Gretchen Birch Boxed Set (Books 1-4)

by Deb Baker

Although Julie had been researching on her own. That’s why she had wanted to meet them at the banquet hall, to share information. What had kept her away? What did she know?”

  Gretchen heard footsteps coming back down the hall. She hastily put down the phone. Julie slung the tote over her shoulder, put the phone in her pocket, and headed for the stairs. “Let’s go visit a ghost,” she said. “I can’t resist.”

  “I thought you were afraid to go up there.”

  “I am, but curious as well. What if the spirit is Rachel’s? Wouldn’t that be something? To speak with her?”

  “How do you know Rachel is dead?”

  “I looked it up. That’s part of what we need to talk about. But right now, let’s visit the upstairs.”

  “I’ll wait here.”

  Gretchen watched her make her way up the staircase. What was the woman up to? Was she going to steal something? She better not take the travel trunk. Instinct told Gretchen to be careful, that the woman knew more than she was letting on. Gretchen had to try to find out what she was hiding.

  On the way upstairs, Gretchen walked quietly along the edge of the risers careful not to make any sound that would warn Julie of her approach. The woman might have wanted to find a way into the house to recover an object. But what?

  Gretchen slid along the hall and peered into the storage room where she had left the trunk on top of a display case. It was still there. Julie hadn’t been after Flora’s little travel trunk.

  What then? Was she helping Richard? But Julie seemed so sweet, always making sure the women got along, smoothing ruffled feathers.

  She should get out of here. Why hadn’t she waited outside? What good would that have done? Julie hadn’t called the police. They weren’t coming to rescue her.

  Fear crept into Gretchen’s thoughts. Julie had wanted her inside the house. Why? Was Richard here? Julie had coaxed until Gretchen had fallen right in with her. She’d followed like a lamb to slaughter.

  Ghost, she thought, why didn’t you warn me like you did when Jerome broke in? Where are you?

  “Gretchen.” Julie stood in the doorway. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

  Chapter 54

  Julie’s eyes narrowed as she came into the room. Gretchen thought everything about the woman had become more sinister, more dark and suspicious, as if she could read Gretchen’s thoughts and found them unacceptable. But Gretchen had to play along for now. “I’m going back down to wait,” she said.

  “There’s nothing to wait for, but you suspected that already. No one is coming to rescue you.”

  “What do you mean?” Gretchen backed up, squeezing through the tightly stacked boxes, trying to put distance between them.

  “Richard is going to kill you the same way he killed his mother.”

  Richard was inside the museum! And Julie was helping him!

  “Where is he?” Gretchen asked, straining to hear the sound of another set of footsteps.

  “All the clues will point to him. I even have his pipe and tobacco.” Julie produced a small pouch from a pocket. Gretchen recognized it as the same kind that Mr. B. used. She’d watched him stoke his pipe, knew his preference. “That nice cherry aroma should cling in the air long enough. That’ll be the end of him.”

  “Who are you?” Gretchen said. This wasn’t the doll collector she’d known through the club. This woman’s face was flushed with rage, almost unrecognizable as Julie’s.

  “I went out of my way to set up that woman’s husband,” Julie continued. “That bumbling fool I hired stole his license and was supposed to drop it near the body. He botched the job, but there’s still hope.”

  “And now you intend to kill me and blame Richard?”

  Blame Richard. The elderly neighborhood woman had talked about how they’d learned of Richard’s violent nature through stories told by Rachel. Isn’t that what they’d said? Had the sister been lying to everyone about her brother?

  Several things clicked into place at once. What proof did Gretchen have that verified Rachel’s death? None at all. All it had taken to convince her of the woman’s demise was an obituary in the local paper.

  Julie came closer, weaving through the storage boxes, carrying something that Gretchen hadn’t noticed at first, some kind of hammer with a sharp, pointed end. “You had no business coming into my home,” Julie said. “It belongs to me. You and your mother deserve whatever you get. You had your warning, just like that woman from California had hers.

  “The note on my windshield?”

