Leighann Dobbs - Mystic Notch 02 - A Spirited Tail by Leighann Dobbs Read Free Book Online Page B

fact that a murder had been committed there would spook the new owner.
    I made my way onto the sagging porch, glancing anxiously at the windows. I didn’t see any signs of a ghost and I felt anxiety building in my chest. I had hoped Charles’ ghost would be around—I had some questions for him. 
    One of the double doors gaped open and I tapped on it, reluctant to enter uninvited. 
    “Hello?” I yelled into the house.
    “Come on in!” Ophelia’s reply echoed down the front hall.
    Inside, the house looked different. Sheets had been pulled off a few of the pieces of furniture and boards pried from some of the windows to let more light in. I realized the inside of the house was in a lot better condition than the outside. I could see the house had been a showplace in its day. Carved moldings framed the doors and windows and intricate, scrolled details enhanced the ceiling fixtures and wall panels.  The furniture, while outdated, looked to be of the highest quality.
    “We’re in here.” Ophelia’s voice drifted toward me and I followed it to the kitchen. Boards had been removed from the windows and the room was bathed in the waning late afternoon light, allowing me to get a better look than I’d been able to earlier that morning.
    Large, dark wood cabinets ran the length of two walls. A soapstone sink set under a tall window interrupted the wooden counters and two ovens, one on top of the other, sat opposite it. A long, stainless steel prep table ran down the middle of the room. Ophelia had her head in one of the bottom cabinets, her back-end sticking up in the air in a most uncomplimentary way. A tall, thin man with longish, wavy brown hair was pulling things out of an open drawer and loading them into a cloth shopping bag. 
    It looked for all the world as if they were looting the place.
    I paused in the doorway. “Hi.”
    Ophelia backed out of the cabinet and the man turned to face me. 
    “Willa Chance, this is Steven Van Dorn, the new owner of the house.” Ophelia waved her hand between Steven and me. “Willa is an expert on books. I’ve asked her to appraise your uncle’s collection.”
    Steven extended a large, callused hand toward me. I judged him to be near sixty years old and his face had an edge to it that said he’d had a hard life. His handshake was rough and the way he eyed me made me uneasy.
    “You can call me Steve,” he said.
    I glanced at the bag he held. “Packing up already?”
    “Let’s just say I’m in need of immediate cash and this stuff is gonna sell like hotcakes on eBay.” He leaned closer to me and lowered his voice. “Especially now with the Van Dorn curse coming back into the public eye.”
    I slid my eyes over to Ophelia, who shrugged.
    “You don’t mind that someone was murdered in the back yard?”
    “Mind?” He laughed. “Heck no, that’s gonna make this stuff more valuable! There’s already an interest in old occult legends and this new development is going to make the personal items of Charles Van Dorn highly collectable.”
    I took a step backward, a bit put-off with his attitude. He seemed completely insensitive to the fact that a man was dead, focusing only on how much more that death would allow him to profit. 
    I turned away. “I guess I’ll go start on the books.”
    “So, what about those books? Are any of them any good?” Steve asked.
    Just thinking of the beautiful books in the library warmed my demeanor. “I didn’t get a chance to look too closely the other day, but it does seem your uncle had some valuable volumes.  Just the sheer number of books is incredible. You might consider a specialty auction. I believe you’ll get the most money that way and it will be easy for you to consign the whole lot.” 
    I felt a little sad about seeing the library empty of books, but at least an auction would insure they went to good homes.
    He narrowed his eyes. “Well, I don’t wanna get ripped off. I have important uses for this money.”
    “Oh?”