Cozy Mystery Ghost Story Collection: The Complete Shannon Porter Mystery Series

by Haley Harper

  “Sure, but there isn’t anything there that could be used to make a case for murder against him. It’s all just my feelings and your suspicions. We’d have to give Jake something more than that to go on.”

  “Then I’ll just have to see what I can do about that,” Shannon said with conviction.

  “What are you thinking? Don’t you be going and doing something crazy…. Or dangerous.”

  Shannon smiled slyly. “Oh I’ll be careful. But I’m going to get to the bottom of this, you’ll see.” They left the patio and headed back to Maureen’s car. “Thank you so much for coming. Let’s get together again soon and just enjoy ourselves.”

  “Yes, let’s, and Shannon, please take care.”

  Chapter 14

  That afternoon, Shannon laid out her plan. She was going to find something she could use to connect Larry Jordon and Melissa Davenport. She knew there was something, she just had to find it. She had to somehow get into his room when he wasn’t there. Shannon thought back to their conversation. He had said he was going into town to meet a colleague. If he was still out, now might be the perfect time. Did she have the nerve to pull off a break and enter? She was a writer for Pete’s sake, not some cat burglar. But sometimes you just have to do what needs to be done. Getting into his room was going to be the tricky part. It was highly unlikely that he would go into town and leave his door unlocked. Shannon decided to just meander by his room and try the door on the off chance that he had left it open.

  The hallway was deserted and some of the room doors were standing open. The room that the young couple had occupied was still empty and that door was open. Bethany, the young woman from Canada was sitting at her desk writing and her door too, stood open. The mansion tried to create a home away from home feeling for the guests and the casual, friendly atmosphere lent itself to leaving your door open to other guests or staff for a bit of friendly conversation. Shannon peeked in both room as as she walked by but didn’t stop. Her main concern at the moment was getting into Larry Jordon’s room unnoticed.

  Once she was past the two open doors, she relaxed a little. She paused for a moment to look out the window at the end of the hallway. If anyone happened to see her, they would think she was just admiring the view. Larry Jordon’s room was at the end of the hall to the right of the window. The reflection in the window allowed her to watch for anyone coming down the hall. At the moment it was empty. She stepped in front of Larry’s door, prepared to try the handle to see if it was locked. Much to her surprise, his door too was ajar. She listened carefully and could hear no sounds coming from inside the room. Gathering all her nerve, she stepped a little closer and gave the door a light push. A quick glance of the room showed no one in the sitting area. She could see across the room to the bathroom and that door too was open. It appeared as though Larry Jordon had gone out and not only left his door unlocked, but he had left it wide open. Shannon wasn’t quite sure what to do. It could have been an oversight on his part, it could be the cleaning staff had left the door open while they went to get a needed item, or, worse case, Larry Jordon hadn’t gone out at all but had just stepped out of his room for a bit and would be returning at any moment. Shannon hesitated momentarily, rethinking her decision to carry out such an intrusive act. On the other hand, if she didn’t do anything, he might very well get away with murder. She had to act, and she had to act now. Pushing the door a little farther, she leaned into the room calling hello, as though she were stopping by for a visit. When no answer came from within, she stepped completely into the room and pushed the door until it was almost closed. She couldn’t risk being seen by someone passing in the hall.

  Once inside, she swept the room for signs of personal belongings. There were some papers on the desk by the window. She glanced at them quickly but they appeared to be simply various brochures of tourist attractions in the area. Pulling open drawers in the bureau she found nothing but clothes. The closet held no clues either. A couple of suit jackets, one or two freshly laundered shirts and an overcoat were the only items in sight. What she assumed was the suitcase he had travelled with was sitting on the floor of the closet. Looking inside it would require taking it out of the closet and unzipping it. Shannon knew it would be really hard to explain why she was doing that if she should be discovered. Best to leave it be, she decided, allowing herself to check the visible front pocket. Nothing. Shannon sighed and closed the closet door. If he was coming here to commit a murder, he wouldn’t leave incriminating evidence lying around, she told herself. He would keep all his personal information with him. Convinced this was all a bad mistake, Shannon decided to go give up the mission.

