Read Online A Ghostly Undertaking by Tonya Kappes - Free Book Online

eyes and plunged his hands in his uniform pants pockets.
    â€œTell him!” Ruthie’s hand flew up in the air and she stomped around. “You can help him and get closer to him at the same time,” she chirped.
    â€œYes. I see Ruthie,” I blurted. I could see on his face that he thought I was two cups of crazy. Scratch that. Make it a full pot of crazy. There was no hiding the crazy now. “She . . . she’s standing next to you in hot-­pink pajamas and kitty cat slippers.” I pointed to the left of him.
    He jumped right, facing what to his left. “Th . . . th . . . there?” He stuttered and pointed to the empty space in front of him.
    He reached down, grabbed the chair and held it like a shield between him and Ruthie.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œPink pajamas and kitty slippers?”
    â€œHot pink.” I took the chair from his grip and put it back where it belonged.
    Ruthie bounced around in joy.
    â€œBut that’s not what she was wearing when she died.” He ripped the Velcro pocket open on his uniform jacket and pulled out his notebook. “Right here, she was wearing a black button-­up cardigan, flat black shoes, pink capri pants and a sleeveless blouse under the cardigan.”
    Ruthie listened to the list of items she had been wearing when they found her. “No, that is not right.” Ruthie refuted what he was saying. “I was in bed and heard a noise. I went to the top of the steps and hollered for Zula. That’s when someone pushed me.”
    â€œWhat? Is she talking to you?” Jack questioned me. I was turned in Ruthie’s direction and paid him no attention.
    It was difficult to have two conversations. One with the living. One with the dead.
    â€œEmma Lee?” Jack Henry was trying to get my attention. I was sure I looked crazy, looking at thin air, when I was actually watching Ruthie.
    â€œShe said that she was in her pj’s when she heard a noise. She went to the top of the stairs and that was when someone pushed her.” I conveniently left out the Zula part, because Ruthie and I had already established that Granny was telling the truth by her eye-­twitch method. Plus, I didn’t want to give Jack any more information that could hurt Granny.
    â€œAre you telling me that someone took the time to change her out of her pajamas after they killed her, and then put her in regular clothes?” Jack eyed me and then looked at the space next to him as if he was giving Ruthie the same look.
    Ruthie nodded.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œBut why would they do that?” He asked a very good question.
    â€œI don’t know.” I paced in front of the desk between Jack and Ruthie. Glancing at her, and then at him. “You are the sheriff, not me.”
    I snapped my fingers.
    â€œWhy would someone take the time to change her clothes?” I grabbed a pen and my notebook. I wrote down what Ruthie had said, word for word, except the part about Granny.
    â€œAsk her.” Jack nodded.
    â€œAsk her what?”
    â€œAsk her if someone switched out her clothes.”
    I looked at Ruthie. I didn’t have to ask her. “She can hear you.”
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. “When I died, I followed the signs that told me how to get on the other side. Once there they told me to go back. By the time I got back, I was here.” Ruthie stomped a kitty slipper on the ground.
    â€œShe said that she went somewhere in the universe,” I waved my hand in the air, “and they sent her back. When she got back, she was here.”
    He threw back his head and let out a great peal of laughter.
    â€œWhat?” I shook my head. “You think I’m crazy and this was all a big joke to you. Well, I’m not crazy Jack Henry, Sheriff Ross. So go on. Call Doc Clyde and tell him I’m all primed for the nut house!”
    â€œStop.” He was bent over, holding his stomach. His