by Bobbi Holmes
“She told me she went to the cemetery to talk to my grandfather. At first, I thought she meant a one-way conversation, where she spoke to his gravesite. But that’s not what she meant—she insisted it was a two way conversation with grandfather’s ghost.”
Danielle shifted nervously in her chair, unsure where the chief was going with this conversation.
“I’ll admit, at first I thought she was delusional. After all, she was getting up there in age. But the only problem was, aside from claiming to have regular conversations with her dead husband, she showed no other signs of dementia. My grandmother had always been very sharp. When she saw the concern on my face, she told me it was all right if I didn’t believe her. That if it made me feel better, I could just think of it as an old woman indulging in a private fantasy—something that gave her comfort. She reminded me that as long as she behaved normal in other areas of her life, I shouldn’t let it bother me.”
“She admitted it was all a fantasy?” Danielle asked.
He laughed and said, “Not exactly. She went on to tell me that someday after she was gone, she would find a way to send me a message. To let me know that she really had been talking to my grandfather when she visited the cemetery.”
“And you think I’m that message?” Danielle asked in a small voice.
“Did she say anything else to you? Anything she asked you to tell me?”
Danielle remained silent for a moment before answering. “Your grandmother said, ‘tell him to start paying attention to what’s in front of him.’”
The chief began to laugh—uncontrollably. Tears slipped from his eyes. He wiped them away with his fingers, still laughing, shaking his head, until the laugher subsided, leaving him with a satisfied grin.
“I don’t understand?” Danielle asked in a quiet voice.
“Everything makes sense now,” he explained.
“It does?”
“Growing up, whenever I was trying to figure out a difficult problem, grandmother would tell me all I had to do was stop looking so hard for the answer, that it was probably already right in front of me. And in this case, she was right.”
“Right about what?”
“My problem.”
“What was that?” Danielle frowned.
“You.” He smiled confidently.
“Me?” Danielle moved restlessly in the chair.
“It all makes sense now. Your actions. Why you’ve behaved the way you have. Joe was wrong; you aren’t some fragile creature, nor are you the manipulative woman Brian thinks you are.”
“You believe I spoke with your grandmother?”
“Yes, I do.”
Danielle wasn’t sure how to process what the chief was telling her. She sat quietly, replaying his words in her head.
After a few moments of silence he said, “You told Joe you had ESP. But you don’t, do you?”
“I didn’t say ESP exactly,” Danielle muttered. “But no, I don’t have ESP.”
“So the stories about you claiming to talk to ghosts when you were a child—those were true. Not just that you made those claims but that you actually did speak to spirits.”
“Yes,” Danielle whispered.
“How did you really find Isabella’s body?”
“She told me.”
“Isabella?”
“Yes,” Danielle nodded.
“And Cheryl? How did you happen to find her?”
“I suppose Cheryl helped me find it, but she wasn’t sure where it was exactly.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“You mean how I see things?” Danielle asked.
“Yes.”
“Just Lily. I told my husband, but I don’t think he ever believed me.”
“But you once told your parents…your Cousin Cheryl?” he asked.
“Yes. When I told my parents, they sent me to a doctor. I suppose that’s why Joe is convinced I have a history of mental instability. I know he looked into my background after hearing about Cheryl’s stories.”
“You could tell him the truth,” he suggested.
“And you think he’d believe me?” Danielle scoffed.
“Probably not.” He shrugged. “But I take it Lily did?”
“Yes. Of course, she’s witnessed a few things that enables her to believe.”
“Like with your encounter with my grandmother?”
“Do you honestly believe me?” Danielle asked.
“I think I do…it does answer a lot of questions.”
“Then maybe you could help me put the people who hurt Lily behind bars?”
“How can I do that?”
“I know who they are, but considering my sources, I can’t really go to Joe with my information.”
“What do you have?”
“The woman who broke into my house last night—”
“Claire Manning?”
“Yes. After Isabelle’s uncle left her car at the beach, Claire and a man by the name of Hunter or Hank—the man who claimed to be her husband when they checked into Marlow House—and his cousin, a woman named Justina, took Isabella’s car and ended up in California. They are the ones who attacked Lily and took her car.”
“How can we prove it?”
“From what I understand, they haven’t been able to identify the woman who was killed in Lily’s car. She was so badly burned, the only thing they can use is dental records, which is really no help since they have no idea who she is. If you can find out who this Hunter or Hank is that was with Claire, and then see if he has a cousin named Justina, perhaps you can match her dental records to the body found in Lily’s car.”
“Your source?”
“Isabella,” Danielle said with a sheepish grin.
“Is there anything else?”
“I know Claire and Hunter Hank were the ones who took Sadie—Ian’s golden retriever—and left her down at the cemetery. That’s how I knew where to find her in time.”
“Isabella told you that too?”
“No. Walt Marlow.”
“Walt Marlow?”
Danielle nodded.