  “You still wouldn’t stop, even when you knew what would happen if you didn’t.”

  “How could I know?” Humor her. Gretchen had to try to get through to the Julie she had known.

  “The first time that woman visited the attorney, I knew Rachel had to die. The California snoop wouldn’t go away, wouldn’t stop asking questions about my mother. I’d been toying with the idea of permanently assuming Julie’s identity. You can’t imagine how tiring it was to keep up two roles. It turned out to be easy to kill off Rachel as well as my past. Just like that…” She snapped her fingers. “Everything erased.”

  Julie’s eyes looked wild, like those of a rabid predator. She was a large woman with a lot of bulk. If she struck Gretchen with the hammer, that would be the end for her. But Julie seemed content to tell her story. All least for a few minutes. “Allison wasn’t next in line to inherit the house, so she wasn’t a threat in that respect. But she was trying to get inside the house. For what? She must have suspected something. Then she started talking about Rachel, wanting to get a copy of the death certificate. She wouldn’t quit. When she wanted to see the graves, I offered to meet her in the old part of the cemetery and introduce her to the end of a family line.”

  “You struck her with that?” Gretchen pointed at the hammer. Julie had such a tight grip on it, her knuckles were white.

  “I didn’t want to dishonor my family’s resting place, but I had to act fast.”

  “That’s why you tried to kill her at a different grave site? You didn’t want to desecrate their graves? She was crazier than Gretchen had first thought!

  “The little fool crawled in spite of her injuries.”

  Stay calm. Play for time. “Why did you write the words on the tombstone? Why Die, Dolly, Die?”

  “My dear little relative had several phone conversations with the new me. We were very chummy. She told me that Dolly was her husband’s pet name for her. The police were so inept. It should have been their first indication that the husband was involved.”

  “I had no idea what was going on.” If only the woman would stop staring at her with madness in her eyes. “I’m sorry we caused you so much anguish. Of course, we will return the house to you immediately.”

  “Turn and face the wall,” Julie said. “It will be over quickly. You won’t feel a thing. One minute you’ll be alive, the next you’ll be gone, no conscious thought left. Won’t that be a relief, to be out of this cruel world forever, just like Mommy?”

  Gretchen needed to find a weapon of her own. Her mother had left a few doll supplies on top of one of the boxes, but they weren’t a match for the heavy hammer.

  She looked into Julie’s eyes, refusing to show fear. “No,” she said. “I’m not going to turn my back. That’s how you killed Allison, by sneaking up behind her. You killed your mother the same way. What a coward you are, Rachel.

  “I can understand why you killed your mother.” Yeah, right. “But why try to harm my mother? Why write Die, Dolly, Die and put it under my windshield wiper?”

  “You couldn’t understand how I felt when Mommy started talking as though I was the one with problems. I was always the good one, not Richard. How could she want to put me away? If only she hadn’t forced me to hurt her.”

  “But why my mother? Why try to kill her?”

  “She didn’t belong in my house. Neither did you. I thought Julie was the next in line to inherit the house. I never heard of anyone named Trudy Fernwich
. As it turned out, Mommy had secrets of her own, relatives she never told me about. That woman shouldn’t have given my house to the club to turn into a museum. You and your mother should have stayed away but you wouldn’t. It’s your fault that I had to disturb Mommy, why I had to try to move her to another resting place.”

  Gretchen didn’t want to consider the extent of this mad woman’s rage at learning that the home had slipped through her fingers. She didn’t want to think about Flora’s head, either. All this death and destruction because of one woman’s uncontrolled madness.

  Rachel’s mother was dead because of what she knew. Allison was dead because of what Rachel thought she knew. Gretchen and her mother were next in line for termination because of a simple act of generosity from the new owner. And what about Trudy Fernwich? Would she be next?

  If Gretchen didn’t survive, who would warn Caroline?

  Julie wasn’t moving, but her eyes were wary. “I need to know where Trudy Fernwich is. Tell me, and I’ll consider letting you live.”

  “I don’t know where she is.” She had to find a weapon.

