Chapter Three
"You showed me the body, what else do you want?" Melody clutched her phone to her ear as she walked towards Old Gossip, glaring at Cindy. The ghost had been hanging around silently ever since Uncle Todd arrived. Now she scowled and shrugged, causing Melody to roll her eyes. "Seriously, what is it?"
"I don't know."
Great. Another one of these ghosts. Melody sighed heavily as she entered the café. "Okay, I have to go now. I'll call you to talk later."
"You are one of the rudest people I have ever met," Cindy sniffed, her hands on her hips. "Whatever happened to respecting the dead?"
Jane bustled over to Melody, her face practically glowing with excitement. The old woman hurried her to a booth despite Melody's protests. She filled a cup of coffee for the realtor before sliding into the other side of the booth and fixing her wide eyes on Melody's face. Melody gulped down a large swallow of coffee, wincing as it scorched her throat.
"I heard that you found David Fezioni's body two days ago and that your father's FBI friend is investigating. Murder, is it?"
Melody sighed. Uncle Todd had phoned her the previous night to confirm that it was, in fact, murder. He also stressed the importance to please stay out of the case. Melody had every intention of doing just that.
Cindy still hadn't told her why it was so important that David's body be found. In fact, the blonde kept disappearing for long hours, returning silent and scowling. When she wasn't pouting, she was critiquing Melody's choice of wardrobe. She didn't seem that interested in the case–which begged the question, why did she show Melody the body in the first place?
"It looks like murder," Melody confirmed reluctantly. "But Uncle Todd isn't sharing details about it with me, so I don't know anything."
"I bet it was Oskar Freyson," Jane continued gleefully. "Not because he's a Shifter, but he hated David, rest his soul."
Melody frowned. "How do you know that?"
"Didn't I tell you? David was in here last week when Oskar came in, and they got into quite the argument. I almost called the cops, but David left before I could. I heard that they knew each other from the city."
"It wasn't Oskar," Cindy blurted.
Melody ignored her. Uncle Todd seemed pretty certain that Oskar should be a suspect. She really hoped that it wasn't him, not only because he was paying her enough for the rest of the year with his business dealings, but also because she liked him.
Spending time with Oskar was easy. He knew exactly what he wanted, but was open to alternatives. It didn't hurt that he was so good-looking, but really, she got along with him so well that it didn't really matter what his face looked like.
"I heard your Uncle Todd talked with Oskar?" Jane raised her brows.
"I wouldn't know. I'm a realtor. FBI business is none of mine." Melody smiled politely. "I'm in a bit of a hurry this morning, can I just get some toast with one of your lovely Danishes?"
Jane looked disappointed but retrieved Melody's order. By this time Cindy was nowhere to be seen. The Dolphin Shifter was very demanding when it came to attention, and it was a relief to be alone in public for once since the ghost had arrived.
Melody wasn't naive enough to think that Cindy was gone for good, though. There had to be more to the story, and by the way, Cindy had reacted to Oskar Freyson when she had gone to his hotel room, he was probably part of the reason she was still hanging around. Perhaps the Dolphin and Alpha had been lovers? Or maybe Cindy hated him for some reason and wanted revenge? With ghosts, it was difficult to tell what the end result would be.
As she headed out of Old Gossip, she almost bumped into Elisabeth. Both women apologized, and Melody stepped aside to let Elisabeth into the café, but the younger woman grabbed her arm.
"Melody, I hate to ask, but your uncle is investigating David's death, isn’t he?"
"Oh, Elisabeth, not you, too!"
The young woman twisted her hands. She looked truly ashamed, which made Melody regret the way she had reacted to the question. She let out a heavy sigh.
"Uncle Todd is a family friend, but yeah. He's investigating."
"So it really was murder? That's awful." Elisabeth shivered. "I moved to Blackcliff to get away from the crime and violence in the city. Was it somebody in town?"
Melisa patted the younger woman's hand. "It's nothing to be concerned about. David apparently had ties with organized crime back in the city, so chances are nobody in town was involved."
Elisabeth looked a little relieved, but not much. She shook her head. "It's just awful."
***
That night, Melody scooped up a plate of takeout Chinese from the only Chinese restaurant in town while Uncle Todd dug into a burrito. Even though he was in Blackcliff on official business, he couldn't say no to spending time with his best friend's little girl.
Melody was hoping to get a little more information about the investigation herself. Mostly about Oskar Freyson. She wanted to know if she should stop working for him. And maybe look for another man to fantasize going on dates with. She wasn't going to get involved in the case, though.
