I shook my head. This was flimsy at best.
“Go around back.” Alice pointed to the rear. “That’s where the kitchen is.”
I offered an arm to each lady and walked around. When we reached the rear, I called out to Francine.
“Francine, can you unlock the door?”
The spirit appeared. “Certainly.” She cracked her knuckles, which lucky for me had the same unpleasant sound in death as it did in life.
Francine disappeared through the door, and a moment later the chain rattled and the knob turned. I pushed it open, and the three of us stepped inside.
My gaze sharpened on Ruth and Alice. “Okay, where do we look?”
Alice poked the air with a finger. “Find a desk and see what’s inside. Maybe we’ll have an idea then.”
Ruth pointed. “There’s one.”
Alice and Ruth headed off toward the desk while I stared at a stack of mail on the kitchen counter.
“Might as well tackle this.”
I glanced at the first envelope. It had been sliced open. I pulled out the letter and unfolded it.
“Ruth! Alice! Look at this!”
Ruth and Alice shuffled into the kitchen. “What is it?” Alice held a file folder stuffed with papers. She was doing her best not to drop them.
I showed them the slip of paper. “It’s a letter from Tallulah.”
“Tallulah? Why would Tallulah write Cora?”
I smacked my lips. “Because apparently Cora had done more than just report Tallulah’s gambling den to the Baptists and the local cops. She had also tipped off the state police, and there was an investigation.”
Alice’s jaw dropped. “So Cora was trying to get Tallulah arrested?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but from the looks of this letter, Tallulah was pleading with Cora to retract her statement.”
“That’s not all,” Alice said.
“What’d you find?”
“Photographs.”
I left Ruth, who was deciphering the letter, and crossed to Alice.
“Here.” She opened the folder and pictures spilled out, pictures of Birda standing beside what looked to be figures of ghosts, except the ghosts were cutouts of real people.
“These are from Birda’s best-selling ghost book,” Alice said triumphantly. “I recognize them.”
I sucked air. “Cora had evidence that Birda had doctored photos to make it look like Birda had snapped pictures of actual spirits.”
Alice grinned widely. “Exactly. Birda’s full of dog doo-doo. I always knew it, and now there’s proof.”
I nibbled the inside of my mouth. “Do y’all think that Birda was afraid Cora would go public with the photos so she killed her with her giant man hands?”
“It’s possible,” Ruth said. “But why do it now? After all these years?”
I opened my mouth to answer when the doorknob jiggled.
