Old Friends and Fedoras: A Jess and Libby Paranormal Cozy Mystery (Afterlife Issues Book 3)(Paranormal Women's Midlife Fiction)

Old Friends and Fedoras A JESS AND LIBBY PARANORMAL COZY MYSTERY AFTERLIFE ISSUES BOOK THREE A.W. HARTOIN Contents Also by A.W. Hartoin Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Also by A.W. Hartoin About the Author Old Friends and Fedoras Afterlife Issues Book Three Copyright © A.W. Hartoin, 2023 Cover designed by MiblArt This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Also by A.W. Hartoin Afterlife Issues Dead Companions (Afterlife Issues Book One) A Trunk, a Canoe, and all the Barbecue (Afterlife Issues Book Two) Old Friends and Fedoras (Afterlife Issues Book Three) Mercy Watts Mysteries Novels A Good Man Gone (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book One) Diver Down (A Mercy Watts Mystery Book Two) Double Black Diamond (Mercy Watts Mysteries BookThree) Drop Dead Red (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Four) In the Worst Way (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Five) The Wife of Riley (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Six) My Bad Grandad (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Seven) Brain Trust (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Eight) Down and Dirty (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Nine) Small Time Crime (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Ten) Bottle Blonde (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Eleven) Mean Evergreen (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Twelve) Silver Bells at Hotel Hell (Mercy Watts Mysteries Book Thirteen) Short stories Coke with a Twist Touch and Go Nowhere Fast Dry Spell A Sin and a Shame Stella Bled Historical Thrillers The Paris Package (Stella Bled Book One) Strangers in Venice (Stella Bled Book Two) One Child in Berlin (Stella Bled Book Three) Dark Victory (Stella Bled Book Four) A Quiet Little Place on Rue de Lille (Stella Bled Book Five) Her London Season (Stella Bled Book Six) Paranormal It Started with a Whisper Young Adult fantasy Flare-up (Away From Whipplethorn Short) A Fairy's Guide To Disaster (Away From Whipplethorn Book One) Fierce Creatures (Away From Whipplethorn Book Two) A Monster’s Paradise (Away From Whipplethorn Book Three) A Wicked Chill (Away From Whipplethorn Book Four) To the Eternal (Away From Whipplethorn Book Five) For Connor My Cornell connection Chapter One Don’t let anyone tell you that investigating afterlife issues is easy or warm. You never know what you’re going to get. Like the living, no two ghosts are the same. Sometimes they’re not even the same species. I wish I’d known that before Jess and I started our side hustle, but I wouldn’t have changed anything. I’d just have worn warmer clothes and had a plan. “You hear that, right?” Jess asked. “I hear it,” I said. The woman next to us cocked her head to the side. “Hear what?” “Chickens.” Our latest client frowned and glanced at the corner of her large yard. Jadalyn Jacobs’ chickens were huddled together as far as they could get from us and their new coop, despite the icy wind ruffling their feathers. They weren’t making a peep. “Well…” she said. Jess and I looked at each other, not sure what to say. Jadalyn and her husband Rob hired us, so they knew we could see ghosts, but in our experience, knowing and seeing us in action were two very different things. “What have you tried?” Jess asked as she pulled her hat lower so that it covered her eyebrows completely. “We put their feed inside the new coop,” said Jadalyn. “But they wouldn’t go in to eat or to sleep. Rob had to get their old coop out of the trash and set it up again. It’s a wreck. That’s why we bought the new one.” “But it’s not exactly new, is it?” I asked. “No. We bought it from the Addymans when they moved to Florida,” said Jadalyn. “What happened to their chickens?” Jess asked. “They died a while ago, but they didn’t get more since they knew they were moving.” Jadalyn smiled. “Mr. Addyman said they were the most spoiled chickens ever.” “I can see that.” I looked back at the Addyman coop. Adorable was the only word for it. Someone had put considerable effort into building it to look like a miniature barn, red with white beaming and a row of custom nesting boxes on the side. Jadalyn had the heat lamp on, hoping to lure her birds inside, but the warm glow had no effect on them. They’d obviously rather freeze to death than deal with whatever was in there. “Did you try putting one in?” Jess asked. Jadalyn wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “I did. I feel so bad about that.” “Why?” I asked. “I put Mabel in. She’s my sweetest girl. So calm and easygoing. I thought she’d be okay.” “She wasn’t?” Jess asked. “No.” Jadalyn had pushed her bird inside the coop, and all hell broke loose. Mabel went crazy, squawking and running around. Jadalyn ran to the back of the coop to open the big access door, but by the time she did, Mabel had gone silent. She found her favorite passed out on the floor. The vet said she was in shock. Mabel survived, but she wasn’t the same bird. “I shouldn’t have done it,” said Jadalyn. “Rob said they were just being fussy. He thought we should just make them and they’d get used to it.” “I see the logic,” I said. “So did I,” said Jadalyn. “But I should’ve listened to my instincts. There’s something wrong. I just don’t know what