Read Online Southern Charm by Stuart Jaffe - Free Book Online Page B

And why are you coming clean now?"
    "'I'm telling you all this because I did some checking of my own in the Other.'"
    Drummond said, "He means the ghost world."
    "I know what he means," Max said.
    "'I came to you because you're the only ghost detective around. Or researcher, if you prefer. But as things started moving, I thought I ought to know more about you folks. So, I asked around about Drummond. When I learned of his being cursed by Hull and all, then I knew I could trust you with the truth.
    "'As to the Morning in Red painting — I first heard of it about twenty years ago. Corkille caused my murder, and that's not something I can forgive. My wife spiraled into a sadness that claimed her. Once our son had reached fifteen, my Clara killed herself. My son, a boy I never met in life, became a violent and abusive man. Without his father to guide him, he turned to a criminal's life. So, you see, Corkille's damage to me went far beyond the theft of a painting. He destroyed my family. I spent many years looking for him in the Other. I wanted to hurt him, but he's always eluded me. And then a few decades ago, I heard he searched for this particular, odd painting.
    "'That's how I learned about it — I heard Corkille wanted it. He's been looking hard — hard enough that I found out about it. So, whatever it is, it's important to him. Enough to get too noisy about it. It must be worth quite a lot and so I want it.'"
    "You sent us to Melinda Corkille to get us started on the right track."
    "'Yes.'"
    Max walked the room with no destination. He just needed to move. He tapped his chin and licked his lips. "I'm confused. What do you want to do with this painting? You can't sell it. Even if I did it for you, it might not be worth all that much. Besides, money is worthless to you."
    "'It's enough to deny Corkille what he is desperate to get. I don't know why he wants it, but I want him to have to come to me to get it. It may seem petty, I know, but if your life had turned out like mine, you'd spend hundreds of years plotting such revenge.'"
    Drummond said, "Give the guy a break. As revenges go, this one is mild. I've seen enough blood-spattered walls to know that hatred can get real nasty."
    Something was wrong. Why was Drummond acting so nice? Max focused on Drummond but couldn't get a sign from him. "Fine," he said. "You have anything else for us?"
    "'I don't think so. If I think of anything, I'll let you know. And I'll be available. Don't worry."
    "We trust you," Drummond said. "You relax. We'll find that painting for you."
    Sandra looked up from the chair. "He's gone."
    "What's with you?" Max asked Drummond. "You're not really going for all that."
    Drummond slid into the client chair, propped his feet on the desk, and opened his arms like a conqueror. "Of course not. But you've got to learn how to be nice sometimes. This guy, if we came in bullying him, he would've seen us like another one of Hull's men. He said it himself — he's a coward. I just played nice while you were being all aggressive."
    "Are you saying we just played Good Cop/Bad Cop?"
    "You didn't know that's what we were doing?"
    Max turned away but he caught the amusement on Sandra's face. He tried not to get angry or have any reaction to his embarrassment. Drummond saved him by clapping his hands together once and jumping into the air. "Okay. I think we need to pay a few visits."
    Sandra helped by following along with this get-back-to-work attitude. "What do you have in mind?"
    Though Max did not look at Drummond, he heard the hesitation, and it chilled his skin. "Old Jasper there had a few good nuggets to share," Drummond said. "The one that I keep hearing is that all of this is tied to Hull. In particular, to William Hull. Did you notice the way Jasper reacted when we were talking about how Hull had me cursed?"
    "What reaction?" Max said turning to Sandra.
    She said, "I couldn't tell you with him sitting right here, but he got very tense. If he wasn't already a