A Ghost to Die For by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox Page B

connection to all of this?
    I was about to go down to the kitchen to get a beverage when I heard the thundering paws of Atlas ascending the stairs to my room. I waited until he gently pushed my room’s door open and then I tried to ignore him. I was baiting him and he knew it. Oh, how I loved this game with this big guy. Sitting very still and staring into my computer’s screen I could see Atlas approach from behind me, but I pretended I had no idea he was there. He gently stepped up to the back of my neck and snuffled it, it tickled me into reaching behind and patting his head. The game was up. I turned around and rubbed his head, right behind both ears.
    “Did you come all the way up here for ear noogies?” I asked Atlas.
    His answer was to press his head into my hands.
    “Whoa there, big guy. You’re going to tip me over, chair and all.” I laughed and stood up. “So, where’s Alex? Take me to your leader, big guy.”
    Atlas turned at the mention of Alex’s name and trotted out of the room, I followed him downstairs and into the kitchen. Alex was putting away groceries.
    “You’re back sooner than I thought you would be,” I said.
    Alex slipped a carton of milk in the refrigerator and turned around. “Yeah, well I got in touch with Otis and offered to take him some of Rosario’s homemade orange marmalade and cranberry jam. She made some before she left and I recall her saying that if I saw Otis to take some to him. So we can go for an early walk and now I have a reason to meet up with him. Who knows, we might even weasel a visit inside his home. His wife adores Atlas.”
    “We? He is expecting you and Atlas, what about me tagging along?”
    “I don’t see as to how that is a problem. Look, all I need to do is get Atlas attached to his halter and lead, then we can go, Otis is expecting us within the hour. Are you ready?”
    “Just a second, I’ll be right back.” I ran up to my room and grabbed my camera, my notes, along with the photos of Ruby Red and her house and stashed them into a thin sling shoulder tote and hightailed it back down to the kitchen. Atlas was ready, so was Alex. And so was I.
    Alex picked up the two jars of jam he had set out on the counter, “Do you mind carrying these in your tote?”
    “My pleasure.”
     
     
     
    Chapter 17
    Alex decided to show me the shortcut on the way to Otis’ neighborhood. He was right that I had never noticed it before. The well-groomed footpath was wider than I expected. Back in the day, this path would have been an avenue that easily could have accommodated a horse and rider or even a small horse-driven wagon. In the few times I had walked this way, I had thought it was an old private driveway. The pathway reminded me of a wide alley, except some homes actually faced the path, as if the path was their front street. I asked Alex about this.
    “Yeah, a few of the older homes do face this path-way. Way back when, it was a legitimate street. That was in the 1800s, about the time or a little before, Blackthorne House was built. Then later it was used mostly for market vendor traffic. I recall the street had a name something like Fair Oak Street.”
    I halted. “You mean, Oak Fair Avenue?” I asked.
    I had stumped Alex, figuratively and literally. My sudden halt and his immediate turn around while in full stride nearly tripped him. Atlas had no idea I would do this, he naturally continued on and nearly pulled Alex off balance. It was a comical sight, but I was not chuckling, this clue was too good to be true.
    “Now that you say it, yes I’m sure you are correct. Oak Fair Avenue, it has a quaint sound to it, doesn’t it?”
    “Quaint and clueish, if I am correct.” I had to smile because I knew Alex was confused about my reference.
    “Really, Shannon, clueish ? Is that even a real word?”
    “Maybe not a real word, but it is the perfect description. Just a sec.” I reached into my tote and pulled out my notes. “Look, according to the notes