The Ghost and the Femme Fatale - Haunted Bookshop 04 by Alice Kimberley

Author:Alice Kimberley
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery
Published: 2010-06-16T23:00:00+00:00

"I will. But first we have to take a look inside Dr. Lilly's new book. I'm betting it will give us a clue why someone wants her dead."

Brainert scanned the sales floor. "Where is the book? I don't see it on display."

"Because of what happened to her, we decided to keep the shipment boxed up in the storeroom." I waved at Aunt Sadie and called to her. "If you need me, I'll be in with the stock."

She nodded and went back to ringing up a customer's purchases. When I turned back to Brainert, Seymour was walking up to us.

"Hey, Parker, did she tell you?" he called. "Pen was run down in the woods by a mad biker!"

A few customers curiously looked our way.

"Keep your voice down, Seymour," I whispered.

"I call it as I see it," he said with a shrug then glanced at Brainert. "So? You in on the case?"

Brainert frowned. "It's a case, is it?"

"Sure," said Seymour. "Pen's running the investigation, and I'm her right-hand man."

Brainert rolled his eyes. "You have a right hand, Seymour. That's all I'm willing to concede."

"I have a fist, too, Parker. You want me to show it to you?"

"Stop bickering!" I commanded. "Just be quiet, both of you, and follow me."

I led the pair into the stock room and closed the door behind us. The cramped space smelled of ink, paper, and cardboard. The boxes delivered from San Fernando University Press were stacked where our delivery man had left them. I ripped open the top carton, gave one book to Brainert, one to Seymour, and took one to look at myself.

The three of us fell silent for the next five minutes as we examined Dr. Lilly's newly published work. As she'd promised in her speech at the theater, the dust jacket of her book featured the poster from Wrong Turn, which meant Hedda Geist's strikingly beautiful image dominated the cover. Her blonde hair flowed over her hourglass curves, encased in the shimmering silver gown she'd worn in the movie—the one that had gone missing from Gotham Features's wardrobe, if I could trust the dream that Jack had given me.

I flipped the book over. There was no text on it, only a large color photograph of Dr. Lilly—very unusual for an academic book. I opened the front, read the flap copy, and my jaw dropped.

"This isn't a film study," I said, finally breaking the silence. "Yeah," agreed Seymour. "Looks like a biography of Hedda Geist."

"You're both mistaken," said Brainert. "It appears to me that Murdered in Plain Sight should be filed under true crime."

"What are you talking about, Brainiac?" Seymour asked.

Brainert shook his head. "You two don't know the first thing about speedy evaluation. Contents reveal the outline, then skip to the last few chapters for the conclusion." He tapped his copy of the open book, his finger running down the middle of one page after another. "From what I gather, Dr. Lilly has written an expose that accuses Hedda Geist of the calculated murder of Irving Vreen back in 1948.

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