Penned In

by Lynn Cahoon

  “Don’t exaggerate, Glen.” Bridget looked at her watch. “Okay, maybe it was a couple of hours. It felt like eternity. What’s been going on?”

  Matt shrugged. “Not much. We’ve got a group sleeping. And the others are sitting and waiting. No new murders.”

  Dom barked his opinion.

  Marty dusted his pants off as he stood up. Then he went to the fridge and opened the door. “I’m dying of thirst.”

  “Hand me a cola.” Bridget said as she sat down at the table. “All of my muscles hurt from being shoved in there.”

  “Who locked you up?”

  The three of them looked at each other. Bridget finally answered the question. “You’re not going to believe this but he wore an executioner’s hood. It has to be the one in the display room for the gallows.”

  “But you knew it was a he?” Angie pressed. Maybe there were clues that would limit the number of suspects.

  “Yeah. Well, I guess I thought it was a man. He held a knife and motioned us into the closet. Then I heard him rummaging around the room.” Bridget looked up and smiled at Marty. Marty sat cold drinks in front of her and Glen, who joined them at the table.

  “This is supposed to be an acting job. You tell the stories, give the tour, then watch until people leave in the morning. No one said I was going to be locked up in a broom closet.” Glen opened his soda with a crack. “I’m beginning to think I need to look for another job.”

  “Don’t jump too soon. This job is fine. Well, as long as no one gets killed. And besides, we don’t know that Pat’s death had anything to do with the prison. Maybe one of those people out there had it in for him. The guy could be a real butt.” Bridget put a hand on Glen’s and Angie saw a look pass between the two.

  “Well, I’m glad we found you. We were beginning to worry.” Angie nodded to the door. “We’re going back to the great room. What about you guys? Are you staying in here?”

  “Why, so we can get locked up again? I think not.” Marty grabbed a soda out of the fridge and nodded to the door. “Come on lovebirds, let’s go join the group.”

  Angie smiled as she walked back out to the common room. She’d been right about Glen and Bridget. They were involved. There were many connections within the group. Glen and Bridget, Marty and Pat’s ex-wife, Marty and Pat. Was it that simple? Had Marty killed Pat in a fit of rage? She shook her head, ending the mental gymnastics. Marty just didn’t fit the killer mold. At least in her mind. This would be one investigation she’d love turning over to the police just as soon the doors opened later that morning.

  The guards/hosts were met by a round of welcomes and where have you beens. Angie and Dom moved over to the table where Ian sat watching them.

  “So you found the missing few.” He nodded to the guards who were now talking to an agitated Tad. “That guy is going to give himself a heart attack if he’s not careful.”

  “Once we’re out of here, it’s not our problem.” She sat next to Ian. Dom inched under the table and laid down with his head on her foot. “Anything interesting happen here while I was gone?”

  “Not a thing. Except Estebe snores like he’s cutting logs back there.”

  Angie glanced back at the cells, grimacing. “He gets up super early and goes to work out at one of those 24/7 gyms. Then he does his real estate investing stuff. Then he comes to work. And, I hear he spends a few hours a week volunteering with the Basque Community Center Men’s group. The guy is always moving.”

  “He makes me look like a slacker.” Ian grinned. “No wonder I like the guy. We’re poster children for Over Achievers Anonymous.”

  “You balance me out nicely.” Angie rubbed his arm and laid her head on his shoulder.

  Ian chuckled. “You? You’re the president. You’ve had not one but two successful restaurants straight out of college. You don’t do that if you’re a slacker, and you are no slacker.”

  She thought about her old boyfriend and former partner in el Pescado, her first restaurant. He’d been a slacker, but he’d picked two over achievers for partners. And he walked away with a large profit from that first venture for very little work.

  Angie and Ian played cards for the rest of the time. Finally, he glanced at his watch. “Sorry to leave you, but I’ve got to get some z’s. Do you want me to wake up Felicia?”

