“I hope we’re not wrong about that boy,” Gram said.
“Me, too.”
She tapped her fingers on her desk a moment before saying, “Well, that was a day and a half, all lived in about half a day. It’s just after noon. I suppose we will be able to get back to the real work tomorrow. You want to come over for lunch?” Gram asked.
“Let’s go to Bunny’s instead,” I said. “I have a million things I’d like to talk to you about, and I’m thinking we need neutral territory.”
“Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good. Are you all right?”
I nodded. “I’m fine. Really. But I’ve done some things, discovered some things. We just need to talk.”
“Just as long as one of Bunny’s cheeseburgers is part of the deal, I’m there.”
“I’ll drive.”
Chapter 15
Bunny’s was hopping. I had second thoughts about my choice of location; we might have had more privacy grabbing a sandwich at the saloon or pool hall, but Bunny, somehow using her Bunny superpower must have sensed that we needed a space to ourselves, got us a back corner booth. Three of our students were at the restaurant, too, but they would have to get used to seeing us outside of the school. It happened frequently.
Jules, Shelby, and Elian were across the restaurant and waved awkwardly when we first entered. They didn’t know whether to come say hi or ignore us. We sent them a friendly wave but didn’t go greet them or encourage them to come talk to us. It was just another step in the process. Soon, everyone would be comfortable with all the chance meetings. Broken Rope wasn’t big enough to get away from everyone all the time.
Once we were seated, Bunny took our order and we got down to business.
“What’s going on, Betts?”
“Gram, I went to the bakery last night. Gent asked me to. He also asked me not to take you.”
Gram blinked. “Oh. I see.”
“Gent asked me to come by myself because he knows how hard the past events are on you. He told me about what happened. I’m so sorry.”
She tried not to, but Gram winced slightly. “Betts,” she began, but she didn’t go much further.
“I know. It’s a waste of time to put energy into the ghosts when things could just end in frustration,” I said. “You don’t want that for me.”
“Yes, that’s true, but there’s more to the story when it comes to Gent and his family. I know what Gent wants. He wants you to find his and his family’s bodies. It’s an impossible task. And, I told you that he broke my heart again and again. That’s how, Betts. He broke my heart because I was never able to figure out what happened to them. The closer you look at the story, the more it will break your heart, too. They were good people.”
“There’s no record of their deaths or even much about them going missing. Why?” I asked.
Gram shrugged. “I tried, Lord knows I tried to tell everyone that something had happened to them. I was knocked silly the night of the fire and it took me a while to remember that I’d even gone to the bakery with them, and I still don’t remember why I was there at all. Once I remembered I’d at least been there, no one would listen when I said they were there, too.”
“That’s horrible. All of it—that you got knocked unconscious, and that no one believed you.”
“I recovered okay, but they found only the two bodies in the debris. The Cylases were poor people who had accumulated some debt. It was determined that they ran off to get out of paying that debt.”
“That seems so . . . casual,” I said as Bunny delivered our lunch.
“It was a different time, Betts. Maybe Broken Rope wasn’t as Old West as it had once been, but people up and left places all the time, running from all kinds of things. It wasn’t until later that social security numbers were required for employment. I’m sure that the people the Cylases owed money to searched for them, but of course they didn’t find them. Neither did I. And when Gent and his family started coming back to visit, Gent and I tried everything. I’m sure he’ll have you on the case, too.”
“But I have more information, from the fire marshal, Evan, that might help. And, Gent remembered something, Gram, something that might make it easier.”
Her cheeseburger was almost to her mouth, but she put it back on the plate and said, “And that is?”
“He remembered a name. Mary. The reason his family was called back to the bakery that night was because of someone named Mary.”
“Mary?” Gram retrieved the burger, took a bite, and thought as she chewed. Once she swallowed, she said, “Well, that is something he’s never mentioned before, but I don’t know how it could possibly be helpful. I, we, knew a number of Marys back then. Maybe I can get this old konker of mine to remember some of their last names.”
“You want to search with me?”
“No, dear, not a chance. I’m done with all that, but I know that won’t stop you. I can help with at least that much, though.” Gram took another bite. “Now, what’s this about the fire marshal?”
I relayed the details of my meeting with Evan and his already established interest in the old fire. I told her about the smudges and the potential visual evidence of an accelerant.
“You mean, there really might be evidence that other bodies were there; the Cylases maybe?” Gram said and I thought she might be trying to blink back some tears.
“Maybe. It’s all a maybe, Gram,” I said.
“I’ll be shot twice and hung to dry,” Gram muttered. I thought she’d forgotten about the cheeseburger. “Not the best choice of words, I suppose.”
“I’ll try to find out more, Gram, I promise.”
“Good. Okay. Good.” Gram nodded herself back to the moment and once again reacquainted herself with the burger.
“There’s more.”
“Shoot. Give it to me. I can take it, whatever it is.”
“Jerome’s back,” I said.
Gram put the burger down again and finished chewing the bite she’d taken. “I see. Well, he’s never come back twice in the same year, so that is news.”
“There’s even more,” I said.
Gram pushed her plate back slightly. “I’ll just eat after you tell me the rest.”
