“I’m sorry, Jake,” I said.
“It’s all right,” he said. “Do you want to know something about an actor?”
“Just Norman, the victim.”
“Oh, well, I told Cliff that all I really know is that Norman came from Kansas City. He called me, telling me he was hoping to come to the convention but he’d also done some acting, local television commercials, and could he help out with the skits.”
“Was this his first convention?” I asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know, but there was something about the way he talked that made me think it was.”
“Was he easy to work with?”
“Very, but he definitely liked trying to get to know the female attendees; Jezzie, Cliff’s cousin, included. I tried to explain that to Cliff.”
“How did Jezzie respond to him?” I asked.
“Surprisingly, she seemed to enjoy it. She’s not married, so I suppose it was no big deal. I thought maybe they were just trying to get into their characters—that happens sometimes with the actors; they get into their roles.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen plenty summertime-character romances come and go.”
“One other strange-but-maybe-only-in-hindsight thing occurred. Yesterday morning, early, before the show, right as I went out my front door to the boardwalk, Norman was muttering unhappily and typing a text or something on his phone. He apologized to me and laughed a little. Then he said, ‘It’s one of those last-chance days, you ever have one of those?’ I wasn’t sure what he meant. He waved it away and said it was nothing and we talked about other things. I didn’t spend an extra second thinking about it. Until after he was killed, of course.”
“I’m sure Cliff and Jim will be checking his phone.”
“That’s the thing. Cliff told me they couldn’t find Norman’s phone.”
“Oh.”
“I know.”
We talked a little longer, but ran out of new information quickly. I thanked and hugged Jake and then left him to his genealogy search.
Just as I stepped out onto the boardwalk, I took a deep breath that was meant to be calming and cleansing. But the distinct smell of wood smoke did not have that effect.
“Jerome?” I said quietly as I looked around.
Chapter 13
“I wondered if I’d scared you away,” I said.
Jerome smiled. “No, Isabelle, you can’t scare me.”
We were in the Nova. Originally, I’d parked on Main Street, just a few doors down from Jake’s archive building, but when I spotted Jerome standing outside the Jasper Theater, I signaled for him to join me in my car. I drove us around to the back of the buildings and parked directly behind Jake’s. Jake might see the car, but at least he’d know there was probably a valid explanation as to why I was sitting in it and having a discussion by myself.
“Where have you been?”
“Here and there,” Jerome said as he turned his attention out the windshield and to the back of the building.
I thought he just didn’t want to tell me exactly what he’d been up to. I’d already tried to touch him, feel him, but my hand went right through his well-lit ghostly figure again and again. I was beginning to doubt that I’d felt his hands on mine when we were fishing. Had I imagined the sensation, wished it were real?