Double Trouble

by London Lovett

  Lacey must have been feeling the same, only by ten times with her sensitive nose. "Well, thank you, Mr. Fisher," she said. "We've kept you from your break long enough. Again, sorry to hear about all your troubles. Maybe that will end now that—well—you know—"

  "Yeah, guess time will tell." He took another puff on his cigar and made a point of watching us walk away.

  "I'm not feeling too great after that cigar smoke," I said. "But it was an enlightening conversation nonetheless."

  We reached the jeep. "He really is convinced that Minnie put a curse on him. Gosh, he did have a terrible streak," Lacey said.

  We climbed inside. I put the key in the ignition. "That he did. I think if all that happened to me, I'd believe in curses too."

  Lacey pulled on her seatbelt. "He was sure trying to lie his way out of not seeing Minnie for months."

  "He sure was. Good work on prying out that confession. I guess you could tell how old the cigar smoke was. You were so confident about your pretend interview with the neighbor."

  "The odor was just faint enough to let me know it had been more than a couple of days but less than two weeks. But in truth, I just got lucky. There's no way to tell how long something pungent like a cigar odor has been around. It gets into everything, curtains, couches, rugs."

  I lifted the collar of my jacket and gave it a sniff. "And clothing. I'm going to have to shower just to get rid of the lingering smell." I pulled the jeep out onto the road. "Guess I should head home and get the inn ready for Raine's séance."

  Lacey looked sympathetically my direction. "I hope it's not too terrible that Lola suggested it. You didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea."

  "No, I don't mind. Besides, I think it finally helped thaw the ice between Raine and me and those darn photos."

  "That's good. Although, technically, I guess that was our fault too."

  I shook my head. "I needed to do it anyhow. You and Lola just helped me along."

  Chapter 27

  While Lacey and I were out and about investigating the murder, Raine had taken it upon herself to organize the séance. She insisted that four people wasn't enough for a proper spirit rousing circle and had subsequently invited Lana and Emily.

  Emi walked in with her oven mitts carefully holding a bubbling hot apple crisp and Lana sauntered in minutes later with a gallon of vanilla and pecan praline ice cream, perfect dessert compliments to the deep dish pizzas we'd ordered for delivery.

  Lacey, Emily and I set the table for dinner, while Lana, Raine and Lola got the parlor ready for the séance. The parlor was painted and the floors were polished, but I had yet to decide on window coverings. It was what I considered pitch dark outside, but Raine insisted sheets be pinned over the windows to blot out starlight, moonlight and any other night sky distractions.

  "I was surprised to hear that Raine talked you into another séance," Emily said as she stirred up a pitcher of lemonade to go with the pizza.

  "I figured, why not? It sounded like a fun way to pass a Sunday night," I said it casually, as if I had been happy to have a séance. In truth, I didn't mind too much now that I knew there was no danger in Raine actually summoning a ghost or, better put, the ghost. Lacey's presence or not, Edward had banished himself to the upstairs room to avoid what he referred to as a 'vexatious amount of female chatting, twittering and giggling'. I told him we were all a little past the twittering and giggling stages in our lives but that there would no doubt be copious amounts of chatting.

  Redford and Newman sensed or possibly smelled the pizza had arrived long before the delivery guy reached the front door. They bounded toward the entry as if the nice man in the red and yellow uniform was bringing them a special treat in a flat cardboard box.

  "Cool dogs," the kid said as he handed over the pizza and took his tip. "Enjoy your pizza."

  I kicked the door shut with my foot and spun around to poke my head into the parlor. The girls had pulled six chairs around a round table that Lana had brought from her party barn. Sheets blotted out any of the outdoor scenery.

  Lana had her arms crossed as she listened intently to something Raine was saying in an unusually hushed tone. Lola seemed to decide the conversation was not for her. She busied herself arranging the chairs so they were equal distance apart. None of them had noticed me or the aromatic box in the doorway.

  "Pizza's here," I called.

  Lana looked up with wide eyes and a slightly annoyed expression. "Why haven't you shown us the photos?"

