The Ghost and Little Marie

by Anna J. McIntyre

  “Which is one reason we knew we had to get out here when I heard Mother broke her hip. Adam sure as hell wasn’t taking care of things.”

  “We should have come earlier,” Chloe muttered.

  Several minutes later they pulled up to Marlow House. They parked behind Adam’s car.

  “Wow, is that it?” Sondra asked as she looked up to the impressive Victorian house—a Second Empire-style home with a mansard roof line. Surrounded by wrought-iron fencing, with a side driveway, it stood three stories, counting the attic room.

  “You know, I grew up in this town, and I’ve never been in that house,” Warren said as he parked the car.

  “It was built by the town’s founder,” Jason told Sondra. “It sat empty for almost a hundred years—after the last owner died. He was the grandson of the founder. Danielle runs it as a bed and breakfast.”

  Chloe unhooked her seatbelt. “I wasn’t thrilled about coming here today, but I have to admit I’m curious to see inside that house.”

  Marie sat with Walt on the living room sofa when her son parked his car in front of the house. In the room with them was Adam and Melony, who stood by the corner bar with Ian and Lily while Ian made them all cocktails. In the kitchen was Danielle, checking on the turkey, while Heather had just gone to the front door to let in the new arrivals.

  “You know what I find fascinating about this ghost thing?” Marie asked Walt.

  “Spirit,” Walt corrected.

  “Really, Walt, ghost sounds so much…more interesting.”

  “Okay, what do you find fascinating?” Walt asked.

  “I can smell the turkey cooking. And it smells wonderful!”

  “I suspect that’s because you’ve adapted to your state. When I first met Danielle, I couldn’t smell the ocean breeze from the window. I really missed that.”

  “But you can smell it now?” Marie asked.

  “Yes. So you didn’t expect to be able to smell things as a…ghost?”

  “To be honest, I never really thought about it. Never really gave much credence to the notion of ghosts. But it’s not just that I can smell the turkey cooking—and it does smell heavenly—I’m not a bit hungry. While I’m enjoying the fragrance, I don’t have the urge to eat.”

  “Probably has something to do with the fact you no longer have a body—well, at least not one attached to your spirit.”

  “But doesn’t it take a nose to smell?” Marie asked. “And an ear to hear? I can hear what’s going on. This is all very confusing.”

  “I have a theory,” Walt told her.

  “Theory? What theory?”

  “Whatever we are now—our energy, or spirit—not all of our sensory abilities are attached to our physical being. For example, we have the sense of sight, sound, and smell—yet not of touch or taste. Why is that, I wonder?”

  “I really wish there was some sort of rule book,” Marie said.

  “Like in Beetlejuice?” Walt asked.

  “Beetlejuice? What’s that?”

  “Danielle had me watch it. Amusing little movie about a haunted house. In the movie those who die are each given a copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased. I have to say, that would have come in handy.” Walt glanced up to the doorway and watched as Heather brought Adam’s family into the room.

  “They finally arrived,” Marie huffed. “My daughter-in-law always has to be fashionably late. I find it rude.”

  “If we had that handbook, we’d know it’s time to stand up,” Walt said as he watched Adam’s parents approach the sofa.

  “But I like it here. It’s the best vantage place in the room to see what’s going on,” Marie said just before her son sat on her. “Goodness gracious!” Marie leapt from the sofa.

  “See what I mean,” Walt said with a chuckle as he motioned to the other side of the room. Reluctantly, Marie followed him there.

  Danielle joined them in the living room a few minutes later, and introductions were made. Adam’s family hadn’t yet met Ian, Lily, or Heather.

  “You’re the ones who bought my grandmother’s house?” Jason asked Lily and Ian.

  “Yes. Ian had been renting it for over a year,” Lily explained. “We love the house.”

  “Oh my god, that must mean you’re Jon Altar!” Sondra squealed.

  Jason chuckled. “My fiancée is quite a fan of yours. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re the reason she’s marrying me.”

  Sondra blushed. She swatted her fiancé’s arm “Oh, stop that!”

