“Kellan, you've met my brother, Xavier.” Damien quickly reintroduced the two of us. Other than similar height and skin tone, they had no other physical traits in common. How had Damien's lack of a protuberant jaw gone unnoticed? Even if they'd been half-brothers, since Prudence was Damien's mother and Hiram's third wife was Xavier's mother, there would've still been a resemblance.
“Good to see you,” I acknowledged Xavier, then shook Damien's clammy hand. It occurred to me as he scanned the living room and the hallway he'd lived here for a few weeks with Lara when they were first married. “I hope there are no hard feelings about my purchase of this house.”
Damien shrugged noncommittally, a gesture I'd seen from his biological father previously. “No, my father does what he wants. I've known for years he wouldn't give me anything other than the normal Grey inheritance.” The lights blinked on and off haphazardly. Was Connor testing them out?
I wanted to remind Damien that this house belonged to his birthmother at one point, but it was best saved for later. I turned to the woman who'd raised him. “Belinda, welcome to my new home.”
Belinda smiled as she took off her sopping coat and handed it to Eleanor. “Lovely remodel, Kellan. I'm glad to see you kept the original layout. Hiram never liked the place much.”
“How's Hiram doing?” I breathed in the sweet yet woody air surrounding us in the foyer.
Eleanor opened the door to another group of guests, Lara Bouvier and Finnigan Masters. Finnigan had draped his raincoat around her delicate shoulders and snuggled close to her to keep her warm. “You certainly know how to pick the best nights for a party, Kellan.”
Damien snorted at Eleanor's costume. “Dad is okay. I left a few hours ago after speaking with his doctor. She suggested possibly bringing my father out of the coma in the next twenty-four hours.”
Lara's eyes twinkled. “I heard that rumor,” she began, before turning to me and kissing both my cheeks. “Thanks for the invite, darling. You've done some wonderful things to this old haunted wreck.”
Damien narrowed a warning gaze at his ex-wife. Lara had told me their divorce over two decades earlier was a mutual decision, but they'd maintained a friendship out of it, at least. “Those wind chimes on the porch were present when I lived here. I thought they'd been destroyed or stolen.”
By now, I assumed Prudence had recently hung them during one of her more lucid moments. Eleanor led everyone into the kitchen and poured drinks. When Lloyd arrived, he greeted his sister, Belinda, and then ran to Minnie. He pulled her to the side and tearfully hugged her, whispering something inaudible, until Father Elijah approached them. I wanted to interrupt, but the doorbell had rung again. It was the last of my guests to use the front entrance, if my plan was coming to fruition.
I escorted Raelynn and Hope through the hall, explaining the basics of the renovation, then introduced them to everyone else. Hope suspiciously eyed Damien and Xavier, likely realizing they were her brothers and wishing she could talk to them. Since no one else knew that Damien was technically not Hiram's son, Hope still assumed they were related. Raelynn had known the truth but respected Father Elijah enough not to tell anyone other than Hiram about Damien's true parentage.
The clock ticked ominously, confirming the remaining minutes before Lara's scheduled announcement. I'd given her a heads up about my plan to play it on the television. In a moment of nostalgia and ironic thrill, it felt like an Agatha Christie novel was unfolding in my haunted home. The sinister, gaping looks from one of my attendees was alarming, but it only assured me of my instincts.
“If everyone could gather around for a minute, I have something to say,” I noted, motioning for each guest to pluck a glass from the tray on the counter. Once my guests held flutes of champagne, I addressed them. “I appreciate everyone taking a few moments of their precious time this evening to toast to my new home. I'm holding a few housewarming parties. This gathering included anyone who had a connection to the original owners of the house, Hiram and Prudence Grey.”
A few gasped, and shocked faces glowered. Lloyd objected, but Nana D shushed him. “What my grandson means… is that while we congratulate Kellan on the renovations, let's also toast to Hiram's recovery and the missing Prudence Grey. We may never know what happened to the poor woman, but she's as much a part of this home as anyone else who once owned it.” The wind chimes danced loudly.
Damien's eyes darkened and puffed. Thoughts of his mother probably flooded him tonight.
