Having a Great Crime- Wish You Were Here

by Marja McGraw

  After a brief discussion, Stanley returned to his room while Pete and I sat on the porch for a few minutes, regrouping.

  We were about to go back to our room when the front door flew open and Gloria Stewart came flying out. “Did you see her? Did you see her? I told you there was a ghost around here.” She sounded very nasal and I wondered if she suffered from allergies. She clutched a tissue in her hand.

  Phil followed his wife outside, taking his time. “Sorry, folks, but Gloria thinks she saw a ghost out on the path. She’s been sitting by the window for hours.”

  I glanced down at my white bathrobe. “Uh, I’m sorry, Gloria, but you saw me. We were, uh, looking for something I lost this afternoon.”

  “Oh?” She sounded suspicious. “And what might that be?”

  “Her cell phone.” Pete to the rescue. “We were afraid it might rain and ruin it.”

  “Yeah, my cell phone.”

  “Likely story. I know I saw a ghost, and no one can convince me otherwise.” The woman firmly planted her hands on her hips with her feet spread apart.

  I turned to Pete and winked before speaking to the only ghost breaker in our midst. “Gloria, I want you to close your eyes, and don’t open them until Pete tells you to.”

  “But – “

  “Just do it.” Phil sounded disgusted.

  She closed her eyes, impatiently tapping her foot on the porch, and I quietly descended the steps before running a ways down the path. I waved at Pete.

  He waved back. “Okay, Mrs. Stewart. Open your eyes and look toward the path.”

  “See? I told you there was a… Oh.” She glanced at the chair where I’d been sitting and back at the path. “It’s your wife, isn’t it?”

  Pete nodded.

  As I approached the porch, the Stewarts turned to reenter the house.

  “Damn!” I heard her say. “Double damn!”

  Phil patted her back. “Now, sweetness, if there’s a ghost it’ll probably appear to you when you least expect it.”

  She did a wiggly little dance step, shaking off his hand.

  After they disappeared up the stairs, Pete shook his head. “That woman is going to drive us all nuts. She’s bound and determined to find a ghost. How much you wanna bet we find her scrounging through the attic before they leave?”

  “No bet.”

  Pete yawned and we went up to bed.

  “Is there any possibility that someone outside of us knows about the hidden money?” I snuggled up to Pete and laid my hand on his chest.

  “Apparently so. Tomorrow I’ll ask Sasha and Kimberly if they mentioned this to anyone. I’ll bet it was Kimberly.”

  “Again, no bet.”

  ~ * ~

  The next morning we slept in a little. After cleaning up, we trudged downstairs to eat, both of us feeling the effects of being up late.

  The Stewarts were already eating when we filled our plates with breakfast and sat down at the table.

  Gloria effectively snubbed me. Apparently she didn’t like me proving her wrong.

  Phil nudged her. “Now, Gloria, it’s not her fault.”

  She sighed. “You’re right, and I’m sorry, Mrs. Goldberg.”

  “Please, call me Sandi.”

  “Okay, Sandi. But I soooo had my heart set on seeing a spirit from the other world.” She sniffled. “Sorry, but I seem to be allergic to something around here.”

  I smiled. “Give it time. You never know what today holds. It could be a ghost, or it could be more allergies.”

  I looked up and Sam stood in the doorway to the kitchen. He must have eaten breakfast with Bea and the girls. He nodded his head toward Pete, and I unobtrusively directed my husband’s attention to him.

  Pete pushed back his plate and nodded, heading for the kitchen.

  “Oh, are we allowed to go in there?” Gloria asked.

  “I doubt it, but Pete and I are doing a job for the owner, so we’re able to take a few liberties.”

  Sasha and Kimberly quietly walked through the dining room and headed upstairs to start their work.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what job is that?” Phil asked.

  If the question had come from Gloria instead of Phil, I probably would have skirted the issue, but he took me by surprise.

  My mistake.

  “We’re working on solving Bonnie Singleton’s murder.”

  I sucked in my breath and probably would have slapped myself silly if the Stewarts weren’t sitting there with their mouths hanging open.

  Gloria closed her mouth and looked at me with renewed interest. “What qualifies you to try to solve the murder?” She raised an eyebrow and lowered one eyelid.

  I closed my eyes and dropped my head before looking up at her. “I’m a private investigator. Keep that between us, though. Other guests will be coming in for the weekend and I don’t want them to know what I’m doing.”

  Phil tipped his head back and looked down his nose at me. “Is your husband a private investigator, too?”

  “Yes.” Pete stood in the doorway, looking highly amused. “Like Sandi said, this is hush-hush. Don’t mention it to anyone else.”

  “We wouldn’t think of it,” Gloria said. “But you’ll let us know how it’s going, right?”

  I pushed my chair back without answering her and stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some research to do.”

  I was finally going to get my chance to go through Bonnie’s papers, and I wouldn’t allow any interruptions to stop me this time.

  Of course, as that thought crossed my mind a car pulled up in front and another couple started unloading their car. Bea had mentioned some people by the name of Zuniga. I hurried up the stairs, not wanting to have to socialize.

