Case One ~ The Deceit (Trudy Hicks Ghost Hunter Book 1)

by Lori Zaremba

Trudy stood with the obituary in her hand; she was overwhelmed with a feeling of deep sorrow.

  Feeling an intense change in the energy in the space, Trudy stood frozen, the hair on the back of her neck stood straight up, and the air crackled with static. She forced her body to turn slowly, as she now heard sobbing coming from the bed. Witnessing what looked like a woman lying on her side and wrapped up in the quilt, Trudy slowly slipped her glasses from her nose to the top of her head as she walked toward the bed.

  The woman appeared to roll over, taking the quilt with her before disappearing.

  Trudy rubbed her eyes, making sure her vision was clear. She, of course, questioned what she saw.

  She realized as she approached that the bedspread that had been neatly in place when she came in was now askew and pulled away from the mattress below. Trudy stood there stunned and observed the scene before her, wishing she had her thermal imaging camera to get a heat signature.

  “Connie, was that you?”

  Trudy started straightening the bed, figuring Connie would never have left it unmade.

  Getting down on her hands and knees to tuck the quilt between the mattress and the box platform, something made her reach further under the feather pallet.

  Exclaiming as her hand came in contact with a small metal object, Trudy pulled her hand out and looked at the tarnished silver flask in her hand. She could still make out the voluptuous Statue of Liberty. Immediately recognizing it as the one Vanessa had gifted to Douglas, Trudy felt a wave of incredible emotion then jumped up at the implication and what this could mean.

  She paused to carefully tuck the flask along with the obituary in the pocket of her sweater then hurried to the door.

  Skipping down the steps to the dark hallway, Trudy felt something touch her arm and heard a faint female mutter, “Wait…I have something to tell you!”

  She stopped suddenly, confused by the direction from which the voice came. “Connie? I am listening. What do you want to tell me?” A minute passed in silence. Once again, ripples of a strange unease slid down her back, and for a moment her limbs became heavy and rooted.

  Hearing a deep, unearthly snarl coming from one of the small rooms at the end of the corridor, and not being stupid, Trudy yelped and ran like the devil was on her heels. She burst through the door and almost tackled Jason, who happened to be on the other side.

  “What the hell?” he hissed as she knocked the wind out of him. “I was coming to find you.” He finally was able to catch his breath, rubbing his midsection where she hit him.

  “Here I am.” She bent to retrieve her glasses from the floor, where they’d gone flying from the top of her head on impact.

  Jason’s face split into that damn charming grin of his, the one that had her forgetting what the hell she was doing. He started plucking cobwebs from her person.

  Suddenly and strangely shy, she blushed and looked down at the tip of her sneakers while he continued pulling things from her hair. “I thought you would have left by now.” She slipped her glasses back on the top of her head, avoiding his eyes.

  “I’ll be heading out in a bit. I had to speak to Dana first.”

  Curious, she looked up at him, and when he didn’t offer any insight, she asked, “And what did she say about last night?”

  His lip curled up a bit, and he shook his head. “Dana told me Vanessa wasn’t raping me. She was using my energy to manifest, and that’s what paralyzed me.” He smiled tightly. “Vanessa was reliving a romantic interlude. She wasn’t even aware it was me in the bed and not Douglas. I’m still not cool with it,” he said gruffly.

  However, Trudy could see that Jason had a better understanding of what happened and seemed to come to a resolution with it.

  She just wasn’t sure what he felt regarding their relationship.

  “I found new information!” She started to reach into her pocket for the flask.

  “So did Leslie. That’s what I came to tell you.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment was replaced by curiosity. “What did she find?”

  “I don’t know. She wants us all to meet in the kitchen.” He took her hand and pulled her along after him then stopped. “Why did you come flying out of the door like a bat outta hell?”

  She ran a shaky hand through her hair and looked back at the door. “Something…snarled at me in there, and I wasn’t sticking around to find out what it was.”

  He looked at the door, took a step toward it, then thought better of it. “Maybe later.”

  Grabbing her hand once again, they made their way down two flights of stairs to the kitchen in silence.

  Once they were all seated around the table, Leslie produced a folder that contained a copy of several newspaper clippings she’d found.

  Leslie gave Trudy the once-over, making Trudy self-conscious about what she was sure were her pale face and slightly bloodshot eyes.

  “Where have you been hiding?” Leslie’s voice was inquisitive, but her eyes displayed her concern.

  Trudy, not meeting Leslie’s gaze, explained to the group what she found and what had transpired while she was up in the servants’ quarters.

  All gasped when she told them about Chase, and they all became silent as she laid the small but remarkable flask in the center of the table.

  Dana observed it thoughtfully before picking it up.

  Horrified, the group around the table watched the psychic gasp in pain and then slump forward.

  “Dana!” Trudy rushed to her side to give her a little shake. “Dana!” Trudy rasped again, and the flask that Dana was clutching slid from her fingers. When it hit the floor, Dana awoke, gasping for air.

  She looked around, confused. “What happened?” Trudy had worked with Dana for many years, and this was the first time she ever heard those words come from her psychic friend’s mouth.