  Lily arched her brow. “Gee, I’d love to hear this.”

  “I’d been trying to get Sondra to say I do for months, and when I told her who was buying my grandmother’s house, she finally said yes.” Jason laughed.

  Obviously embarrassed, Sondra shook her head. “Jason is just being silly. Yes, I’ve always wanted to meet you—I’ve always enjoyed your work—but I’m pretty sure I was going to say yes to Jason even without the possibility I might get to someday meet Jon Altar.” She glanced at Jason and added, “Although now I’m beginning to question my judgment.”

  “See, I told you!” Jason said with a laugh. “Now that you’ve finally met him, you don’t care about marrying me anymore. Damn, I knew I should have waited until we said our vows.”

  Sondra shoved Jason with her hip and mumbled, “You can be such a weirdo sometimes.”

  Marie sat at the end of the dining room table with Walt, watching her family as Danielle served the Thanksgiving meal. She felt a twinge of guilt for having asked Danielle to extend the invitation again. It looked as if she had gone to a great deal of work, and Marie doubted her daughter-in-law or Jason’s girlfriend would be much help cleaning up. She knew her son and youngest grandson would be no help.

  Marie thought Chloe and Warren had been rather icy since they had first arrived, although they were polite. She imagined when the evening was over, she would need to issue an apology to Danielle for the re-invite. There was considerable teasing going on between Adam and Danielle, and Sondra hung on every syllable Ian uttered. Lily seemed more amused than annoyed over the obvious infatuation, and Jason seemed oblivious. He and Heather were in a debate about essential oils. Jason insisted they were nothing more than a scam, while Heather found his claim blasphemy.

  Sitting quietly by Adam’s side was Melony, who looked as if something was on her mind. Just as they finished the meal, Melony cleared her throat and stood up.

  “I need to tell you all something,” Melony announced.

  “Isn’t the toast at the beginning of the meal?” Jason joked.

  Melony awkwardly flashed Jason a smile and then cleared her throat again. “As we all know, Marie’s funeral is on Tuesday.”

  No one responded. They simply looked at Melony, wondering what she was about to say.

  “According to Marie’s wishes, she wanted the will read the day after her funeral.” Melony looked at Danielle. “At Marlow House.”

  “Really?” Danielle glanced over at Marie.

  “I hope you don’t mind, dear,” Marie told her.

  Warren tossed his wadded cloth napkin on the table. “That’s silly. There’s no reason to have some formal will reading. We all know what’s in it. I have a copy, and everyone concerned has already read it.”

  Melony cleared her voice again. “The thing is, Warren, Marie made a new will.”

  “What!” Warren, Chloe, and Jason shouted at the same time.

  “After Marie sold her Beach Drive house, she asked me to make a new will,” Melony said.

  “You aren’t even her attorney!” Chloe spat.

  “Technically, I was,” Melony said calmly and sat down.

  “What’s in this will?” Jason asked.

  “You’ll find out at the reading,” Melony said. “That’s how Marie wanted it.”

  Warren looked at Adam. “Did you know about this?”

  “Adam didn’t know anything about it.” Melony spoke up. “I told him on the way over here today.”

  “I don’t u
nderstand,” Sondra said. “Why did she threaten to change her will if she had already done it?”

  Warren stood up abruptly and looked at Adam. “I don’t believe for a minute you didn’t know about this earlier.” He then turned to face Melony. “I’m not sure it’s entirely ethical of you to be representing your boyfriend’s grandmother like this. Of course, your family wasn’t big on ethics, was it? I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

  “That’s uncalled for, Dad,” Adam shouted.

  “Dad, don’t you think you need to see what’s in the will before you get upset?” Jason asked.

  “Don’t be a fool, Jason,” Warren snapped. “Your grandmother wouldn’t have kept this all a secret if she didn’t think I’d get upset. Unlike your brother, who she’s coddled for years, she knew I wasn’t a pushover.”

  “More like an ass,” Marie grumbled. “Walt, in moments like this I wish I could do some of your tricks.”