  Raine harrumphed loud enough to flutter the sheet on the nearby window. "Really? I just told you to wait until Sunni brought them up herself." Raine turned to me with an apologetic shrug. "Oh, the tangled web we weave when we keep an enormous secret from best friends and sisters."

  "It wasn't tangled until a certain best friend discovered it," I stated.

  Lola swept toward me. "I'll just carry this to the kitchen." She pulled her mouth down in a 'sorry about all this' frown.

  "We'll talk about the photos another time. We've got all kinds of yummies in the kitchen, then we can all settle into a night of conjuring spirits," I said with a dose of sarcasm that I just couldn't seem to stop. I was blaming it on Raine, the blabber mouth.

  "Great," Raine said with hands on hips. "If you're coming to the table with that kind of attitude, then this night is destined to failure."

  "You're right." I patted the sides of my face. "There, all attitude gone. I'm looking forward to the event."

  The three of us headed toward the kitchen. There was a slight chill coming from both of them. I tried to thaw it with a reminder of Emi's dessert. "Don't forget, there's hot apple crisp and praline ice cream for dessert." I practically sang the words.

  "Can't wait for that," Lana said. "Afterward, you can bring out the photos with the ghost."

  I faltered a step and blamed it on a loose floor board. "Yes, sure and don't be too disappointed. It's not as if you can clearly see a figure in a white sheet with big black eyes and a round mouth floating out one of the upstairs' windows."

  "No, he's just standing on the front stoop in an early nineteenth century waistcoat and untied cravat," Raine said, with the same tit for tat sarcasm I'd used earlier.

  Emily nearly dropped the lemonade pitcher. "What on earth are you three talking about? What photos?"

  "Apparently, our dear sister has been keeping quite the stunning old photos hidden from us. That's how Lola and Sunni met. Lola was selling mid-nineteenth century photos of Cider Ridge Inn and Sunni bought them. Only, they came with a bit of a ghostly mystery, a fuzzy figure standing right on the front stoop next to an earlier owner, Mary Richards."

  "How exciting. Let's see them," Emily cheered. That was the difference between my big sister and my little sister. Lana was instantly hurt and angered that I had kept them secret, but Emily was just happy to see them.

  I shot Raine another 'gee thanks' scowl. "All right, why don't you all sit down and start the pizza and I'll get the photos. We don't know for sure that it isn't some kind of double exposure or smear during processing. You know those old cameras." I hoped planting a seed of doubt before presenting the evidence might persuade them in the direction of a mishap during development.

  By the time I returned, Edward had perched himself on the kitchen counter behind the table. He saw me glimpse quickly his direction. He looked all too amused by my predicament. "Just wanted to see how the sisters reacted," he drawled. I had to bite my tongue not to respond.

  Emily and Lana, the only people in the room not to have seen the photos yet, stood together under the brightest light in the kitchen. I pretended nonchalance to let them know it was certainly no big deal nor proof that the inn was haunted. I pulled a slice of pizza out of the box and pretended to focus on in it, all the while, I was sneaking peeks toward them.

  They both furrowed their brows in search of the ghostly figure. For a moment, they seemed bewildered and slightly disappointed. "There!" Emily shrieked. "Right between Mary Richards and the edge
of the window. If you squint just right and turn the photo so there's no reflection." She shifted the photo back and forth and Lana squinted as instructed.

  Lana sucked in a sharp breath and exhaled the words, "Well, I'll be darned. There he is, only his image is so fluid and kind of smudgy, if you turn the photo back and forth you kind of lose him." She flipped it back and forth. "Yep, there he is. Just like Raine said with a waistcoat and untied cravat."

  I shot a peek toward Edward. He flipped the untied ends of his cravat up and down and winked at me.

  Lana bit her lip. I knew she was going into pragmatic mode, something she was famous for. There was no way she would easily accept the notion of a ghost standing on the front stoop, so she needed to reason out other, more sensible, explanations.

