“She thinks she can see ghosts,” Hawke said, sneer firmly in place.
I sighed. “Detective Hawke, even if you were twice as smart, you’d still be stupid.” I turned to Cooper. “You’re probably going to need to explain that math problem to your partner with crayons and construction paper.”
“Keep it up, Parker,” Hawke said, a vein pulsing in the middle of his forehead, “and I’ll arrest you for assaulting a police officer.”
I believed the beady-eyed blowhard. Apparently, so did Doc because he pulled me several feet away from Hawke before focusing on Dominick. “Mr. Masterson, when the detectives here are finished, could I have a word with you?”
“If it’s police business,” Hawke spoke up, “then you two need to share it with me.”
“It’s not,” Doc told him.
Disbelief lined Hawke’s face. “What else would you need to talk to Mr. Masterson about tonight?”
“Money, most likely,” Dominick answered. “Am I correct?”
Doc nodded.
“I’ve heard a lot of high praise around town regarding your foresight when it comes to financial handlings,” he told Doc.
“It’s a numbers game.” Doc shrugged. “I’ve always had a bit of the Midas touch.”
“Midas touch,” Dominick repeated, his focus returning to me. “I find it interesting that some humans are born with insight. It’s almost like clairvoyance, wouldn’t you agree, Violet?”
“Absolutely, Dominick,” I replied, keeping up this game of polite conversation.
Hawke cleared his throat, apparently bored with our teatime chatter. “Parker here doesn’t think it’s a robbery,” he told Dominick, his tone showing how little he thought of my medium abilities, which was ironic because I was full of hot air anyway.
Dominick raised one dark eyebrow. “And what exactly is her explanation?”
“It’s a ghost,” I said, giving him a knowing look. I had a feeling he knew exactly what had been causing a ruckus in the bank tonight since it came from his other-infested building.
“Really?” He rubbed his jaw. “Then how do you explain the damage that occurred?”
“She claims this ghost used telekinesis to make the mess,” Hawke tattled on me some more, rolling his eyes about my explanation. “Frankly, I think she’s full of shit.”
“Keep rolling your eyes like that, Detective,” I shot back, “and maybe you’ll find your brain back there somewhere.”
Doc put his arm around my shoulders, holding tight. He knew me and my temper too well. “I think we’re done here, Detective Cooper. Maybe we will go wait in your cruiser for you to finish with Mr. Masterson and then you can send him our way.”
“Violet is probably right. This building has been rumored to be haunted for years,” Dominick told Hawke. “Did any of the officers here inform you of that?”
“Uh, no,” Hawke lied, ignoring my glare.
“Have there been other instances like this in the store or at the bank?” Doc asked while I was busy contemplating how to get Hawke down into that Hellhole to use as bait for that red-armed creature.
“Actually, this is the first time it’s been inside of the bank. Usually the entity stays in the grocery store and knocks things off the shelves.”
Hawke’s face wilted into a pout. He clearly didn’t like that Masterson was taking my side.
Cooper got flagged by one of the officers outside the store’s glass doors. The cop indicated toward Hawke, too, and then held a pretend phone to his ear.
“Detective Hawke,” Cooper said, “we have a call. Let’s take a walk.” He nudged Hawke in the direction of the doors, leaving Doc and me alone with Dominick—finally!
The slick devil turned to Doc as soon as the two detectives were out of earshot, his smile widening while his eyes darkened. “Would you allow me to have Violet alone for a minute to discuss some real estate ventures with her?”
A wave of nausea made me cringe. Dominick was trying to use his shine on Doc, just like he had on Aunt Zoe last month in Bighorn Billy’s when he’d turned her into his besotted groupie.
“There’s no chance in hell of me leaving her side,” Doc said, clearly not falling under Dominick’s spell. “And you can stop with the head games, Masterson. They’re not going to work on me.”
I gaped up at Doc for a moment. They weren’t? Until now Harvey was the only other one I’d witnessed who hadn’t been affected by Dominick’s so-called charm.
Dominick shrugged. “It was worth a try. I have only heard rumors about your breed before. Tell me, can you smell death on Violet, too?”
My cheeks warmed, feeling like Pepé Le Pew. “Don’t answer that,” I told Doc, stepping away from him in case I did stink of death more than usual at the moment. “What are you really doing here, Dominick?”
He held out his hands. “You don’t believe I have a vested interest in the bank?”
“I think your interest lies more in what caused the crime rather than the crime itself.”
“I see.” He brushed invisible lint from the sleeve of his coat. “You’re right, I have another reason for coming tonight. I stopped at the Sugarloaf Building early this morning after visiting another crime scene across from the Open Cut. That’s when I noticed the broken window upstairs.”
I tried not to cringe visibly.
“It appears someone let my imp loose.” His dark gaze narrowed. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
There was no use lying. “It was an accident.”
“Slipping on ice is an accident, Violet. Freeing an imp is a disaster.”
“You should have told me you were sheltering an imp.” I refused to take total blame for this mess.
“I wasn’t sheltering it. I was keeping it caged for a reason. Do you have any idea of the amount of chaos an imp can cause?”
“Uhhh.” I grimaced. “I’m getting an idea.”
Doc crossed his arms. “Why were you caging it in the first place?”
“One of my subjects kept it as a pet. It is well known in my circle that imps can bring the bearer prosperity when properly trained.”
What did it take to train an imp? A chair and
