The Ghost and the Silver Scream

by Bobbi Holmes

  With a sigh, MacDonald sat up straighter. “Okay, okay. There has been another murder. And you’re sure you have looked everywhere on your property for the body? You said the first ghost claimed the murder happened at Marlow House?”

  “We looked everywhere,” Walt said. “Marie and Eva went through all the guest rooms, including closets. We checked the hidden staircase and the entrance to the tunnels. Nothing. And no sign of anything.”

  “I know it looks bad for Seraphina,” Chris said. “Considering their fight the night before. But I don’t believe she had anything to do with it. We talked all last night. She and Phoebe go back to when they were kids. She was practically her sister. That’s why she hired her in the first place, to give her a job.”

  “A sister who fooled around with her boyfriend,” the chief reminded him.

  “Seraphina was hurt, but she seemed willing to give Phoebe some slack,” Chris said.

  Danielle turned to Chris. With a frown she said, “Come on. I like Seraphina too, but seriously, give Phoebe slack for sleeping with her boyfriend? I’m sorry. When I was in that position, I didn’t feel that way, and she was dead.”

  “True, but she wasn’t someone you looked at like a sister,” Chris reminded her.

  “Thank god for that!” Danielle said. “It’s enough of a betrayal having someone you think you love betray you, but with a sister figure?”

  “Seraphina understands how Phoebe is broken. I get that. Being raised in foster care can leave a scar. And Seraphina told me Phoebe was given up by her mother, who had drug and alcohol issues, and she refused to sign any papers to relinquish her rights. She kept insisting she was going to get her act together and come back for Phoebe. But she never did. And she never made an effort to see her. And when Phoebe turned eighteen, the woman dropped out of sight completely. Seraphina told me Phoebe thinks her mother went AWOL because she was afraid she would be asked for money or to help support Phoebe now that she was on her own.”

  “She told you a lot,” the chief said. “Didn’t you just meet her?”

  “Come on, Chief, you know how it is sometimes when you meet a woman, and you just click. And you start talking about everything?” Chris said.

  The chief shrugged. “Can’t say I do. It’s been a while.”

  “What you’re suggesting, Chris,” Walt said, “Seraphina basically felt sorry for Phoebe, which is why she kept forgiving her, and that she had forgiven her for her most recent transgressions?”

  Chris nodded. “Pretty much. Seraphina admitted she was furious at first. Hell, they got into a girl fight. But after she simmered down, she got over it. I don’t think she went back to Marlow House and killed her. No way.”

  “Someone killed her,” Walt reminded him.

  “If it wasn’t Seraphina, then do you have any other theories?” the chief asked Chris.

  “Actually, Heather had a good theory,” Chris began.

  Danielle looked to Chris. “Her theory was that Seraphina killed her.”

  “Not that part. But maybe one of the other guests offered to take her to the airport, and then they killed her when she got into the car—which could explain why your ghost claimed she was killed at Marlow House. Once in the car, the killer dumped her body and suitcases. There is a nice big ocean out there. Good place to dispose of a body,” Chris said.

  “All we can do at this point is wait for her body to show up. Hopefully her ghost will come back and tell you where to find it. But until that happens, there is absolutely nothing I can do. Not until someone files a missing person report on her, and chances are, that won’t be done until they get back in California. Then it’ll be out of my jurisdiction. At this point, there’s no indication of foul play,” the chief said.

  Standing in the women’s bathroom at Pier Café, Carla dried her hands on a paper towel while admiring her reflection in the mirror. The burgundy was a good look, she thought, inspecting her recent hair dye. Tossing the wadded-up paper towel into the trash can, she turned toward the door and froze a moment when a young woman walked into the bathroom. She gasped. It was Seraphina Bouchard.

  “Oh my god!” Carla said excitedly, jumping up and down. “It’s you, it’s really you!”

  Seraphina smiled and looked more embarrassed than annoyed.

  “I’m such a fan,” Carla squealed. “Can I have your autograph?”

  “Umm…” Seraphina eyed the toilet stalls. “I guess.”

