Thirty-Four
Danielle watched in horror as the elderly man fearlessly walked to the intruders—or perhaps it was foolishly. She glanced around and thought this might be an excellent time for Marie to make an entrance. She would pray for Walt to come looking for her, but she wasn’t certain he would be able to stop a bullet if the nervous woman holding the gun pressed that trigger a little tighter.
Each step Colin took toward the couple, they took one step back, the woman’s gun hand growing increasingly unsteady.
“I don’t want to shoot you,” the woman pleaded, her voice shaking as much as the hand holding the pistol, her back now against the wall.
“I know you don’t, Marcella,” Colin said in a gentle voice. He reached out and, without incident, took hold of the gun and removed it from her grasp. She broke into tears and began to sob.
Colin stepped back from the couple, still holding the gun. He glanced to the sofa and said, “Forrest, why don’t you help your wife to the sofa and you both sit down. She looks rather upset.”
“How did you know she wouldn’t shoot you?” Danielle demanded, visibly shaken.
Colin turned to Danielle and smiled. He showed her the contents of the gun’s cylinder, it was empty. “Bullets are typically required before you actually shoot anyone.” He casually slipped the gun into his coat pocket.
“How did you know it didn’t have bullets?” Danielle asked, still standing. Behind her the couple had taken a seat on the sofa while the man attempted to calm his wife.
“For one thing, Marcella is no killer. She was never going to shoot anyone.” Colin moved over to one of the chairs facing the sofa. He sat down and then motioned for Danielle to take a seat.
Anxious, but also curious, Danielle sat down on the empty chair and looked over to the intruders.
“Why don’t you take off those masks. It must be hot,” Colin said.
Forrest ripped the ski mask off his head, sending his eyeglasses and now sweat-soaked hair askew. Straightening his glasses, he looked at Colin and asked, “How did you know who we were?”
Colin sat back in the sofa and smiled. “There is a lot I know. But I think it only fair that we explain it to Danielle. After all, it’s her home you broke into—three times now.”
No longer crying, Marcella pulled off her ski mask, revealing damp gray hair and red-rimmed eyes.
“I already know who they are,” Danielle said. “And I already know why they have been breaking in here. But it’s not here.”
Marcella stared at Danielle, clear confusion on her face.
“You are looking for Eloise Winterborne’s engagement ring, aren’t you?” Danielle asked.
Marcella frowned. “How did you know? Did you already find it?”
“No, I didn’t find it. But someone saw you break into Marlow House,” Danielle began.
“Who?” Marcella asked.
“That doesn’t matter. But you were later identified as the caretakers to Eloise Winterborne. I talked to Samuel Hayman, and he told me he never bought Eloise’s ring—and that he had recently told you that. And I know you were at the shop in Astoria when we bought the items from her trunk. You have been looking for her ring, and you thought it was hidden in one of the items put in the trunk. But it wasn’t.”
“That’s where you are wrong,” Colin said. They all turned to look at him.
“We’ve already gone through everything—the ring isn’t here. It’s probably hidden under some floorboard back at the Winterborne estate,” Danielle explained.
Colin smiled and looked at Marcella and Forrest. “Shall you tell her, or do you want me to?”
Forrest looked at Colin and asked, “Who are you?”
“Don’t you remember? We met at the Seahorse Motel. I had the room next to yours.”
“I know that,” Forrest snapped. “But how do you know about the ring? How do you know any of this?”
Colin let out a sigh and shook his head. “None of that is important, but we are wasting time. If you two want to get away from here without getting arrested and ruining your Christmas, then we need to clear up a few things.”
“You are letting us go?” Marcella asked.
Danielle frowned and looked at Colin. “You are letting them go?”
“It’s Christmastime, Danielle. When you hear everything, I believe you’ll want to let them go too,” Colin told her.
Danielle let out a sigh, crossed her arms across her chest, and slumped back in her chair.
“You just want us to tell you where it is hidden so you can take it,” Marcella accused Colin. “You must have overheard us talking at the motel.”
Colin let out a weary tsk, tsk, tsk and then said, “I already know where it is. It’s in the picture frame. Of course, even if I hadn’t already known about it, I would have figured that out a few minutes ago. If you will remember, your husband just unwrapped the frame after you demanded Danielle tell you where it was. You are definitely not cut out for a life of crime.”
Danielle turned to Colin. “How can the ring be in the picture frame? Even if someone shoved it between the matting and the photograph, there would be a big lump. Anyway, we already took the back of the frame off. There was nothing there.”
Colin stood up and walked to where Forrest had dropped the picture frame. He picked it up and walked back to Danielle. He handed it to her.
“Shake it,” he told her.
Danielle frowned. “Shake it?”
“Yes. Give it a good shake. But hold it next to your ear, or you won’t hear,” Colin explained.
Danielle did as instructed. She heard a rattle sound and then looked from Colin to the couple sitting on her sofa.
“Marcella and Forrest here are not a hundred percent certain that rattle is Eloise’s ring, but they are certain enough that they risked breaking in here.” He then looked at the couple and said, “Now explain, why are you here?”
