to burn them, one knob at a time, for seven consecutive days.
And the color of each candle varied, depending on the nature of the wish. Yellow was associated with success, green with money, red with passion and romance and pink with love.
That wasn’t the part that was cracking me up. What I found so hysterical was that Marty had chosen the pink candle (decidedly the most… fleshy of the colors) and placed it against a black background, with the words ‘Seven Knobs for Seven Brothers’ as the slogan.
“McFly, it looks… it looks like an advertisement for a gay musical porn!”
Marty frowned down at the sample, squinted at it, his brow furrowed in deep thought. “What do you mean?”
I sighed. “Seven knobs for seven brothers?”
“Oh… hmm. I guess I didn’t… think of that angle.”
And then we both started laughing. I mean, how could we not?
Marty’s expression cleared, all the furrows in his face disappearing like someone had taken an iron to them. The expression reminded me so much of Finn, it actually stung a little. RJ was taking him on another Big Foot hike today. The big man had started bringing candies and s’mores in the event they came back empty-handed, as they always did. At least, there was still a reward for trekking through the cold.
“I’ll give your logo another shot,” Marty continued. “In the meantime, can we change subjects and talk about a case that’s giving the guys and me a run for our money?”
“Sure,” I said with a quick nod. “Did you try the banishment potions yet?”
He nodded. “We tried all three of them and nothing worked.”
Hmm, that was surprising. And it had to mean this ghost of his was a strong one. I swallowed hard.
“Have you met Layla Clemmons yet?” he asked in a low, terse voice, almost as if he were afraid of being overheard.
“No. Should I know her name?”
“Probably not… unless Finn has mentioned her? She teaches seventh-grade math at his school, and she’s a very sweet woman.”
“Yeah, Finn hasn’t mentioned her.”
Marty nodded. “Anyway, she’s had a rough shake lately. Her husband died of a heart attack just after she took in her sister, Barbra, and two nieces who are right around Finn’s age, Hannah and Allison.”
“Barbra?” I repeated as a memory of my first customer hit me. Barbra had come in looking for something to help with her sleeplessness and anxiety. She, too, had had her house foreclosed on and was living with her sister, with her daughters.
“Yeah.” Marty faced me quizzically.
“I think the same Barbra came into my store. She was in a pretty bad way and needed something for sleeplessness and anxiety. I guess that was owing to the haunting?”
“Probably.” Marty nodded. “Anyway, the story gets worse.”
“I’m guessing it has something to do with a recalcitrant ghost?”
Marty nodded again. “Layla thinks an evil spirit attached itself to the house after her husband, Danny, died.”
“Okay. She doesn’t think it is Danny doing the haunting?”
He shook his head. “I asked her the same thing, but she said Danny was very loving and kind in life and she couldn’t imagine him coming back to haunt them all in death.”
I nodded. “Hmm, maybe his death opened some sort of ghostly portal or something, attracting a much worse entity?”
“I mean, I guess,” Marty said with a shrug. “Anyway, shortly after Danny passed, mysterious holes started cropping up outside, in the back yard.”
“Holes?” I repeated, frowning.
“At first, Layla figured it was moles. But, then the holes started appearing inside. Floorboards torn up, holes punched into the drywall, ceiling panels missing, that sort of thing. After the antique copper ceiling in the kitchen was vandalized, things really started going off the rails.”
“How so?”
“Winds started sweeping through the house at random intervals, even when all the windows and doors were locked. Furniture was smashed and a voice kept screaming in the dead of night. Henner and I went over to try to persuade the ghost to move on, but the ghost box only picked up a few intelligible words.”
“And you tried the banishment potions according to my exact instructions?”
He nodded. “Followed them according to your directions, even double checking as we went to make sure we didn’t screw anything up. I think all the potions did was further piss off the ghost.”
My muscles were clenched tightly and goosebumps strained so hard against my skin, it hurt. “It sounds like a poltergeist,” I said, my voice flat. “I’ve dealt with one before.”
“The ghost that scared Finn, right?”
I nodded mutely. It felt