The Ghostly Grounds: Murder and Breakfast (A Canine Casper Cozy Mystery—Book 1) by Sophie Love

Author:Sophie Love [Love, Sophie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-08-16T22:00:00+00:00

***

When Alfred Ryker came into the house, Marie had a hard time picturing him as the sort of man who was picky about his oscillating fans and enjoyed cucumber water. But what really irritated her about him was that he seemed like a perfectly cheerful man…until you started speaking to him.

When he arrived, he carried only a single suitcase. He was dressed in a sportscoat and jeans. The black T-shirt beneath the sportscoat had small gray print across the chest that read: SKEPTIC. She guessed him to be about sixty, though it was hard to tell because of the long yet well-groomed beard. It was mostly gray, but still held some traces of its original black.

Two other men came in behind him. One was carrying equipment bags that closely resembled the bags Brendan had been carrying when he’d first arrived. The other man was typing something furiously into his cell phone.

“Mr. Ryker, welcome to June Manor,” Marie said. For a minute there, she’d nearly added Ghostly Grounds.

“Thank you very much,” Ryker said. “I must say that even from the outside, it seems like a very charming place.” He looked around, smiling. “It does have a certain gothic allure to it, doesn’t it? It’s very Edgar Allan Poe, I think.”

“Your room is ready. It’s the first room on your left when you get upstairs. And you are welcome to help yourself to coffee or any of the pastries on the dining room table.”

“Well, the room is technically for my assistant and cameraman.” He motioned the men forward and they came gladly. The man with the phone made an effort to look away from it, but it seemed painful.

“This,” Ryker said, indicating the man with the majority of the bags, “is Jackson Hanks, my cameraman and tech-guru extraordinaire. And this busy fellow with all of his attention on his phone is my personal assistant, Ryan Kellerman.”

“Yo,” Kellerman said, finally done with his phone and reluctantly tucking it away in his pocket. With the phone no longer in his hands, he regarded Marie with a smile and pushed his eyeglasses up on the bridge of his noise. Kellerman looked very much like a businessman whereas Hanks reminded Marie of some of Brendan’s fans—laid back and sort of chill. He had a surfer-dude vibe about him.

“Anyway,” Ryker said, “ I won’t be sleeping, I don’t imagine. But if I decide to do so, I can sleep in the bedroom floor. Now, tell me, if you don’t mind: would you happen to still be hosting a gentleman by the name of Brendan Peck?”

She wasn’t sure if she should out Brendan in such a way so she hesitated a moment. As it turned out, though, she didn’t need to answer. Brendan stepped into the foyer from the back hall, his arms folded across his chest.

“Yeah, I’m still here, Alfred.”

Ryker smiled warmly at Brendan. Had she never met the two men before, she would have assumed they were good friends who had not seen one another for a while.

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