“From what I understand, you told Joe and Brian last night that Claire was the one who put Isabella’s bracelet in the teapot—and that’s why she broke in, to retrieve it.”
“According to Isabella, the clasp kept coming undone so she was taking it to the jeweler to have it fixed. She put it in the glove compartment and Claire found it after they took the car. I have no idea why she stuck it in the teapot. You’d have to ask her that question.”
“Why do you think Claire and this Hunter guy posed as a married couple and stayed at Marlow House?”
Danielle told him about Isabella’s notebook and the story about diamonds. The chief began to laugh. “That sounds like Isabella. She once told me she wanted to be a writer. I told her to go for it, and she said she would, as soon as she had some adventures to write about.”
“So what do we do now?” Danielle asked.
“I assume you don’t plan to say anything to Joe?”
“I don’t see the point.” Danielle shrugged.
“Joe is a good man, Danielle, and I know he genuinely cares about you.”
“I know. But there’s really not a future for us. And that’s okay.”
“I just have one favor to ask you,” the chief said.
“What’s that?”
“The next time a ghost wants to lead you to its corpse, would you please call me first?”
“Fair enough.” Danielle grinned.
“By the way, if you see my grandmother again, tell her she doesn’t have to keep playing matchmaker. I’ve been seeing a very nice lady, and the boys like her.” He got up from his chair.
“Will do,” Danielle said as she stood up. “So what are you going to do now?”
“Have a little talk with Claire Manning. See what I can find out about this Justina.”
“Oh, there is one more thing, although I hate doing any favors for Stoddard Gusarov,” Danielle said relucta
ntly.
“What’s that?”
“Isabella had a new will made about six months ago. She left everything to her uncle. She put the will in a file cabinet at his house. It’s been there all along.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Claire sat alone in the interrogation room. She had forfeited her right to an attorney, convinced she could ultimately talk her way out of the situation. It was her word against Boatman’s, and she had overheard Officer Henderson discussing the innkeeper in not so flattering terms. She would just have to convince him she was the real victim, not Boatman. Of course, she had to spend the night in Frederickport’s little jail, which actually had better accommodations than some places she had crashed during her recent California road trip.
One thing Claire wanted to avoid was Hunter discovering she had broken into Marlow House. As it was, she was still trying to figure out how she might explain the missing sapphire bracelet to him.
The door opened and an officer she had never seen before entered.
“Ms. Manning. I’m Chief MacDonald.”
“What happened to Officer Henderson? I thought he was handling my case?”
“Officer Henderson has gone home. He had a long night.” The chief sat at the table across from Claire.
“This is all a mistake you know. I was a guest at Marlow House.”
“You also registered as a married woman with a…Mr. Hank Stewart?”
“Yes,” Claire muttered, looking down at her hands.
“But you aren’t married, are you Ms. Manning?”
“Is that really a crime?” Claire set her hands on the tabletop. “So we were playing house a little. People check into hotels as married couples all the time.”
“But it is against the law to steal someone’s dog.”
“I told them, I had nothing to do with that stupid dog getting out.”
“That’s not what Jimmy is saying. You sold him the dog.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. No one gave us any money.”
“Only because Jimmy got arrested before he had time to leave the money, which he had on him, by the way, when he was arrested. And he’s not real happy with you right now. Thinks you set him up.”
Claire swallowed nervously. “He thinks that?”
“Yeah, and he’s pretty pissed. If we can’t make the charges stick, I imagine one of the first things he’ll do when he gets out is look you up.”
“You got to protect me! Jimmy is crazy sometimes!”
“Maybe we could work out something. If we knew more about where those dogfights are held, I imagine then he’ll be going away for a long time, and then you won’t have to worry about him.”
Claire sat silent for just a few moments before she started talking, telling the chief everything she knew about the dog fights—where they were held and who was involved.” After she finished, she took a deep breath. “Can I go home now?”
“No, not yet. I have a few more questions for you.”
“But I told you everything I know about the dog fights!”
“I’d like to hear about how you, Hunter, and Justina found Isabella Strickland’s car at the beach parking lot.”
Claire’s eyes widened in surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on now, Claire. Your fingerprints were all over that car when they found it outside of Palm Springs.”
“That’s impossible!”
“Why, because you think you wiped the car clean?”
“But we did!” Claire blurted. Realizing her blunder, she looked back down at her hands.
“It doesn’t matter. Justina’s told us everything. I just wanted to give you a chance to tell your side of the story.”
“You found her?” Claire looked up. “I don’t know anything about the car she was driving. She took off. I can’t be responsible for what she did.”
“According to Justina you were the one who hit that girl over the head with a rock at the rest stop. Left her for dead in the desert.”
“She lies!” Claire shouted, standing up. “I didn’t have anything to do with that! It was Hunter and Justina; I stayed back in the parking lot. They’re the ones who killed her, not me!”
* * *
Brian and Joe stood in the observation room watching the chief interrogate Claire Manning.
“Who is Justina?” Brian asked.