Marcella let out a deep breath and slumped back in the sofa. She looked to Danielle with a weary expression. “Eloise bought that frame from a neighbor’s yard sale. The thick frame around the picture is not solid. The hole that’s used to hang the picture is also a keyhole. The frame itself—the portion around the picture—has a hidden compartment that slides open when you use the key. She thought it was very clever and used to say if she had some treasure, that’s where she would hide it.”
“If you thought the ring was in the frame, why didn’t you just take it?” Danielle asked.
“Because the frame had already been put with the rest of the items in the trunk and locked up. We made an excuse to look in the trunk again, and when I shook the frame, I heard it. There was something inside the hidden compartment. I knew then that had to be where she put the ring. But we couldn’t take the frame, and I didn’t have the key to open it.”
“They wouldn’t just give it to you?” Danielle asked. “After all, they didn’t know what it held.”
Forrest shook his head. “No. Eloise’s instructions were very exact, and the executor of the will followed them to a tee. I think one reason, there were rumors that she had a codicil to the will made, using another attorney, and they were afraid if it was found, and distribution of the estate reviewed—or even contested—he didn’t want to give anyone reason to accuse him of not following her instructions exactly. We just figured we would buy the frame and then break it open.”
“So you don’t have the key?” Danielle asked.
“If we had the key, we wouldn’t be here now,” Marcella confessed.
Danielle turned to Colin and asked, “What is your role in all this?”
“I don’t want to see two good people ruin their lives by making a stupid mistake,” Colin explained.
“You think we are good people?” Forrest asked.
Colin turned his smile to Forrest. “For years you and your wife cared for Eloise Winterborne. She was never easy—and while some caretakers can be cruel or harsh, you never were, even during those times when you had ever
y reason to resent her.”
“She was an odd woman, but she wasn’t a bad person,” Marcella said. “She was all alone. We felt sorry for her. And I know she accused us of taking things, but she used to accuse the neighbors of taking her newspaper too, and she didn’t even have a subscription.”
“But we did think she was going to remember us in her will. It’s not like we expected to inherit her estate. We never once thought that—or even wanted it. We simply wanted some sort of retirement. Marcella and I aren’t getting any younger. I don’t know if we are up to being caretakers again, and I’m not sure what else we can do at our age. Was that really so wrong?”
“The only thing that was wrong was to break into Marlow House,” Colin said.
The Hoopers lowered their heads. Danielle wasn’t sure if it was in shame or because they were caught.
“What now?” Marcella asked, raising her head again and looking at Colin.
“I think you should both leave and go back to Astoria. I know the room you rented there is still available.”
“Why would we do that?” Marcella asked.
“Considering it is Saturday, and Christmas is Monday, you will want to be there next week when they call you,” Colin explained. “If you leave now and go somewhere else—like out of the state—you will just have to come back next week anyway. Why not go back to the community you know—where you have friends—and enjoy Christmas.”
“Who is calling us?” Marcella asked.
Before Colin could answer the question, Marie burst into the room. Standing in front of Danielle, her back to the sofa, she asked, “Danielle, what are you doing over here?”
“Who is calling us?” Marcella repeated.
Marie twirled around and faced Forrest and Marcella. “They are here! I have been looking all over for them.” She turned back to Danielle and said, “You will never guess what happened. I went to the Winterborne estate—what a mess. But apparently the Realtor must have talked the executor into doing some repairs. No way are they going to sell that—”
“Marie, please, not yet,” Colin said. “And can you move over there so we can see Marcella and Forrest?”
Danielle and Marie jerked their heads to look at Colin.
“You can see me?” Marie muttered.
“Marie? What are you talking about?” Marcella asked. “You’re not making any sense.”
Colin smiled at Marie. Her eyes widened and she stepped back, no longer blocking the Hoopers from his view.
Colin looked back to the Hoopers and said, “I knew about the ring and the frame, didn’t I?”
Marcella and Forrest nodded. Danielle and Marie listened.
“I also know Eloise had a codicil made to her will—one that takes care of you both,” Colin said.
“It’s true!” Marie exclaimed. “That’s what I wanted to tell you,” Marie told Danielle, ignoring Colin’s glare. “There were contractors working at the estate when I got there, and they were doing some repairs in one of the rooms and found some papers that had been hidden behind some boards. One was a recent codicil to Eloise’s will, including the Hoopers!”
Thirty-Five
Danielle’s cellphone began to ring. She stood in her living room with Colin and Marie. Picking up the phone, she saw it was Walt calling.
“Is everything okay?” he asked when she answered his call.
Danielle glanced to the doorway where Marcella and Forrest had rushed through a few minutes earlier—out of the living room, down the entry hall, and out the front door into the night.
“Yes. I’ll explain everything later. But right now, I’m talking with Marie and Colin. I’ll be over there as soon as I can.”
“What do you mean you’re talking with Marie and Colin?” Walt asked.
“Just that. I’ll explain everything later.” Danielle ended her call and set the cellphone on the table.
“Do you think they’re going back to Astoria, like you suggested?” Marie asked.
Colin shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter. It would simply be more convenient for them if they did. But next week when they get that phone call, which I’m sure they will, they’ll be returning.”