“He remembers lots, well, everything from his last trip for sure. His Swiss cheese memory has apparently become a little more like cheddar.” I cleared my throat at the lame comparison. “He says he’s not aware of being ‘around’ like we might have thought from the pictures, but he’s always been aware of you, your safety and emotions. But, now, well, he says he’s very aware of me—my safety and emotions.”
“I see. And, what’s he . . . sensing?”
“He said that the bakery building is dangerous for me. He asked me to stay away from it. I said I would.”
“The building is dangerous. It should be torn down. Maybe he doesn’t understand that it’s a time . . . aw, shoot, I feel silly saying this, it’s some sort of time-travel illusion or something.”
I nodded. “I think he knows. He said that the bakery is dangerous because of what happened to the Cylas family.”
“Their killer’s still alive?” Gram said.
I shook my head. “Nothing that obvious or easy. It’s blurrier than that, but he didn’t, couldn’t, go into detail.”
Gram slapped her hand on the table. “See, these silly ghosts. Even if his memory is getting better, why in tarnation can’t he tell you more? If he knows something from wherever he goes when he’s not here, you think he’d be clearer.”
I didn’t know exactly what more to say at the moment so I took a bite of my own burger. Gram would have more to add, I was sure of it. And I was right.
“What about your feelings for him, Betts? Did seeing him . . . Don’t let him ruin what you and Cliff have. Promise me.”
“We had a chance to discuss that,” I said. “He says he wants to just be friends.”
The corner of Gram’s mouth twitched suddenly. She tried to cover it with her fist but was wholly unsucce
ssful. She started to giggle. “I’m sorry, Isabelle.”
I started to giggle, too. “It’s so silly, isn’t it?”
“No. But, yes, it’s one of those things that the rest of the world doesn’t have to deal with. And sometimes you just have to laugh.”
“Yes, sometimes you just have to laugh,” I agreed.
“Believe it or not, I understand. I’ve never really had . . . Saying that you have or had a crush on Jerome feels like I’m not giving your feelings due respect. I know it is or was more than a crush. Look, you were thrown for a loop. Our first ghost had to be Jerome, for goodness’ sake. I was a kid so he never did the same thing for me, but, holy moly, he’s all man, handsome, and a cowboy. You were thrown into this new existence where you could communicate with people who’ve been dead. When he and I were close in age, I had even less interest in the ghosts than I have now. I’d become used to them and had learned how to mostly ignore them. Sure, we’d chat, try to fill in some memory holes, but the ghosts used to spend most of their time here doing their things, looking around at the places that were important to their lives as they remembered them. All their people were dead, except for me. Their visits were brief and mostly unimportant. They can’t haunt, not really. If they try to appear in front of people, they shorten their time here, mostly.” Gram took a swig of her iced tea. I remained quiet while she formulated what she wanted to say next. “You know, I used to spend a lot of time wondering why they came here. I haven’t spent many moments wondering why they come visit me, though. I just chalked it up to Jerome saving me and my mother from the fire. But I wonder if there’s something we could do so they didn’t visit anymore.”
My heart sunk. “That might be for the best, Gram, but I think that would make me kind of sad.”
“For a little while, maybe, but we’d get over it. It’s not natural, you know.”
“I know, but still . . . I’m not ready to ask them to leave. Yet.”
“Okay, Betts, I’m not going to do anything to get rid of them, though I feel like I need a heart-to-heart with Jerome. You okay with that?”
I wasn’t sure I was, but I remembered that I trusted Gram implicitly.
I nodded. “Sure.”
“Good.”
“And, Gram, what about our current murder victim? Roger?”
“I think the police will handle it just fine,” Gram said. “You don’t need to get in the middle of all that, Betts.”
“I know that, but maybe we can help.”
“I don’t know how. I gave Jim copies of everyone’s—not just Freddie’s—paperwork. They’ll look into it. We have to just continue to operate on that innocent-until-proven-guilty theory.”
I looked across the restaurant at the three students who seemed to be having a good time. “But do you think one of them is a killer?”
Gram looked across the restaurant, too. “We just need to stay on our toes.”
“I wonder if any of them knew Roger before coming here. No one acted like they knew each other, but remember a couple years ago when two of the students were, in fact, very good friends, but they didn’t want to tell us that until we all got a good chunk of the year under our belts—what was their reason, something about not wanting their friendship to be a deterrent to them getting into the school?” I said.
“I do. Betts, no one is totally honest all the time and some of the time people lie about the silliest things.”
I nodded as I peered at the small group again.
“I don’t like Brenda,” I whispered as I leaned over my plate. She wasn’t with the trio at the other table, and I was being way too gossipy, but I was just rolling with the moment.
“I know, and I see what you mean about the notes and the snooty attitude, but she doesn’t bother me as much as she bothers you.”
“I know we made copies for Jim and Cliff, but could I take the students’ files home today?”
“Certainly, but I’m going to repeat this—be careful. Be smart. Got it?”
“Promise.”
“So, before I order some pie and risk not enjoying some cherries and whipped cream, is there anything else you need to tell me?” Gram said.