  “Let her sleep for fifteen more minutes.” Angie glanced at her watch. “I can handle a few minutes alone. I promise I’ll wake her up right at the hour.”

  “You better.” He kissed the top of her head. “See you later today.”

  Angie focused on the game of Solitaire she spread out before her. But then she heard a noise. Thinking it was Felicia, she didn’t look up. She pulled her sweater close as the air seemed chilly. “I was going to wake you in five minutes. How’d you sleep?”

  When Felicia didn’t answer, Angie looked up and saw Nancy staring at her. “Go back to bed. You have another hour to sleep.”

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen. The one that acted is not acting in my name.” Nancy said.

  Frowning, Angie looked up from her cards. Nancy looked pale under the low light. “What are you talking about? You feeling okay?”

  “The first murder was my fault. I was angry. He got me pregnant then promised I’d be able to keep the baby. You heard the story.” Nancy laughed, but there was no humor in the laugh. “Then when she was gone, I broke. My heart broke. You have to believe me. I didn’t want this. This is an abomination.”

  A chill ran down Angie’s spine. “Wait, you’re not Nancy, are you? Lyda? Is that you?”

  “You are wise beyond your years. I watch. I see.” Nancy reached down to Dom who was watching her from under the table. “You are kind to animals and feed others. You have to step in and stop him. I’m afraid if he gets away with this, the madness will keep him killing.”

  Angie glanced down at Dom. He was not growling at the “not Nancy” person, but he wasn’t wagging his tail in welcome either. He seemed as confused as she felt. “Okay. So you killed the original guard way back when. Why did someone kill Pat? Was it because of the first murder?”

  Not Nancy shook her head slowly. “No. This was just blood lust. You must stop him. Stop him. Stop him. Stop him.”

  Chapter 7

  With each sentence, Nancy’s voice got louder and louder. “Stop him.”

  Finally, Tad yelled from the other side of the room. “Shut up. It’s bad enough we’re stuck in here without someone yelling about some dog.”

  Apparently, Tad misinterpreted Lyda’s intended target for the words, but his voice silenced her. When Angie looked up, Nancy was standing in front of her, looking dazed and tired.

  “Is it time for me to watch now? I feel like I just barely laid down.” She glanced around the room, confusion on her face.

  “Go back to bed. You’re about an hour early.” Angie put a hand on Nancy’s back and led her back to her bunk. Then she woke up Felicia.

  When she joined Felicia at the table, Angie told her about what happened with Nancy.

  “And you’re sure she wasn’t just messing with you, right?” Felicia sipped the fresh coffee she’d just poured into a Styrofoam cup. “They really need better coffee. Maybe I’ll send them a bag of ours once we get out of here.”

  “Seriously? A ghost possesses one of our friends to talk to me about a murder, and all you can think about is coffee?” Angie leaned back and watched Felicia. “What exactly would excite you? A nuclear bomb blast?”

  “Give me a break. It’s early. I tend to sleep in, especially since I’m so wound up when we finish service it’s hard for me to relax right away.” She sipped her coffee. “I don’t think she gave you any information that we didn’t have already.”

  “She said he thought he was working for her. Why would anyone try to defend the honor of a long dead woman?”

  They sat qui
etly for a while. Finally, Felicia spoke. “You wouldn’t. Unless you were freaking crazy. Or…”

  Angie nodded, following Felicia’s trail. “Or you were related to her. Hatfield’s and McCoy’s type of feud. She said the baby was a girl. And we know the baby was taken away from her just after birth. Would that baby still be alive?”

  “Possibly. According to the poster, Lyda was released in 1941. Depending on when this happened, the baby might be in her early eighties?”

  Angie pursed her lips together, thinking. “Well we don’t have any eighty-year-olds on the tour, so a kid would be in their what? Sixties?”

  “And that we do have on the tour. Thaddeus. He’s got to be in his sixties or older.”

  They looked over at the old man who was still playing with the cards, ignoring everything around him. Felicia shook her head. “I don’t know. He doesn’t look strong enough to stick someone with a knife.”

