by Bobbi Holmes
“Are you waiting for anyone?” Carla asked Danielle as she filled her water glass. Today red, white and blue streaks colored Carla’s hair, with sprinkles of glittery blue stars. Danielle silently wondered if the stars were firmly attached to the hair, or would they be falling in some customer’s food? At least with the glitter Eva occasionally tossed around, it typically vanished before hitting a surface, and was never visible to non-mediums.
“No. Just me. I want to order some takeout. I didn’t feel like cooking tonight, and Walt didn’t feel like going out.”
“Who ever feels like cooking?” Carla asked.
“And maybe some pie, too. What do you have?”
“A fresh apple pie came out of the oven less than five minutes ago. It’s still hot,” Carla said.
“Oh…sounds good. I’ll have the piece of pie first. With a scoop of French vanilla ice cream.”
“We have vanilla, not sure it’s French,” Carla said.
“That’s fine.”
“So dessert before dinner?” Carla asked with a grin as she scratched the order for pie on her small pad of paper.
“How else? And put in a to-go order for two cheeseburgers and fries.”
“Okay, I’ll put that in and get you the pie.”
“Oh, and a piece of pie to go for Walt.”
As Carla jotted down the second piece of pie, Danielle added, “Make that two pieces of apple pie to go.”
Carla looked up to Danielle and paused a moment.
“I don’t want Walt to eat pie alone,” Danielle explained.
“So you don’t want pie and ice cream now?” Carla asked, her pen hovering over the pad of paper.
“I didn’t say that.”
Carla laughed, wrote something on the pad, and left to fill the order.
Fifteen minutes later, as Danielle nibbled her slice of warm apple pie and vanilla ice cream, she pondered the strangeness of the recent glut of Beaus. She was about to take another bite when Carla stopped by, leaned against the counter, and asked, “Are you really going to eat two pieces of apple pie tonight?”
Danielle shrugged and said, “I doubt it. I’ll probably let Walt have them both.”
“He does have a sweet tooth,” Carla noted.
Danielle glanced up to Carla, thinking about the Beau Walt had once known, and his property that had recently sold. She impulsively asked, “Do you know Earl Barr?”
“In a way. He used to come in sometimes, not much of a talker. Likes to keep to himself. But I doubt he’ll ever be in here again. His daughter Cindy told me he has early stages of Alzheimer’s. They just put him in a home.”
“You know his daughters?” Danielle asked.
“Sure, they used to come in when they’d visit their mom. But I doubt I’ll see them again. I don’t imagine they’ll be back to Frederickport.”
“Not even to visit their father?” Danielle asked.
Carla gave a snort. “Are you kidding? They couldn’t stand their father. So why do you ask?”
“No reason, really. I just heard something about the Barr place…” Danielle didn’t feel especially creative at the moment and couldn’t think of a plausible reason to explain why she was asking the question.
“Oh, you heard about it being haunted,” Carla whispered.
Danielle looked up quickly. She hadn’t expected Carla to say that.
“I’d never heard about it before,” Carla said. “But when Cindy stopped in here with her sister a couple of weeks ago, they said they were celebrating because the escrow on their dad’s property had just closed. The main reason they wanted to sell was so there would be enough money to keep him in that nursing home. Frankly, I don’t understand why they cared. I mean, if they dislike their dad so much, it’s not like they’re responsible for paying for his care.”
“What is this about it being haunted?” Danielle asked.
“Oh, that, well, Cindy said they never talked about it before, because she figured everyone around here thought their family was weird as it was, but according to them, that place is haunted. It’s one reason both those girls got the hell out of Frederickport when they turned eighteen. That and they hated their father. Although, I think they cared about their mom. Anyway, they were afraid the buyer might do a walk-through before the close of escrow and then get spooked off and cancel the deal.”
“Who supposedly haunts the place?” Danielle asked.
“I’ve no idea. They didn’t say. But they told me creepy things have been going on there for as long as they could remember. Cindy said that was one reason they never invited friends over to their house. And I guess their parents didn’t really have any friends.”
Motion from Danielle’s right caught her attention. She glanced toward the door and noticed two women about to leave the restaurant. They were the black women who had asked Walt the question about a diary.
“Hey, Carla,” Danielle whispered. “See those two women who are just leaving?”
Carla glanced briefly to the exit door. “That’s Raven and her cousin. Raven is the taller one. I don’t remember the cousin’s name. What about them?”
“They were at a talk Walt gave at the library and asked him some questions about Moon Runners. I was wondering, are they from around here or tourists?”
“Little of both, I guess,” Carla said.
“What do you mean?” Danielle asked.
“If you’re really curious about them, ask Adam.”
“Adam? Why Adam?”
“They’re renting a house from him. Staying for the summer. So I guess that makes them tourists. But according to what one of them told me, they had a grandmother who used to live in Frederickport.”
“Really?” Danielle looked back to the door.
Sixteen
Walt volunteered to pick up cinnamon rolls from Old Salts Bakery on Tuesday morning. They were out, and if they expected Adam and Chris to hook up the surveillance cameras, they needed to keep them happy. Lily, Heather, and Ian also planned to come over to help put up the decorations.