  Carla glanced from Seraphina to where she was looking and then grinned. “Oh, I bet you want to use the toilet, don’t you? I mean, this is a bathroom and everything. I’ll go and let you use it. I imagine someone like you doesn’t want a fan hanging around when you’re trying to pee, do you? I’ll catch you when you’re done!” Carla rushed out of the bathroom.

  Giddy with excitement, Carla wanted to linger by the bathroom door so she could snag Seraphina and get her autograph, yet when she came out, she was greeted by a group of seven people milling nearby, just inside the front door, looking around for a table large enough to accommodate them.

  Stepping up to the group, she asked, “How many?”

  “There are eight of us,” one of the women said.

  Carla did a quick head count, but came up with only seven.

  “There’s another one in the bathroom,” another woman said. “She’ll be right out.”

  “Oh!” Carla grinned. “You must be the people staying at Marlow House. I saw Seraphina in the bathroom. She is absolutely gorgeous and so nice!”

  “So you have a table?” the first woman asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

  “I’ll put two together. Just give me a minute!” Carla said excitedly, rushing to prepare the table.

  “Really, Jackie, you didn’t need to be so impatient with the waitress,” Birdie chastised.

  “I have a horrible headache,” Jackie said. “I didn’t get any sleep last night.”

  Instead of going with the others when Carla came to take his party to their table, Chase turned to make a trip to the restroom. Before reaching the door, Seraphina stepped out of the women’s bathroom. He stopped a moment to talk to her.

  “I’ve got a beautiful beach house right on the ocean,” he told her. “You are more than welcome to stay. There are plenty of extra bedrooms. You can stay in any one you want. And I mean any of them.” He smiled.

  “I guess you heard Phoebe left,” Seraphina said.

  “If she was still here, there would have been plenty of room for her too.” He grinned.

  “Thanks, Chase, but I’m pretty comfortable where I am.”

  When Seraphina arrived at the table, she took the empty seat next to Birdie. “I think Chase just hit on me,” she whispered to the older woman.

  Birdie arched her brows. “You aren’t serious?”

  “Remember what Phoebe told us about him,” Seraphina reminded her.

  “What did he say?” Birdie asked.

  “What are you two whispering about over there?” Teddy called from across the table.

  Before Seraphina could answer Birdie or respond to Teddy, Carla showed up at the table to claim her autograph.

  The waitress with the burgundy hair had taken their orders, delivered their food, and returned to the table countless times to see if they needed anything. Plates had been cleared and more coffee poured. Bentley and Chase left the others so they could go outside to have a smoke.

  Lingering by the pier railing, each man, with a lit cigarette in hand, looked out to sea.

  “So Phoebe left, did she?” Chase asked, taking a puff off his cigarette.

  “I wondered if you were the driver that picked her up,” Bentley said, flicking an ash over the rail.

  “What are you talking about?” Chase frowned.

  Turning around, Bentley leaned casually against the railing. “Last night, I heard a car drive up. I was sleeping downstairs in that front den and looked outside. I could swear the car looked just like the one you rented.”

  Chase shrugged. “Not su
re what that has to do with Phoebe.”

  “Someone obviously picked her up. Why did you come back last night?”

  “It sure wasn’t to pick up Phoebe,” Chase said. “I had a hole in my shirt pocket and lost my fountain pen. I found it on the front porch.”

  “You came all the way back at that time of night for a fountain pen?” Bentley asked.

  “It wasn’t just any fountain pen. It was an Ancora, cost me almost two thousand bucks.”

  “Whoa, you spent almost two thousand dollars on a pen? I knew you had a penchant for pricy pens, but dang.”

  Chase shrugged and took another puff off his cigarette.

  “I did wonder, thought maybe you had Phoebe stashed over at the beach house with you,” Bentley added.

  Chase laughed. “I don’t think so.”

  Twenty-Two

  The plan was for a Sunday night cocktail party at Marlow House, followed by dinner. The intimate soiree included invitations extended to Lily and Ian, and at the last minute to Chris. The plan had never been to invite all their friends, but Teddy and Jackie were anxious to meet Jon Altar, aka Ian Bartley, and considering how Seraphina and Chris had immediately taken to each other, Danielle had asked him to join them.

