K.J. Emrick - Darcy Sweet 12 - Death at the Wheel Read Online Free PDF

you can believe it.   I’ll bring pictures of the baby as soon as she’s born.  I promise.”
    “She?   Oh, Grace knows the sex of the baby already?”
    “No, not yet,” was all she said, leaving her reasons for believing Grace’s baby was a girl unspoken.  “I’ll let you get back to work now, Helen.  See you later.”
    “Bye, Darcy.  Thanks for stopping in.”  She shivered again as she said it, and that time Darcy thought she felt a chill in the room too.
    As she was walking down the hallway to the front door Darcy wondered about the temperature in Helen’s office.  Cold spots were a known part of spiritual activity.  Darcy had seen spirits appear in a lot of different ways.  In a gust of wind, or with a wailing noise that could only be heard in her mind, or silently popping into view.  One ghost had even insisted on floating upside down on the ceiling.  In many of those sighting s the air temperature would drop just before the spirit appeared.  She didn’t understand the reason for it.
    It was simply a fact that was part of Darcy’s strange life.
    The Mysterious is all around us, she repeated to herself with a little quirk of a smile.  Especially here in Misty Hollow.
    If there were cold spots in Helen’s office, and if there was some sort of presence in the Town Hall that seemed to be angry with Darcy whenever she came into the building, was it possible that the spirit hanging around the place was trying to haunt Helen?
    It seemed more important than ever that she find the time to investigate whatever spirit was inhabiting the old Town Hall.
    Later.   Right now she had to take care of her shop and give her statement to Jon.  Hopefully the accident would be something he and the police could handle on their own without her help.
    ***
    After paying for sheets of plywood and ordering a new window for her shop from Marion Davis down at the hardware store, Darcy pointed her bicycle back toward the Police Station.  It was after the noon hour, now, and she was getting hungry.  Maybe she should call Izzy and have her order them some lunch.  The day sure had gotten away from her in a hurry.
    In a town the size of Misty Hollow there weren’t that many police officers on the force.  Darcy had counted twenty-two of them once, including the chief and a few sergeants and of course the two detectives.  Well, three detectives now that Wilson Barton had been promoted.  Usually there were only four or five working during the day, two at night.  That changed when a major incident like this morning’s accident happened.
    Extra officers had been called in to assist.  Sitting at Jon’s desk inside the station where most of the actual work was done, Darcy could hardly believe how packed the place was.  Chief Joe Daleson was briefing a group of five officers over on one side of the room in his usual strong, brusque voice.  He was a stocky man, and even though he stood half a foot shorter than most of his men he was still a commanding presence.  Other officers in their dark blue uniforms answered phones or wrote reports or took statements from people.  Just like Jon was doing with Darcy.
    “You’re sure you didn’t see any part of the accident?” he asked her for the fourth time.  “Not even before the collision?  Maybe the cars out on the street?”
    Darcy gave the same answer she had each time before.  “No.  I didn’t.  Izzy and Lilly and I were at the back of the store when it happened.  The first thing I saw was my store window breaking.”
    Jon grimaced.  “That must have been scary.”
    “I’m all right.  I’m a tough girl.”
    “Yeah.  I know.  Tougher than most.”  He softened his words with a wink, and Darcy couldn’t help but smile at him.  He dropped his pen on his desk as he continued.  “Nobody saw anything.  Sometimes people just aren’t looking where things are happening, I guess.  None of the shops have cameras pointed that way either.  Guess we’re out