Haunted Homicide

by Constance Barker

  “Can we just get some b-roll and do a few quick detections before you settle in?” Sam asked kindly poking her head around the door.

  “Yeah, of course,” Verny said. Josie wished she had said no, but with Cici with them it would have been rude. Cici followed Sam into the room and Cody did as well.

  “Sorry to bother you,” he said. “We just want to make sure we get everything out of here before you all go to sleep.”

  “It’s okay, we understand,” Cookie said. Cici worked with Sam to get b-roll footage, making sure to get close-ups of everything in the room. “What does that do?” She asked Cody as he started a particularly loud piece of technology. It sounded like a loud radio that was rapidly flipping through stations but could only get static and not rest on a signal.

  “It’s called a spirit box,” Cody said loudly over the static. After another minute or two he switched off the box. Josie’s ear rang with the static even though the machine was turned off.

  “What does it do?” Verny asked perplexed that such an obnoxious machine could do anything useful enough to actually use it.

  “Basically it’s a tool that spirits can use to communicate with us. Every tenth of a second it flips to a new station and any piece of transmission or sound bites from each station is too short to be heard, meaning that anything you might hear over the frequencies have to be a spirit communicating through them,” he explained simply. The science of it didn’t quite make sense but the women nodded without question.

  “So there was nothing in here, then?” Josie asked. She didn’t hear any clear words or statements over the radio, so she hoped not. Though they had all missed whatever it was they were trying to show them in the video.

  “Nothing that wanted to communicate,” he replied. “We can never say for certain about these things.” Josie wished he had given a more definitive answer.

  “We should be all set now,” Sam said turning off the camera. “Our investigation will probably last the rest of the night. We’ll try to be quiet and respectful, but I can’t promise that you won’t hear us at all.” She sounded apologetic.

  “If you’ll be using that thing, I’m sure we’ll hear it,” Verny said with a chuckle. “We understand though,” she said quickly when Cici shot her another look. She didn’t want to embarrass her daughter in front of them.

  “We’ll try to keep it to a minimum,” Cody said with a wink.

  “Did you want to sleep in here with us?” Cookie asked Cici.

  “I think I’ll stay up a while longer and help them film as much as they’ll allow me to,” Cici said looking at Sam for approval. She nodded with a smile. “I’ll probably end up in the parlor room with my classmates.”

  “That’s fine,” Verny said. “Have fun, but don’t stay up too late.” She couldn’t help but embarrass her daughter a little bit. Cici blushed but nodded. They said their good nights and the three of them left.

  “I’m going to try and get a bit of sleep,” Josie said, but instead of actually closing her eyes she pulled out a book and started to read. She could still faintly hear Lightning bringing the poor man on a tour that was probably longer and more in depth than he ever expected. The noise of the Paranormalists was also faintly in the background.

  “I guess there’s not much else to do,” Verny said. She and Cookie climbed into their sleeping bags. Cookie was on the floor and so was Josie, Verny got the couch. They could have slept on chairs, but they decided it would be more comfortable to stretch out. After an hour or so of silence Verny sat up and turned off the light.

  “No!” Josie said loudly, her heart hammering into her throat when the light switched off. “I mean, can we leave it on?” She asked more calmly.

  “Sure,” Verny said with a laugh. “Sorry,” she added. Josie had gotten out of her comfort zone to go with them and she didn’t want to make her upset. Verny flipped the light back on. “I’m sure you want to read a bit more.” Josie was grateful for the excuse, even though none of them actually believed it.

  “Thank you,” she said feeling foolish.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Cookie said. She felt guilty for bringing Josie there in the first place and hoped that she would be able to fall asleep.

  After a while they were all able to doze off, even with the light on and all the noises in the background. It wasn’t until they were all awoken by a scream that they even realized they had fallen asleep.