While Walt left to get the cinnamon rolls, Danielle cooked up a pan of bacon and whipped up some scrambled eggs. She figured they needed protein to go with all that sugar.
Adam arrived first and entered through the kitchen door. The moment he stepped in the house, he took a deep breath, taking in the smell of freshly cooked bacon and coffee brewing.
“Good morning,” he greeted her before snatching a slice of bacon from the platter sitting on the counter. “Where’s Chris and Walt?”
“Walt’s picking up cinnamon rolls, and Chris called. He’s running a little late. He should be here in about twenty minutes,” Danielle said as she poured Adam a cup of coffee.
“So where are the cameras?” Adam asked, sitting down at the kitchen table with his coffee.
“I put everything in the dining room,” Danielle said, sitting down at the table.
“What else do you need to do to get ready?” Adam asked.
“Joanne will be here in a little while to clean the house.”
“Why bother? With all the people who’ll be tromping through here tomorrow, why not just have Joanne clean on Thursday?”
“Seriously, Adam? Don’t you clean your house before you have company?” Danielle asked.
“Um…no.” Adam shrugged. “And when do I have company?”
“Such a slob,” Danielle teased.
“What about the decorations? Aren’t you putting them up this year?”
“Yeah. Lily, Ian and Heather are coming over a little later to do that.”
“You need us to help take down the boxes first? Didn’t they get shoved on that top shelf in the basement?”
“Walt and I already got them down. They’re piled in the hallway.”
“All of them?” Adam frowned.
“Yeah.”
“Wasn’t there, like, ten boxes?”
“Six.”
“I hope you didn’t break poor Walt’s back getting them down. So wha
t about food?” Adam asked.
“I took a shortcut this year. Pearl Cove is catering.”
“Fancy schmancy.”
“Hey, Adam, I wanted to ask you about one of your renters. They were at Walt’s talk at the library, asked him several questions about Moon Runners. According to Carla, they’ve rented a house from you for the summer, and their grandmother used to live here.”
“Are you talking about the Kings?”
“I don’t know their last name. Carla called one Raven. Two women, cousins.”
“Yeah, that’s the Kings. A brother, sister and their cousin. Raven is the cousin. The other two are Kiara and Laken.”
“What do you know about them?” Danielle asked.
“Why?” Adam asked.
“Just curious. They asked a lot of questions at the library. I wondered who they were.”
“They rented the house for the summer,” Adam said.
“Carla told me that. So, they’re here on vacation?” Danielle asked.
“They’re here on a quest.”
“Quest? What do you mean?” she asked.
“They’re on a quest to learn more about their family history. Or more accurately, to solve a family mystery,” Adam explained.
“What kind of family mystery?” Danielle asked.
“Their grandmother used to live here. Or their great-grandmother? I don’t remember. But she had a sister who went missing. And they seem to think they might figure out what really happened to her. Not sure how they plan to do that.”
“When did she go missing?” Danielle asked.
Adam shrugged. “I’m not sure. The topic came up when I offhandedly asked how they decided on Frederickport for the summer. One of them said their grandmother used to live here, so I figured they used to come here to visit her. But then another one said they had never been here before. So I said something like this trip being about retracing family or something lame like that. The guy said that was an understatement, and his sister said they were here to unravel a family mystery. And then someone mentioned a missing relative. That was about it. They didn’t go into any detail.”
“Can I ask you another question?” Danielle asked.
“You’re going to anyway. Why ask if you can ask?”
Danielle shrugged. “Habit.”
“Go ahead, but I don’t know much about them other than they’re from California, but I don’t remember offhand what city.”
“No, this is a question about a real estate sale in town. Do you know anything about property that recently sold in Frederickport, owned by Earl Barr?”
“Seriously, Danielle? I talked about this the other night. I introduced you to the buyer.”
Danielle looked blankly at Adam.
“At Pearl Cove. He walked right up to our table. I introduced you.”
“Beau somebody?” Danielle asked.
“Beau Stewart.”
“You didn’t say he bought the Barr property.”
Adam shrugged. “I thought I did.”
“So Beau Stewart is related to Earl Barr?” Danielle asked.
“Yeah. First cousins.”
“Carla said something about the property being haunted.”
Adam laughed. “That sounds like something Carla would say.”
“So it isn’t? You’ve never noticed anything funny over there?”
“Are you seriously asking me if the place is haunted?” Adam asked.
“I’m just curious if there’s some local legend about the place—you know, like with Presley House.”
“And your house,” Adam added with a smile.
“Well, is there?”
Adam considered the question for a moment. “You know, now that I think about it, I do sort of remember something that happened back when we were in high school. I’ll have to ask Mel if she remembers. Personally, I’ve never even stepped on the property. Oh, I’ve driven by it lots of times. It needs a lot of work.”
“You’ve never been there, not even when you sold it?” Danielle asked.
Adam shook his head. “No. I wasn’t the listing agent. Beau called me after they listed it, told me he wanted to buy it and what he was offering. It was all done between me and the other Realtor.”