  “Go down a generation. Maybe Tad is doing his uncle a favor by defending great grandma’s honor?” Angie watched the still pacing Tad cross the room.

  “Doesn’t quite fit somehow. Tamera’s still asleep. She’d have to be awfully cold to sleep like that next to the dead body.” Felicia yawned. “Well, the good thing is that the police will be here soon and take all this wondering off our plate. Unless you plan on having the case solved before they even get into the building.”

  “Would be nice, but I don’t have a clue who killed Pat. And if we count Lyda as a credible source, she said he. Not she.” Angie rubbed her eyes. “I wish I had my laptop. I could look up all the players and see if something just felt off.”

  “Investigations via Google, I like it. Although we’re kind of stuck with the old-fashioned method here. Maybe that’s why Lyda’s ghost came to visit. She knew we were in the dark, so to speak.” Felicia grinned. “We’re going to have to call you the ghost whisperer.”

  “Please don’t. That was spooky. You didn’t see the change on Nancy’s face.” Angie shivered at the memory. She was quiet for a minute. “Okay, so who are our main suspects? Thaddeus, Tad, and Marty?”

  “I’m not certain Glen’s off the list.” Felicia added. “The other two guys, Nick and Jamie, have been with their new wives this entire time. Sara’s trying to get Nick to give up the ghost hunting life, and Liz, she’s as deep into it as Jamie. I think all of them are off the list.”

  “Marriage is hard enough without going it trying to change someone to who you want them to be. What chance do you think they have?”

  “It depends on how much he loves her.” Glen sat down at the table with them. “Sorry, you two are the only ones awake and talking. Both Marty and Bridget finally went down a few minutes ago.”

  Felicia and Angie exchanged glances. “No problem. We find talking helps pass the time. You spent time with the newlyweds, what do you think?”

  “I agree. Nick and Sara won’t make it. But the other two just might. You have to have something in common. That’s why Pat and Rachel blew up. He liked spending his time at the bar when he was off. Rachel wanted a little house and picket fence. Marty gave her that even though they are still just dating.” Glen rolled his shoulders. “The tour nights are long. I’ve had a lot of time to talk with both of them.”

  “Would Marty have killed Pat?” Angie decided to keep the guy talking.

  “You’re kidding, right? Marty doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Sure, he’d defend himself, but Pat wouldn’t have charged him. He would have gone and messed with Rachel’s head if he’d really wanted her back. It was all just posturing for him. He didn’t want her but he wasn’t sure he wanted her to be happy with another guy.”

  “You seem to know a lot about all the players here.”

  He grinned as he finished his coffee. “I’m finishing up my degree in psychology. I’m a people watcher. I’m writing a book on how weird we all are and ways to manage each type. You two are problem solvers. You protect your group by getting everyone together and in a safe place, then you stand watch. I would have thought your men would be the ones out here but no, they are both asleep. You have no skin in the game here, yet you are trying to figure out the killer.”

  “We do have skin in the game, as you say,” Angie knew he’d heard all of their conversation then, including the part where he’d been one of the suspects. “We’re locked in here with a killer.”

  “True. But you didn’t have to come looking for us when we were locked up. Which by the way, doesn’t that take both me and Marty off the suspect list? We didn’t lock ourselves up in a closet for hours.” Glen stood and held up his cup. “Anyone want a refill?”

  “I’m good.” Felicia said as Angie shook her head.

  When he was out of earshot, Angie leaned over. “He’s right. Unless they have a partner, none of those three could have done it. We’re down to Tad and Thaddeus. Unless he had a partner.”

  “You said that already.” Felicia turned her head and watched Angie, who had her head turned toward the others in the room. “What are you looking for?”

  Angie nodded toward Sara. “That. She’s watching Glen and they just made eye contact. How tall do you think she is?”

  “Almost five nine if I’m remembering right, why?”

  “What if she’s the partner that shoved Glen into the closet so he could have an alibi? Who talked to her?”

