Nearly Departed, Max Schlienger [the gingerbread man read aloud txt] 📗

that – ” he stopped in mid-sentence. The picture in front of him showed Eric Palin and another man clasping hands, both of them with wide smiles on their faces. The former looked almost exactly as he had in the previous photograph, although he was holding himself up a bit straighter. However, it was the second man that caught Dennis’s eye. Even though almost fifty years had passed since the shot had been taken, there was no mistaking who it was.

It wasn’t Spinner in the picture. It was Harding.

“Oh, shit...”

Chapter Fourteen

“What is it, mate?”

Dennis turned to face Bobo, but his eyes stayed fixed on the photograph in his hand. “I think we’re in trouble,” he said quietly, his words reaching his own ears as if from the back of a deep cave. Bobo tilted his head to look at the picture, gently pulling it from between Dennis’ fingertips.

“Who’s that, then?”

“It’s Sam,” Dennis answered, his voice barely audible. “Sam Harding.”

“What, your shrink buddy?”

Dennis nodded dumbly. “He did set me up. The whole thing was a goddamned con!” The rest of the pictures started slipping in his hand. He must have moved to set them down, because he found himself standing across the room, near the entrance to the kitchen. He was dimly aware that Bobo was watching him, and that Spinner was craning his neck to see over the back of his chair.

“Boss?” Bobo prompted. “Are you alright?”

“Don’t you get it?” Dennis snapped. “Sam was Eric Palin’s partner! He must have known that Elspeth was hiring paranormal investigators, and he sent me in here as one.”

Bobo shook his head with confusion. “Hang on. I thought the lady found your advert in the paper?”

That was what Elspeth had said, Dennis thought. “Yeah, but you said it yourself, almost nobody reads the paper anymore. If he knew that Elspeth did, then it was only a matter of time before she saw my ad.”

“Patient bloke, is he?”

“Well, he has waited fifty years!” Dennis stormed back to Bobo’s side and glared down at Spinner. “And he hired this psychopath to stalk me!”

“Hey, wait a second!” protested Spinner. “I told you to leave Elspeth alone, remember? I was trying to keep you away from her.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you were just looking out for your precious niece,” Dennis sneered.

“I don’t have a niece!” The look on Spinner’s face was both pleading and enraged. “Elspeth is my friend! I live up the street from here!” The chair shuddered as he shook beneath his restraints. “We play Backgammon on Sundays!”

“She’s bloody brutal, ain’t she?” Bobo asked. Dennis shoved through the conversation.

“What were you doing at Sam’s office then, huh?” He took an angry step forward. “Why did you ask Luke about me?”

“Who the fuck is Luke?”

“Yeah, September,” added Bobo. “Who’s Luke?”

Dennis made an exasperated noise. “He’s a friend of mine. A bartender at Thoreau’s Tavern in the city.” A hidden detail clicked into place. “Sam was going to give him some money to cover a gambling debt. He must have hired Spinner to watch him, too.”

“That guy? The blonde kid?” Spinner scowled. “I don’t give two shits about him. That bar is one of Harding’s hangouts. I went there looking for him. Seeing your picture was an added bonus.”

“Aha!” exclaimed Dennis. “You were looking for Sam, huh? So you are working for him?”

“No, you idiot, you are!”

“I am not!” Dennis hesitated. That technically wasn’t true. “Not like that, anyway,” he amended.

“Let me go!” bellowed Spinner. He thrashed a moment longer before relaxing, and his fury seemed to dissipate. “Samuel Harding is not a nice man, kid. He’s been trying to get in this house since Elspeth’s parents died.”

“Yeah, and you’re helping him.”

“No,” Spinner insisted. “No, I’ve been trying to stop him.”

“By doing what?” Dennis waved a hand through the air. “Showing up at his office and threatening him with a toy?”

Spinner deflated visibly. “I can’t carry a gun anymore,” he sulked. “They dismissed me from the force after a perpetrator shot me. Nerve damage.”

“You look okay from where I’m standing,” said Bobo, a tad too cheerfully for Dennis’ taste.

“It’s fine motor control that’s the issue,” Spinner continued. “Without it, you can’t carry a gun, and that’s enough to disqualify you. I’ve been a private investigator ever since.” He looked up at Dennis. “See? That’s how I met Elspeth. She hired me to talk to her sister, and I found out that someone was trying to buy her house. It didn’t take much for me to work it back to Harding.”

Dennis folded his arms. “Yeah, whatever. Why follow me, then?”

“Your friend already said it. Elspeth saw an ad in the paper, and I dug around to find out who had posted it. By the time I got back from talking to Harding, she’d already called you.”

“Sam didn’t give me up, then.” That was something, at least, and it was a point in Harding’s favor.

“No.” Spinner’s expression fell back into a scowl. “He paid cash in person. It would have been a dead end if I hadn’t seen you at the office.”

“That was it?” Dennis didn’t believe it. “I could have been there for therapy.”

“He is pretty jumpy,” Bobo noted with a nod.

“Nobody ever visits during Harding’s lunch breaks,” Spinner answered, ignoring Bobo’s comment. “You had to be a friend of his.”

“But... but Evy remembers you.” Dennis immediately realized that the point didn’t make much sense, and his resolve began to slip.

Spinner shuddered. “That’s great. I don’t want anything to do with her.”

As if on cue, the ghost chose that moment to reappear. “Oh, well that’s nice,” she pouted. “Really, Malcolm, why must you be so cruel?”

“Goes with the job, I expect,” Bobo grinned. Evy turned her attention his way.

“Bobo, it’s nice to see you, as well, dear.”

Dennis’ head was spinning. “Just what the hell is going on here?” he demanded. Evy cocked an eyebrow at him.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, mister...?”

“He’s a doctor, actually,” corrected Bobo. “Doctor September.”

“I see.” Evy pressed her lips together. “Well,