Ghost Who Came for Christmas

by McIntyre, Anna J

  Danielle shrugged. “My dad was pretty good about helping in the kitchen. So was my Uncle Carl. Last night, Chris ended up washing all the pots and pans while I dried and put them away.”

  When Danielle walked back into the hallway twenty minutes later, she found Lily hurrying to the front door.

  “Morning Lily, you certainly aren’t going outside in this weather.” Danielle followed Lily.

  “Hardly. Ian just called. He and Kelly are coming over in a few minutes and I promised to have the front door unlocked so they don’t have to stand in the rain and wait for someone to answer the door.”

  “He has a key,” Danielle reminded.

  “I don’t think he wants to be fumbling around with the lock in this weather.” Lily unlocked the front door.

  “I guess I don’t blame them.”

  “Hey, guess who I saw sneaking down from the attic last night,” Lily smirked.

  Danielle grinned. “Richard?”

  Lily laughed. “No, not Richard. That’s funny.”

  “Why funny?”

  “I can’t see Richard and Anna together. Of course, I really can’t see Chris and Anna together, either.”

  Danielle frowned. “Chris and Anna?”

  “Yeah, that’s who I saw sneaking down from the attic last night. Chris.”

  “Chris? What time?”

  Lily shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know. It was late. After everyone went to bed. I didn’t check the time. I don’t think he saw me.”

  “That’s really weird.”

  “I agree. Chris and Anna? Who woulda thunk it?”

  “That’s not what I mean, Lily. I saw Richard coming down from the attic last night too.”

  “Really? What time?”

  “I don’t know. It was late. I didn’t check the time either.”

  The front door flew open. Laughing, Ian and Kelly raced inside with Sadie and slammed the door shut behind them. Rain dripped from their umbrella. Sadie immediately shook off the water and went to find Walt, her tail wagging.

  “We had to share my umbrella.” Kelly laughed. “It seems my brother is too cool to own one.”

  “What self-respecting Portlander owns an umbrella?” Ian slipped out of his wet jacket and hung it on the coat rack.

  “For one thing, you’re not a Portlander,” Kelly countered.

  “No, but you are. And you should be ashamed.”

  “Yeah, well, you weren’t too proud to crowd under it when we came across the street.” Kelly lifted the umbrella up. “You want me to put this outside?”

  “Nah, just hang it in the bathroom,” Danielle suggested.

  “Shouldn’t we wait for Anna?” Patricia asked after they all sat down at the dining room table to eat breakfast. Almost everyone was there—Lily, Danielle, Ian, Chris, Richard, Patricia, Kelly, and Jessica—everyone but Joanne, who was in the kitchen, and Anna, who hadn’t yet come downstairs for the morning.

  “She’s probably sleeping in,” Richard suggested.

  “I don’t know how she can sleep with all that thunder—especially with her in the attic. It must be especially loud up there,” Patricia said.

  Danielle picked up a platter of hash browns and handed it to Richard. “I think we should go ahead and eat before this gets cold. She’ll come down when she’s ready.”

  Anna did not come down for breakfast. Lunchtime approached, and still she had not joined the group. No longer in the dining room, they gathered in the room with the Christmas tree. Ian, Lily, Kelly, and Patricia played Mexican Train at the small table in the room, while Danielle and Chris chatted. Richard sat on the floor with Jessica, playing Go Fish. Walt lounged on a chair in the corner, Sadie by his feet, while Max lurked under the branches of the Christmas tree, periodically batting at a hanging ornament.

  Danielle stood up from her place on the sofa. “I think I’ll go check on Anna, make sure she’s not sick or something.”

  Patricia looked up from the game. “That’s probably a good idea. I would’ve thought she’d be down by now. It’s almost eleven.”

  “When I was younger, I could sleep until noon—of course, that was after being up all night,” Lily said with a chuckle. Danielle looked over at Lily and they exchanged glances, each of them thinking of what they had seen Christmas night.