“You didn’t do a walk-through?”
“No reason to. Beau intends to level the place. And I assume he’s been there before, since his cousin was the previous owner.”
“What’s this Beau like?” Danielle asked.
“You sure are nosey today.” Adam laughed.
“Come on, humor me.”
“He has a lot of money. Might be richer than you.”
“After you introduced him the other night, Ian said Beau’s father was a developer, and that’s where Beau got all his money,” Danielle said.
“True. But the property they developed came from Beau’s mother’s side of the family. The same grandparents as Earl’s. I learned that when I checked out the property records. The Stewarts own a crapload of property in Oregon. It all came from Beau’s maternal grandparents.”
“Stalking your clients again to see how much they’re worth?” Danielle teased.
Adam shrugged. “Doesn’t hurt to find out how much a client can really afford. They don’t say ‘Buyers are liars’ for nothing.”
“So poor Earl’s side only inherited the property here, and his cousin’s family got the rest? According to Carla, Earl’s daughters needed to sell his house to pay for his long-term care.”
“That’s kind of what I heard too, about the money going to pay for the care home. And I don’t think Earl had any other money, but it has nothing to do with Beau’s side inheriting it all. What I learned when checking out those property records, half the grandparents’ property went to Earl’s side, the other half to Beau’s. Earl’s family didn’t do a terrific job managing their property. From what I’ve heard around town, Earl had a serious gambling problem. He’s been selling off his property for years—all to his cousin Beau. I suspect to pay off gambling debts. The only thing he still owned was that property he just sold to Beau.”
“No wonder Earl’s daughters had an issue with their father and resented selling to Beau,” Danielle said.
“Yeah, he inherited all that real estate, and nothing to show for it. Unless he didn’t use the money to pay off gambling debts and there are rusty coffee cans buried on the property stuffed with cash. And now that the poor guy has Alzheimer’s, he doesn’t remember.” Adam grinned at the idea.
“A word of advice,” Danielle said.
“What’s that?”
“Don’t sneak over there and start digging up the place, looking for buried treasure. I hear the place is haunted,” Danielle teased.
Adam rolled his eyes. “Funny.”
Walt arrived back at Marlow House at the same time as Chris. After they ate the breakfast Danielle had prepared for them and half the cinnamon rolls, Chris and Adam started installing the surveillance cameras.
Unfortunately, twenty minutes into the project Chris discovered two faulty cameras. He called the company he had purchased them from in Portland, and while they had two replacements, someone would have to drive to Portland to pick them up.
“Walt and I can get them,” Danielle suggested. “Lily and Ian can take care of the decorations, and this way you guys can finish installing what you have, and if you run into any more glitches, we can pick up what you need.”
“I feel a little guilty, leaving everyone else to do the work while we take off,” Danielle said as Walt backed out of the garage and she sat in the passenger seat.
Walt laughed. “It was your idea.”
“True.” She looked at Walt and added, “Adam says adding the two cameras we’re bringing back will only take a couple of minutes after they hook up everything else they have. So I was wondering…”
“Where do you want to go?” Walt asked.
“I was thinking we should probably stop at the police station first. I need to tell the chief what Wi
lbur told me. I tried calling him last night, but his cellphone kept going to voicemail. And I seriously did not want to leave a message about a ghost. I suppose I could call and tell him, but I’d rather do it in person. And then…”
“You want to go somewhere else?”
“We’re going to Portland anyway, and according to Heather, the bookstore Wilbur’s sister worked for is up the street from where we’re going.”
“Don’t you think figuring out one mystery—who wants to burn our house down—is enough to keep us busy right now? From everything we know, it looks like Wilbur has been dead for a long time. And Marie has helped him realize he’s no longer alive. It’s entirely possible he’s already moved on by now.”
“I suppose. But the Beau thing is just bugging me.”
“What Beau thing?”
“It’s just a name I rarely hear,” Danielle said.
“I don’t understand what you’re getting at,” Walt said.
“Since we got back from Hawaii, we met a Beau at Pearl Cove. I met a ghost who claims a Beau killed him. You told us about two Beaus, a father and son. Let me think…are there any more?”
“You aren’t suggesting this Wilbur ghost is linked to the people who broke into our house?”
“Other than what he overheard at the pier, no, of course not. But even so, I’d like to learn more about him, and we’ll be right down the street from the bookstore, anyway.”
“Not sure what good it’ll do, but I don’t think it’ll hurt to drop by for a few minutes.”
Seventeen
Chief MacDonald called Joe Morelli and Brian Henderson into his office on Tuesday morning. He was sitting behind his desk, going through the day’s mail, when they walked in.
“You wanted to see us, Chief?” Joe asked. He and Brian stood before the desk. Some twenty years spanned the ages of the two men, with Joe being the youngest. In his thirties, Joe had never married, but he lived with Ian’s sister, Kelly. He had dated Danielle briefly when she had first moved to town, and if he wasn’t now with Kelly, he understood Danielle’s social group would not regularly include him.