Kency eyed us like she suspected us of being guilty of bank robbery but couldn’t prove it. “I heard. Heard it was quite a spectacle. Then the three of you came over here.”
“Yeah, we had some cleansing to do. Did you hear the spirit threatened Truck?”
“Heard that, too.” She pushed open the door. “Why don’t the three of you come with me? I’ll drop you off at your homes.”
“Oh no,” Ruth said. “Beautiful night like this was made for walking.”
“I’m not sure you understand,” Kency said. “That wasn’t a question. It was a statement. I need to talk to y’all.”
I wanted to say something smart and ask if ghost catching was illegal, but one look from Ruth told me otherwise.
I pulled off my backpack and climbed into the back seat of Kency’s personal vehicle. Hey, at least it said something that she didn’t pick us up in a cruiser.
When the three of us were piled into the back seat, she pulled away from the curb.
“One of you could’ve sat up front,” she said. “I don’t bite.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” Alice said. “Remember that nice boy you dated, Robert Smith? Rumor was he went around town telling everyone what a good biter you were.”
Ruth elbowed Alice. “You should’ve sat up front. I can barely breathe back here.”
“You should’ve,” Alice snapped. “At least then my bottom would have room.”
“Let me tell you something, your bottom wouldn’t have room unless we were on a cruise ship.”
I barked a laugh. Both women glared at me. “What? My butt doesn’t have room either. I’m sitting on the door handle.”
“Will the three of you please shut up so I can ask y’all a question.”
We each mumbled yes.
“How in the blazes did y’all know to be at the funeral home?”
“Someone called,” I said. “I didn’t catch a name.” I glanced at Ruth.
“Oh yes, they called the line. I didn’t catch the name, either. But it was just the break we’d been looking for. I don’t know if you realized it or not, Sheriff, but we haven’t actually gone on any ghost hunts since we’ve been in business.”
“I guess Ghost Wranglers sort of kept you out of business,” Kency said.
“Oh no,” Alice said. “They weren’t our competition. That was all hocus-pocus and nonsense. Everyone knows that. We weren’t called because no one believed we could do it.”
Ruth smiled. “We sure showed them, didn’t we?”
“We did,” Alice chimed.
“So you’ve got a new member on your team.” Kency glanced at me from her rearview mirror.
“Who, me? Oh no, I’m just passing through this town. I’m leaving soon. But the ladies asked me to help. You know, because I saw the Teenybopper at Soul Food and Spirits.”
“So the three of you working together was just a one-shot deal?” Kency said.
Ruth poked the air. “Right. Blissful has to get on to her real life. That’s not here in Haunted Hollow.”
Kency pulled into the parking lot where we’d left the Caprice. “Alice, I’m assuming this is your car?”
“Sure is. Thanks.”
Before we could open the doors, Kency turned around. She slapped one arm over the bench seat. “So if this was the first time the three of y’all worked together, do you mind telling me why I found all y’alls fingerprints at Xavier Bibb’s house?”