As part of the evening's ruse, Eleanor interrupted. “Let's raise a glass to poor Madam Zenya who perished in the haunted hayride incident that also put Hiram in the hospital. To her memory and splendor.” When her flute clinked mine, shards of glass splintered and fell to the floor.
I flinched, then flipped on the television. Lara's news report informed a crowd of people that the doctors planned to awaken Hiram from his coma the next morning. Lara cited the swelling had gone down in his brain and how he'd potentially be well enough to speak with his family and the police about what'd happened to him. While Eleanor swept up the glass, I carefully observed everyone's expressions to determine who exhibited additional fear or concern. April also watched through a small camera Connor had installed in the ceiling light. She had a clear view of the entire room with several angles.
Damien, his face a bright red, curtly addressed Lara. “Why didn't you tell me you were putting this on your news report? We haven't even told the rest of the family.”
Xavier argued too but capitulated when Lara explained she was at the right place at the right time. “It's good news, yes?” Other than the sound of persistent drops pummeling the windows and exterior of the house, the room was silent. One person's reaction seemed suspicious but hadn't been noticed by the others. Was the plan crystallizing before my nervous but hopeful eyes?
While Nana D filled everyone's glasses again, Eleanor directed guests to sit around the table. “I thought we'd try an experiment tonight. Perhaps we can connect to Prudence Grey, who might reveal where she disappeared to. Madam Zenya was supposed to perform a reading on the house to help my brother determine whether Prudence was haunting the place. But she's gone now.” Eleanor explained how she'd been following Madam Zenya's advice and guidelines for years and wanted to honor her idol.
“I must object.” Father Elijah scowled, pulling his sister-in-law closer. Was he going to make an escape with Minnie, as he'd warned me about earlier? Minnie cowered beside him in shame or fear.
Nana D apprised him knowingly. “Perhaps a séance isn't an approved method by the church, but it would sure help Kellan feel better about the odd things going on around his house.”
I regaled everyone with stories of the unexplained wind chimes, the intermittent ghost's arrival, the frightening noises, and the locked basement. Some feigned interest, others cast it as pure silliness.
It was almost eight o'clock. I needed Bartleby and Constance, dressed as Madam Zenya, to show. I also had to cue Connor to cut the lights. “It's important to me. I'd like to connect with Prudence. Maybe she'll communicate with us, since so many of her friends and family are present tonight.”
Damien flashed bright eyes. “Let's do it.” He'd probably been a nonbeliever but always wanted to meet his mother. With no one vehemently protesting, Nana D quieted everyone down as Eleanor lit a dozen candles, one for each primary guest at the table. Connor killed the electric, and the room went dark as several guests gasped and screeched. The front porch wind chimes furiously thrashed in the ferocious gale. If I hadn't known better, I would've suspected a mysterious presence entered the room.
“It's okay. This is all part of Eleanor's method for connecting with the house.” I had to control a bit of laughter at how many of the guests were willing to believe we might contact Prudence. I'd expected several to leave, but no one did. Somewhere outside, a coyote howled over the torrid rain. Someone spilled their glass and attempted to wipe up the mess. “Don't worry about it right now.”
Eleanor ask
ed everyone to join hands, then called out to the spirits by chanting and humming. “We are open to whoever would like to visit us tonight. We come in peace, Prudence.”
At that moment, the wind chimes on the porch released another crescendo of lyrical song. A dozen heads rotated to the front door in discord. Something spiritual beyond my control was happening. Was this a foreboding of the late Prudence Grey's approval on my approach to finding her killer? Then, a series of knocks echoing in the hallway further startled everyone. The original one had come from the basement, warning me that Bartleby and Madam Zenya were about to enter the room.
I stood from the table, linking Belinda's hand with her brother Lloyd's, as they'd sat on opposite sides of me. “Who's there?” I fretted nervously, shuffling toward the basement door and feeling the moment's creepiness, even though I'd planned the entire macabre thing. When I turned the handle and opened the door, Bartleby and Constance, dressed as Madam Zenya, stood at the top.