  Chapter Six

  “Was that what I think it was?” Josie asked in a panic getting up from the floor. “I heard a scream.” Cookie and Verny looked around confused as to what was going on. They had heard it too but weren’t as quick to wake as Josie.

  “What’s going on?” Verny asked rubbing her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” Josie said. She walked to the door and opened it just a crack, too scared to open it all the way. If this was somehow proof of the paranormal, she wasn’t going to be the first one out the door. Suddenly it was clear that the scream had transformed into sobs and most definitely came from a living person.

  “Mom?” Cici yelled coming to their door. “Are you okay?” She asked.

  “I’m fine,” Verny said still unsure of what was going on. “Are you okay?” She asked in return.

  “Yeah,” Cici said. Cookie and Verny were at the door with Josie now. “Do you know who screamed?”

  “No, we just heard it,” Verny said. “Stay here,” she ordered Cici, pulling her into the study. “We're going to check it out.”

  “I’m coming too,” Cici insisted leaving the room instantly.

  “Fine,” Verny agreed easily. She was too tired and concerned to bother with an argument with her. The three of them huddled together and walked down the long hallway. The farther they went the louder the crying was. When they arrived at the front of the house, they discovered the source. In the center of the grand entryway, right under the stair landing was Avery sobbing.

  “What’s wrong?” Josie asked when they saw her. The question was answered when they realized what she was sobbing over. There was a dark pile on the floor by her knees and it seemed to be extending out in a pool surrounding both Avery and the pile. The pile was clearly a body and the dark pool was blood.

  “Simon,” she choked out. The women and Cici were the last to stumble on the scene. Cody and Sam stood behind Avery, equally horrified. The students stared in disbelief, one of them had their phone’s out and was taping. Lightning promptly took the phone from the kid.

  “Show some respect,” he said. The teenager looked momentarily shameful but took the phone back. They didn’t start recording again though. The only people not present was the family with the young boy, though the boy’s sobs could be heard from the other room. Clearly, he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

  “Has anyone called the police?” Josie asked. Horror and the paranormal might get to her, but when confronted with tragedy or crisis she went calm and was able to deal with what was at hand. When no one responded she decided to take charge. “Verny, bring Cici, get your phone and call Gideon.”

  “Okay,” Verny said, pulling Cici with her. This time, Cici didn’t object. She could no longer look at the scene in front of her.

  “Lightning take them away from here,” Josie ordered referring to the students. “They don’t need to see this.” Lightning looked struck by what happened, probably going over the times that he made a snarky remark in response to something one of the Paranormalists said. “Lightning,” she repeated to get his attention.

  “Yeah, I can do that,” he said nodding. “Come with me.” Lightning began shepherding the students toward the room where the family was. The one who had been filming looked like he might try to protest, but eventually decided against it. None of them had Lightning for a teacher, but he was still legendary in the school and everyone knew who he was.

  “Cookie get Cody and Sam out of here,” Josie said in a whisper. “Make sure they drink a glass of water. They might be in shock, so pay attention to them.�
� Even if she hadn’t whispered, her words would have fallen on deaf ears. They weren’t really present in the moment, they were lost in the sight of Simon. Clearly, he had fallen from the hallway landing above the stairs, or he was pushed. Wordlessly Cookie walked towards them keeping a solid circumference between her and the body.

  “Come on,” she said tapping Sam on the shoulder. Sam jumped as though she hadn’t been aware of her presence at all. Cookie took Sam by the arm and led Cody by the shoulder towards the dining room. At the very least she would get them away from what they were seeing. They walked with her without protest, still in trance-like states.

  “Avery,” Josie said quietly, trying not to startle the sobbing woman. She seemed the most present of the three of them. Avery looked up at Josie, her eyes clear and not far away, confirming that she wasn’t totally in shock, at least not yet.

  “He’s dead,” she said it like it was a question.

  “The police are going to be here soon, I promise,” Josie assured her. “Do you want to stay here until they get here?” She asked. The best thing to do would be to get her away from the body, but she didn’t want to push her.

