The Ghost and The Haunted Mansion: A Haunted Bookshop Mystery

time to fix her sleek, sun-kissed hair and perfectly apply her makeup.
    “Hello, April,” I said, rising. “How have you been since the séance the other night? I was worried about you.”
    She didn’t answer. Instead, her turquoise gaze shifted to Jim Wolfe, who refused to look up or even acknowledge her presence.
    “Who’s your other guest?” she asked.
    “Oh, come on, April,” I said. “You know Jim Wolfe. In fact, you used to do Jim’s bookkeeping when you lived in Boston.”
    April shook her head. “No, you’re mistaken. I never met him before.”
    “In fact, Jim was just telling us a funny story about how you convinced him to sabotage Seymour’s brakes the night you learned that Mr. Tarnish here inherited Todd Mansion instead of your mother.”
    “I’m leaving.” April took a single step and bumped into a wall of Seymour. “Sit down,” he said, backing her into a chair.
    “No, I—”
    “Sit down!” Seymour barked, and she dropped into the seat.
    “What’s this all about?” April demanded, submerging her obvious fear with some quickly mustered arrogance.
    “It’s about murder, Mrs. Briggs,” I said. “The murder of your aunt, Miss Todd. It’s also about Timothea’s restless spirit, which still haunts this house.”
    April’s glossy mouth twisted into a disgusted sneer. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
    “I saw the ghost, April,” Jim Wolfe said, speaking for the first time. “Miss Todd is with us now. She won’t rest until you admit your guilt.”
    April’s eyes narrowed. “This is some sort of sick joke, isn’t it?”
    Just in time, I heard a rushing sound, like a wind blasting through the room. Yet we felt no current of air and no curtain stirred.
    “What’s that noise?” April asked.
    Jim Wolfe met her nervous gaze. “She’s coming,” he said ominously.
    “Who’s coming?” April’s voice cracked.
    “Why, Miss Todd, of course,” I said.
    “What!” she cried, her voice just on the edge of panic.
    The lamps in the room flickered and then went out. Now the crimson blaze in the fireplace was the only illumination.
    “Miss Todd wants you, April,” Seymour said. “She told me so herself. Timothea won’t rest until you confess your crime.”
    The howling intensified, and over the noise we heard the sound of a woman’s sobs.
    “Look! It’s Miss Todd’s ghost!” Jim Wolfe shouted, pointing to the staircase.
    April whirled and her eyes went wide when she saw the silhouette floating down the steps. She gasped. “It can’t be.”
    “It’s her, I tell you!” Wolfe cried. “Look at the clothes. The tiara on her head! It’s the ghost of Miss Todd!”
    On cue, an eerie, scarlet glow illuminated the figure on the staircase. Not enough light to reveal any detail, just enough to give the impression of a supernatural presence.
    Jim Wolfe shrank back on the couch. Then he clutched his throat with both hands. “She . . . she’s killing me,” he rasped. “April!”
    “Jim, this is a stupid trick!” April cried. “Can’t you see that?”
    “My heart,” Wolfe gasped, reaching into his jacket as if to clutch his chest. “You have to tell them or I’ll die!”
    “Jim! Snap out of it!” April shouted.
    “Confess!” he demanded.
    “What’s happening to you?” April howled. She tried to get out of her chair but Seymour pushed her back down again.
    “No,” she rasped, staring in horror as Jim Wolfe began to choke and cough. Then he brought his hands out of his jacket and covered his mouth with them.
    “He needs help!” April shouted at Seymour. “Call an ambulance!”
    Seymour held April back as she watched Wolfe wail and convulse and slump back onto the couch. His hands dropped limply to his side, and bloodred gore gushed out of the man’s mouth and rolled down his chest.
    “No! No! Help him! Please!” April shouted.
    “You know what the spirit wants!” I said. “We know already, April! Jim told us!”
    “Yes! All right! Yes!” April yelled. “I killed Miss Todd. I used the stuff in the secret room under the house to frighten her to death. Now please , get Jim an ambulance!”
    Suddenly the room was filled with light. April jumped up and lurched toward her lover. Strong hands reached out and grabbed her before she could make it to Wolfe’s side.
    “What! Who?” April sputtered.
    Eddie Franzetti snapped handcuffs around the struggling woman’s wrists. Chief Ciders stepped out of the darkness, joined by Deputy Bull McCoy from the