Read Online Ghostly Graveyard (Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery Book 17) by Kathi Daley - Free Book Online Page A

As I can go to Zimmerman Academy with Alex and Pi?”
    I hesitated. We’d discussed the matter with all the kids and I’d thought Scooter understood why he wasn’t participating in the Academy, but apparently I was wrong on that front.
    “I didn’t think you wanted to go to the Academy. In fact, I specifically remember you saying you wanted to be in Tucker’s class.”
    “I do want to be in Tucker’s class, but he got an A on his test too. We both want to go to the Academy.”
    “Why don’t we see how things go this year and then we can take another look at it in a year or two?” I suggested. “I know Miss Maxwell is very excited to have you in her class, and she depends on me to be class mom. I don’t think we want to let her down.”
    “Can’t I do both? Pi and Alex do both.”
    Scooter had a point. Both Pi and Alex went to public school for half a day and then to the Academy in the afternoon.
    “Yes, but Alex is in middle school and Pi is in high school. I don’t think it would work to do the half-day thing in elementary school. Maybe when you get into middle school we can work something out.”
    Scooter frowned, but he let it drop.
    “Did Miss Maxwell give you the spelling list we needed?”
    “Yup.”
    “And did you find out about the field trip?”
    “She said she was going to e-mail you the information. I think it’s in a week. Maybe two.”
    “And did she give you a list of what we need to bring for the class party on Friday?” I asked.
    “It’s in my backpack. She said punch and cupcakes would be fine, but I want to do goodie bags too.”
    “Goodie bags?”
    “Little bags like we had for my birthday, only with something scary on the front and things like candy and rubber spiders inside. Everyone does cupcakes, but I want us to have the best party.”
    “I think we can do goodie bags,” I agreed. “We can stop off at the costume shop if you want. I noticed they had a whole area with stuff for Halloween parties.”
    Scooter smiled. “Okay.”
    I made a left and headed back into town.
    “What’s in the box?” Scooter asked, as he noticed the box on the backseat for the first time.
    “I’m not sure. Charlie and I dug it up at the old mine. We’re going to take it home and open it. Want to help?”
    “Okay. After we get the spiders and stuff.”
    We bought a whole bag of candy, spiders, plastic teeth, and other trinkets, then headed home. I gave Scooter a snack and went in search of tools to open the box. It had a sturdy lock on it, but I knew Zak had something in the shed that would cut through the lock. Zak actually had a lot of tools, which he used mainly for his holiday decorating obsession. When Scooter and I had pulled up we’d noticed the work he’d started on the yard that morning. Zak not only wanted the inside of the house to have a Halloween feel but the outside as well. It had actually been Zak’s decorations and my destruction of said decorations that had led to my identifying a killer the previous Halloween. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein would work their magic again.
    Just looking at the Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein figures gave me the chills. Sometimes you think you know someone and then you realize you never really did at all. I didn’t want to think that Duncan’s killer was known to me, but experience had shown that most victims of violent crime were attacked by someone they knew well.
    “Did you find it?” Scooter asked when I returned to the house.
    “I did.” I held up the bolt cutters.
    It took a little elbow grease, but I managed to get the box open.
    “Wow, look at all that stuff,” Scooter exclaimed.
    The first item at the top was a large manila envelope, which was filled with photos of maps, blueprints, and documents. If I had to guess, taking photos of the archives in the county offices was what Duncan had been doing when Willa left the room to answer the phone. Fortunate coincidence or did Duncan have a partner? 
    Below the first envelope was