  She was about to leave when she spotted something she hadn’t seen before. It was small and red, and it was tucked in between the cushion and the arm of the chair by the door. Shannon pulled at the corner of what felt like a bit of cardboard. Being careful not to rip it, Shannon was rewarded with a small matchbook. Printed on the front was Larry’s Auto Repair and a phone number. At first Shannon didn’t think it would be of any use to her, then she remembered Maureen’s vision of a gas station and car repair place. Maybe there’s a connection, she thought. She slipped the matchbook into her pants pocket and headed for the door. Before she could get there, the door swung open and Larry Jordon walked in. The surprised look in his eyes turned to malice as he sensed her purpose for being there.

  “Looking for something?” he asked in a threatening tone. Pretending that she was just there on a mission of friendship, Shannon held up the book the book of Melissa’s that Maureen had handed back to her just as she left.

  Thinking quick, she replied. “Well yes, as a matter of fact,” Shannon said smiling. “I was looking for you. I was bringing you a peace offering,” she said handing him the book. “You mentioned that you were interested in learning more about the local history. I thought this book might help. I’ve finished with it so I thought I’d pass it along.” Larry eyed her suspiciously, trying to decide if he believed her or not. At last he smiled and took the book from her outstretched hand.

  “Well, thank you,” he said. “I will enjoy it, and I am glad you’ve decided that I am quite harmless.”

  Shannon tried to smile and act as though that were the case. Harmless my foot, she thought instead to herself. Out loud she said, “I best get back to my room now. I seem to always find something to do other than work, but my book won’t write itself.” Larry nodded as she headed out of his room, his friendly smile gone and a look of suspicion back in his eyes.

  Chapter 15

  Shannon pulled the matchbook from her pocket. It certainly wasn’t much to go on, but it was something. Larry’s Auto Repair could definitely be a connection to Larry Jordon. She wouldn’t rush to Maureen or Jake with this tidbit of information….at least not yet. She would pursue this a little further on her own first. Popping open her laptop, she loaded a Google search page and typed in Larry’s Auto Repair Michigan. She decided to start her search there since that was supposed to be Jordon’s home state, or at least where he was currently teaching. Her search returned several closely related results but no exact match. There was a Larry’s Auto Supply Store, a Larry’s Auto Trader and a Larry’s Garage. A little further research into these gave her nothing to go on. Photos of the owners and information on the staff were available on each site and none of them matched her man. Then she remembered Larry slipping up and mentioning his favorite restaurant in Cleveland. She started a new search for Larry’s Auto Repair in Cleveland. Again the search returned numerous results including an exact match for Larry’s Auto Repair on Birmingham Street in Cleveland. Clicking on that link, her heart began to pound. Maybe she was finally going to find something. Her heart sank as the page loaded with a message saying the page was no longer available. So this was going to be another dead end after all. Shannon sighed and dropped her head into her hands. There had to be something. She knew the man was lying, and whether he had anything to do with Melissa’s death or not, Shannon was out to find out
what he was hiding.

  Okay then. If the matchbook isn’t going to prove anything, she’d try something else. Going back to her computer, she deleted those search results and started typing. First she found a list of universities and colleges in Michigan. When the search came back with over ninety results, Shannon’s heart sank. Finding one particular professor was going to be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. Just on the off chance that she might be lucky, she tried a different search. Michigan University Professor Larry Jordon, she typed and hit the enter key. She was rewarded with two exact matches, but when she followed the links, the pictures that came up didn’t match the Larry Jordon she knew. Now she was just more frustrated than ever. The Larry Jordons who were professors in Michigan were not the Larry Jordon she knew, and the Larry’s Auto Repair she had found had been in Cleveland, not in Michigan. A whole lot of conflicting information sure didn’t add up to any kind of incriminating evidence. There was probably nothing here that would convince Jake to reopen the investigation, but she was going to take it to him anyway. He was a detective, after all. Maybe he could use it in some way that she hadn’t thought of. She wondered too, how Jake felt about Maureen’s special “talent.” How much of her visions and readings would he take into consideration? Tomorrow she would talk to him and see.

