Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(26)

“Hank didn’t show, but the reading was very interesting,” Maryse said and proceeded to tell Sabine all the events of the morning, from her truck wreck to the list of equipment she was going to buy with her lease money.

Sabine hung on every word, laughing at some points and gasping at others. “Good Lord!” Sabine said when Maryse finished her tale. “What a day. Makes my entire life look simple and boring.”

“And that’s not all. In fact, as screwed up as all that is, that’s not even what’s really worrying me.”

Sabine stared. “You’re kidding me. There’s more?”

Maryse took a deep breath and pushed forward. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but I have to ask you a question. And I need you to answer me in all seriousness.”

“Wow. This must be heavy. You know I’d never hedge things with you, Maryse. Ask me whatever you need to. I’ll give you an honest answer.”

Maryse studied her friend for a moment. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “I need to know why a ghost would appear to someone when other people can’t see it.”

Sabine stared at her for a moment, then slowly blinked.

“Well, based on everything I’ve ever read or heard about, unless you’re a conduit, a ghost will appear if you have something to do with them.”

“A conduit—you mean like that kid in The Sixth Sense?”

“Exactly. Conduits are able to see a lot of ghosts, even if they’ve never met them before.”

“Okay. So if someone sees a ghost and they’re not a conduit, why would the ghost appear to them?”

Sabine scrunched her brow and gave her a hard look. Maryse gave her friend points for not reaching across the table to take her temperature. This had to be the very last thing Sabine would have expected from her.

Finally, Sabine cleared her throat and continued. “The commonly accepted theory on hauntings is that unless the ghost is stuck in a certain place, like a house or something, it’s out walking about because of unfinished business or because it doesn’t know it’s dead.”

“Unfinished business—like a murder?”

Sabine’s eyes widened. “Certainly being murdered might cause someone’s essence to stick around this world. Justice is a very powerful emotion. It sometimes overrides even death.”

Maryse nodded and considered everything for a moment. “So how does the ghost pick who it will appear to?”

Sabine shook her head, a puzzled expression on her face. “I don’t think the ghost has any say. I think it’s visible to someone who’s supposed to help and that’s it. If the ghost got to pick, then it would just appear to whoever killed it and slowly drive the murderer off the deep end. It couldn’t be much fun being hounded by a ghost.”

Maryse nodded. You think?

Sabine reached across the table and placed her hand on Maryse’s. “Where is all this going, exactly? This kind of stuff is so far beyond your usual fare that you’re really starting to worry me. I mean, first you want to attend that horrible woman’s funeral, then that weird inheritance, and now this?”

Before she could change her mind, Maryse leaned forward and looked Sabine straight in the eyes. “What would you say if I told you that I’ve seen Helena Henry—walking, talking, and still very dead?”

Sabine stared at her for a moment, obviously waiting for the punch line. When one never came, she removed her hand from Maryse’s, completely drained her wineglass and sat it back on the table, her hands shaking slightly. “Helena Henry appeared to you?”

Maryse nodded and told her all about her first sighting of Helena at the funeral and her subsequent visit to her cabin, then the disastrous will reading. She left off the breaking and entering part of her day. Sabine already had enough to absorb.

“Murdered?” Sabine sat up straight as she finished her tall tale.

“That’s what she says.”

Sabine inclined her head and tapped a long, black nail on the table. “Well, if she says it’s so, it probably is. I mean, what would be the point of lying now? Besides, if she’s still hanging around, then there’s obviously a problem.”

“That’s great to know and all, and very unfortunate for Helena, but why do I have to be involved in this? Why me?”

Sabine gave her a small smile. “Hardly seems fair, right? The most horrible human being you’ve encountered in your entire life, and now she shows up after death. What are the odds?”

“I don’t even want to know. I just want to get rid of her.”

Sabine turned her palms up and shrugged. “I don’t think you can get rid of her until you figure out who killed her. It sounds like that’s the problem.”

“But I don’t care who killed her.”

Sabine shook her head and gave her a sad look. “That’s not true, and you know it. You’re the fairest person I know. Don’t tell me it doesn’t bother you that Helena was murdered. I’m not buying it.”

“Unbelievable. I barely tolerate the living and now I have to be associated with the dead?” Maryse sighed and slumped back in her chair. “Okay, so maybe the fact that she was murdered bothers me…a little. But what am I supposed to do about it? I’m not the police. I’m a botanist. Studying plants does not exactly equip one to solve a murder.”