Joe’s brow knit. “They died of old age. Please remind him that if he were alive, he’d be in his late eighties.”
“And enjoying my grandchildren or relaxing on the golf course or fishing. I missed all of that.”
“And we understand that, Chad,” Morgaine said, “but there’s not much more we can do. We can’t dig them up and hang their skeletons.”
Joe’s eyes widened. “Is that what he wants?”
Morgaine shrugged. “Chad, honey? There’s nothing we can do about the past. Maybe if you move on you can confront them in the next life. That often happens in reincarnation.”
Gwyneth added, “And don’t forget about karma. Karma may have paid them a visit too. I mean, why did they have to embezzle? Maybe they lost all their money.”
Morgaine nodded. “Or perhaps they had miserable marriages or someone in their immediate family died horribly. You never know how karma will work or when it will catch up with you, but it always does.”
“I want to know how it worked, then. I want to know how they paid the price for taking my life.”
Morgaine rubbed her eyes. “That might be difficult to find out, Chad. Maybe they just lived with a tortured conscience for the rest of their lives.”
“Crap. Not good enough.”
Gwyneth laid a hand on Joe’s knee. “Is there’s any way you can find out what happened to them, Mister Murphy?”
Joe bit his bottom lip. “I can check their obits and get the names of family members. Maybe a little more digging will give us a few facts, not much in the way of whole stories, though.Unless I can find some close family.”
Jason cleared his throat. “I’m not crazy about the idea of paying for any more digging. That could go on forever and maybe require trips to Europe. Chad, you wanted to know who killed you. Now you do. We kept our end of the bargain. Now you keep yours.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Morgaine stared at the ceiling and shook her head in exasperation.
Joe asked, “What did he say?”
She looked Joe straight in the eye and lied. “He said, ‘What if I can’t?’”
Joe squinted as if thinking deeply, then said, “I have an idea.”
Ralph picked up his cell phone on the third ring. “Jason? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. How’s your trip going?”
“Fantastic. This was the best idea. Dottie’s never been so relaxed. It really has been like a second honeymoon for us. I have to thank you for that.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Listen, I called for a couple of reasons. First, tell Dottie that 3A is rented.”
“The alleged ghost is gone?”
“No, but he has accepted a roommate.”
“You’re kidding. Who?”
“The P.I. I hired. He’s still investigating, but I didn’t feel like footing the bill anymore. So, Chad is letting him rent the apartment and Joe will keep digging in his spare time. Hey, it’s a pretty creative solution, right?”
“I guess so. Do you mind if I just tell Dottie the ghost is gone,and we have a new tenant?”
Jason chuckled. “No, I don’t mind at all. I’ll ask Joe to keep Chad a secret. Joe can’t hear or see him, so he won’t even know he’s there.”
“Sounds like the ideal roommate.”
“Yeah, he scored a pretty sweet situation. I think he has a crush on one of the girls across the hall.”