  In the meantime, she tried a few other searches to see if anything g else turned up. She looked for Larry Jordon on face book. It was a fairly common name, apparently because several names turned up, but none of them looked anything like the Larry Jordon she knew. Same thing on all the other social media sites. He has to be using an alias, she decided. She considered searching for a Tom Davenport who might fit the picture but she remembered Melissa saying she had taken back her maiden name. Tired now and her eyes bleary from reading, Shannon decided to call it a day.

  Looking over at her desk littered with papers she felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Never before had she failed to meet a deadline and she really didn’t want this to be the first. In spite of her fatigue she plunked herself down at her desk and started writing a paragraph about the ghost of the wicked Lady Caldwell.

  “Forget about Larry Jordon and get your mind back on ghosts,” she told herself. As she reread what she had written so far, a new and different suspicion began to grow. The mysterious maid that no one else had seen since she arrived, the lady actor from the little skit that Frederick had presented on their first day, the female figure that Frederick had seen running from the scene of the first death and the Lady Caldwell described in her historical research all bore a resemblance. They were all small and slender with long dark hair. So maybe she really had seen a ghost after all. But why would the ghost of Lady Caldwell be appearing to her in the guise of a maid? And why was she the only one seeing her? Was there really a ghost at work here?“Give your head a shake, girl. Ghosts don’t make things like this happen. Ghosts are harmless. They scare people, they don’t kill people.”

  But now Shannon’s mind began to wander down a whole new track. What if there really was a killer hiding in the mansion pretending to be the ghost of Lady Caldwell? What if Larry Jordon was nothing more than a creepy, weird man with a few anger issues, and the elusive dark haired lady was the real perpetrator? Shannon sighed deeply. She was tired, confused and just plain frustrated. Why did she ever get involved in this whole mess in the first place?

  Chapter 16

  Shannon was starting to feel worn out. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since she arrived and it didn’t seem that tonight was going to be any better. She had worked into the early morning hours getting caught up on her book and now the blue lights of the clock were taunting her. She had watched them switch from 2 am to 3 am as she tossed and turned. Finally she got out of bed and now wide awake, she decided to call Mitch. She hadn’t talked to him since since the day before, and she remembered her parting promise to call every day. She quickly calculated the time difference. Three o’clock here so it was only ten back home. He should still be awake, Shannon mumbled out loud. She opened her phone and clicked on his number. It only rang twice before Mitch picked it up.

  “Hello,” he said, his voice sounded muffled and gravelly.

  “Hi,” Shannon said apologetically. “I’m sorry if I woke you. I thought you would still be up.”

  “Um…umm..Ya, I’m up. Just getting ready to turn in. How are you?” It was then that Shannon heard muffled but distinct giggling in the background. Before Mitch could start making excuses or say anything more, Shannon spoke.

  “I can tell you’re busy. Take care Mitch. Goodbye.” And she disconnected. Her first reaction was to cry. How could he just start up with someone else like that? Although she didn’t feel heartbroken, she did feel betrayed, and after only a few tears, anger replaced the hurt. Well so much for you Mitch! Have a nice life! Shannon turned off the lights and just sat for a while in the moonlit room. The mansion was completely quiet except for the ticking of the huge grandfather clock that sat in the hall. Eventually its monotonous drone lulled her to sleep right where she was, curled in the overstuffed chair by the window. A few times she came to and thought she should move into the bed, but each time she fell back to sleep instead. She was dreaming that she was home in her own bed with Edgar tucked up against her legs. Everything felt cozy and familiar and her heart was happy and content. Then Edgar let out a low rumbling growl as though he could sense some kind of danger. Shannon was trying to tell him that everything thing was okay. But the growling grew more insistent. Then Shannon heard the sounds of someone moving about in her room. She reached for Edgar but he had jumped from the bed, his growling turning to a full bark. The photographs that Shannon had sitting on her dresser began falling face down and dresser drawers began to open and close all of their own free will. Books started flying from the bookshelf and landed with loud thuds on the floor. Shannon was trying desperately to scream but no sounds would come out. She tried to grab Edgar but he stayed just out of reach. And then she heard a door slam and everything went still.