“I have no idea, but did he just get Manning to confess to stealing Sadie and being an accomplice to Lily’s attack in California?”
“It sure as hell looks that way.” Brian frowned. “Where is the chief coming up with all this?”
“He didn’t mention anything about it this morning when we talked.”
“He must have talked to someone,” Brian said.
“Only Danielle.”
“Danielle?” Brian glanced from Joe to the window into the interrogation room.
* * *
On Friday afternoon, Walt watched Danielle hang up Lily’s new clothes. The Millers had returned to Frederickport late Thursday evening. After breakfast on Friday, they headed out to the hospital with Ian and hadn’t yet returned. Sadie lay on Lily’s bed at Marlow House, watching Walt watch Danielle.
“I don’t think they’re all going to fit in that closet,” Walt noted.
“As long as they fit Lily—that’s all that matters. Mrs. Miller actually picked out some nice stuff. I should send her shopping for me.”
“Not enough dresses,” Walt grumbled.
“Was that the doorbell?” Danielle paused, listening for a second chime.
Walt looked out the window. “Yes, there’s a police car out front.”
“You know, the neighbors are going to start talking—if they haven’t already!” Danielle tossed the outfit she was preparing to hang up on the chair and headed for the door. Sadie leapt off the bed and followed her down the hall.
“Joe, for what do I owe the honor?” Danielle asked after opening the front door a few moments later.
He glanced down at Sadie. “Dog sitting?”
“Ian’s at the hospital with Lily. Sadie and I are buds.”
“Can I come in?”
Danielle peeked out the doorway and looked around. “Where’s your partner?”
“The chief told Brian I could handle this. I get the feeling he’s trying to keep you two apart.”
“Handle what?” Danielle asked as she opened the door wider, silently inviting Joe to come in.
“They’ve identified the woman who was killed in Lily’s car.”
“Come into the parlor, we can talk there.” Danielle led the way.
“So what happened?” Danielle asked after they were sitting down.
“Apparently the chief got a tip and followed up on it. The couple you knew as the Stewarts—Claire Manning and Hunter Hodges—along with Hodges’ cousin, Justina Marker, were the ones who took Isabella’s car. They went joy riding on an extended car trip through California, using Isabella’s credit cards and what cash there was in her purse. But the car broke down at the rest stop, and unfortunately, Lily had the bad luck to pull in.”
“I know Lily had over five thousand dollars in her car, from what she won at the casino. I imagine they found that.”
“They used Lily’s money to fund their trip back to Oregon. Hodges’ cousin was driving Lily’s car when it had the accident. Manning and Hodges didn’t even know there’d been an accident. They thought Marker was still alive somewhere driving around in Lily’s car. The positive ID came in this morning from her dental records.”
“Are they going to make the charges stick?”
“Manning broke down, completely rolled over on Hodges. Of course, Hodges is blaming his cousin, who’s not here to tell her side of the story.”
“I hope those two don’t manage to wiggle out by blaming everything on the dead woman.”
“I’m sure Hodges’ll try, but it doesn’t look good for him. When they searched the place where Hodges was staying, they fo
und Lily’s credit cards, among some other things we’re fairly certain belonged to her, including some brochures on Marlow House she’d written notes on. Of course, she needs to verify it’s her property. We’re turning all this over to authorities in California.”
“What about the charges up here?”
“After California finishes with them.”
“I’m glad the Millers are going to be able to know what happened before they go home.”
“How much longer are they staying?”
“Lily’s getting out of the hospital on Monday, and her parents plan to take off on Tuesday. Mrs. Miller wants to make sure her daughter is all settled in. We’ve hired a private nurse, and we want to have all that set up by then.”
“So you’re really going to have Lily stay here while she recoups.”
“Yes. She doesn’t have an apartment any more, and Ian is here. They’ve gotten pretty close.”
“You’re a good friend, Danielle.”
“Lily is a good friend too.”
“I was wondering,” Joe began.
“Yes?”
“You said Lily won’t be getting out of the hospital until Monday. How about letting me take you out to dinner this weekend?”
“Ah, Joe…” Danielle let out a weary sigh and smiled sadly. “I don’t think so.”
“It’s just dinner, Danielle.”
“I appreciate the offer, honest. But I have a lot to do before Lily gets home.” Danielle stood up.
“Maybe another time?” Joe asked as he followed Danielle to the front door.
“You’re a nice guy,” Danielle said as she opened the front door for Joe. Slowly he walked through the doorway, waiting for Danielle’s answer. “But I don’t think so.”
Chapter Forty
“I feel guilty taking the only downstairs bedroom at Marlow House,” Lily said as she hobbled into the room. Located adjacent from the parlor, the room’s window faced the street, unlike the kitchen and library windows, which looked out to the side yard. “It’s the only room you have for guests who can’t use the stairs.”
“You can’t use the stairs,” Danielle reminded.
“True that.” Exhausted from her short drive from the hospital to Marlow House, Lily plopped down on the side of the bed to catch her breath.