  “It killed him,” Avery said in a small voice.

  “What?” Josie asked.

  “It killed him,” Avery said louder.

  “What do you mean?” Josie asked. “What killed him?”

  “The ghost of Nathaniel Charleston,” Avery replied. “This is exactly where his body was discovered. This was exactly how he died,” she sobbed. “We have proof.”

  “Proof that a ghost killed him?” Josie asked, forgetting to be tactful.

  “Yes,” Avery said vehemently.

  “Okay,” Josie replied. “You can give it to the police when they get here.”

  “We can’t trust them with this,” Avery said shaking her head.

  “It’s okay, I know the detectives, one of them practically raised me. You can trust them,” Josie assured her. “Give them any evidence that you have.”

  “You’re sure?” Avery asked.

  “I’m sure,” Josie said with a nod. “Now, do you want to stay here, or do you want to go be with Sam and Cody?” She asked.

  “I want to be with Sam and Cody,” she said, her hands shaking.

  “Okay, I’ll be right back and then we can go there together.” Josie didn’t want to leave the body or the woman alone for too long. “Lightning, can you stay with Simon until Gideon and Abel get here?” She asked. He was sitting with the students and the family in the living room. The young boy seemed to calm down a bit and was cuddling with his parents.

  “Where are you going?” He asked, Josie knew that he didn’t want to be left alone with the body either.

  “I’m going to walk Avery to the dining room, so she can be with Cody and Sam. I’ll be right back,” Josie assured him. Lightning grumbled a little bit but stood and walked to the grand room with Josie. Avery stood as Simon's blood covered her top. “Don’t touch anything,” she said to Avery thinking of preserving the evidence as much as possible.

  Josie didn’t think Simon had been murdered by a vengeful ghost, but there might be something to Avery’s statement. Often when someone experienced trauma they made up narratives that explained it or filled in the blanks where the truth didn’t make sense. Maybe Avery witnessed someone push Simon from the landing and her brain made her think it was a ghost. It was equally possible that he fell or jumped, and she was simply trying to explain a baseless tragedy.

  “He just walked off,” Josie heard Cody say from the dining room. “He walked off on his own, saying that we weren’t taking it seriously enough and he was going to film some things on his own. We decided it was best to let him cool off, he was an intense kind of guy, you know? We heard an argument and a thud, ran to check it out and that’s when we...” He trailed off.

  “Avery,” Sam said when they walked into the room. They didn’t share words, but Avery ran to Sam and the pair started crying together.

  “It was Nathaniel,” Cody said with certainty. “His ghost killed Simon. It’s a perfect replica of the crime scene.”

  “We have proof,” Sam added through her tears. Josie reeled from the information, hearing more than just Avery say a ghost killed Simon made her question her theory. It wasn’t likely that all of them would create the same story to fill in the gaps.

  “Let’s leave that for the police,” Josie said with finality. This wasn’t because she didn’t want to hear what happened, but because she knew how things like this went. The more a story got told the more it differed from the original. For all their sakes, she wanted to make sure that Gideon and Abel got the most accurate version.

  “They should be here soon,” Verny nodded, agreeing with Josie. They heard the sirens getting closer as they spoke.

  “They won’t believe us,” Cody said hopelessly. He looked deflated and defeated sitting in a chair at the dining table. Before, he had easily filled up a room with his warm and inviting personality, but now he looked lost.

  “They’ll listen to what you have to say,” Cookie assured them, though she chose her words carefully. “We know the detectives in town, and they are really good at what they do.”

  “Just because they'll listen doesn’t mean they’ll believe us,” Cody replied. He had picked up on her wording easily. Sam and Avery were still sobbing into each other’s arms, barely able to pay attention to what was going on around them.

  “They might not think that a ghost committed the murder, no,” Verny said making it clear that she didn’t believe it either. “They will listen to you unbiased and figure out who is responsible for Simon’s death.” When she said Simon’s name, Avery choked out and extra loud sob. “Sorry,” Verny added.