  “Morning,” Stanley said. “Is the Ghost Lady downstairs?”

  “Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you and Felicity would distract her for a while.”

  “We can do that, and I’m sorry I missed all the fun last night.” Felicity rubbed her hands together. “What are you going to be doing?”

  “I’m finally going to look at the papers from the wooden box. If you can get away from Gloria, meet me in my room. Alone.”

  By the time I reached the top of the stairs, Felicity had already started chatting with Gloria. She jumped in with both feet and I heard her telling the woman about her modeling career, and guessed she figured that would be a good distraction.

  Glancing out the window, I saw Pete, Sam and the two nieces heading for the paths again. Good grief! Hadn’t they probably found everything there was to find already?

  I sighed and sat down on the bed with the papers. Sasha and Kimberly had already been here and hurried through their tasks. The bed was made and everything had been straightened up.

  It was only a few minutes until I heard Bea showing the new people which room they’d be staying in and giving them the spiel about what there was to do in the area.

  I spread the papers out and found a few clipped newspaper articles about Bonnie’s career. There was a photo of her that had obviously been taken as a movie shot.

  On to other papers. There were two letters from Martin Cook. So now I knew they’d kept in touch, at least for two letters worth. They weren’t dated and I wish they had been. I wondered if these were the only two letters he sent before her death.

  Even though I felt like a snoop, I read them. They were love letters written from a soldier who missed her terribly and who’d been sent overseas. On one hand he wanted to come home, but on the other he wanted to serve his country. He was torn, but felt he’d made the right decision.

  There was no mention of Bonnie’s pregnancy, so I had to assume she never told him. Nothing we’d found so far indicated he knew of her situation.

  I found other letters from a couple of her fans.

  Now there was something I hadn’t thought about. Maybe she had a crazed fan who’d followed her to Battle Ground and when he couldn’t… No, that was a reach. Or was it?

  I’d save
d the best for last – the papers that had been hidden in the false front of the box.

  One of the papers had been folded several times and stuffed in the little compartment. I carefully unfolded it and smoothed it out. It was a birth certificate.

  It showed Bonnie Smith as the mother, and Martin Smith as the father – not very original. I thought about saving it for Jack, but he must have already seen a copy since he knew Bonnie was his grandmother. I’d check with him. He deserved to have the paper if he didn’t have a copy already. Well, this was an original, so yes, he deserved to have it.

  Another thought struck me. Whatever papers he’d read used names other than Smith. They must have been adoption papers rather than a birth certificate.

  There were some other pages that had been folded several times, just like the birth certificate. It was a letter to Martin that she’s never sent.

  The first part of the letter told of her undying love for the soldier and her acceptance of having to wait for him to come home.

  The second part of the letter grabbed my attention.

  “So now I have a clue,” I said, thoughtfully.

  She told him that she had the oddest feeling she was being watched, and she thought she’d seen someone sneaking through the trees.

  She’d been approached by a man who said he wanted to buy her property, and he was very insistent.

  There was more, and I kept reading.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  I glanced at the top of the letter. This one had been dated, and it was written a little over six months before Bonnie was murdered.

  I reread the letter, bypassing Bonnie’s professions of love for Martin.

  “My darling, I don’t know how to tell you this other than to just say it. We’re going to have a baby. I know we were together only one time, but that seems to be all it takes. You asked me to marry you before you left. I should have said yes, but we were so rushed. Now I have this child to think of and some difficult decisions to make.

  “I’m going to visit a childhood friend in Oklahoma until after the birth. In the meantime, I’ll try to decide what’s best for everyone. I don’t care about my movie career, but I do care about raising a child by myself. Heaven only knows when you’ll be returning, and I can’t let an innocent child come into the world without married parents. It could scar the child for life.

  “I’m not sure why I’m writing this letter to you because I know I’ll never send it. I think writing this down gives me a chance to think things through.”

  Well! She never intended to send the letter. She never gave Martin a chance to give her his input.

  I read on.

  “There’s so much going on here. I don’t know where to begin. With you away, Bradley comes to the house and helps with chores. He came by the other day and chopped firewood for me, then carried it and built a neat pile by the porch. I believe he’s quite taken with little Sara from across the road. I believe he was trying to show her how strong he is. He may be a little smitten with me, but that’s wishful thinking on his part. He’s really just a child.

  “Also, a horrid man has been trying to buy my property, and he’s tried to be quite forceful. I love this house and the memories that have been born here. Oh, dear, maybe ‘born’ was a poor choice of words.

  “I met you here and fell in love here. You’re an honest, loving and caring man. I don’t meet many like you in my line of work. I think I’ll tell that man to take his money and throw it in the lake. I don’t want it. This is MY house.

  “Someone has also been watching the house. I see him lurking in the trees at the rear of my property. It could be the same man who wants to buy the property, but I can’t be sure.