“What are you going to do with their gun?” Danielle asked.
“Gun? What gun?” Marie asked.
“The Hoopers came here with a gun—an unloaded one. Colin took it away from them.”
“Tossing it off the end of the pier would probably be the best place for everyone. If we turn it over to the police, it will just cause unnecessary problems. And frankly, the Hoopers saved someone’s Christmas by buying the gun today.”
“In what way?” Danielle asked.
“People who illegally purchase firearms typically don’t have good intentions,” Colin said. “The Hoopers took this gun off the street, and the next person who would have bought it—if they hadn’t—won’t be able to find another one as quickly. Hopefully before they do, they will reconsider their life choices.”
Danielle glanced over to the framed picture still sitting on the coffee table. “I suppose I need to get that back to the estate?”
“Absolutely not,” Colin said as he sat back down in a chair and then motioned for Marie and Danielle to both sit down.
Marie took a seat on the sofa and asked, “And what do you think she should do with it?”
“I suppose whatever Danielle wants. She did buy it. It belongs to her,” Colin said.
Danielle sat down next to Marie. “It just doesn’t seem right.”
“It’s what Eloise wanted,” Colin explained.
Danielle studied Colin a moment, tilting her head slightly as she did. “You knew Eloise Winterborne?”
Colin leaned back comfortably in the chair. He crossed his legs casually and smiled at Danielle. “I did. Eloise expressly requested the ring be removed from her inventory list. It was her way of declaring it was no longer part of her estate.”
“Why would she do that?” Danielle asked.
“When Eloise could no longer wear the ring, she had no one to leave it to—and she felt if she left it to the estate, it would simply be sold anyway, by people who weren’t particularly interested in the ring aside from its monetary value,” Colin explained. “She rather liked the idea of putting it somewhere that it could be discovered—like a hidden treasure. She often wondered who might someday find it and what they would think. To her, the feeling she experienced imagining someone eventually discovering the ring was akin to what a person might feel when giving someone a special Christmas gift—that anticipation of them opening your gift. Of course, in her case, she could only imagine what it would be like.”
“She was quirky,” Marie scoffed.
“Did you know Eloise when she was alive—or was it Eloise’s ghost who told you all that?” Danielle asked Colin.
He smiled at Danielle but did not answer.
“Have you always been a medium?” Danielle asked.
“Medium?” He frowned.
“Have you always been able to see ghosts?”
“Not always,” he told her.
“You obviously know Marie is a ghost,” Danielle pointed out.
Colin’s smiled broadened. “Yes. She was rather hard to ignore.”
“Who are you, really?” Marie asked.
“You don’t believe I am who I say I am?” he asked.
Marie studied him through narrowed eyes. “I don’t think you are. Is your name really Colin Bari?”
“Bari is more a place than an actual surname,” he explained.
“And your first name?” Danielle asked.
“It’s a variation of my real first name. This time of year I find it less confusing. Yet understand, my lack of transparency is not for nefarious purposes—no more than your friend using his mother’s surname Johnson instead of his own, Glandon.”
Danielle’s eyes widened at Colin. “You know who Chris really is?”
He gave Danielle a nod. “Yes, certainly. Your friend embraces the spirit of Chris
tmas every day of the year.”
“You won’t tell anyone?” Danielle asked.
“Of course not. His anonymity will be respected.”
“I assume you followed the Hoopers here?” Danielle asked.
“No. I didn’t. The Hoopers aren’t the reason I came. But I knew why they were really here, and what they were up to. I seriously doubted they would be successful in their efforts—certainly not with spirits keeping watch on Marlow House. But I couldn’t let them ruin their lives by such a foolish and misguided act.”
“Then why did you come?” Marie asked.
Danielle sat up straighter and stared at Colin. “Wait a minute, earlier, when the Hoopers wanted to take that bag of gifts, you said we couldn’t let them take it, that you needed something that was in the bag. What was it? What could you have possibly wanted?”
“The shoe, Danielle.” He motioned to the paper sack. “Go—open it. See for yourself.”
Wearing a frown of confusion, Danielle stood a moment and then retrieved the package containing the Christmas shoe. She unwrapped it and then sat back down on the sofa, still holding it.
“Why would this bring you here?” Danielle asked.
“Eloise picked that shoe up at a thrift store. The only thing she added was the gift paper glued on its sole. Peel the paper off, and you’ll see,” he instructed.
Danielle used the tips of her fingernails to help pry one edge of the gift wrap from the bottom of the shoe. After lifting one end, she was able to rip off the multilayers with one firm tug, revealing a small gold key glued under the paper.
Prying off the key, she looked up to Colin. “Is this the key to the frame?”
Colin nodded.
“This is what brought you here?” she asked.
“Heavens no! Something much more valuable than a key—or Eloise’s ring. Read it, Danielle. Read what is written on the bottom of the shoe.”
Danielle studied the shoe, holding it upside down so she could see the sole. She couldn’t see the writing before, not covered with the decoupaged Christmas wrap, and she hadn’t noticed it when first tearing off the paper, being more interested in the small gold key she had uncovered.
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