Ghost Mortem (Ghost Detective #1) - Jane Hinchey Page 0,10
the pantry and looked around the kitchen, hands on hips. “Where did they use the bleach? And why?”
“Do I have to point out the obvious?”
“Well yeah, I guess you do, because, Mr. I-used-to-be-a-cop-and-now-I’m-a-PI, none of this comes naturally to me. Put me in front of a spreadsheet and I’ll be all over it, but this?” I indicated his kitchen. “No clue. So tell me, Sherlock, what am I looking for here?”
He looked contrite. “Sorry, you’re right. My bad. You’re looking for blood. I suspect I was killed here and someone cleaned up the mess with bleach. We have to hope they missed a spot. It’ll be small—minuscule—and easily missed.”
I blanched. His blood. I mean, it was perfectly obvious, only it hadn’t been for me. What did I think I was doing, standing in his kitchen with latex gloves on, playing detective? I needed to call the cops, let them deal with this. Seeing the panic on my face, he stepped up close, so close a chill emanated from him, making me shiver.
“Take a breath.” His voice was firm and calm. I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath through my nose, felt my lungs expand, and held it for a few seconds before slowly releasing it through my mouth. “Good girl. You’ve got this. You’re smart—and you’re not alone. I’m right here with you.”
I opened my eyes and blinked, gathering myself.
“Right. Stand back, Sherlock, you’re giving me chills.” I waved him away and he obediently took several steps backward. “So, where would you suggest I look, ‘cause standing here, I’m seeing nothing.”
“Get your phone. You’ve got a flashlight app, right?” I nodded. “Then get down on your hands and knees. Look along the baseboards and under the lip of the cupboards. Because of the bleach, I wouldn’t expect to get anything viable off the floor, but blood has a tendency to splash around.”
I’d left my bag in his office so I hustled back to retrieve my phone and then spent the next ten minutes crawling around on his kitchen floor. So far, nothing. I sat back on my heels, letting the blood rush from my head and my eyes idly drifted over to Thor’s food and water bowls. Something was off with them. I cocked my head.
“What is it?” Ben asked, following my line of sight. “Ah! Good eye!” He grinned, rushing to the bowls. “They’ve been moved. Water goes on the left, food on the right. And look, kibble on the floor. Thor loves his food, he’d never leave kibble on the floor.”
I chewed my lip and joined him. “So someone moved them—in a hurry, causing some of the kibble to spill. And look, this one’s soggy. The water spilled too.”
“Pick them up, look underneath,” Ben urged. Carefully I picked up the water bowl and moved it to one side. Nothing but a couple more soggy kibble nuggets. But when I picked up the food bowl, I gasped. One small, tiny, drop of blood. Dried and brown. Easily missed, easy to mistake for kibble at first glance.
“Yoooo Hoooo!” A woman’s shrill voice called from the rear sliding door, followed by the sound of the glass being tapped. Letting out a yelp, I dropped the food bowl, hurriedly covering the drop of blood.
“What does she want?” I hissed, trying not to move my mouth as I met the eyes of Ben’s neighbor, Ethel Hill. Damn it, I thought I’d managed to sneak under the radar and avoid her detection. Should have known better.
“Don’t be so hard on her.” Ben rested a hand on my shoulder and I swiped his icy cold grip away. “She’s a widow. She gets lonely.”
Sighing, I clambered to my feet and crossed to the door, ripping off the latex gloves and stuffing them into my back pocket. I flicked the lock and slid it open but blocked entry with my body. “Mrs. Hill,” I greeted her. “What can I do for you?”
“Good morning, Audrey, how wonderful and relaxed you look.” She eyed me up and down, clearly finding my jeans and T-shirt lacking. “I wanted a word with Ben, please.”
“He’s not here.” I crossed my arms to let her know I meant business when it looked like she was considering forcing her way inside. We couldn’t afford to let her contaminate the crime scene.
“Where is he?” she demanded, eyes darting past me as if expecting to catch me out in a lie and find Ben sitting at the table.
I shrugged, not sure how to answer