  Dana bent to pick up the flask, but Trudy stopped her. “Oh, no, you don’t!” She picked up the object herself and put it back in her pocket.

  Dana told the team that when she picked up the flask, she felt like lightning struck her.

  She laughed and said, “Do we have any food around here?” Leslie set a sandwich and a glass of orange juice in front of Dana a few minutes later, while Trudy finished explaining what transpired upstairs.

  “I heard what sounded like a very young woman speaking.” Trudy paused. “She said she had to tell me something, but then something snarled in the hall, and I didn’t stick around.”

  “See, Jason,” Dana teased, swallowing the rest of her orange juice. “Trudy knows how to run sometimes.”

  Jason forced a smile at Dana before letting his gaze settle on Trudy.

  Trudy took a deep breath and looked at the tired group around the table. She felt Dana rest a comforting hand on her shoulder, and in her emotional state, the sweet gesture almost brought her to tears. Trudy quickly blinked back tears and said a bit gruffly, “Okay, Leslie, what did you find?”

  Leslie studied Trudy’s reaction as she pulled out the first clipping. Trudy gasped when she read the headline.

  Construction Projects Halted As DHT Buildings International Executive Is Missing.

  Trudy looked at the date, November 25, 1927.

  Leslie handed her another.

  Missing December 10, 1927.

  DHT executive Douglas Thorton was last seen on November 10th, 1927, in the presence of DHT Attorney Eric Gallow, who is also missing.

  Trudy stood to pace as she re-read the newspaper clippings.

  Thinking of Douglas and the flask she found, she methodically assembled the pieces of evidence in her mind. Trying to fit the bits of information together, she looked at Jason, who was watching her with an earnest expression on his face.

  Her brain was working overtime. Things were starting to come together. She almost had the answers, she was sure.

  Trudy picked up several more newspaper clippings about Douglas’s disappearance. Abigail Thorton posted the last one in April 1929.

  Trudy quickly ca
lled Ryan, asking him to research the missing persons at the police station. “I want to know if Douglas or Eric were ever found.” When Trudy hung up the phone, Leslie handed her one more clipping. It was about Nathan.

  Trudy read that Nathan was returning to France in March 1928, his Steel Mill built and his heart broken. The article listed all his accomplishments while in Chicago and also his friendship with Vanessa Holland.

  He told the Herald, “There is nothing more here for me.”

  Trudy felt a fat tear roll down her cheek, and she had to excuse herself from the table. Barely able to catch her breath, she wondered what it would be like to know a love like that. Hold it together, girl.

  Her hand protectively covered the scar over her heart, and she made her way outside for some fresh air. She inhaled deeply, trying to regain her composure and clear her head.

  She seriously didn’t know for whom she was sadder, Vanessa or herself.

  Maybe, like Vanessa, she needed to get home, resume her usual routine, and heal her hurting heart.

  She caught the scent of Leslie’s perfume and knew she was standing behind her.

  “What’s up, buttercup?” Leslie gave her a nudge as she leaned on the rail next to her.

  “Nothing different here.” Both watched in silence as Jason started loading equipment into one of the vans.

  “At least I didn’t make a complete fool of myself,” Trudy blurted.

  Leslie wrapped her arm around Trudy’s waist. “I’m sure that’s not true,” she quipped, bringing a bark of laughter from Trudy.

  “I said complete…although a fool for sure.”

  Leslie turned so she could sit on the rail and study Trudy’s face. “I liked the two of you together. Are you sure you won’t see him again?”

  “I’m pretty sure.” Trudy didn’t tell her about Jason’s strange experience, instead offering, “He never once mentioned or expressed an interest in pursuing anything more.”

  “Have you?”

  Trudy raised her brow and opened her mouth to reply when the cell phone in her pocket rang, interrupting their conversation. “Hello?”

  It was Ryan. “Trudy, they were never found. The Chicago PD reopened the case a few years back at the request of Thornton’s granddaughter. The new evidence they found only led to a dead end.”

  “Wow, all right.” That was all she could say.

  “Do you want to know who the granddaughter is?”

  “Sure.”

  “She was formerly the DA and now a district judge, Abigail Ross. I know her well.”

  “Named after her grandmother,” Trudy said softly.

  They spoke a bit longer, and he told her that several of the reports indicated foul play. Douglas’s car was found a year later in a cornfield in Ohio.

  “Thank you, Ryan. I owe you a beer.”

  He agreed and hung up.

  Trudy put the phone back in her sweater pocket. “They are still missing. Shit!” She signaled to Jason across the lawn and turned toward the door. “Let’s go find Dana.”

  Trudy felt the unease, and that made her mind sharpen. Her emotions under control, she now had laser focus. She started considering all the options of what might have happened to Douglas and Eric. None of the devious plots that formed in her mind ended well.

  She looked down at the flask she carried in her pocket. “How did Connie end up with you?” she asked the Lady Liberty.

  She didn’t have to utter a word to Dana for her to know what Ryan had said.

