Ghost Mortem (Ghost Detective #1) - Jane Hinchey Page 0,15

led us straight here! And she has blood on her,” Ian declared. I couldn’t contain the eye roll. My eyes were really getting a workout today.

“Correct me if I’m wrong…” Galloway’s voice dripped sarcasm. “But didn’t Miss Fitzgerald call it in? That she found her friend like this”—he waved a hand toward the body on the ground—“and immediately called us. And the blood on her appears to be her own—from that nasty-looking scrape on her arm. Does that sound like a murderer to you?”

“She could be covering her tracks!” Dwight protested. “She killed him and then called us to throw us off the scent.”

“Audrey,” Galloway addressed me, “did you touch the body?”

I shook my head.

“Have you touched anything here?”

I shook my head again.

“And what brought you into the woods this morning?”

“I was looking for Thor. Ben’s cat.”

“Why?”

“Ben asked me to drop by to feed him.” It was only a small lie and I sent up a little prayer asking for forgiveness. And that they’d believe me. “I didn’t kill him. Why would I? He’s my best friend.” My voice wobbled and my vision blurred. Please don’t let me start crying now, I added to my prayer. My hands were restrained behind my back and I’d end up with snot dribbling down my face.

“Uncuff her,” Galloway ordered. Sullenly Dwight grabbed my arm and jerked me forward.

“Gently!” Galloway barked. Dwight spun me and I craned my neck to look at Galloway over my shoulder. His eyes were on Dwight and I could see a spark of anger in them.

“Good,” Ben said from beside me, making me jump. “Finally someone with two brain cells is here. I’m sorry you had to go through that, Fitz.”

I couldn’t look at him, so I turned my attention to the bark on the tree I was facing while Dwight took an unholy amount of time freeing my wrists. Eventually, it was done and I rubbed the skin where the metal had chafed.

“You could sue them for wrongful arrest,” Ben said softly. “Assholes.”

I glared at him as if to say, stop talking. For each time he spoke, I wanted to respond, and it was taking all of my faculties not to.

“You two go wait for the coroner out front. Show her the way when she arrives,” Galloway ordered the two inept officers. Once they’d left the clearing he came over to me. “You okay?”

I nodded. No. I was a bit of a mess, actually.

“I’m sorry about Ben. He was a good man,” Galloway continued and my eyes overflowed, tears spilling onto my cheeks. Galloway’s eyes zoomed in on me. “What happened here?” he asked, raising a hand to my arm and softly stroking the skin just beneath the scrape with his thumb.

“Fainted,” I choked, trying to hold myself together.

He considered me for a moment. “Go wait in the house,” he said. “I’ll come talk to you when I’m done here.”

“You need to tell him that you think I was killed in the house,” Ben interrupted. “He needs to know there’s a secondary crime scene.”

I cleared my throat and wiped my nose on the back of my hand. “You might want to check out Ben’s kitchen,” I sniffed. “When I got here, it reeked of bleach. That may not seem like a big deal to you, but Ben doesn’t use bleach. In fact, I doubt he owns any. He’s kind of a greenie. Was,” I corrected. “I thought it was strange. And I figured that might have been why Thor wasn’t inside, because of the strong smell. So I came out looking for him, but I don’t know his hidey holes, but, you know, if I was a cat, the woods seem like a fun place to hang out. And then I saw the tracks…”

Galloway nodded. “I’ll check it out. Officers are in there now. You can go inside—just don’t touch anything, okay?”

“Sure.” I began to head out when I remembered what Mrs. Hill had told me. “You might want to talk to the neighbor too. She told me she heard shouting coming from Ben’s house last night.”

“You talked to the neighbor?” Galloway paused, looking at me in surprise.

“Believe me, I’d have avoided it if I could. She’s of the nosy variety. Was over knocking on Ben’s back door as soon as I’d arrived, saying she needed to see Ben. I’m surprised she’s not here now, sticking her nose in.”

“Okay. Thanks, Audrey. Go ahead, I’ll catch up with you soon.”

I nodded and walked away. I heard Galloway talking on