“That’s a great idea. Let me call Gram,” I said as I pulled out my cell and dialed.
Chapter 14
The crowd inside the jail was an eclectic one, though two of the members were invisible to everyone but me and Gram.
Jim and Cliff were both there, each of them seated in their own desk chairs. I didn’t recognize the person who was lounging in the back cell, but a quick tête-à-tête with Cliff assured me that the old man had nothing to do with the murder.
The two police officers had been surprised to see Jake and me enter the building. They’d both been huddled over something on their desks, and seemed hesitant about a conversation regarding something other than the police matters they were investigating, but we told them we could be brief.
Gram joined us a few minutes later. So did Joe and his horse. Gram had explained to me that the two ghosts had wanted to be present when the messages were delivered, no matter how or where they were delivered. She claimed they’d been in even more cramped locations than the jail lobby.
Of course, Jim, Cliff, and Jake couldn’t see Joe and his horse, but Gram and I could. They didn’t seem to bother her at all as they filled up the space in the front of the jail, the area with a wall covered in handcuffs and a cuckoo clock that chirped every fifteen minutes. They couldn’t cause any trouble, but their presence made me slightly claustrophobic.
“Miz, what’re you doing here?” Jim asked when she came in. “I thought this was just about something Jake found.”
“I was curious.” Gram shrugged. She sounded fairly convincing as she smoothed her NC State T-shirt.
“Okay,” Jim said, not as convincingly.
“Thanks for taking the time,” Jake said as he scooted a chair to the other side of Jim’s desk.
Jim scratched his head and pasted patience onto his face.
“What do you have, Jake?”
“Well, every now and then I come across something that turns out to be such a gem. I can’t help but research everything to death, you know that.”
“I do.”
“Well, my research led me to you this time, and I thought you might want to know about it.”
Jake unfolded a piece of parchment paper. He, Joe, and I had done what Gram told me that she had done—reconstructed the letter. Jake had the parchment and he was quick with calligraphy-like writing, so it was easy for him to create a quick and dirty forgery. He didn’t think Jim would pay the least bit of attention to its validity. He seemed to be right. Jim sent the paper only a cursory glance. He might ask to look at it more closely after it was read, but Jake was ready with a lie if need be. He’d tell Jim that his documents were too delicate for more than him to touch them, but he’d be happy to get him a copy later.
“Oh . . .” I said as the horse’s head came over the low gate that bordered the front lobby. The animal sniffed at Jim’s head. I had the urge to apologize for its intrusive behavior, but of course Jim had no idea that a horse’s nose was next to his ear. Could the ghost horse smell things?
“What?” everyone asked aloud—or just looked my direction with questioning eyes.
“Nothing. Sorry.” I looked at Gram, who winked at me.
“Okay, well, anyway,” Jake said, “I found this letter, and it led me to you, Jim.”
“I got that. What’s it say?”
“This is a letter written to your great-great-grandmother. It’s from her brother, Isaac. I don’t think she ever received it.”