Kane sat miserably at the table. The
restaurant was closed business but he could hear the clatter of the kitchens as
they got ready for the evening.
The ghost of Auntie Brenda had stood over
him while he laboriously pressed his only white shirt and tried to get him to
smarten himself. He had done his best, and now was sitting at a table in a
restaurant where a normal meal would cost the equivalent of two week’s rent
money.
“I bought this restaurant fair and square.”
Mr Jervis said. “And I thought I was buying the recipes.”
Kane tried to ignore the ghost sniffing at
the side. “Wasn’t anything written down, sir?”
“There wasn’t a scrap of information.” Mr Jervis
tapped his fingers on the immaculate damask tablecloth. “I’ve gone over old
purchasing invoices, but the old…” He caught sight of Kane’s expression. “The
former chef did a lot of the marketing himself. There’s no clue there.”
The ghost nodded. “And I never let the
staff know all the secrets.”
“The staff don’t know the full recipes
either.” Mr Jervis said.
“I can see the ghost.” Kane said. “I can
ask him for the recipes, if you like, sir.”
“That’s why you’re here.” Mr Jervis
snapped. “I need the recipes. The restaurant was sold for a song after he died
and now I know why.”
“I’m not surprised if you look at the
standard of the bread order.” The ghost sniffed. “And that last lot of cabbage
was not fit for the pigs.”
“The ghost says that there were issues
with the bread and the cabbages.” Kane said. “Sorry sir.”
“Dammit, Jo said that I shouldn’t scrimp
when it came to the bread.” Mr Jervis stood up and started pacing. “And I’ve
changed back to the suppliers already.”
“I could give him a few pointers, as he
proves himself.” The ghost watched Mr Jervis with a maliciously satisfied
expression.”
“Umm, I think the late chef will be
willing to give some information over time.” Kane said. “But I can’t make him
do anything, sir. Sorry.”
“What’s the point of hiring a ghostbuster
if you can’t them to bust the ghost.” Mr Jervis grumbled, then noticed Kane’s
expression. “I’m going to have to be nice to him, aren’t I.”
“At least he’s not interfering, sir.” Kane
said.
“I’m not interfering yet.” The
ghost drifted over to the table. “And the first thing he can do is update those
menus. I updated every six months. I’ll give him some new ideas.”
Mr Jervis sank back onto a chair as Kane
passed on the information. “He’s going to be running the restaurant, isn’t he?”
The ghost looked up from the menu that
Kane had opened for him. “Just because I’m dead doesn’t mean that I’m going to
give up. Now, you need to get rid of the duck on the menu. It’s been here for a
few years. Perhaps some partridge…”
Kane started taking notes.