“But you're supposed to be dead!” Several voices shrieked, but I hadn't recognized the tone of the original speaker in all the commotion. Was our culprit beginning to break?
I raised a candle and escorted them to the table, certain I could almost smell the aggravated tension in the surrounding air. “Our final guests have arrived. Introduce yourselves, please.”
Father Elijah shouted, “Enough of this devil's nonsense. What is going on here, Kellan?”
Constance spoke, implementing the plan I'd documented earlier. “It is Madam Zenya. I've been summoned to confront the person who tried to kill me at the haunted hayride.” She stared pensively at Minnie, her eyes penetrating through the woman's rapidly disintegrating grip on consciousness.
Bartleby groaned as he feverishly shifted his bulky gut. He hadn't been privy to the contents of the note I'd shared with Constance earlier, unless she'd let him read it. I had little faith she did.
“I don't understand. How is Madam Zenya alive and here today?” Lara vigorously inquired.
Minnie screamed in a petrified, hollow voice, “I never meant to hurt you. It was an accident.”
“Say nothing else, Minnie.” Father Elijah urged her to remain quiet, standing and shuffling to her side. “This is a satanic game or vicious trap.” A heavy tree branch scraped across the side of the house.
Minnie's gaze implored Elijah. “I only threatened him. You must believe me. She'll tell everyone that I'm guilty just to get revenge on us. Hiram will wake up tomorrow, and he knows I was there.”
“Tell us what happened, Minnie. It's time for everyone to learn the truth.” I commanded, watching everyone in the room. The one person I suspected of being the killer showed signs of cracking.
“I threatened Hiram. She got in the way.” Minnie trembled and sobbed uncontrollably.
Father Elijah stretched his arm around Minnie's shoulder in a loving but controlling manner. “It seems we cannot hide the truth anymore, Min.”
Minnie sniffled. “After Ian's burial at the cemetery, I wanted to be alone. It was a difficult day.”
Lloyd tried to comfort Minnie, but Father Elijah wouldn't let him near her. Finnigan and Lara stared at one another in utter disbelief. Hope and Raelynn were strangely silent. Damien and Xavier shook their heads and grimaced. Belinda grasped the table with whitened knuckles, uncertain of everything unfolding around us in the room.
Father Elijah replied, “Against my better judgment, I acquiesced and returned to the church to rest for the evening. I left Minnie at her place to recover.”
“I took a walk to Seraphina's farm. I thought visiting the horses in this cozy autumn weather at the Halloween festival might knock me out of my stupor.” Minnie gulped and clutched her throat.
“You're doing great, Min. Stay calm and tell Kellan what happened. He'll believe you.” Father Elijah squeezed her shoulder. The candles flickered, ushering in a strange, dank breeze in the room.
“I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I found myself at the haunted carriage hayride entrance, and before long, I saw Hiram Grey talking to someone else. It was Madam Zenya, and he was fiercely shaking her.” Minnie covered her lips and cast sullen eyes to the floor, ashamed of something.
I listened to her story, ambiguous how it would end. Had I gotten it all wrong? Was she responsible for attempting to kill Hiram Grey? I was almost certain she'd been innocent.
Father Elijah's voice was supportive but timid, as though he regretted telling the story. “Minnie foolishly grabbed and aimed a pitchfork at Hiram, screaming for him to stop hurting the woman.”
“What happened? Did Hiram back away?” Belinda yelped when Connor turned on the lights.
“Madam Zenya broke free and jumped onto the back carriage of the haunted hayride. Hiram lunged at me, threatening to lock me in jail for attempting to murder him. I just wanted him to stop hurting her. I never intended to kill the man.” Tears flooded down Minnie's cheeks in a steady stream.
“You killed Madam Zenya and injured Hiram. Everyone heard it. I want her arrested,” Belinda shouted, falling against her son's arms.
Damien propped up his mother. “Let them finish telling us what happened, Mom.”
I scrutinized Father Elijah. “If Minnie stabbed him, she was only protecting herself.”
Father Elijah shook his head. “No, Kellan. It's not what you think.”
