Ghost Mortem (Ghost Detective #1) - Jane Hinchey Page 0,32

It was such a shame he was a nutjob. Today was his day off, hence why we'd been able to catch him at home. He was casually dressed in blue jeans and a grey T-shirt, neatly pressed. His brown hair was trimmed close at the sides, fashionably coiffed on the crown of his head, and he had a neatly trimmed beard. He looked around my age, give or take. He also wore a very nice cologne and I had to stop myself from leaning in to take a bigger whiff.

"I'm going to need something more...tangible," I prodded. "You said Ben had accepted your case? What exactly did he accept?" I pushed.

"Coffee?" Brett offered brightly, swiveling on his heel and taking three steps into his kitchen. His place was slightly bigger than mine in that his bedroom wasn't in his living room and it appeared he had a hallway. I never thought I'd have hallway envy, but here we were.

"Sure." Why not? A perk of the job I hadn't anticipated was free coffee. If all clients kept me caffeinated, I could be on a winner.

"So it's like this," Brett said, back to me while he prepared the drinks. "Like I said, I organize a lot of events. Like. A lot. And to make sure they run smoothly I attend each and every one, and that's how I discovered it. Snippets of conversations I'd pick up in passing, but over time...well, I started to keep a record."

I rolled my eyes. This guy was a nutso stalker. I wished Ben would hurry up and come back.

"I'm pretty sure they were having meetings. Of their coven."

"Their coven," I repeated.

"Yeah. Witches belong to covens. It was this same group of women, and I'd overhear them talking about witch stuff."

"Like what?"

"The moon. Crystals."

"Errr. Hardly proof that they're witches," I pointed out.

Brett shot me a glare over his shoulder. "I told you," he snapped. "I started keeping records."

"Okay?" I shrugged.

"Here." Brett thrust a steaming cup of coffee into my hand. "Lemme go get 'em." He shot out of the room and was back a couple of minutes later with an armful of journals, dumping them on the table. "Take a look," he offered. "You'll see."

Curious, I picked up a journal and flicked through it. Oh, good Lord. It was true. Brett had written down almost word for word snippets of conversations he'd overheard at events. I wasn't even sure that was ethical, as event planner for the hotel, that he was recording his guests. Well, sort of. Page after page of very neat handwriting.

"This is...impressive." I put the journal down.

"Thank you." Brett beamed, pleased with what he perceived to be praise.

"And did you tell Ben about these journals?" I asked.

Brett shook his head. "I hadn't had my first consult with Ben yet, other than to hire him, that is."

"And he accepted your case? That you wanted him to what? Prove that witches are real?" I really needed to get it clear in my head what Brett had wanted Ben to do for him.

"I wanted him to catch the witches," Brett said.

"Catch them?"

"In the act. Spellcasting and making blood sacrifices to further their own power." His face took on the same crazed look he'd had earlier.

"Right." I put my coffee cup down and was about to open my mouth to tell him we wouldn't be moving forward with his case when Ben strolled through the kitchen wall. I quirked a brow at him and he mimed talking on the phone.

"Oh, excuse me. My phone's vibrating," I said to Brett, pulling out my phone, pretending to swipe the screen and quickly holding it up to my ear before he could see the screen wasn't lit. "Delaney Investigations," I fake answered, wandering over to the living room window where Brett's apartment overlooked a parking lot.

"Don't ditch the case," Ben said.

"Why?"

"Because you're right. I think there's a connection with the Firefly Bay Hotel. I don't want you to cut him loose just yet."

"What sort of connection?" I lowered my voice. "What did you find?"

"Aside from all the religious artifacts he has scattered throughout the place, he's got all of the staff schedules pinned to his wall, with pins and strings linking them. Too bad I can't snap a photo for you."

"Yeah, that'd be handy. Any idea why?" Ben shook his head and I lapsed into silence while I mulled over what he'd told me. So Brett was what? Investigating his team members? And made a connection? I needed to get a