  “I just don’t know what’s going on, but I am fearful. Why would someone watch me so closely? I don’t understand. Well, I’ll be leaving for Oklahoma in a few days, so I don’t think I’ll worry about it. I am careful about locking the doors. Maybe I should talk to the Marshal about being watched, but what can he do other than warn someone off? He probably wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

  So someone was watching Bonnie even before her six month hiatus. Interesting. It’s a shame she didn’t mention the name of the man who wanted to buy her house.

  “Well, my darling, I should be honest with you. I’ve decided to let someone adopt our child. He or she will need a good home with parents who live a normal life, not the one I can provide as an actress. My heart is breaking, but it will be best for the child. I’ve cried many a night while trying to make this decision.

  “Now I must sign off. As I said, you’ll never see this letter, but it helped me to write things out.”

  She signed it, Love forever, and please forgive me. Bonnie

  So she left for six months, and yet when she returned, someone was still after her. I don’t think it was a coincidence that she was murdered shortly after her return. Somehow I had a feeling that there was a lot more to her story about the man in the woods, too.

  Living out here with only one neighbor across the road and with a stalker in the woods was probably terrifying for her.

  Things were different in her time. No one had put a name to stalkers, and the Marshal might have thought it was her imagination. What was she to do?

  I thought of questions I wanted to ask Brad. Had Bonnie mentioned the stalker to him? Did she tell him who was trying to buy her property? Was there anything he could tell me about the Marshal’s investigation?

  The Marshal would have called the County Sheriff to investigate. Maybe there were old records in the archives.

  There was a knock on the door and I stacked the papers before answering. As I placed the birth certificate back in the hidden compartment, I saw a small piece of paper folded and also hidden there. I picked it up, but replaced it knowing that I’d be looking at the papers again later.

  Felicity stood in the doorway with her eyes purposely crossed.

  “Oh,” I said. “You must have had quite a visit with Gloria.”

  “That woman is something else. If she had her way there’d be a ghost in every room, for the convenience of the guests.”

  “I take it you couldn’t get her mind on anything else.”

  Felicity rolled her eyes this time. “Are you kidding? Now that she knows you’re working on Bonnie’s murder, she’s convinced more than ever that Bonnie’s presence is strolling around here just waiting to be noticed.”

  “Well, so much for her keeping secrets.”

  “Oh, she figures Stan and I are working with you and Pete. And she’s right, of course. She made a zipping motion across her lips when I told her to keep it quiet.”

  “Uh huh.” I wondered how long it would take Gloria to tell the new guests what was going on. We’d have to figure out how to keep her in the dark, which might not be easy.

  I heard feet running up the stairs and opened the bedroom door to see who was coming.

  Pete was out of breath. “You really aren’t going to believe this.” His face was flushed and he was about as excited as I’d ever seen him.

  “What’s happened now?” I asked.

  “We found another package, and it’s bigger than the last one. There’s gold in them thar hills, or on that thar path.”

  “No!” Felicity started to laugh. “I can’t believe this.”

  “There’s more.” Pete bent over with his hands on his knees and breathed deeply. He must have run all the way to the house and up the stairs.

  “Pete, what’s going on?”

  His face was turning red.

  “Wait a minute. I’m going to get a cold washcloth for you.”

  I turned to leave the room and he grabbed my arm. “Give me a minute. I’ll be fine. Don’t you want to know what else we found?” His face was returning to a normal shade of tan.

  Felicity couldn’t stand it anymore. “Stop being so dramatic. It doesn’t suit you. What did you find?”

  “On the other side of the path, there was a knife. It looked like it had been t
hrown in the bushes and covered over during the years.”

  “I take it you think it was the murder weapon?” Now I was excited, too.

  “It’s possible. It has stains on it that are either rust or blood, or both. Does that remind you of anything?”

  I didn’t even have to think that one over. “Yes. It reminds me of the razor we found in Wolf Creek.” Another old case and another old weapon, except that time we’d been stranded in a ghost town.

  “Of course, what good will it do us? We won’t find any fingerprints, and I doubt if anyone has Bonnie’s DNA after all this time.” Pete’s expression read like a book. He’d been excited, only to think it through and wonder if it would do any good.

  “Good point. However, it does tell us in which direction the killer ran. Maybe we can figure out the path he took. No, not likely. Where’s the knife now?” I asked.

  “Stan is carrying it up to the house, very carefully. You know how he is about running with something sharp in his hand.” Pete had more or less calmed down.

  Felicity placed her hands on Pete’s arms and moved him out of the way. “This I’ve got to see.” She left the room and hurried downstairs.

  I looked at Pete. “They actually found more gold? I’m amazed. Those bank robbers must have made quite a haul.”

  “Kimberly found some information on the robbery and apparently the bank had received a shipment for large payments to logging camps and other big businesses. There were two men involved.”

  “So the bank robbers had planned this out down to the last detail, except for finding the gold after they hid it.” I had to think about this logically. “Okay, let’s say one of the robbers hid the loot but something happened to him before he could tell his partner where it was. The partner must have been carrying out some other part of the plan, like leading the law in the wrong direction.”

  “Actually, that makes sense. Although, it could be that the two men had a falling out.”

  “He might have been old at the time, but maybe Bonnie’s stalker was the partner, looking for the gold.”