Minnie interjected with a stronger tone. “A hooded figure wearing gloves rushed toward us from the other corner. I dropped the pitchfork and ran for my life. All I heard was Hiram shouting something to the assailant. When I turned around to see what happened, the person wearing the cloak grabbed the pitchfork and forced Hiram into the carriage with Madam Zenya.”
Father Elijah claimed, “Minnie watched someone thrust the weapon in their direction but couldn't do anything to prevent the disaster. She ran all the way back here and begged me for help.”
“Did she see who it was? Anything that might help identify the person?”
Minnie shook her head and turned away from everyone. “No. The last thing I heard was a scream, then the horses whinnied loudly and bolted out of the fenced-in area.”
Father Elijah indicated that he advised his sister-in-law to contact the police, but she wouldn't. “Min was afraid whoever she'd witnessed would try to kill her. I cleaned her wounds, but her hands were badly scratched, and she'd fallen into the straw while trying to run away.”
“It's my fault that Madam Zenya died. But I didn't kill her.” Minnie collapsed on the table.
Constance roared across the room in a commanding voice. “Silence. You are all fools. It is time I revealed my true identity.” When she stepped further into the light, she took off her headdress.
The woman played her part well, with minimal instructions from me. Few people had known of Constance's existence, except for Bartleby, Hiram, and Raelynn. If anyone else had known about her, or had seen pictures, it would've occurred when she was a small child. Constance and Prudence looked similar, and I'd theorized if Constance pretended to be Prudence, she might confuse the killer enough to reveal his or her guilt. The only issue was Prudence had two different colored eyes. Would we get away with the deception?
“My name is Prudence Garibaldi,” Constance announced, strutting around the room for everyone to see. “Rumors of my death were significantly embellished.”
Damien mumbled to himself, then stepped backward into Lara. “It can't be.”
Lara and Finnigan stopped Damien from falling to the ground. “Steady now, Grey.”
Minnie covered her face with her hands, then pulled away from a stunned Father Elijah and turned to Lloyd to comfort. “This is all too much. I don't understand.”
“You escaped. How?” Lloyd shouted angrily, embracing Minnie with his whole body.
Belinda startled, clutching her chest and gagging. “It can't be. How are you still alive? The Garibaldis keep surviving no matter how many times I….” she abruptly stopped and turned to her son, Damien, with a garbled expression and a
tear falling from her eye. “What kind of trickery is this?”
“What did you just say, Mom?” Damien reached toward Belinda and gripped her shoulders. Then, as if the truth suddenly hit him with the force of a hurricane, he turned to Constance, who was pretending to be Prudence. “Wait! Are you really Prudence? You're my biological mother.”
“No,” Belinda screeched, pulling Damien back. “She can't be. Prudence is gone. Madam Zenya told me she spoke to her from the Great Beyond.”
Constance stepped toward Belinda. “You were there in the library when Ian died, weren't you?”
Belinda shook her head, backing up against the wall. “I wasn't. I don't know what you're talking about. You're a foolish woman who's just trying to hurt my son.”
My theory had been correct. Belinda killed Ian, but I wasn't certain why. She'd also attacked Hiram and Madam Zenya at the haunted hayride, only she hadn't realized it was Prudence in disguise. I heard a door creak open down the hallway. April was approaching.
“Belinda, what are they talking about?” Lloyd interjected. His face flushed red, filling with confusion and concern about what was happening in the room. He wasn't sure why his sister had acted peculiarly and confessed to a crime.
“In your statement to the sheriff, Lloyd, you told everyone that you couldn't find Hiram or your sister after the fire ignited fifty years ago. You'd gone to the concert hall where you'd initially engineered it for them to talk, but they'd already finished and separated. Hiram went to break things off with Raelynn. Belinda visited the library to disclose what she and Hiram had discussed, but she must've witnessed you lock Prudence in the basement. She's the one who started the fire that day.”
“I… I… have no idea what you're talking about, Kellan. How dare you accuse me of something underhanded and foul?” Belinda angrily shook a fist in my direction, searching for the nearest exit. “I thought we'd started to trust one another.”
Haunted House Ghost: Death At The Fall Festival (Braxton Campus Mysteries Book 5) Page 27