"Did you hear about the argument Freyson had with Fezioni?" she asked casually. "Jane Gardens, she's the owner of Old Gossip, told me all about it. Apparently, they nearly came to blows last week."
"I hadn't heard," Todd grunted around a mouthful of burrito. "But from what I can tell, Fezioni wasn't exactly the most popular character around town. Seems he was in a fistfight every other day."
Melody shrugged. "That's true. He was an outsider and not a very friendly one at that. He was always skipping out of paying Jane for meals at Old Gossip, and he owed Jeffery Miller money for the car he bought. There are also a lot of people unhappy with the work he did for them."
"What work is that?"
"Stuff like painting fences, mowing lawns." Melody shrugged. "From what I heard, he couldn't hold a steady job. Rachel Bradley swears he stole her grandmother's ring when he came over to fix her plumbing. Everybody pretty much hated him. He's even rumored to have poisoned Old Gabby's cats."
Uncle Todd made a face. "So, in other words, I have no shortage of suspects. That's going to make my job a lot more difficult."
Melody chomped down on a battered shrimp, nodding. She really didn't envy her uncle's position. "So, Oskar Freyson. Is he a member of your team? Is he new?"
"No. But he's always done his own thing and was never around when you needed my help."
"Is he a real suspect, or just…?"
"I told you to stay out of it." Uncle Todd pointed his burrito at her. "This is none of your concern."
"The ghost is still hanging around, and she is adamant Oskar didn't do it."
"You and your ghosts." Uncle Todd sighed. "Who is this ghost, anyway? What connection does she have with Fezioni?"
"I don't know. She won't tell me anything other than that I picked the wrong shoes or did my makeup wrong." Melody rolled her eyes. "She knows Oskar, though. Her name is Cindy."
Uncle Todd choked. "Cindy?"
Melody dropped her chopsticks. "Yeah."
"Tall, pretty, blonde? Mid-twenties? Shifter?"
"Yeah."
Uncle Todd shook his head. "Well. That explains a few things, then."
Melody waited. When nothing more was forthcoming, she flicked her uncle's knee with her index finger. "Like?"
"You have to keep this to yourself. No telling anybody else in town, okay?"
Melody's eyes lit up. Having a good secret was almost as good as hooking a twenty-pound bass on the line. She leaned forward eagerly. "I can keep a secret."
"Cindy was more than just a member of Oskar's community. She was engaged to his cousin. Two years ago, she was kidnapped and held for ransom. Freyson was tireless in trying to get her back. He paid the ransom, despite it being against FBI policy. In the end, though, all we got back was Cindy's body. Freyson was convinced that Fezioni was part of the group that kidnapped her. But he never had proof."
Melody's eyes widened. No wonder he was a suspect! "So he was in Blackcliff on the case?"
"The deputy director told him to drop it. Handed the case off to another division, said Freyson was too close to it. He never could let it go, though. A few months back, he took a leave of absence and followed Fezioni out here. I pray to God that he wasn't involved in this."
"But you think he is?"
"He might be, and that's all I'll say about it." Uncle Todd took another bite of his burrito, indicating he was done with the conversation.
"Oskar was right."
Melody jumped as Cindy appeared on the couch beside her. She set her plate of food down on the coffee table and glared at the ghost. "Where have you been?"
Uncle Todd rose a brow.
"Cindy. She says that Oskar was right."
He swallowed hurriedly. "About what?"
Cindy let out an annoyed huff. "My death. Fezioni was more than just involved in my kidnapping. He was the one that killed me."
"Oh." Melody fiddled with her hands. "Is that why you're here? To help Oskar prove that Fezioni killed you?"
"Fezioni killed her?" Uncle Todd's eyes widened.
"Yeah."
"I tried to escape and saw his face," Cindy said, and Melody relayed the information. "He killed me. It was quick, though. I don't really remember dying. Just being dead. That's something, right?"
Melody nodded. "I'm really sorry. But we know the truth, we'll make sure that everybody knows what happened. Don't you think it's time to move on now?"
"No." Cindy glowered at her.
"Look—" Melody ground her teeth together when the ghost disappeared. She turned to her uncle. "She's gone."
Uncle Todd looked grim. "Fezioni killed her, though. Oskar was right. That's motive. Crap. I really hoped… This stays between us, okay? And whatever you do, stay away from him, Melody. If he's involved in this... I don't want to think he'll hurt you, but we can't take chances. Promise me you won't go anywhere near him."
"I won't," she promised, and she had every intention of keeping that promise. "Scout's honor."