  Lana finally released her lip, leaving behind a white spot where the tooth cut off the circulation. She was so determined to find a logical explanation, it seemed she nearly bit through her lip. "It's a double exposure," she said matter-of-factly. "It's the only thing that makes sense. I mean, look at Mary Richards. She's staring out at the front lawn. If there was a ghost standing next to you, wouldn't you be gazing up at him with bulging wide eyes, or, at the very least, with mouth agape?"

  Edward had coasted over to look at the picture over Lana's shoulder. "Bulging eyes and mouth agape?" he asked me.

  I ignored him.

  "Unless she was used to having him around and she was just ignoring him," Raine suggested.

  "Yes, that happens a lot," Edward muttered. The initial reaction over, he vanished. With any luck, it would be the last I saw of him while I still had guests. Sometimes it was hard not to respond or make an annoyed face when he was tossing out witty comments and subtle sarcasm.

  "I don't know, Lana. There is definitely something strange with this photo." Emily was still staring at it but Lana, satisfied at her perfectly logical explanation, sat down at the table for pizza.

  My phone rang. I plucked it up off the kitchen counter. "It's Jackson. I'll be right back but leave me a few slices," I called as I left the kitchen. "Hello, handsome."

  "Hello, beautiful," he paused. "Wait, is that considered too gender specific?"

  I laughed. "Don't overthink it, buddy. And I'm definitely not complaining about being called beautiful."

  "Good. Have you had the séance yet? Any chat with the spirit world?"

  "We're still at the pizza phase of the night. What are you up to?"

  "Just leaving the office. I had a mound of paperwork to finish. There's been a tiny, and by tiny, I mean microscopic, break in the Minnie Smithers case. Literally."

  "Really? Do you have a suspect?"

  "Not exactly but Minnie's sister, Etta, has moved up higher on the list. Turns out her white Mercedes was seen in the alley behind Minnie's shop. A neighboring shopkeeper saw it and noticed it because it is an especially expensive model and not one you see just hanging out in alleys. We got a warrant and searched the vehicle. We found several fibers matching the fibers on the rug in the trunk of the Mercedes."

  "Wow, that is small evidence and yet very, very big. There's still one problem I have with the sister theory," I said.

  "What's that?"

  "What was her motive? Etta hardly had any contact with Minnie. From what she told us, she had cut it off because she didn't care for Minnie's Wiccan lifestyle. Etta is wealthy, hugely wealthy compared to her sister. So money wasn't a motive."

  "They were estranged, so that's a start."

  "But from what Lacey and I discovered from our visit with Etta Derricot—"

  "You went to see Minnie's sister?" he asked, then quickly answered himself. "Yes, of course you did."

  "I'm a journalist, remember?"

  "How can I forget? What did you find out, Miss Journalist?"

  "As is common with many people her age, Etta suffers from arthritis. Her gardener mentioned that she no longer has the arm strength to prune her prize roses so the task has fallen to him."

  "You even talked to the gardener?"

  "And the assistant and the nosy neighbor," I bragged.

  "Think you're about ten steps ahead of the actual investigation at this point. I'm so swamped with other cases, I haven't even been able to get my feet wet. Anything relevant out of the neighbor or assistant?"

  "Hmm, you might have to wait until the article comes out. I don't like to give away plot twists."

  "All right, just stay out of trouble."

  "I always do," I insisted.

  "No, no you don't. Well, I'll let you get back to your fun. When are your visitors leaving? I'm starting to get a little jealous and bored and in need of some Bluebird time." He had lowered his voice to that deep, smooth tone that sent a thrilled shiver through me.

  "They fly back home on Tuesday, which means Lacey and I have to get cracking and get this case solved. I'm sure she wants to know how it all ends."

  A deep chuckle rolled through the phone. "I'm somewhat glad to know that somewhere out there is another detective who has to deal with the same fun as me, along with the constant worry and slight aggravation when his girlfriend solves a case before the police."

  "Maybe you two guys should meet just to exchange stories," I offered. "I need to get back to the pizza before it's all gone. Talk to you later and thanks for the scoop. I'm going to head straight into the kitchen and tell Lacey."

  "Later, Bluebird."

