Ghosts in the Garden: A Magic Inn Paranormal Mystery by Danielle Garrett

Author:Danielle Garrett [Garrett, Danielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-25T16:00:00+00:00

After leaving the Palmer’s house, Harmony and I decided to rewind a bit and start at the true beginning of things. We holed up in the sitting room, with my laptop and a couple cups of coffee, and found that some kind soul had created a database with digitized versions of the newspaper articles from the times.

It took some work, but eventually, we found enough articles to piece together the gist of what had happened and what was reported at the time. As Rachel’s parents had already told us, Rachel died after falling from a remote cliff overlooking the harbor. The place wasn’t marked on any trails, official or otherwise, and likely for good reason. A local geologist was quoted in a couple of the articles, attesting to the crumbly terrain, which would be even more unpredictable after rainfall, and considering Rachel died in the spring, rain was a guaranteed factor.

Other articles unfolded with a more human interest lense, featuring snippets of conversation and quotes from Rachel’s parents, as well as kind words from various teachers and coaches, and classmates.

“It all seems pretty open and shut,” Harmony said, clicking away from the last tab she’d opened upon finding the digital archive.

I exhaled, staring at the desktop image of the ocean. “Is there a chance it was an accident?”

“I don’t see why not,” Harmony replied. “Although, the whole thing about the investigative article and the boyfriend does seem pretty damning.”

I inclined my head. “True…”

“So, let’s say her dad is right,” Harmony said. “The boyfriend lured her out to some random cliff, shoved her over the edge, and it all gets chalked up to an accident. It stops the article from coming out, and his family’s legacy—”

“And his inheritance,” I added.

“—and the inheritance, are safe,” Harmony concluded. “But there’s no evidence to back that up. And if the ground was soft, like the geologist said, it seems like there would have been footprints or something.”

I frowned. “Unless the Harrington’s swayed someone into covering it up.”

“I don’t know.” Harmony shook her head. “That seems kind of far-fetched, don’t you think?”

“It’s a small town,” I replied with a slight shrug. “And, technically we don’t know that the police didn’t find footprints. We just know they ruled it as an accident. Maybe they found prints, but after they talked to Sean and got his alibi, they figured case closed. Not worth tangling with the Harrington’s when they were still left with nothing but circumstantial evidence.”

“Right. I guess that makes sense.” Harmony considered this for a moment, chewing the corner of her lower lip. “So where do we go from here? Should we try to talk to Sean? Maybe he has his own theory.”

“We could. Is there some kind of magic that could help us? Like a—I don’t know—truth potion or something?”

Harmony exhaled. “Boy, that’s a long story. The short answer is yes, there is, but the SPA made them illegal a few years back, lumping them in with all other forms of mind magic.”

I blinked.

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