Page 100 of Dead & Breakfast

Arthur kissed Sal’s cheek, bade him a good nap, and settled in behind the lobby desk to wait for the guests who had reserved rooms for the night. Nora’s tourism initiative was already working. The town seemed on board now, for the most part, and all the anti-paranormal graffiti had stopped. Brody’s friends had cleaned it all up in the past week while Brody himself recovered in the hospital.

Arthur settled in to wait for a while—who knew if the guestswould even show up. But only a few minutes after check-in time passed, the door to the Dead & Breakfast opened and a group of about half a dozen walked in.

“Oh, it’s just as charming as the photos!” one cooed, pointing out the umbrella stand andWelcomesign.

“Look! They have a cat! She’s so cute!”

“Oh my god, is that apun?”

Arthur stood, resisted the urge to straighten his tie, and smiled.

“Welcome to the Dead & Breakfast,” he said, handing out packets of welcome scones—raspberry with white chocolate icing in the shape of fangs.

As he checked them in one by one, he jotted notes on a Post-it:

Likes cats

Airplane hair

Glued to his phone

Suspiciously impressed by puns

Maybe it was just habit, but as one of the guests curiously took a business card, Arthur felt a little swell in his chest. He patted his notebook and smiled. It was a good habit to have. After all, one never knew what details might come in handy in his nextcase.