tomorrow."
"No go," she said to Theo , returning to the living room. "They're all tied up tonight with a wreck . I'll call Ralph first thing tomorrow and I'm sure you can see Dewey then."
"Can you let me know as early as possible?" Theo stood and pulled his wallet from his hip pocket, extracted a business card , and handed it to Immy. "Call my cell. I'll be at the Best Western in Wymee Falls."
"You're perfectly welcome to our davenport," said Hortense. "If you'd desire that alternative."
"No, I'll be fine."
After he left, Drew stood up and thought for a moment.
"Why is the man all blue? Doesn't he got any other color clothes?"
"Allblue is a location," said Hortense. "I presume his clothing was adorned with stripes whil st he resided there."
"I like st w ipes," said Drew, and returned her attention to her Barbies.
Immy studied her ghost book after Drew went to bed and decided it might be possible for her to exorcise the house. The book had been a good buy. It spelled out the different types of ghosts: doppelg ä nger, a duplicate of a living person; poltergeist, mischief maker but not connected with an actual person; vard ø ger, a Norse ghost who does things immediately before a real person does them (that would be handy for a fortune teller, she though); gjenganger, a Scandinavian spirit of someone risen from the grave, but not really ghostlike, more human like; and wrait h, a bad omen with a cloak and no face . She decided Mrs. Tompkins didn't fit any of these descriptions . She was delighted that t he book had a list of items needed for ghost hunting , and instructions for getting rid of ghosts . It stress ed that getting rid of ghosts isn't called exorcism, that's something different involving a priest. But the riddi ng techniques seemed like things she could do herself, once she made contact with t he spirit .
She'd talk to Jersey Shorr again about a rent reduction if she could make the ghost leave the house . Or maybe she'd talk to Vance. Yes, that would be better.
***
As soon as Immy woke up on Tuesday, she called Ralph and told him that her new-found cousin would be in to see his father. Ralph assured her that Dewey was still there. He didn't have any bail money.
"I don't want to press charges," said Immy. "It's okay that he was sleeping in my house."
"That's not really the issue. He was squatting on property that doesn't belong to him, or to you. He's already been charged with trespass. I think they're looking at him for murder since he was there when the guy was killed."
"You mean I don't have any say-so? What about the owner of the house?"
"I know they're looking for him. He should know what's going on. "
"Oh for...I'll find the owner for you. The real estate people have to know where he is." Something pinged in the furthest, murkiest reaches of her mind, but she couldn't quite get it.
"You'd think. If they do, they're not telling any of us. How can you find him when the cops can't?"
That was a good question. She did have a book on finding people, or persons, rather. And she was taking a course in it. This would be a good test. She might even call it a case. The Case of the Missing Landlord. She'd work on it tonight. The thought of her own Uncle Dewey in jail since last Friday bothered her.
At her lunch break, she sped across town to Jersey Shorr's office. It was her lucky day. Vance was there and Jersey was out. Besides wanting a rent reduction and the location of her landlord, s he needed to get things with Vance onto a better footing.
Vance raised his handsome head at her entrance and smiled. Good sign.
"I need to find out something, Vance."
"No ' H i, how are you?'" He gave a cute pout. It made the cleft in his chin even more evident.
Immy grinned and sat in the chair next to his desk. "O kay , how are you? Would you like to see the rest of the house some evening?" Maybe the upstairs? Where the beds are?
"Yes, I would. Tonight?"
"Nooo." She thought she'd better play hard to get a little
"No go," she said to Theo , returning to the living room. "They're all tied up tonight with a wreck . I'll call Ralph first thing tomorrow and I'm sure you can see Dewey then."
"Can you let me know as early as possible?" Theo stood and pulled his wallet from his hip pocket, extracted a business card , and handed it to Immy. "Call my cell. I'll be at the Best Western in Wymee Falls."
"You're perfectly welcome to our davenport," said Hortense. "If you'd desire that alternative."
"No, I'll be fine."
After he left, Drew stood up and thought for a moment.
"Why is the man all blue? Doesn't he got any other color clothes?"
"Allblue is a location," said Hortense. "I presume his clothing was adorned with stripes whil st he resided there."
"I like st w ipes," said Drew, and returned her attention to her Barbies.
Immy studied her ghost book after Drew went to bed and decided it might be possible for her to exorcise the house. The book had been a good buy. It spelled out the different types of ghosts: doppelg ä nger, a duplicate of a living person; poltergeist, mischief maker but not connected with an actual person; vard ø ger, a Norse ghost who does things immediately before a real person does them (that would be handy for a fortune teller, she though); gjenganger, a Scandinavian spirit of someone risen from the grave, but not really ghostlike, more human like; and wrait h, a bad omen with a cloak and no face . She decided Mrs. Tompkins didn't fit any of these descriptions . She was delighted that t he book had a list of items needed for ghost hunting , and instructions for getting rid of ghosts . It stress ed that getting rid of ghosts isn't called exorcism, that's something different involving a priest. But the riddi ng techniques seemed like things she could do herself, once she made contact with t he spirit .
She'd talk to Jersey Shorr again about a rent reduction if she could make the ghost leave the house . Or maybe she'd talk to Vance. Yes, that would be better.
***
As soon as Immy woke up on Tuesday, she called Ralph and told him that her new-found cousin would be in to see his father. Ralph assured her that Dewey was still there. He didn't have any bail money.
"I don't want to press charges," said Immy. "It's okay that he was sleeping in my house."
"That's not really the issue. He was squatting on property that doesn't belong to him, or to you. He's already been charged with trespass. I think they're looking at him for murder since he was there when the guy was killed."
"You mean I don't have any say-so? What about the owner of the house?"
"I know they're looking for him. He should know what's going on. "
"Oh for...I'll find the owner for you. The real estate people have to know where he is." Something pinged in the furthest, murkiest reaches of her mind, but she couldn't quite get it.
"You'd think. If they do, they're not telling any of us. How can you find him when the cops can't?"
That was a good question. She did have a book on finding people, or persons, rather. And she was taking a course in it. This would be a good test. She might even call it a case. The Case of the Missing Landlord. She'd work on it tonight. The thought of her own Uncle Dewey in jail since last Friday bothered her.
At her lunch break, she sped across town to Jersey Shorr's office. It was her lucky day. Vance was there and Jersey was out. Besides wanting a rent reduction and the location of her landlord, s he needed to get things with Vance onto a better footing.
Vance raised his handsome head at her entrance and smiled. Good sign.
"I need to find out something, Vance."
"No ' H i, how are you?'" He gave a cute pout. It made the cleft in his chin even more evident.
Immy grinned and sat in the chair next to his desk. "O kay , how are you? Would you like to see the rest of the house some evening?" Maybe the upstairs? Where the beds are?
"Yes, I would. Tonight?"
"Nooo." She thought she'd better play hard to get a little
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