  Danielle and Lily stood alone together on the edge of the living room, their backs to the large picture window that looked out at the dark night. They watched the lively conversation taking place on the other side of the room between Ian, Jackie and Teddy, while several others gathered around and listened.

  Lily sipped her martini and asked Danielle in a whisper, “So which one do you think killed her?”

  “The one with the most obvious motive is Seraphina,” Danielle said. “But Chris insists she didn’t do it.”

  Lily glanced out to the open doorway leading to the hallway and spied Chris and Seraphina lingering there, chatting amongst themselves. “I don’t think I’ve seen Chris look at anyone that way since he kissed you the first time on New Year’s Eve.”

  “Oh, shut up,” Danielle said.

  Lily took another sip of her drink and looked around the room. “Where are Marie and Eva?”

  Danielle nodded to the sofa. “Marie is sitting between Polly and Bentley. Eva is over there next to Ian.”

  “Speaking of Marie, I rather miss my babysitter. You guys have been monopolizing all her time.”

  “Sorry, but we’ve needed her and Eva to eavesdrop. You mentioned Kelly is watching Connor tonight. I thought Heather was going to?” Danielle asked.

  “Heather called me this morning and told me she’s coming down with a cold and doesn’t want to give it to Connor. I really don’t need a sick kid. So I called Kelly at the last minute.”

  “Glad she could watch him. But you could have brought him with you,” Danielle said.

  “I appreciate that. But I was looking forward to an adult night. Yet I’m not sure how Kelly is going to do.”

  “What do you mean? She’s not still locking Sadie out of the nursery, is she?”

  “No. She doesn’t do that anymore. But now she’s all paranoid Connor is going to leap out of his crib. Before we left, she was taking all my pillows off my bed and piling them up around the crib—you know to provide a soft landing when my gymnast son makes his great escape.” Lily chuckled.

  “Oh no.” Danielle laughed. “And you let her?”

  Lily shrugged. “If it makes her feel better. Whatever. I’m just going to have to change all my pillowcases when I get home, now that they’ve all been on the floor.”

  “At least you know she’s probably going to keep a close eye on him.”

  Lily smiled and then asked, “Have Eva and Marie learned anything in their ghostly sleuthing?”

  “Just that while Seraphina is the obvious suspect, it looks like a few of them had issues with Phoebe. So maybe Chris is right.”

  “Such as?” Lily asked.

  “Marie heard Polly say something to Teddy about his girlfriend taking off in the middle of the night.”

  “His girlfriend? Are you saying Teddy and Phoebe were a thing?”

  Danielle shrugged. “According to Teddy they weren’t, but the comment turned into a fight, but after they got into it, nothing specific was said about Phoebe. According to Marie, Teddy doesn’t treat Polly very nice when they’re alone. Yet Eva told us it was Polly who was the instigator in that argument, and Teddy who kept trying to appease her.”

  “If you think your man is cheating on you, then yeah, bring it on,” Lily said.

  “You look bored,” Bentley told Polly, unknowingly looking through Marie, who sat between them.

  Polly shrugged. “I should go over there and strike up a conversation with Julius; that will stir things up a bit.” She took a sip of wine, her eyes on her husband, who stood across the room, still involved in the animated discussion.

  Bentley looked over to Julius, who sat next to Birdie, talking to her. He looked back to Polly and asked, “What’s wrong with talking to me?”

  “You’re gay, obviously.” Polly downed the rest of her wine.

  Bentley raised his brows. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “I’d like to know that too,” Marie said to deaf ears.

  Polly flashed Bentley a grin. “Teddy doesn’t worry about you hitting on me. But for some reason he’s convinced Julius is some player, and I’m on his to-do list.”

  “Julius? He seems like such a nice man,” Marie said, sounding disappointed.

  “Julius? He’s Jackie’s lapdog. Loyal as they come. Not sure where Teddy got that idea,” Bentley said.

