Read The Stuffing of Nightmares (The Mysteries of Bell & Whitehouse Book 7) for Free Online Page A

It wasn’t as if he was constantly getting himself into trouble, as the other seemed to imply.
    Peverell gracefully took a seat on the couch, and stretched his emaciated limbs, as always clad in the black tux he’d been buried in. His face, which reminded anyone who gazed upon it of a mummy’s, opened into a yawn. “Tell me all,” he said, resigning himself to a long and boring story.
    Brian took a seat on the adjoining couch. “The thing is—I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I have a brother.”
    “Of course I know. Brice. Your twin. When I had you investigated I learned all there is to know about that young rascal. What about him?”
    Rascal was the right word. Brice had a habit of getting into all kinds of trouble, not by accident, but by design. He liked to stir up trouble for others, simply because he could, and most specifically for his big brother—Brian was five minutes older than Brice.
    “I have the distinct impression he’s trying to destroy my reputation.”
    “Oh, and we can’t have that now, can we?” Peverell asked lazily. He seemed unfazed by the news.
    “It’s not just that. He’s been undermining my attempts to organize the Wraith Wranglers.”
    Peverell rolled his eyes, an odd sight as they were lodged so deeply in their sockets it was hard to spot them, except for the occasional flicker. “Oh, dear.” He clucked his tongue. “Why don’t you simply give up on that silly project of yours, Brian? Getting involved with ghosts will only get you into more trouble than you can handle, which is bad for the group.”
    “I know,” Brian said, but added stubbornly, “Look, this is what I want. And you promised me you were fine with it. It’s the reason I accepted your proposal in the first place.”
    “I know I did, but I didn’t know what I know now. That the members of the board will go to any length to kick you out and take control of the group.” Peverell sat up. When it came to the fate of his precious company he was always more animated. “Didn’t I tell you to be careful with that ghost crap?”
    “Strange way to talk about your own species,” Brian pointed out.
    “Well, they might be my species now, but my priority is still the Wardop Group, and so is yours. If your brother is stirring up trouble, it means he’s found your weakness, and will exploit it. How much does he know?”
    “Enough to have smeared my reputation by preceding my team to Castle Windermere and making quite a nuisance of himself over there.”
    Like Brian, Brice had the capacity to talk to the dead, only he liked to make their lives as miserable as possible. Not because he hated them, but because he found it funny to pick on them. Like kids torturing animals.
    “So he knows about your wraith wranglers, huh? How is that even possible? I thought you told me you were playing it very close to your vest?”
    “I am. Only you and Miss Fowley know about them. And the Wranglers themselves, of course.” He neglected to mention that a few more people in Happy Bays might have gotten hip to the project. When he’d started recruiting people for the team, he might have mentioned it to a few of them.
    “And you’re sure those four idiots won’t go blabbing about their work?”
    “In the first place, they’re not idiots, and secondly…” he nodded. “Yes, I can vouch for them.” Though of course he couldn’t. Fee and Alice, yes, they wouldn’t talk. But Rick and Reece? They weren’t exactly the brightest bulbs. “Can’t you find out who’s been talking? Can’t you read Brice’s mind?”
    Peverell eyed him thoughtfully. “I could, but I don’t know if I should.”
    “But you’ve done it, right? Isn’t that the reason the group has been so successful? Because you can now read the minds of our competitors?”
    Peverell grinned. “You got me,” he said with his croaky voice. He rubbed a bony finger along his chin. “I’ll see what I can do, but you have to promise me you’ll deal with