Haunting at High Tide by Agatha Ball

Author:Agatha Ball
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery, halloween, beach town island seaside, clean read, female sleuth, sweet fun funny, holiday mystery, adventure, light romance
Publisher: Katherine Danley
Published: 2020-10-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Granny came down from upstairs, her mules clacking against the bottom of her feet, as she put on her rhinestone-encrusted, pumpkin-shaped earrings. "You want to come with me?" she asked. "The hardware store is on the way to your cottage."

"Isn't Richard coming?" I asked

"He's on the mainland talking with the loan officer about the sale," she said, and then joked. "I'm pretty sure he is hiding out so he doesn't have to deal with Ralph and this mess."

I had told Granny about the boys' desire to look at all the stuff discovered in the hardware shop. She was headed over now to see what was there and figure out next steps with Ralph, and whether or not that should include allowing two strangers to crawl around his storage room. I felt like she shouldn't have to go into that battlefield alone. I took off my apron and flipped the sign over to "Back at 5:00 PM" as Granny and I stepped outside.

Being a Monday, most people had gone back to work, but there were still a few tourists who decided to come enjoy the fall colors of our island in the daylight.

We walked down the Main Street and headed around the corner toward the hardware shop. We opened up the old wooden door and Ralph was sitting quietly on his stool, waiting for customers.

"Ralph!" Granny said, putting on the charm. "I hear you found a stack of stuff in your storage area."

Suddenly the door opened behind us and Tango walked in.

"Customers first," Ralph said to me and Granny as he turned to Tango. "What can I do you for?"

"I hear you might have a ghost," Tango stated.

It was totally the wrong thing to say, and I could see Ralph's face fall. "Of all the cockamamie..." he muttered. He asked Granny, "What can I do for you, Cindy?"

But then the door opened again and Echo came in. I could see Ralph get a little excited until Echo said, "Oh. It's you, Tango. Are you here about the poltergeist, too?"

"For the last time, there isn't a poltergeist!" Ralph practically exploded, waving his knobbly fists in frustration.

Tango stepped forward like he was taking control of a hostage situation. "Now listen, I know you are selling this property, but how about making yourself a tidy profit between now and then," Tango offered.

The mention of money seemed to have grabbed Ralph's attention. He rubbed his lower lip with his forefinger.

"What do you have in mind?" Ralph replied.

Tango presented the pitch like it was as easy as pie. "You let me bring my tour group into your space, maybe let me construct a couple of special effects upstairs, and you get a cut of all my ticket receipts."

Ralph squinted. "Special effects?"

Echo suddenly stepped forward. "Or you allow ME to bring in my groups and I respectfully leave your property the way it is and I give you a cut."

Tango countered. "I'll have to buy tools and supplies to build my special effects, which I will, of course, do from your shop.

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