  The sirens were much closer now, it sounded like they might have finally arrived. “Let’s go out and check to see if the cops are here,” Josie suggested.

  “Can we just stay here?” Sam asked. “I don’t want to...” She trailed off unable to finish her sentence. Josie was instantly embarrassed that she had made the suggestion in the first place. There was no way to go to the front door without being able to see Simon’s body plain as day. She should have thought of that before she spoke.

  “Of course,” she corrected herself. “You can stay here, I’ll go check. When it’s time to leave you can go out the side door...I’m sure that’ll be okay.” Josie was sure that the police had arrived by the sheer noise and commotion outside the dining room now. The sirens were wailing outside loudly making her wonder if every single police officer and detective in town had responded to their call.

  It seemed like they might have, the number of people crowding the room was enough to make the large space feel small. Josie waded towards the body, where she knew Gideon and Abel would be.

  “Josie, are you alright?” Gideon asked as soon as she got close enough for him to notice her. Gideon was the chief detective in town and an old friend of Josie's late father. Abel, the new detective, was learning from the best.

  “I’m fine,” Josie replied. She would be certain to have nightmares for the rest of her life, but physically she was fine. Mentally she was definitely shaken, but not nearly as much as her new friends were.

  “Can you believe it?” Gideon asked rhetorically. “Another one.” After decades of relative quiet and no murders, there had now been two recently.

  “It’s as if the whole world's gone mad,” Josie agreed. She never thought she would live to see another person she was acquainted with killed.

  “It might not be murder,” Abel said. “He could have fallen or jumped,” he suggested.

  “It’s definitely possible,” Gideon agreed. “No obvious signs of foul play. That’s for us and the medical examiner to figure out though.”

  “Did you see anything?” Abel asked Josie. All around them police were putting tape up, getting statements from the rest of the people there. The young boy had started wailing again, woken up or upset by all the noise. Even the teen who was taking vid
eo seemed shaken at this point. It hadn’t felt real until it became an actual crime scene.

  “No, I was asleep in the study with Cookie and Verny when it happened.” Josie shook her head. “Then there was screaming, and we ran to check it out. It was the boy’s girlfriend, Avery who was screaming.”

  “You knew them?” Gideon asked.

  “Not really, they came into the deli yesterday, or I guess the day before now,” Josie corrected herself realizing how late or rather how early it was. “And we were all on the tour of the house together, obviously.”

  “What did you know about them?”

  “They are paranormal investigators with a blog that Cici is a really big fan of. Simon is the one who died, Avery is his girlfriend, and then there are Sam and Cody, they’re together as well,” Josie went through the list quickly. She felt uneasy being so close in proximity to Simon's dead body. “They’re in the dining room waiting for you with Cookie and Verny, if you want to talk to them.”

  “Lead the way,” Gideon said. A couple officers took photos of the crime scene while the medical examiner started recording her initial findings.

  “Before you talk to them,” Josie said after thinking for a moment. “They think their friend was murdered by a ghost.” She didn’t want them going in blind. She knew Gideon well enough to know that he would not hide his feelings about their theory. Verny and Cookie might have given him a bit too much credit. He would certainly listen to them, but he would also probably tell them why they were foolish in a dozen different ways.

  “They’re all crazy?” He asked, which was exactly why she had thought to tell him ahead of time.

  “No, they aren’t all crazy,” she said, without much evidence to back it up. “They’re all grieving.”

  “But they think a ghost did it?”

  “Yes, the ghost of Nathaniel Charleston, the original owner of this house. Apparently, he died in a very similar way,” Josie explained. “I think they are just terrified and upset. I’d hear what they have to say tonight and talk to them again in a day or two. By then they might be able to think a little straighter.” She realized that she was telling him how to do his job, which she had no right to do.