  “If you could, what would you do?” Walt asked.

  “I’d start by dumping that glass of wine on his lap.”

  In the next moment, Warren’s wineglass moved from its place on the table, landing upside down on his lap.

  Twenty-Three

  Danielle was just bringing in the morning newspaper when she spied a cup of coffee floating in her direction. Suddenly Walt appeared, Marie by his side. He was holding the cup of coffee in his hand.

  “I wanted to make you coffee,” Marie explained. “Well, I wanted to, but as you know, I can’t actually do that.”

  “So she asked me to.” Walt handed Danielle the cup.

  “Like she asked you to spill the wine on Warren last night?” Danielle handed the newspaper to Walt.

  “I’m so sorry about that. I hope it didn’t stain your lovely chair,” Marie said.

  Danielle smiled. “Don’t worry about it. It was sort of worth it.” She sipped the coffee and made her way to the parlor, Walt and Marie trailing behind her.

  “I’m sorry, Danielle, about asking you to invite my family to come last night.”

  “If you hadn’t done that, Adam may not have requested that autopsy.”

  “I’m so ashamed. They were horrible last night, just storming out before you even had a chance to serve your lovely dessert.”

  “Just more pecan and pumpkin pie for me. A win-win.” Danielle sat down on the small parlor sofa, tucking her bare feet under her.

  “I feel so bad for Adam. Once again, I put him in the middle of things,” Marie said. The next moment the doorbell rang.

  Walt looked out the parlor window. “It’s the chief. Rather early for him to drop over.”

  A few minutes later Danielle led Police Chief MacDonald to the parlor.

  “Just so you know, Chief, both Walt and Marie are in here.” She pointed to the two chairs across from the sofa.

  “Morning, Walt, Marie. I’m really sorry, Marie, about all this,” the chief began.

  “Goodness gracious,” Marie exclaimed. “The chief really does buy into all this hocus-pocus!”

  “It’s not exactly hocus-pocus,” Danielle said with a chuckle.

  “If I were still alive, that’s exactly what I’d be thinking right now, and I’d probably petition to have poor Edward committed,” Marie explained.

  “And you asked me why I never told you about all of this before?” Danielle snickered.

  The chief frowned. “I don’t understand?”

  Danielle waved her hand dismissively at him. “Don’t worry about it, Chief. It’s just that Marie finds this all as bizarre as you do.”

  “Isn’t that the truth?” The chief sat down on the sofa and looked at the chair. “But for the moment, I have to overlook all that. You were right, Marie. You were murdered.”

  “Of course I was murdered! Didn’t I tell you that?”

  “The coroner report is finished?” Danielle asked.

  “Just the preliminary report, but we know she was probably smothered. Broken veins on her face and eyes are consistent with suffocation. There is also bruising on her body, as if she was held down. They also found a feather in her nasal passage, which substantiates the suffocation story, but the problem with the feather—according to the nursing home, they don’t have feather pillows. I stopped by there before I came over here, to see if I could pick up the pillows from Marie’s room, but they weren’t feather pillows. According to Sunny, they don’t use them because of allergies.”

  “It was my pillow from home.”

  “Marie said it was her pillow from home,” Danielle explained.

  “I wonder where that pillow is now?” the chief asked.

  “I helped Adam clean up Marie’s room at the nursing home. There was a pillow. The last time I saw it, it was in the trunk of Adam’s car.”

  “I’ll stop over at Adam’s office, see if he can get me the pillow.” The chief jotted a note down on a pad of paper.

  “If there was bruising on her body, why didn’t they have an autopsy without Adam requesting it?” Danielle asked.

  “Good question,” Walt interjected.

  “Because the funeral home was told she had fallen Monday, and they assumed that was the cause of the bruises.”

  “I didn’t fall!” Marie snapped.

  “Marie said she didn’t fall,” Danielle told him. “Who at the nursing home told the funeral home about the fall?”

  “I’m not really sure. But now that I know she didn’t fall, I’ll find out,” the chief said. “Before I go over there, I need to ask Marie some questions.”

