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stuff?” I asked with an innocent tone.
    “That is quite a story,” said Hal, placing his arms around me and Jackie, “My great-grandmother passed and as her only living relative I inherited everything. It’s amazing what old people keep in their homes.
    “Most of what you see here I got from her place. Bless her heart, that woman lived on a fair amount of property and she kept everything.”
    “Wouldn’t you want to keep some of this stuff?” asked Jackie. “Some of this appears to be family heirlooms.”
    “The more sentimental things I kept,” said Hal, “but I don’t have room for everything and in this economy I could use a little extra money, like everyone else.”
    “How did you get all this ivory?” I asked, “Is it real?”
    “Of course it’s real,” said Hal, indignantly.
    “But it couldn’t have all come from your great-grandmother,” said Jackie.
    “Well, no. Most of it did, but some of it is from others who, like me, need extra income. Besides selling my own items I also contract with people in the county who have inherited antiques they wish to sell. Most of the ivory is from that.”
    “And it’s genuine?” Jackie asked.
    “Yep,” answered Hal, “I’ve had them all appraised. You won’t find any fakes here.”
    “This pipe is interesting,” I said, taking the pipe off of the shelf, “It looks exactly like one my friend bought yesterday.”
    “That would be interesting,” said Hal, “but this pipe is one of a kind. Now I have some others which all look similar, but they have distinguishing characteristics that separate them. Perhaps your friend bought one of those.”
    I studied the pipe. It was an exact replica, no doubt about it. “Perhaps,” I said. “But why would you sell ivory so cheap? You could make real money by selling to a rich collector.”
    “I could,” replied Hal, “but why should I deny average folk a chance to own something rare and expensive? I have more than enough so I give these people a chance to own something that only the very wealthy could afford. And with the amount of stock I have, I’ll make more than enough to pay my bills.”
    “Well, they sure are pretty,” I said. I hoped Hal didn’t think I was being too nosy. For all I knew, he may have thought these were real. Though if he did have them appraised, he would have learned they were fakes.
    “Something doesn’t smell right,” Jackie whispered to me when Hal left. “That pipe is exactly like the one Mrs. Dayton gave us. I know it is.”
    “Yeah,” I said.
    I noticed a man staring at Jackie and I with an irate expression. I had never seen him before. The moment I turned in his direction, he ran.
    “Jackie!”
    I took off after the man pushing and shoving people out of my way with Jackie close behind. Many gave us odd and angry glances shouting a few rude remarks. I didn’t care. I wanted to know why that man was watching us. We reached the middle of the marketplace, but the stranger had gone. I scanned the crowds of people moseying about. Nothing.
    “What is it?” asked Jackie, as she caught her breath.
    “I saw a man spying on us.”
    “You sure?”
    “Yes. He was definitely watching us.”
    “What did he look like?”
    “Dark skin and hair. But who is he?”
    “I think you stirred up something when we went out to that place.”
    “I need to go back there.”
    “Hold up,” Jackie grabbed my arm. “Three visits in two days is a bit much don’t you think?”
    “But there is something going on out there, I can feel it. And that ghost. Why wouldn’t he talk to me?”
    “It really bothers you, doesn’t it?” asked Jackie.
    “What?”
    “That a ghost ran away from you instead of talking to you.”
    “Well, yeah.” Now that I thought about it, it did bother me. Confused me actually. Most ghosts are glad to speak to somebody who notices them. But this one galloped away on his horse. Didn’t fit the legend.
    “Why don’t we hold off on visiting that spooky