  Walt stood up. “I’ll go with you. I’d like to see what she’s done to my attic.”

  “I’m sure your attic is just fine,” Danielle said after they left the living room and started up the stairs. “But there is something funny, remember how I told you I saw Richard coming out of Anna’s room late last night?”

  “Yes.”

  “Apparently, when Lily got up last night to use the bathroom, she saw Chris coming down the stairs from the attic.”

  Walt arched his brows. “Really?”

  Danielle nodded. “I don’t know why they were up there. But I don’t think there’s anything—well, romantic—going on. I never noticed her flirting with either of them. She didn’t seem interested in them that way.”

  “You can tell when a woman is interested?”

  “I think so.”

  “What about the men?” Walt asked. “Maybe they were returning downstairs after being rejected.”

  “You think they went up there for some late night booty call?”

  “Not really sure what a booty call is. But perhaps they were pursuing her.”

  “I certainly never noticed anything going on between them.”

  Walt shrugged. “She is an attractive young woman. A little pushy, in my opinion, but good looking. Although, by the way Chris has been behaving, I thought his interests lay elsewhere.”

  They reached the second floor landing. Still holding onto the handrail, Danielle paused a moment and looked at Walt. “Interested in who?”

  “You, of course.”

  Danielle perked up. “Really?”

  Walt scowled. “Are you seriously interested in Chris after he’s been lurking around in the attic with Anna?”

  Danielle continued to the attic stairwell. “Who said I was interested?”

  “Oh please,” Walt rolled his eyes. “Maybe Anna hasn’t been flirting with Richard and Chris, but you certainly have.”

  Danielle stopped and looked at Walt. “I have not been flirting with Richard!”

  Walt arched his brows again. “And Chris?”

  Danielle shrugged. “Well, maybe a little. But, you’re right, if he has something going on with Anna, I’m not really interested. I don’t need that kind of drama in my life.”

  “Or that kind of man.”

  “True.” Now on the stairs leading to the attic, Danielle paused again and looked at Walt. With a mischievous grin, she added, “But that doesn’t mean I still can’t look.”

  Walt let out a sigh and shook his head. Danielle laughed and started back up the attic stairs, Walt by her side.

  When they reached the attic door, Danielle started to knock, but noticed the door was not shut all the way. “Anna?” Danielle called out. When there was no answer, she knocked on the door and called out Anna’s name again. “Anna? Are you all right? Anna?” There was no sound inside the room.

  She pushed the door open and called out again, “Anna, it’s Danielle. We were worried…” Danielle stepped into the attic—there was no Anna. She glanced around.

  “She’s not in here.” Walt said, walking into the room.

  “She must be in the bathroom.”

  “Danielle, if you’re talking about the bathroom on the second floor, the door was wide open when we walked by. No one was in it.”

  “Then I guess she must have gone downstairs and we missed her. She’s probably in the kitchen with Joanne, getting something to eat.”

  “Is that blood?” Walt asked.

  “Blood?” Danielle walked over to where Walt stood and looked down at the small white throw rug on the floor.

  Danielle frowned. “It sure looks like blood.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four
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  “Joanne, have you seen Anna?” Danielle asked when she walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.

  Joanne looked up from the sink full of dirty pots and pans. “Anna? No. Haven’t seen her all morning.”

  “She has to be around here someplace,” Danielle mumbled as she left the kitchen and headed for the library. When she finally returned to the living room, there was still no sign of Anna.

  “Is Anna feeling okay?” Patricia asked when Danielle walked into the room.

  Danielle frowned. “She hasn’t been in here?”

  Lily turned to face Danielle. “No. we thought you were going to the attic to check on her.”

  “I did. She wasn’t in the attic. I figured she was probably in the bathroom, but she wasn’t in there either.”

  “Danielle, we didn’t check all the guest bedrooms,” Walt said. I’m going to see if she’s in someone’s room.” Walt disappeared.

