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frown took in my tee shirt, jeans, and sneakers. “But, my dear, this ensemble is so not you. Are you in disguise?”
    “Let me put it this way,” I said. “If I never see another pageant, it will be too soon.”
    “Ah,” he said. “Burnout. Understandable.” He turned my card around in his long fingers. “This is a serious business, then. You’re for hire?”
    “Yes.”
    Annie brought our Cokes. Prill thanked her and passed me a straw. “Good. I have a job for you.”
    Two jobs in less than an hour. Could my luck finally be changing? “What can I do for you?”
    “Not for me, for Hayden. The poor boy’s convinced his house is haunted.”
    And two haunted houses in less than a day.
    “Why would he think that?”
    “Because he sees things that aren’t there. Dinosaur monsters, ghostly women outside his window.”
    Hayden needed to meet Jerry.
    Gregory Prill reached beneath the folds of his cape and pulled out his wallet. “I want you to find out what’s going on in Hayden’s house. Something’s set him off, and I’m certain it isn’t a ghost. If someone’s playing a trick, it’s a very cruel one. What’s your fee?” I told him, and he handed me some money. “A retainer, if you will.”
    “Thank you,” I said. “This is my first case of ghostbusting, but I’ll do my best.”
    Gregory Prill, oddly enough, fixed me with his big goldfish eyes and said something I didn’t realize I wanted to hear.
    “I know, my dear Madeline. I have every faith in you.”

Chapter Two
     
    I stopped by the first grocery store I saw and bought milk, cereal, apples, cookies, and candy bars. On second thought, I added bread, peanut butter, ham slices, and cheese to my cart, as well as a carton of cola. Then I decided to visit the local Wal-Mart and buy a few necessities. With two cases to work on, I needed to stay in town. Maybe the Eberlin house wouldn’t be so bad for a couple of days.
    It was about 7:00 PM when I got back to the house. I was relieved to see that Olivia’s car was gone. Jerry was sitting on the front porch. He hopped up to help me with the bags of groceries.
    “Wow! What’s with all the stuff? Did I look that hungry?”
    I handed him the drinks. “I’m happy to report I’ve got two cases, so I’ll be staying over, at least for tonight, if that’s okay.”
    “That’s great. So, did the pageant guy hire you?”
    “Yes, he did. It looks as if someone doesn’t want the pageant to go on.” I tried to make my next question sound casual. “Is Olivia coming back?”
    “I don’t know. She went on for a while about what it would cost to fix the house. Then she had to get back to Parkland to work on a brief or something.”
    He didn’t seem too concerned. Maybe acquiring the house was the final blow to their relationship. If that was the case, and Jerry wanted to stay here, then I definitely wanted to stay here. I could learn to love this old dump.
    We carried the bags into the kitchen. I put the milk and apples in the refrigerator while Jerry found places for the cookies and candy on the counter. He opened the ham and cheese to make a sandwich.
    “You mentioned two cases, Mac. What’s the other one?”
    “You’ll like this. I stopped by the bookstore, and I met local poet Gregory Prill. He hired me to find out if his friend Hayden Amry’s house is really haunted.”
    As I’d expected, Jerry’s eyes lit up. “Another haunted house?”
    I sat down and reached for the bread. “If this detective thing doesn’t work out, I could always have a second career as an exorcist.”
    “I know all about exorcisms! You could be my sidekick.”
    “I was kidding, Jerry.”
    “I wasn’t,” he said, and for a moment, I could’ve sworn there was something more than friendship in his eyes. Maybe Olivia had pushed too hard. Maybe she wouldn’t be back. Maybe he was finally seeing me as more than just good old Mac. Then he said, “I really need somebody to carry all the extra equipment. You have