The Ghost and The Haunted Mansion: A Haunted Bookshop Mystery

matter of time before he does.” His tone was snappish.
    Seymour shifted uncomfortably and shot Gilman a dark look. “Don’t be stupid, Harlan.”
    Brainert edged closer to me. “I’m not surprised Harlan’s gone negative,” he said quietly. “There’s bad blood between him and Seymour since Seymour decided to move out.”
    Bad blood? Did you hear that, doll?
    I frowned. “I thought maybe Seymour might reconsider the split and invite Harlan to move in, too.”
    Brainert shook his head. “Apparently Mr. Gilman took Ghostbusters and The Exorcist a bit too seriously. He’s heard the wild rumors about Miss Todd being frightened to death in this house, and he says he won’t take any chances.”
    Ask him if ol’ Harlan is in acute need of lettuce.
    “Brainert, do you know if Harlan is having any money troubles?”
    Brainert nodded. “I’m sure he is. With Seymour moving out, he’s asked Hardy Miles to be his housemate. Hardy’s still thinking about it, but I hear Harlan’s got some serious credit card debt.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that and I took a harder look at the fat man. Was that cane just a prop? Could Harlan really get around much easier than he was letting on? Could he have been the one to cut Seymour’s brakes for, say, a cash payoff from Miss Todd’s sister?
    My gaze drifted to Ophelia, who appeared to be wringing the life out of her tumbler of green tea. “Don’t discount your friend’s opinion so fast,” she told Seymour rather loudly. “This house could very well be haunted. It’s not outside the realm of possibility.”
    Seymour looked at her askance. “Do you really think it is? Haunted, I mean?”
    Ophelia scanned the room again. Her eyes lingered on me—or Jack, I couldn’t be sure. I shifted from foot to foot.
    Steady, baby.
    “There are spirits present,” Ophelia finally said with authority. “I’m not certain they are connected to the house, however.”
    While everyone within earshot began to murmur uneasily, I sighed with relief. The last thing I needed was for Ophelia to accuse me of traveling around with my own personal ghost.
    “Well,” Seymour said, “until I actually see an apparition, call me a skeptic. I mean, what does an actual ghost look like, anyway?”
    “Maybe like the spook on that hokey movie the other night. What was it called?” Leo scratched his beard. “The one on Channel Ten—”
    “Oh yes, that was The Screaming Skull ,” Brainert said before catching himself. He looked away, but it was too late.
    Harlan Gilman snorted. “ You actually watched The Screaming Skull ?”
    “I . . . I was only flipping channels,” Brainert stammered. “I just happened to see—”
    Seymour cackled. “One of the cheesiest horror films ever made. The ghost is just a lot of dry ice and a cheap anatomical skeleton. And I mean cheap ! You can actually see the wires holding it together, and the saw line across the forehead where you can remove the skull cap and look inside.”
    Everyone giggled. Everyone except Ophelia Tuttle.
    “Of course it all looked rather silly in the movie,” Ophelia said. “But I’m sure your reaction would be very different if you actually saw a screaming skull in your bedroom one dark night.”
    The laughter faded quickly.
    Ghoul Girl here sounds like she’s best friends with Skull and Bones—and I’m not talking Yalie social clubs.
    The conversation went dead for a moment (appropriately enough) and then (mercifully) the doorbell rang again.
    “I’d better get that,” Seymour said, running off.
    “Ophelia seems convinced this house is haunted,” Brainert said quietly to me.
    I gulped my drink. “Brainert, what exactly do you think about that sort of thing?”
    “Well . . .” Brainert stroked his chin. “Some of the greatest minds of Western civilization believed in the occult, even attempted to practice magic.”
    “Like?”
    “The poet Virgil. He was said to possess supernatural abilities. Then there’s John Dee, the English mathematician who was also the court astrologer for Queen Elizabeth the First. And did you know that Casanova, the legendary Renaissance lover, once summoned evil spirits inside the Coliseum? He wrote in his autobiography that malevolent ghosts followed him through the streets of Rome, bedeviling him for an entire night.”
    “Hear that, Jack?” I whispered.
    Back off, babe. It wasn’t me.
    “Of course, that’s just the ancient world,” Brainert continued. “If you prefer more