  “Projection,” Polly said, setting her empty wineglass on the nearby coffee table.

  “Is that what your argument with Phoebe was about. Teddy?” he asked.

  “Polly argued with Phoebe?” Marie looked to Polly.

  “What are you talking about?” Polly asked.

  “Oh my, he did pull your chain with that one,” Marie muttered. “I do like you. I would rather you not be the killer.”

  “Come on, I slept downstairs, remember? I heard you and Phoebe in the kitchen. Surprised no one else did.”

  “No. I don’t want it to be you,” Marie said.

  “Do you think Birdie heard?” Polly asked.

  He shrugged. “I doubt it. Not unless she had her hearing aids on.”

  “I thought we were being quiet,” Polly said.

  “You guys weren’t that bad. I only heard you because I got up to get a drink of water. But that was some heated discussion you two had going on.”

  Polly eyed Bentley. “Did you hear what we were talking about?”

  “What? What were you talking about?” Marie asked.

  “A little. Enough. I imagine you’re glad Phoebe left. Did you know she was leaving?” he asked.

  “I have a favor to ask you,” Polly told him.

  “What?”

  “Please don’t tell anyone that you overheard me talking to Phoebe last night. Please.”

  “Oh dear, that does not sound good,” Marie said.

  “Why?” Bentley asked.

  “Teddy would be furious with me. I don’t want him to know. And now that Phoebe is gone, there’s no reason to bring it up.”

  “What about when we get back to California?” Bentley asked.

  “There is no reason for Teddy and Phoebe to run into each other. After all, she doesn’t work for Seraphina anymore. So if she doesn’t tell him, he won’t find out.”

  “I’m not sure about that. Did Seraphina say she fired her? All we know for certain is that Phoebe left. They’ve gotten in fights before. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her on the set when they start filming. And we all know she’s been vying for a part in the film.”

  “Phoebe is not an actress,” Polly reminded him.

  “She wants to be. We all know she’s trying to take a shortcut through Seraphina. Which is why she’ll do what’s necessary to get back in her good graces.”

  “She won’t be back,” Polly insiste
d. “But just promise me, don’t say anything to anyone.”

  “No, that does not sound good at all.” Marie sighed.

  “I promise,” Bentley vowed.

  Chase arrived late to the cocktail party. He made his rounds and, when introduced to Ian, cut short the introduction and moved on to another section of the room.

  “Was it something I said?” Ian muttered under his breath as he watched the heavyset man head in Birdie’s direction.

  “Don’t mind Chase,” Jackie explained. “I think he’s a little intimidated by you.”

  “Not sure intimidated is the right word.” Teddy snickered. “I’d say it’s more he feels he has to put up with Walt, and he isn’t about to deal with Ian too.”

  “I was trying to be diplomatic,” Jackie said with a laugh.

  “I don’t understand,” Walt said.

  “Chase is good at what he does,” Jackie explained. “But his ego doesn’t like sharing the spotlight with any writers who might be on par—or in Ian’s case—superior to him.”

  Julius got up from his chair just as Chase walked up. Explaining he was going to go talk to his wife, he offered the chair to Chase. When Julius was out of earshot, Birdie asked, “Did you make a pass at Seraphina today?”

  Chase frowned at the older woman. “What are you talking about?”

  “Did you? At that diner today, when we were having lunch,” she demanded.

  “I simply told her she was welcome to stay at the beach house I rented. It’s right on the ocean. You can’t see anything from this place except for other houses.”

  “So you were just offering her a better view?” she asked.

  “There were no strings. Anyway, she could do far worse. Barry was a womanizer, and look at that guy she’s hanging out with now.” He nodded toward the open doorway, where Chris and Seraphina stood in the foyer. “A nobody.”

  “You’ve been hired to write the script for Moon Runners, not to turn it into your own private dating service.”

  “Birdie, I know you’re funding the project, but I have a contract, and it doesn’t include a clause where I need your permission before I see someone personally. Seraphina is an adult. You’re not her mother.”