  “When she wasn’t upstairs, I figured she probably came down to the kitchen for something to eat; I must’ve missed her. But Joanne hasn’t seen her either. And I looked in all the other rooms on the bottom floor…” She glanced at Chris. “Except for the room Chris is staying in, but I don’t think she’s in there.”

  “She isn’t,” Walt said as he appeared a moment later. “She’s in none of the bedrooms. I even checked the basement. She’s not in the house.”

  “You don’t think she’s left, do you? I thought she was staying for another week.” Patricia asked.

  “Her suitcase is sitting on the bed. But she doesn’t seem to be in the house.”

  Richard stood up. “I can’t believe she’d go out in this weather.”

  “Anna didn’t leave did she?” Jessica asked.

  “We don’t know, honey,” Patricia said.

  “She has to be here somewhere,” Ian insisted. “I agree with Richard, she wouldn’t go out in this weather and if her suitcase is still sitting on the bed, then I doubt she left.”

  “I need to use the bathroom,” Danielle said abruptly, looking at Walt. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Did you want to talk to me?” Walt asked.

  Chris watched as Danielle gave a silent nod and turned toward the door. Walt followed her out of the room.

  “Something about this creeps me out,” Danielle whispered as she went into the downstairs bathroom with Walt, closing the door behind her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The blood on the rug, for one thing. But I didn’t want to say anything about it with Jessica in there.”

  “She probably just cut her foot on something,” Walt suggested.

  “I’m sure you’re right. But seeing the blood there…” Danielle shivered.

  “What do you want to do?” Walt asked.

  “I’m not sure…if it weren’t for this weather I wouldn’t be so concerned. Do you think she went out when we were having breakfast?”

  Walt shook his head. “I don’t see how she could have passed by the dining room without someone seeing her.”

  “Then, she must’ve slipped out last night, but why? And where did she go?”

  “If she’d gone down those stairs last night—I would’ve known. Max was standing guard all night.”

  “So you’re saying she’s somewhere upstairs? What, hiding from us?” Danielle frowned.

  “I suppose she could’ve slipped by without me noticing. Maybe Max did fall asleep on the job—he does sleep a lot. What do you want to do?”

  “I know you’ve already checked the house, but before we start looking around outside, we need to check the house again. I can’t very well tell everyone you already did that.”

  Walt glanced at the closed door. “It wouldn’t hurt to go through the house again.”

  “But I don’t want them to see the rug—especially Jessica. It might freak her out. I was thinking, maybe you could go upstairs, and move it somewhere.”

  “You want me to hide it?”

  “Just for now. Like you said, she probably cut her foot. I seriously don’t think anyone’s been stabbed in the attic.”

  A knock came at the bathroom door. “Dani, you okay?” It was Lily.

  “I’ll go move the rug. You arrange the search party.” Walt vanished.

  They searched all the rooms of Marlow House, even the basement. There was still no Anna. When they returned to the living room, Ian announced he was going to check the grounds. Perhaps Anna had stepped outside for some reason, maybe to watch the lightening and then tripped and fell. Richard and Chris joined him on the search. When they returned fifteen minutes later, all the men were drenched, and still no Anna.

  “Jessica, would you please go into the kitchen, get us a plate of cookies. Joanne can help you,” Lily asked.

  “I think you need to call the police,” Lily said after Jessica darted from the room.

  “The police? Why?” Chris asked.

  Lily looked at him. “To begin with, Anna’s missing.”

  “As far as we know, she left the house a few minutes before Danielle checked on her. So, she hasn’t been missing for even an hour. The police aren’t going to do anything,” Chris insisted.

  “If she went out in this storm, she could be in trouble. I can’t imagine anyone intentionally staying outside in this weather.”

  “Maybe whoever dropped her off, picked her up last night,” Chris suggested.

  Danielle shook her head. “No Chris, her suitcase is still here.”