  “Hope, why?” Felicia studied the girl who was now watching as Glen returned to the guard’s table where the other two still were asleep.

  “Because I wonder if she’s a student at Boise State, and what her major is.”

  Chapter 8

  Angie didn’t go back to sleep. She stayed up with Felicia and they talked about everything and nothing as they kept their eyes on Glen and Sara. When Estebe woke, they filled him in on their suspicions. He glanced around the room. “I’m uncomfortable having our team sleeping when we know there is a murderer in the room. I know I suggested it in the first place, but maybe we should waken them and talk to Hope?”

  Angie shook her head. “Right now, it’s all speculation. I guess a crime scene tech might be able to prove that Glen’s fingerprints were on the knife, or that Sara wore the executioner’s hood, but right now, it’s all suspicion.”

  “So what? We’re just going to tell the cops our theory?” Felicia snorted. “I don’t think they care about reasoning. Pat’s dead and Marty is probably going to be charged with his murder.”

  “I think that’s the plan all along. Sara needed a job that would be interesting for Nick in the area. He was talking about starting a traveling paranormal podcast with Jamie and Liz. If they had a spot here, he wouldn’t pass up working at one of the most haunted sites in Boise. And she wouldn’t have to leave the area.” Angie paused, her eyes brightening. “We need to hold a séance.”

  “You have got to be kidding.” Felicia touched Angie’s forehead. “No fever so why are you talking crazy?”

  “We need to get everyone together, then we can force Sara or Glen to confess.” She tapped the table. “It’s the only way. And if I bring in the info we got from our friendly ghost, it should throw them off guard. Especially if we focus on Nick being the killer.”

  Estebe nodded. “Then Sara will say something stupid to save him?”

  “What? That plan worked on all the Scooby Doo mysteries.” Angie grinned. “And if it doesn’t, it passes the time and the cops will be here to take over. It’s a win, win.”

  “Unless Glen gets worried and kills you.” Felicia pointed out.

  “If we’re all together, he’d have to kill everyone. This keeps us all safe. We’re each other’s witnesses.” Angie shrugged. “Anyone else have a better plan? If not, go wake the others, tell them what we’ve got going, and I’ll get the rest of the cast in on the play. If anything, it won’t be boring.”

  When Angie crossed the room, she started with Liz. Liz and Jamie belie
ved in the supernatural so they would be the easiest to convince and might even have some experience running one. Angie hadn’t guessed wrong.

  “OMG. Why didn’t I think of that? You are brilliant. We need to hurry because as soon as the sun rises, Lyda will be gone until next year. She probably knows who killed the guard too. Ghosts have more information than we do. They see everything.” Liz shook her husband. “Go wake everyone. We’ll set up on the long table in the middle of the room.”

  Angie let Liz take the lead. That way, she could watch how everyone reacted. As she’d suspected, Sara was hard to convince but Nick pulled her along. When Jamie got to the guards’ station, he used their knowledge against them.

  “We need you all to verify the facts. Sometimes people try to use these situations for their own gains. If one of us is a murderer, they could twist the history and pretend to have a message from the other side. You all know the history of at least this place. You can keep this honest.” Jamie pleaded with them. “And it keeps us all busy until the doors open. It’s kind of your job, man.”

  Angie saw the calculations running through Glen’s head as he decided how to play this twist. She wondered what he’d call Jamie. A persuader?

  Within twenty minutes, the stage was set. They were all gathered around the table. Liz opened the discussion with a call for them all to join hands and for the spirit world to open its doors. “If anyone has had a visitation this night from a spirit, please tell us the message you received.”

  “I got a message.” Angie spoke calmly. “Lyda visited me through the body of my friend, Nancy.”

  “What are you talking about?” Nancy shook her head. “I don’t remember this.”

  “You were probably in a dream trance.” Liz quietly explained. “Let Angie tell us the message.”

  Angie could feel everyone’s eyes on her. “Lyda said the murder was a mistake. That someone was acting in her memory and that he was wrong to try to enact revenge on an innocent man.”