Read Online Make the Ghost of It (Witch Woods Funeral Home Book 3): (Ghost Cozy Mystery series) by Morgana Best - Free Book Online Page A

“Did you know that Lewis did not have any family?” he said.
    I edged away from him. “Yes, Norbert mentioned that to me yesterday.”
    Theo made a sound that was halfway between a chuckle and the sound I imagined that someone would make if they were being strangled. “Most of the people here will be Lewis’s, um, well let’s just call them ex-girlfriends.” He sniggered, and then I remembered who he reminded me of. He looked just like a younger Mr. Burns from The Simpsons . At any rate, he was now Number Three on my Suspects List.
    “So, Theo,” I said, “you obviously knew Lewis very well, working with him.”
    Theo nodded. “Yes, I’ve known him for years and years. Do you have any security here?”
    I was taken aback by the question. “Why? Will I need them?” My imagination ran wild.
    Theo rubbed his hands together. “I think there could be a catfight if Mandy Holmes turns up. She was Lewis’s girlfriend before Violet Pendleberry. There’s no love lost between them.”
    I decided to be blunt. “I thought Violet was Lewis’s fiancée?”
    Theo continued to look around the room. “Yes, that’s right.”
    “Did Lewis know that she was having an affair with Norbert?”
    Theo turned his attention back to me. “Who knows? He wasn’t a clean potato himself, if you get my meaning.”
    I thought that over. It was as if Theo already knew that Norbert and Violet were together, but Lewis sure hadn’t. What if Theo was in it with Norbert? Or, on the other hand, perhaps he was just used to this type of thing from Lewis and his long succession of girlfriends.
    And a long succession of girlfriends was right. There were about twenty women in the room, all of them young and beautiful, and all of them casting nasty glances at each other, and even nastier glances at Violet. Norbert and Violet were doing their best to stay at the other end of the room.
    Just then, Basil burst through the door. He saw me at once and hurried over. “I’m so sorry I’m late, Laurel,” he said. He kissed me on the cheek, and my stomach did flip-flops.
    “Basil, this is Theo Derringer,” I managed to say.
    The two men shook hands. “What a terribly sad occasion,” Theo said. “One never knows when they might go. Here one minute, gone the next. Why, it could happen to anyone. I bet when Lewis woke up that morning, he had no idea that he would end up dead by the end of the day.”
    Basil and I just looked at him.
    Undaunted, he pushed on. “And was he staying with you, Basil?”
    “No, he was staying at a local hotel with his fiancée, Violet.”
    “I didn’t know that!” I said with surprise.
    “So Violet was in town when Lewis was killed?”
    Basil nodded. “Apparently so, from what the police said, albeit in a roundabout way. Norbert was also here, and staying in the very same hotel.”
    I saw Theo listening with interest, so I thought it best not to say anything more. So Lewis and Violet had come here together, and Norbert was staying in the hotel, too. That gave both Violet and Norbert access to Lewis’s parachute. So why hadn’t the police called either of them in for questioning?
    A woman walked past and smiled at Theo, and then gave Basil the once-over.
    “How did Norbert and Violet know to contact all these ex-girlfriends?” I asked Theo. “Surely Violet didn’t personally know all Lewis’s conquests?”
    “No, that was me,” Theo said. “As Lewis’s second in command, I had all the contact numbers of his girlfriends.”
    I was surprised by that. “Surely not?” I asked him. “You weren’t his personal assistant!”
    Theo’s face darkened. “Lewis often treated me like one,” he said, but then appeared to catch himself as he forced a smile.
    I looked up and saw Pastor Green trying to get my attention. “Excuse me, Theo,” I said. “I think Pastor Green wants to start the service now.”
    Theo walked down to take his seat at the front, while I took up my position at the back of the room. From