  Patricia pointed to the opened packages shoved under the tree. “And her presents are still here. She wouldn’t leave without them.”

  Danielle looked at Lily. “What are you thinking?”

  “Anna’s not here. She obviously went out last night for some reason. And if her things are still here, I have to believe she intended to come back. But this weather...”

  Danielle sat in the parlor with Joe and Brian. She wished the chief wasn’t out of town for Christmas—she would rather be dealing with him.

  “So, one of your guests has gone missing?” Brian asked as he opened his notebook.

  “Yes. Anna, Anna Williams. I believe you met her at the open house. She’s the young blonde, early twenties. If it wasn’t for this storm, I wouldn’t have called you. I would’ve just assumed she had walked down to the beach or something. But she’s been missing all morning, and if she’s out there somewhere, hurt…in this weather…”

  “Why would someone want to hurt Anna?” Brian asked.

  Joe held a stainless steel travel mug in one hand. Waiting for Danielle’s reply, he took a sip of his now cold coffee.

  “I’m not saying anyone hurt her,” Danielle said impatiently. “I just meant if she took a walk down to the beach and maybe tripped, sprained her ankle, got stuck in the storm. Something like that.”

  “What do you know about Anna?” Brian asked. “Is she someone who likes to walk around in thunder storms?”

  “I really don’t know her that well. She checked in on Saturday.”

  “Is her car still here?” Joe asked.

  “She doesn’t have a car. Well, at least not here. Someone dropped her off.”

  “Who?” Brian asked.

  Danielle shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “Do you know how to contact her family—any of her friends?” Joe asked.

  “No. All I have is her name. She told me she’d been living in Portland, but nothing specific.”

  “Do you know what she does for a living?” Joe asked.

  Danielle shook her head. “No. We never talked about it.”

  “When was the last time you saw her?” Brian asked.

  Danielle considered the question for a moment. “Umm…a little after midnight. She said goodnight before heading up to the attic. I was just going into my bedroom. We all stayed up pretty late last night.”

  “It’s been storming non-stop since before midnight last night, why would Anna go outside?” Joe asked.

  “I have no idea. That’s why I decided to call the
police and file a missing person’s report.”

  “Do you know if anyone else saw her after she went upstairs?” Brian asked.

  Danielle shifted nervously in her chair.

  “You have to tell them, Danielle. You have no choice.” Walt told her.

  “Well, I don’t know if they actually saw Anna or not…but I saw Richard coming down from the attic sometime after midnight. And according to Lily, when she got up to use the bathroom, she saw Chris coming down the attic stairs.”

  “What time was this?” Joe asked.

  Danielle shook her head. “I have no idea. I asked Lily what time she saw Chris, and she didn’t remember. Just that it was after we all went to bed.”

  “Can we look at where she was staying?” Brian asked.

  Danielle nodded and stood up. Brian and Joe followed Danielle out of the parlor and to the stairs. In the living room, Lily, Ian, and Kelly waited anxiously with the rest of Marlow House’s guests.

  Walt was already in the attic when Danielle arrived with the two police officers.

  “You’ve fixed it up nice up here,” Joe noted as he glanced around. He walked to the bed and looked at the suitcase sitting on the center of the mattress.

  “I never really intended to rent this room out, but Anna was so insistent, and I hated the idea of her being alone for Christmas,” Danielle explained.

  Joe opened the suitcase and looked inside. “It’s empty. I assume she put her things in a closet or something?”

  Danielle walked to an antique oak chifferobe next to the window. “I told her she could put her things in here.”

  Brian walked to the chifferobe and opened its closet. It was empty. “Why would she take her things and leave her suitcase?”

  “Maybe she put her things in the chifferobe drawers,” Danielle suggested.

  “No! Don’t have them look in there! I put the rug in the top drawer!” Walt called out. Brian reached for the top drawer but it was stuck. He tugged on the handle, but the drawer stubbornly refused to budge.