  Shannon bolted upright in the chair, her heart racing and the dream over. For a moment she didn’t know where she was or what she had heard. Had she really heard noises or were they just a part of the dream? Once her head cleared a little she glanced around the room. Everything appeared to be quiet and undisturbed. She gathered the blanket around her shoulders and got up from the chair. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end and goose bumps covered her arms. With small cautious steps she crossed the room to the dresser expecting the photos that were sitting there to be face down like they had been in her dream, but they were all still upright in their proper place. Books remained on the shelf. Shannon let out a long breath. It was all just a dream. Thank goodness. She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was only five thirty. She hadn’t been asleep for very long at all. Knowing she needed to get a lot of work done, she decided to stay up and get started. Turning on the lamp, she was surprised to see that her door was slightly ajar. Her heart started pounding again as she crept over to close it. She listened for any sounds but the mansion remained quiet. She poked her head out into empty hall, relieved that no shapes, either ghost or human stood there. She pushed the door closed quietly and opened the bureau drawer for a fresh towel. As she headed for the shower her foot slammed into something on the floor. In the dim light of the lamp, she reached down to retrieve the misplaced object and was surprised to find the book Melissa had given her, the book she had only just a few hours ago handed to Professor Jordon. How in the world had it ended up back here in her room? She picked up the book and padded back across the carpet to the chair by the window. She flipped on the overhead light and sat down to study the book more closely. She didn’t know why, but she felt there was something in the book that she was meant to find. With trembling hands she started to leaf through its pages. About midway through the book she was startled to see a photograph tucked between two of the pages. At first glance she could tell it was a wedding photo. T
he bride was dressed in a simple flowing white gown with a dark red sash at the waist. In her hair she wore a band of roses in the same shade of red attached to a short veil. The groom was in a dark tuxedo with matching red cumber bun and tie. They were a striking couple and posed for the photograph on a bridge over a babbling brook. Shannon took a closer look, zeroing in on the faces of the happy young couples. When she realized who she was looking at, she nearly let the picture slip from her hands. Staring back at her were the smiling faces of Melissa Davenport and Larry Jordon.

  Forgetting all about her shower, Shannon sank back into the chair once again. The blanket had slipped from her shoulders when she stooped to pick up the book and she was suddenly very cold. She started to shake and found it hard to catch her breath. Breathing deeply, she tried to calm her frayed nerves and make some sense of what she was seeing.

  So, Melissa and Larry were husband and wife. That meant he was no more Larry Jordon than the man in the moon. If he was Melisa’s husband, his name was Tom. She suddenly realized Melissa had never mentioned her married name. But it did prove he not only knew Melissa but was once married to her. It wouldn’t be hard to go from there to getting a name. And unlike the police believed, he had a very definite connection to the victim. At last she had some hard evidence to give detective Monroe. And then she thought about explaining how the photo came to be in her possession. She didn’t have the answer to that herself even. She was quite certain the picture had not been there when she first read the book, not to mention, this trip was the beginning of a anew life for Melissa. Shannon seriously doubted that she would be carrying around a wedding photo. But an enraged ex-husband might very well do just that. But how did the photo get from Larry Jordon’s hands to hers? Shannon began to entrain thoughts of a certain lady ghost playing a part in all of this, but quickly pushed them out of her head. No one else needed to know that the picture had just suddenly appeared in the book. As far as anyone else knew, she had just come across it during her research. If it had been the work of a ghost, it was between the two of them and it would remain their little secret.