Wincing, he looked her in the eyes. “You’re perfect, you know that?”
Evelyn kissed him more passionately than ever before.
After a moment, Maxwell cleared his throat.
Evelyn realized he and Terrence were still bound. Swiftly, she freed the two of them before searching Gregory’s body and retrieving her wallet. She pulled out Officer Bailey’s number. No service.
Evelyn set her jaw. She turned back to the men. “I need to make a call.”
“I was feeling a little stuffy anyway,” Terrence said, looking green.
Maxwell nodded in agreement.
Evelyn pressed the right brick, and a five-foot section of the wall opened into a dirt tunnel, reminiscent of a mine.
Leaning on one another, Evelyn, Terrence, and Maxwell shambled down the dirt tunnel.
They reached the busted trap door at the other end and ascended into the shed. Outside, the sun rose, casting scarlet rays over dewy fields and the mighty Quenby House. Birds chirped. The morning breeze blew over them.
“Home sweet home,” Maxwell said weakly.
“It’s like we never left,” Evelyn replied.
Evelyn kept the phone call brief, making sure that Bailey sent someone to search Gregory’s home. Good thing, too. The police found nine-year-old Bella Day an hour away from starving to death. The press called her the Adders Trooper, as she had survived five days in Gregory’s basement without food.
Dr. Gregory kept his word, confessing to plotting Maxwell Quenby’s murder and admitting to killing nearly two dozen people. When he wasn’t talking to the police, he was speaking to himself. “I thought I killed you… you did... no… then how am I talking?” Evelyn didn’t know if he was possessed or crazy.
As for the rest of them, Maxwell opened a case against Mayor Timberland and Mr. Calhoon. Calhoon apologized to him privately, but Timberland denied everything. It would be a jury who would decide his fate. Deputy Painter was found across the country, drunk in a dive bar and spouting nonsense about sexy ghosts. Yates returned to the sheriff station and locked himself in the holding cell. When questioned why, his only response was “I’m guilty.”
After a few days of rest and revival (paid for by the hospital staff in apology for Gregory’s actions), Evelyn, Terrence, and Maxwell returned to Quenby House. They paused in the mansion’s shadow, taking in its grandeur before stepping into the foyer.
In a line, naked Winslow, sexy Alannah, athletic Peter, witty Barker, and goth Zoey watched them enter. They stood under the interior balcony and smiled at Evelyn.
“I thought you’d be gone by now,” Evelyn said.
“We were waiting for you,” Zoey replied.
Barker smiled at what he was about to say. “If Peter had both hands, he would’ve baked you a cake.”
“That’s messed up,” Peter replied.
“Too soon?” Barker replied and puffed on his pipe.
Alannah looked Terrence up and down. “Darling, may I have one kiss before we part ways?”
Terrence looked at Evelyn and then back at the curvaceous woman. “I’m a married man. Sorry.”
Evelyn smiled to herself.
“You’re a tease, that’s what you are,” Alannah replied with her sultry voice.
Winslow revealed the vase of wildflowers he’d been hiding behind his back. He approached and handed it to Evelyn. She accepted. “Thank you.”
Winslow nodded and stepped back with the others.
“I guess this is really goodbye,” Zoey said sadly.
“It’s better this way,” Maxwell replied. “You’ll get to be with your mother.”
Zoey scoffed.
“Give her a chance,” Maxwell said. “A lot can change in ten years.”
Zoey didn’t reply, but everyone knew she’d follow his advice.
Evelyn opened up the front door and stepped aside.
One by one, the phantoms exited. Barker nodded at them. Peter smiled with dimpled cheeks. Alannah blew a kiss. Winslow “smiled,” and Zoey waved them goodbye. Hand in hand, they walked down the red brick path. Once they passed by the second oak tree, they faded into dust that the wind swept away.
The flowers in the vase withered. A sense of peace lingered in the house.
Evelyn blinked away her tears and turned to Maxwell. She pulled out the old, rust-spotted key. “This belongs to you.”
Maxwell didn’t accept it. “You can have it.”
“If you’re giving it out of guilt--”
“No, it’s a present,” Maxwell said with a small smile. “Adders has been dead to me a long time ago.”
Evelyn pocketed the key.
A Harley Davison motorcycle rumbled up the brick road.
It parked, and Lily got off. She wore a jean jacket with a crooked smile on her face. After a brief moment, Maxwell and her rushed to one another and kissed. When it ended, they held each other’s hands and locked eyes. Fluffy clouds surfed over blue skies. Wind ruffled their gray hair.
Lily spoke up, “I wanted to say--”
“There’s no need,” Maxwell replied. “We’re together now. That’s all that matters.”
Standing between the colonnades, Evelyn and Terrence watched the couple and intertwined their fingers.
“That’s sweet,” Terrence said.
Evelyn rested her hand on Terrence’s broad shoulder. “I can get used to sweet.”
“What now?”
“We go home,” Evelyn said.
“Detroit?”
“Maybe, or someplace else, but if I have to spend another second in this plantation, I’m going to need to shoot somebody.”
Terrence chuckled. “Let me get my cowboy hat.”
He kissed Evelyn’s temple and rushed inside.
Evelyn grinned and shook her head.
After they packed up the van, the four of them caravanned away from the vine-covered Quenby House. As the van drove by the real estate sign picketed near the front of the red brick path, a figure watched from the mansion’s upstairs window. Clad in black, he wore a featureless white mask with crude eye holes the size of buttons.
The End
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The Haunting of Quenby Mansion Omnibus: A Haunted House Mystery Page 38