  “The house has to stay in the family. It belongs to me, not to her.”

  Without any warning, Julie lunged forward, bringing the hammer up over her shoulder. For a heavy woman she was quick. Gretchen saw the flat side of the hammer descending toward her and lunged sideways, trying to dodge the blow. The weapon slammed into her left shoulder. Gretchen went down, feeling pain and hearing bone crack.

  Her mother’s repair supplies had fallen with her. A can of enamel rolled toward her. What would a shot of enamel do to Rachel? Anything? Gretchen knew some of the standard warnings about the chemicals in the compound. Flammable; if exposed wash skin; flush eyes; get medical attention. But would it be enough to incapacitate the mad woman?

  Gretchen grabbed the can with her good arm, fought against the pain, used her left hand to remove the cap. She felt like she might pass out.

  She’d never wake up if that happened.

  Rachel was above, turning the hammer. She was going to strike her with the sharp end. “You’re making this difficult,” she said, “If you’d listened to me, you wouldn’t be in pain. Mommy didn’t feel a thing. I don’t want to hurt you, really I don’t.”

  “Wait!” The spray can felt full. Rachel hadn’t even noticed. She was focused on her mission. “Let me get up,” Gretchen said. “I want to do it your way.”

  “Yes, that would be best. I can’t stand to see you hurting.”

  What a crazy woman!

  Holding her damaged arm against her body, Gretchen struggled slowly to her feet. As soon as she was upright, Gretchen turned abruptly and sprayed Rachel’s face without letting up. Rachel screamed and swung the hammer, striking empty air and throwing her off balance. She staggered. Gretchen got in one last blast before running for the stairs.

  She felt nauseated by the pain in her shoulder and from the fumes that had filled the air.

  Gretchen heard the downstairs door open, saw men with badges below her, felt her knees buckling. “Upstairs,” she said.

  They pounded past her. One of the officers stayed behind. He bent down to her. “You’re going to be okay,” he said. “I’m right here.”

  Shouts came from above. Then a shrill scream.

  A cop at the top of the stairs called down. “She jumped from the balcony.”

  Gretchen leaned against the rail, cradling her arm.

  From below she heard other officers talking, shouting orders. She caught enough of what they said to know her attacker hadn’t survived the fall.

  This time, Rachel really was dead.

  The officer who was protecting Gretchen moved aside. Strong, capable arms lifted her.

  “Are you all right?”

  “What took you so long?” she said to Matt.

  “Oh, so now you want me,” he said. “It’s about time.”

  He gave her a dazzling smile, but his face was pale and he had that trapped look he got when his doll phobia kicked in.

  “Get me out of here,” she said.

  “Great idea.”

  Chapter 55

  Home. There really wasn’t anyplace like home. Gretchen found herself surrounded by well-wishers and a pack of small animals. Even Wobbles braved the crowd to welcome her. Her arm was in a sling and pain medication pumped through her veins making her feel warm and mellow. She’d been lucky: only her collarbone was broken. It would heal.

  The sexiest man alive sat next to her.

  “We’re going to call you the aerosol queen,” Matt said.

  April giggled, watching him with adoring eyes. “The attack of the aerosol queen,” she said. “A great name for a movie.”

  “Quit calling me names,” Gretchen said, laughing.

  “It’s true,” Nina said. “You blasted Jerome, then Andy and Julie. You are the aerosol queen.”

  “I’ve removed every spray can from the house,” Caroline said.

  “Very funny. And I didn’t blast Andy.”

  “You clobbered him,” April said. “Good thing you didn’t do permanent damage.”

  Nina fussing with Tutu’s barky braids, straightening them before she said, “What a horrible life Richard had. Committed to an insane asylum when he wasn’t unbalanced at all!”

  “Like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” April said. “That Nurse Ratched was more nuts than the inmates. It turns out that Rachel was the crazy one in the family.”

  Gretchen couldn’t tear her gaze from Matt. “She was so convincing,” she said. “I never would have guessed that Julie had removed her mother’s head from the armoire. Her intention was to take her mother’s body out, or what was left of it, in bits and pieces.” What a gruesome thought.