“I think you’re caught up.” I smiled.
“Good.” She paused. “Now remember these: Loken, Gleave, and Silk.”
“What are those?”
“Three Marys I remember. There might be more, but those are the first ones that came to my mind.”
I wrote the names on a napkin and put it in my bag. I had some research to do, but for now I was going to enjoy the rest of my lunch with Gram and about fifty other Bunny’s customers.
Chapter 16
My first stop was Jake’s fake sheriff/archive room. I found him hovered over his keyboard, the “ghost” camera on the desk beside him.
“I can’t find one thing that explains why this camera did what it did, Betts,” he said. “Not one thing.”
“It’s broken?” I said.
“No, I don’t think so. I’ve been able to record on it just fine today. But there is not one thing to explain the static and the lines. Yes, it’s supposed to record ghosts, but in their ghostly form, or perhaps a shadow or light, but not static and lines.”
I shook my head. “Even if it’s not broken, maybe you just ran it wrong.”
“That is possible, but not probable. It’s a simple, simple camera. I ‘get’ cameras.”
“I don’t know, then.”
“I’m going to run to Springfield. I ordered this online, but there’s a camera shop there that’s into paranormal and sells this model. Maybe they can help. You want to go with me?”
“Actually, I stopped by to see if you wanted to do some research with me—here or at the library. Jerome’s back.”
“Oh? I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.”
As I had done with Gram, I gave Jake a rundown of the conversations and events that had occurred since I’d last seen him. He reacted similarly to Gram regarding Jerome, but he was more excited than she was about the Mary lead.
“I do have to run to Springfield right now, but maybe later. I called the shop’s owner and he says he knows these things”—Jake put his hand on the camera—“inside and out. He’ll be taking the next few days off so I need to get there today. You are welcome to stay and use my computer and look through the archives if need be.”
I looked around. I didn’t think I would ever pull a file from one of Jake’s shelves without him there to direct and scold if I did something improper. The same went for his computer.
“No, thanks, I’ll just use the library.”
“We’ve got to get Wi-Fi set up in your house, Betts, or at least at the school. Dial-up is a dead technology.”
“Not dead. Just tired.”
Jake laughed. “Well, I’m excited about having things to look into and hopefully getting to talk to Jerome—through you, of course, but right now, I’ve got to fly.”
The Broken Rope library was housed in a building that was once a hospital for the mentally insane. It sat behind an old wrought iron fence and atop a high hill. The tall, brick building and the tree-filled grounds had been used in a couple of Hollywood movies, but none that had become particularly successful.
Of all the places in town, I thought the library would be the one place that would likely be haunted. But the head librarian, Sarabeth, had turned the inside of the building into a comfortable and peaceful setting where no ghosts bothered anyone; unless they were fictional specters found in some of the books on the well-stocked shelves.
“Betts, I was just going to lock up. It’s closing time,” Sarabeth said as we met at the front doors.
“It’s only four.” I looked at my watch.
“It’s Thursday, dear, we close at four on Thursday. It’s my date night with Boyd, and no one really likes to visit the library on Thursday nights. They’re tired and can’t seem to plan for the weekend until it hits them in the face.”
“Shoot. I was really hoping t
o do some research. It’s for Gram and for Jake. I’m helping Gram with some cooking stuff and Jake with some old historical stuff.”
Both of those things were untrue, of course. Gram didn’t need my help and Sarabeth knew both Jake and me well enough to know it would be a rare moment that he’d need me for research.
She pulled her chin down and looked up at me as her eyebrows drew together.
“You don’t want to tell me the real story, do you?”
“I just need a little time. Not a lot.” That wasn’t true. I needed a lot, but I hoped my plan was working.
Sarabeth sighed, which was expected, but then she gave in.
“All right. But I’m not going to stay. I’ll give you the keys. You lock up when you’re done and bring them to me tomorrow morning. I get here at seven A.M. If you’re late, I’ll take away your library card.”
I crossed my heart. “I won’t be late. I promise. Thank you, Sarabeth.”
“You’re welcome.”
Sarabeth’s was the only car with a real spot in front of the building. Patrons and other employees parked in the side or back lots. I’d parked in the side lot this time and could see the Nova’s nose if I stood right outside the front doors. I watched Sarabeth, in her floral-print dress and sensible shoes, make her way to her old Cadillac.
“Don’t you forget to lock the doors, Isabelle Winston,” she said before she got in the car and revved up its noisy engine.
“I won’t,” I said, but I doubted she could hear me.
I locked the door behind me and flipped the switch on the wall in the entry hallway. There was no sense at all that the building once housed mentally ill patients who had, by today’s standards at least, endured cruel and inhumane treatments. Jake had told me about some of the horrific methods used back then.
The library’s walls were painted with calming colors. The wall space outside each doorway was decorated with a sample of the types of books found inside that room. My favorite wall was the one outside the children’s section. Where the Wild Things Are as well as Goodnight Moon and a number of other favorite covers had been perfectly reproduced. I walked past the children’s room, though, and into the room with the computers and a desk adorned with the huge sign that said REFERENCE.
If Bread Could Rise to the Occasion Page 14
