Common Ground: Ghost Detective Short Stories, #4

By R.W. Wallace

Life as a ghost can be a lonely existence and Robert counts himself lucky to have had Clothilde by his side for thirty years.

They watch the seasons pass and the mourners weep. Other ghosts come and go as they deal with their unfinished business.

When Clothilde makes quick friends with a new arrival, Robert marvels at seeing her laugh and behave like a teenager again — even if it means loneliness for him.
She deserves some happiness.

But when a second girl arrives in their cemetery, a pattern emerges. Robert and Clothilde must once again apply their crime-solving skills to go after their new friends' murderer.

 

Common Ground is also available in the collection Unfinished Business, Volume 1.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.W. Wallace
• Release date: Jul 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9791095707578

R.W. Wallace

R.W. Wallace writes in most genres, though she tends to end up in mystery more often than not. Dead bodies keep popping up all over the place whenever she sits down in front of her keyboard. The stories mostly take place in Norway or France; the country she was born in and the one that has been her home for two decades. Don't ask her why she writes in English - she won't have a sensible answer for you. Her Ghost Detective short story series appears in Pulphouse Magazine, starting in issue #9. You can find all her books, long and short, on rwwallace.com.

Book preview

In the Ghost Detective Universe

Ghost Detective Novels

(best read in order)

Beyond the Grave

Unveiling the Past

Beneath the Surface

Piercing the Veil

Ghost Detective Shorts

(all standalone)

Just Desserts

Lost Friends

Family Bonds

Common Ground

Till Death

Family History

Heritage

New Beginnings

Far From Home

Severed Ties

Eternal Bond

Harsh Expectations

Dull Expectations

Ghost Detective Collections

Unfinished Business, Volume 1

Unfinished Business, Volume 2

Common Ground

A Ghost Detective Short Story

R.W. Wallace

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Varden Publishing

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Also By R.W. Wallace

About the Author

Copyright

One

Clothilde has a new friend.

I’m not jealous or anything. If anyone deserves to have someone to chat and laugh with, it’s her.

But we’ve haunted this cemetery together for over thirty years and I’m honestly feeling a little left out. Other ghosts have come through here over the years, of course. Some staying mere minutes, some days, some weeks. The maximum—not counting Clothilde or myself—is three months.

Once we’ve helped the others move on, it’s just the two of us left. She’ll perch on her tombstone, her feet passing through the stone as she completely ignores the physical rules of the living realm, and I’ll either lean against a neighboring tomb or sit on the mound that is my own grave. And we chat companionably. Or let the time go by in silence.

For the last month, there has been no silence. Manon, a twenty-one year-old girl with an intricate braid running all around her cute head and practical sneakers, ripped jeans, and a tight-fitting tank top, has managed something I couldn’t even dream of doing: getting Clothilde to behave like a young, happy girl with no worries.

Since the moment Manon stopped screaming and was released from her casket, the two girls have