  “Amusing,” Marie murmured. “Questioning the murder victim.”

  For the next forty minutes the chief asked Marie questions, and Danielle played spirit translator. When they were finished, Danielle walked the chief to the front door.

  “Who else knows?” Danielle opened the front door for MacDonald.

  “Sunny knows, but I asked her not to say anything right now. Not until I have a chance to notify the family.” The chief paused a moment and glanced over Danielle’s shoulder. “Is Marie here?”

  Danielle looked toward the door they had just come out of and shook her head. “No. She stayed in the parlor with Walt. You want to ask her something else?”

  “Not right now. According to Sunny, Marie had heated words with her son on Monday, and she threatened to change her will. Do you know anything about that?”

  “Why didn’t you ask Marie?”

  “This is a murder investigation, and he is her son. I’m not sure she’d be that forthright with me.”

  “You mean try to protect her son?”

  The chief nodded. “Do you know anything about the argument?”

  “I know it happened. We talked about it on the phone that night after her family went home. Warren and Chloe had toured Seaside Village, the area for permanent residents, and felt that’s where Marie belonged. They didn’t want her to go home after she completed her rehab.”

  “I can’t imagine Marie would be okay with that.”

  “No, she wasn’t. I think that’s why she threatened to change her will. But the funny thing was, she had already done that.” Together she and the chief stepped outside. As she walked him to the sidewalk, she recounted the episode at dinner the night before.

  “Basically, when Marie was killed, Warren assumed he would be getting half her estate. But now, who knows?”

  “She didn’t say what was in the new will?”

  “No, and I didn’t ask. I guess the only ones who know that are Melony and Marie.”

  “Holy crap,” Adam said for the sixth time. He sat behind his desk in his office, trying to process what Chief MacDonald had just told him. “So, she really was murdered?”

  “It looks that way.” MacDonald stood beside the desk, his cap in hand.

  “How? Why? Why would anyone want to hurt Grandma?”

  “Do you know where your grandmother’s pillow is? The one you and Danielle took out of her room at Seaside Village?”

  Adam consid
ered the question a moment and then shrugged. “I suppose it’s still in the back of my car. I haven’t gotten around to taking Grandma’s things out of the trunk yet.”

  “I need that pillow.”

  Adam stood. “Sure. I’ll get it for you.”

  Several minutes later, Chief MacDonald stood by the side of Adam’s car, waiting for him to get the pillow.

  Just as Adam flipped open the trunk, he paused and looked at the chief. “What about the security cameras?”

  “You mean the security cameras at Seaside Village?”

  Adam nodded. “One of them had to have caught something—someone going into Grandma’s room that night. I know there’s a camera in the hall, not far from her room, and another one right outside the back door.”

  “That would be great if they actually worked.” The chief took the pillow from Adam and placed it in a plastic bag.

  “They don’t work?” Adam slammed his trunk closed.

  The chief shook his head. “I was over there this morning—one reason, to see what was on those cameras. But according to Sunny, the camera system hasn’t worked for over six months.”

  “And they never fixed it?”

  “After talking to Sunny, I have a feeling Seaside Village might be experiencing some money problems.”

  “Grandma did mention they were understaffed. And the entire time she was there, she was the only patient in the rehab wing.”

  “I need to interview everyone in your family—including you.”

  Adam nodded. “Certainly. You want to do it at Grandma’s, or do you want us to come down to the station?”

  “Why don’t you have them come down to the station.” He glanced at his watch. “But if they’re not all there in thirty minutes, I’ll send someone for them.”

  “Wow…you sound like you think one of us is the killer.”

  “Adam, Sunny told me your family had quite an argument the night before Marie was murdered. She said it got pretty vocal, and Marie threatened to change her will.”

  Adam let out a sigh and leaned back on his car. “It was mostly Dad and Grandma. He wanted to keep her there after she completed physical therapy, but I wouldn’t have let him do that.” Adam paused a moment and studied MacDonald. “Wait a minute, you don’t seriously think someone in my family killed Grandma.”