Ghost Wanted Read Online Free PDF Page B

looked haunted.
    â€œSorry, Joe.” I truly was contrite.
    His bony face squeezed in concentration.
    â€œI’m not laughing at you. But no one’s ever accused me of being a madam.”
    He looked up. He looked down. He looked left. He looked right. He whirled, peered through the door at the dark newsroom. “Okay, smart-ass. I’ve heard about ventriloquists. Come on out, wherever you are.”
    I eased toward the door. Maybe if I moved really fast.
    His head whipped around. Perhaps he saw the movement of the papers in his peripheral vision.
    I rose higher, papers firmly in hand.
    He watched the papers with a peculiar expression. He blinked four times. “They’re up there. They can’t be up there. This is crazy. Maybe I’m crazy. Maybe I need to think things through. I’ll work for a while, finish that feature about the dig on the Mackenzie ranch. Interesting. If you like bones. I got a feeling in my bones that something will break tomorrow on the funny business at the library. Maybe there’ll be a body in the library. That’d top today’s big news. The
Bugle
will be out right on schedule at two p.m. tomorrow. Even without a body, I’ll have a lead story with an update on the investigation. Tomorrow is Friday. Yeah, I got everything straight—except for the papers up by the ceiling.”
    This was one of those moments that Wiggins simply hasn’t encountered. It was time to invoke Precept Six: “Make every effort not to alarm earthly creatures.” Even if I could evade Joe’s outstretched hands and escape with the
Bugle
s, I shouldn’t leave him bewildered and uneasy. I landed behind his desk and swirled into being. I hoped I appeared nonthreatening in a varicolored turtleneck, gray slacks, and gray alligator flats. The socks were in multicolored stripes for a gay note.
    He took a deep breath. “Were you crouched behind the desk? Who the hell are you? How’d you make those papers stay up by the ceiling?” He slowly approached the desk, stepped into a circle of light.
    I liked his face, long and bony with deep-set eyes, high cheekbones, that crooked nose, and a strong chin. He looked intelligent, abrasive, and alert despite uncombed thick curly black hair, eyes still blinking away sleep, and beard-stubbled cheeks.
    â€œEthel made me do it.” I couldn’t resist.
    He looked startled, then he laughed. “Okay. Let’s start over. I’m Joe Cooper.” He held out a blunt-fingered hand.
    I was wary, ready to dissolve and swoop away with my prizes, but I grasped his hand and we shook. “Theresa Lisieux.” I anglicized Saint Thérèse’s baptismal name. “I’m a visitor to Adelaide.”
    He made a gentlemanly gesture with his hand toward the ratty chair behind the desk. “Sit down and tell me about it.”
    I gave him what I hoped was a beguiling smile. “You’re trained to ask questions and get the whole story. It will be easier on both of us if I keep it brief. I had no intention of causing you any distress tonight. My sole objective was to get copies of this week’s
Bugle
. If I recall, the newspaper is free to students and visitors?”
    He nodded.
    â€œIn that case, perhaps we can wish each other well, and I’ll take the papers and go.”
    He folded his arms. “You got one thing right: I ask questions. Why didn’t you drop by and ask for copies in the daytime?”
    â€œI needed them tonight.” This was going to be difficult. I tried for another smile, but his stare remained demanding. “I need to know about the odd episodes at the library.”
    â€œYou got a big bet riding on the answers? I can give it to you quick: A resident spook has turned nasty. What’s it to you?”
    He spoke so derisively of spooks. . . .
    This conversation wasn’t productive. I had to distract him and make my escape. “That’s