  “We tested her tote bag,” Matt said. “She transported Flora Swilling’s head inside it.”

  “Yuck,” April said. “And to think I was alone at the museum with her. I bet she took Flora’s head that day.”

  “We discovered the skeleton before she completed her mission,” Nina said. “Thanks to our friendly ghost.”

  Matt’s Chrome cologne was acting as an elixir. Gretchen felt lightheaded. “What about the real Julie Wicker? Did she exist as Rachel said?”

  “Julie Wicker actually was Rachel second cousin. When the real Julie Wicker passed away, Rachel, always the schemer, sent for her birth certificate and reinvented herself as Julie.”

  “On a part-time basis?” Gretchen thought this was utterly bizarre.

  “Exactly. She was testing out her new role in case she needed it one day. That day came when Allison Thomasia arrived in Phoenix and Rachel thought she had put together too many pieces. Allison began to delve too deeply into their family history and that really set Rachel off.”

  Nina shivered. “And to think that she was a member of our club, that she was one of the cast members.”

  Gretchen snuggled closer to Matt. Her shoulder injury had saved her from having to deal with his anger. Instead, he was in male protective mode. She liked it. “Trudy Fernwich came as a big surprise to her.”

  “Yes, thanks to due diligence by Attorney McNalty, the trustee,” Matt said. “Trudy Fernwich is Flora’s niece, but she was a black sheep of sorts and hadn’t kept in touch with the rest of the family. McNalty is shocked at what happened. Allison came to his office, and, thinking he was doing a good turn, he brought her together with another family member, Julie Wicker. He’s understandably upset.”

  Andy flew back to LA,” Caroline said.

  “I was worried that I had killed him.” Gretchen felt more than a little guilt over her attacks on two innocent men.

  “He’ll be fine,” Matt said. “And he refused to press charges against you, although I tried to talk him into it.” From the playful grin on his face, Gretchen knew he was kidding.

  Gretchen glanced at her mother. “I’m glad you didn’t marry him. He’s not one of my favorite people.”

  “Andy’s been under incredible stress,” Caroline said,
defending him to the very end.

  “Jerome is behind bars for awhile,” Matt said.

  “We aren’t pursuing charges against him for entering the museum,” Caroline said.

  “That will help,” Matt said. “But he still has a concealed weapon charge to deal with.”

  Nimrod leapt at Gretchen’s legs until Matt picked him up so he could give Gretchen a kiss.

  “I missed you, too,” she said to her favorite little dog.

  “What about me?” Matt said. “Didn’t you miss me?”

  “Bring your face over here,” Gretchen said. “I’ll show you just how much I missed you.”

  “Nina,” April said, laughing, “tell us how your psychic antennae went so awry? What about, ‘the killer must be a man’?”

  “I was wrong this time,” Nina said, not fazed by her error. “But I’m going to ask our ghost for help figuring out where I went wrong.”

  “You’re kidding,” April said.

  “Want to help?”

  “No way.”

  “She’s waiting for us at the museum,” Nina said. “I can feel it.”

  Caroline laughed. “You’re giving up auras and tarot readings to become a ghost hunter?”

  “You don’t just quit gifts like mine. I’m simply tuning in to another paranormal wavelength.”

  “I can’t help feeling responsible for some of what happened,” Gretchen said. “I’m the one who told Julie that Mom was at the museum the morning she tried to run her off the road.”

  “How could you have known,” Caroline said. “She’s responsible for her actions, not you.”

  “I should have known when she left Curves to run errands. She was gone from play practice all morning and I never connected—

  “None of us did,” April said.

  Gretchen wasn’t through. She was cleansing her conscious. “I told the cast the doll head was at our house. Julie was right there, taking it in. If we had been home, who knows what she would have done to us.”

  “Why did she want the doll head?” April asked, directing the question to Matt.

  He shrugged. “We might never know. Maybe in some twisted way she wanted to keep the doll with her mother.”