Teddy glanced at Oscar, who was still talking to Maxine. Now he was animated, using his hands to gesture and demonstrate something. She heard him say something about algal blooms and vibrio—whatever that was.
She turned back to Iva. “It’s like a green phosphorescent cloud. And it just kind of hovers there—I haven’t seen it form into anything substantial.”
“It’s green? So we have a realMystery of the Green Ghost,” Iva said with a smile. When Teddy looked at her funny, Iva replied, “That’s the title of a book my younger patrons used to check out of the library many years ago:The Three Investigators and the Mystery of the Green Ghost. That was a wonderful series for youngsters—much better than that prim and perfect Nancy Drew, in my opinion—I enjoyed those too, but the original ones written in the twenties, rather than the cleaned-up versions they did in the fifties. She was a little sassier in the originals.
“Anyway, the Three Investigators was mostly written for boys, but a lot of my girls devoured them too. In that book, the green ghost took the form of an old Chinese man. And it was a sickly neon-green color—the ghost, I mean.”
Teddy blinked at the very detailed non sequitur and wished desperately for tea and food. Her brain was feeling very soft and mushy. “I see. You’re a librarian?”
“Yes, indeed. For over forty years. Loved every minute of it, and I have an entire noggin filled with all sorts of random information and trivia.” Iva smiled, tapping the side of her head. “I understand Sargent Blue is a librarian too—or was, until he decided to get into the spy business.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Smart idea, making a main character a librarian. You wouldn’t believe the stuff we pack away over the years—literally and figuratively.” She tapped her temple again. “And I’ve always thought the narrow, dark stacks tucked deep in the second basement of a university library would be the perfect place for a killer to be stalking his prey.”
Just then, Orbra returned, pushing a multilevel cart. On top were two mismatched teapots, each made of lovely, hand-painted china. Next to them were two teacups and saucers made of china so delicate that they were translucent.
On the second level of the cart were two-tier trays laden with scones and sandwiches on paper-thin bread. The bottom level of the cart had small plates, cloth napkins, and an assortment of jams, jellies, clotted cream, and butter. Teddy’s mouth began to water.
Even as Orbra set out the tea service, Iva continued her questions. “Does the ghost do anything besides just hang around up there at the top of the lighthouse?”
“The first time we saw it, it was right there, suspended on the gallery next to us,” Teddy replied. “Right by the door. But last night, it was lower, and a little further away from the lighthouse. And the color was a little different—more neon green. It might have just been from where we were standing.”
If Oscar wasn’t all that interested in investigating the ghost, at least she had someone else to bounce ideas off on. “Also last night, the appearance was much earlier than usual. It was around ten o’clock instead of one thirty. I don’t know what that means.”
“You’ve seen it how many times?”
“Only the two, but the scream comes every night at one thirty. Except last night, it came at around ten,” Teddy replied.
“There’s a scream?”
Teddy explained, then continued, “We hear the scream every night, but I only saw the ghost two nights—because I was in bed the other nights when the scream came. And I wasn’t going to look out the window to investigate.” She gave a wry smile.
“Was last night’s sighting before or after you discovered the cottage had been ransacked?” asked Orbra.
Teddy gaped up at her. “You know about the break-in?”
Orbra shrugged. “My granddaughter, Helga, is one of Joe Longbow’s local cops. She told me you’d be coming in today to make a formal report. There’s not much kept quiet here in Wicks Hollow.”
“Oh—Officer van Hest. I didn’t make the connection. Yes, we’re going to the station after we finish here.” Teddy took a bite of what appeared to be the infamous lavender-blueberry scone, and her eyes widened with delight. “This is incredible,” she fairly moaned, then took another bite of the warm, crumbly scone buttered with clotted cream. “The best I’ve ever tasted.”
“Well?” Iva said as she sneaked a pimiento sandwich off the tray. “When did the ransacking happen?”
“We noticed it after we saw the ghost. But we were just coming back from a—a walk when the ghost appeared at the top of the lighthouse, so the ransacking could have been done at any time after we left—we were gone for maybe ninety minutes at the most. But Oscar says it’s not the ghost who did the ransacking because whoever it was wore a pair of gloves. He found them.”
“No, no, it wouldn’t be the ghostly presence,” Iva said sagely. “You’ve only seen it at the top of the lighthouse, and the specter falls off then disappears. There’s no reason to believe it has broached the house itself.”
“So the ransacking is unrelated to the ghost,” Juanita said.
“Possibly,” Iva said. “Or, possibly, the ghost decided to show itself to the ransackers. That could be an explanation for its early appearance.” She looked at Teddy. “It was trying to scare them off, perhaps.”
“Yes, I wondered the same thing,” Teddy replied—which was true, but she hadn’t thought it until just this moment. Still, shehadthought of it.
“So either the ghost was protecting its house from being messed up or damaged, or the person ransacking it was known as a danger to the ghost.”
“I guess that follows,” Teddy said, though she was certain, given time, she could think of at least three other reasons the ghost might have appeared early last night. “But I don’t know how we’re going to figure out what the ghost wants until we figure out who it is. Or was.”
“Exactly.”