  Chapter 28

  Raine was normally one of those people who didn't take life's ups and downs too seriously. But when it came to communicating with the spirit world, she took on a whole new persona. She almost didn't even look like the easy going, colorful friend I knew so well. Her face was a waxy mask of concentration and her voice took on an unfamiliar, almost lulling tone. Considering the ridiculous friend moments we'd spent together, laughing wildly about silly things, it was hard for me to keep a straight face. I wanted to ask 'who is this stranger with the stony mask and monotone voice and what have you done with my friend, Raine?' However, I kept my questions and my smiles to myself and worked hard to put on the same serious expression that was slowly transforming the pretty faces around the table. (With the exception of Lana, who was most likely trying to figure out how she could check her Instagram feed while pretending to be part of the séance.)

  The one disruption, at least for me, was Edward's unexpected appearance in the parlor. He found Raine's exploits and adventures into the spirit world humorous, or, at least, humorous in that condescending way he had mastered.

  Raine had lit two candles on the table, the only light in the room. The flames wavered from our slight movement of the table as we connected hands. "We are going to start." Raine broke her trancelike state for a second. She looked pointedly at Lana. "No bathroom breaks once we've begun."

  Lana nodded. "Guess I should have stopped after the third glass of lemonade."

  Raine rolled her eyes, then with a flick of her eyelashes she pressed back into her still as a statue expression and low voice. With one quick breath, she blew out both candles and the room was devoid of most light. "Everyone, keep a grasp on your neighbors' hands and close your eyes."

  I was that person, the one who always snuck a peek when everyone was told to close their eyes. I knew Lana was that person too, so I wasn't too surprised when our sneaky peeks collided across the table. Even in the darkness, I could see the glint of amusement in her eye. It seemed the old photos of the inn hadn't changed her attitude about ghosts in the least. I was slightly relieved and, at the same time, rather astonished. The photos were pretty darn alarming, the main reason I'd kept them secret. But having one sister, especially the oldest and person with the loudest opinions, skeptical was probably a good thing.

  "Everyone," Raine continued after a short monologue to the spirit world imploring the ghost of Cider Ridge Inn to reveal himself, "I need all of you to clear your head of thoughts from the outside world. We need to make sure that there are no negative or stray thoughts circling the room."

 
"I'm bored already." Edward's voice, in the otherwise silent, darkly tense room, startled me.

  Lacey leaned closer. "Did you feel something?" she whispered so quietly, it couldn't be heard over the flap of a butterfly's wings but Raine pounced.

  "Please, I'm sensing stray thoughts," Raine said sharply. "We must focus. If one person is out of step in mind and concentration then the chain is broken."

  Lana sighed with irritation.

  "Sighs will also break the chain," Raine warned.

  My own sigh, a release of breath when I sensed that Edward had left the parlor, was more of an inward shoulder slump.

  A breeze had kicked up outside, providing us with just enough occasional knocks and creaks to build up some tension. We were enveloped in darkness with only the big, empty rattling walls and windows of the inn surrounding us. Then there was Raine's low voice, almost like the hum of a dozen bees, droning through the lightless silence, pleading with the Cider Ridge spirit to come forth, assuring him we were friendly entities from this life who just wanted to learn more about him.

  I gripped both Lacey's and Emily's hands. They seemed to be tightening their fingers in anticipation.

  "It's all right, you can talk to everyone through me," Raine offered. "I'm happy to relay any messages you have for the owner of the inn and her visitors." She paused dramatically to see if he took her up on the offer.

  A wind howled through the empty second floor, giving us just enough of a ghostly sound effect to cause a ripple of gasps around the table. I joined in but mine was more of a show of support and not a genuine reaction. I was well past startling at ghostly sounds.

  Overhead, a loud scraping sound caused a second round of louder gasps. Mine too. That darn ghost was up to his tricks, it seemed.

  "What was that?" Emily asked, shakily.

  I squeezed her hand. "I hear all kinds of sounds in this house. It's always settling. You know, like the way grandma used to groan and moan when she sat herself down on the easy chair."