed. “I didn’t want to say it that way.”
“That’s what would have happened had the bomb gone off. But I suspect whoever killed Betty placed the bomb on the car, and that’s what the police think, too.”
Josephine frowned. “Why would they do that?”
“Someone told the police a woman who looked like me was with Betty right before she died. Right in front of my house. This person is probably convinced it was me, and I think the police did too, at first.”
“And they don’t now?”
Olivia shook her head. “No. They have video footage from the airline showing me getting on my flight, proving I was thousands of feet in the air when Betty was killed. But the killer, whoever he is, thinks I was with Betty right before her death, and is obviously worried I might have seen something I shouldn’t have. Someone from the police station must have mentioned I was seen with Betty before they saw that video. And whoever they told must have said something to the killer.”
“Oh dear.” Josephine gasped. “That might have been me!”
“Excuse me?”
“I was told someone who looked like you was seen with Betty right in front of your house. I might have said something to someone, and it got to the killer. Oh dear, I could have gotten you killed! I am so sorry!”
Josephine’s phone rang. Flashing Olivia an apologetic grimace, she answered the call. When she hung up a moment later, she said, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave you alone in a little while. That was Police Chief MacDonald. They have more questions for me.”
Brian sat with Josephine in the interrogation room, silently cursing the chief for telling him, right before Josephine’s arrival, how much she looked like Blanche Devereaux from The Golden Girls. He hadn’t noticed it before, and now he couldn’t stop seeing Blanche, and waited for the prim Josephine to say something sexually provocative. He shook his head at the absurd notion and focused on the interview at hand.
“Have there been any breaks in the case?” Josephine asked before Brian asked his first question.
“No, but it’s still early in the process. And I have a few more questions I need to ask you. First, the last time we spoke, I asked if you knew of anyone Betty was seeing? A romantic involvement?”
“I know for a fact she wasn’t seeing anyone. That morning, when she was doing the inventory at my house, I made us some coffee, and we chatted a bit. I said something in jest about how her new promotion might cut into her love life, and she laughed, said that wasn’t a problem; she didn’t have a love life.”
“What about any recent love interests?” Brian asked.
Josephine shrugged. “We didn’t discuss those kinds of things. Aside from my joke, I didn’t pry into her personal life.”
“But you knew she once dated Kenny?”
Josephine arched her brow. “Kenny our old janitor?”
“Yes.”
“Who told you that?” She then smiled and said, “I bet it was Millie Samson.”
“It wasn’t true?”
Josephine gave another shrug. “Like I said, I didn’t pry into her personal life. But Millie did say something to me about seeing Betty and Kenny having lunch in Seaside. Even claimed they were holding hands. But no, I don’t believe there was anything going on between the two. You should talk to Kenny.”
“I have.”
Josephine started to say something but stopped. She studied Brian through narrowed eyes and asked, “He told you they had a relationship, didn’t he?”
Brian shook his head. “I really can’t say.”
“Oh! Millie was right!” Josephine slumped back in her chair.
“The last time we spoke, you didn’t mention Kenny had a record.”
“I honestly didn’t think to mention it. I assumed you probably already knew, and if you had questions about it, you would have asked me. Maybe I was wrong. Wrong about everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was with Olivia Davis this morning at the library. It’s her first day at work. We talked about someone putting a bomb on her car, and she told me the bomber was probably Betty’s killer, and that whoever the killer is, they believe Olivia was with Betty right before the murder, and they’re afraid she might have seen someone. But of course, Olivia wasn’t there that morning. She told me how the airline video proved she was on the flight at the time of the murder, so she couldn’t have seen anything. I knew someone who looked like Olivia was seen with Betty that morning. I was questioned about it. And I foolishly told some people. It’s possible one of those people told the killer.”
“And who exactly did you tell?” Brian asked.
“Kenny, for one.”
“When was that?”
Josephine shrugged. “I don’t remember what day exactly. Since the murder, I haven’t been able to keep things straight. But I ran into him at the grocery store, and we talked a moment about Betty, and I said something about the person seen with Betty before the murder and how much she looked like our new employee.”
“Do you remember his response?”
“He didn’t really have one. Not really.”
“Did you mention where Olivia Davis lived?”
“I suppose.”
Brian frowned. “You suppose?”
“In a roundabout way. Because the woman seen with Betty was standing at the gate of Olivia’s new house, on the same street where they found Betty’s body.”
“Did you tell anyone else?”
“That same day, I ran into Becca and Dave Hammond. Umm, I might have said something to them.”
“About Dave Hammond, do you know what his relationship was with Betty?”
“I know he was flirty with her, but then, Dave Hammond tends to be a flirt, which got him into trouble before.”
“Do you think they had any sort of relationship?”
“Oh, goodness no! Betty and Becca were friends. I can’t see Betty doing that to her friend; plus, I always got the feeling Dave’s attention made Betty uncomfortable. Of course, it’s not like I saw them around each other very much. It’s just the impression I got the few times I saw them together.”
When Brian finished the interview with Josephine, he walked her to the front office and was surprised to find Danielle chatting with Joe in the waiting area. After Josephine said her goodbyes and headed for the exit, Brian joined Danielle and Joe.
“What are you doing here?” Brian asked Danielle.
“Walt’s writing, and Joanne is on a cleaning frenzy, so I thought I’d do a little shopping, and while out, stop by and see if there are any breaks in the case. It’s nerve-racking knowing the killer is still on the loose.” She paused a moment, glanced at Joe, and then looked back at Brian and said, “And Joe was telling me about Charlie’s weird letter.”
Brian nodded. “Yes, he let me read it this morning.”
Danielle glanced at the door where Josephine had just walked through and then looked back at Brian. “I see Josephine was here. Did you get anything new from her? Something that might help solve this?”
Brian shrugged. “Not really. But that person Millie was talking about who she insinuated worked at the library. It wasn’t Josephine. Josephine felt Dave’s attention made Betty uncomfortable. She wasn’t encouraging it.”