  “Trudy, we have to go speak to Chelsea in the servants’ quarters, now.”

  “Chelsea?” Trudy and Leslie said in unison, but knowing Dana, they didn’t question her any further.

  Trudy grabbed equipment and slipped on her belt while Leslie spoke to Jason and Tyler, who had decided to tag along.

  Patrick was still recovering, so Trudy turned to Jason and asked if he could stay, since she needed a cameraman.

  He agreed, speaking into his two-way radio and letting his team know to go on without him.

  Patrick and Leslie stayed to watch the monitors, while the rest of the group headed up the two flights of stairs.

  When they reached the third floor, they found Jasmine sitting in front of the closed door to the corridor.

  Dana turned to the group.

  “We are looking for any object that may have belonged to Chelsea.”

  Trudy pushed through the door with Jasmine bounding ahead of her. Trudy froze when she heard the familiar growl. Jasmine yelped in response and ran off to investigate.

  “Jasmine!” Trudy called.

  “It’s okay. It’s only Caesar. He won’t hurt her or us.” Dana stepped in front of her.

  “This way. Chelsea’s room is at the end of the hallway.”

  They piled into the tiny, windowless room that smelled of dust and mothballs. A small wrought iron bed frame was on one side of the room, and next to it stood a stack of milk crates. Papers and mouse poop littered the floor.

  “Wow, not much living space in here,” Tyler said from just inside the doorway, leaving room for Jason and the camera.

  “She loved this room. It was more than she ever had before,” Dana said as she leaned down to run her finger over the scarred headboard of the tiny bed. “She felt safe here.” Dana smoothed her hand over the peeling wallpaper. “Chelsea loved this horse and carriage print. It made her feel like Cinderella.” Dana pressed her cheek oddly to the wall. “Chelsea was thirteen when Connie hired her. She had been caught red-handed stealing an apple at the market.” Dana laughed. “Connie paid for the apple and gave the merchant a few dollars extra not to call the police.” She spoke with her eyes closed. “Young Chelsea had been living in an abandoned house disguised as a boy until the day Connie rescued her.”

  The group heard a slight scuffle in the hallway, and they were relieved to see it was Jasmine squeezing between Tyler and Jason. She carried something in her mouth and brought it to Trudy.

  Trudy looked down at the white linen handkerchief now yellow with age and grime. Studying it carefully, she saw tiny flowers embroidered in a dark blue and the initials CS.

  “CS?” Trudy wondered out loud.

  “Chelsea Sunshine,” Dana said softly. “The handkerchief belonged to Chelsea. Since she didn’t know her last name, Connie named her Sunshine because Chelsea was always smiling and brightening everyone’s day.”

  Trudy once again felt emotion bubbling up in her throat, and glancing at Jason and Tyler, she could tell they were affected as well. Jason was studying the gauges on the camera way too intently, and Tyler ran his hand quickly across his eyes before asking, “Is Chelsea the girl I saw on the stairs?”

  “Yes,” Dana replied before nodding to Trudy that it was time.

  Trudy turned to both Jason and Tyler. “You can leave now if you want. This gets pretty intense.”

  Neither made a move to leave, so they all sat knee to knee on the scarred, mouse-poop-ridden floor of the tiny room.

  Trudy handed the handkerchief to Dana, and she lifted it to her face.

  The energy in the room became charged, brightening at first then lowering into darkness.

  Trudy could feel her hair on her arms standing straight up as Chelsea arrived.

  Chapter 20

  Chelsea

  Chelsea swept the front steps and porch, smiling while she worked. She did as Miss Connie taught her and didn’t miss a speck of dirt.

  For Chelsea, it was the most excellent day ever. It was the day of Vanessa’s grand party. She worked hard all week and was excited it was finally here.

  She couldn’t wait to put on the new blue dress Connie had given her this morning to wear tonight. She had to look good, as she was responsible for helping Leo with the guests’ outer garments, hanging them in the large storage closet below the stairs and retrieving them when the guests were ready to leave.

  She felt honored to be given such an important responsibility. She hoped she could keep track of what belonged to whom.


  She shook out the mat that lay before the door and gave the brass knocker a good spitshine.

  She ran her hand through her newly cut mop, styled by Vanessa’s now famous beautician, Madame Velma. Velma was a good friend of Vanessa’s. She had recently styled Vanessa’s hair into the new modern bob, and that had everyone vying for an appointment at her little salon now opened behind Raul’s shop.

  She overheard Velma telling Vanessa she was booked solid. Chelsea felt very special the day Vanessa took her to Velma’s beauty shop. The hairdresser pushed her ahead of all her other appointments to accommodate Vanessa’s requests. They cut and styled Chelsea’s hair, cut her nails, and scrubbed her feet. She was brand new!

  Velma’s little sister also worked in the salon. Chelsea liked her a lot. She always had a kind word and a pocketful of candy. She would wash your hair and sing with a voice so lovely that you felt like you should stand up and clap once she finished.

  Chelsea looked over her handiwork and was pleased with the results. She looked down the street and spied the man in the shiny black car. As usual, he was watching the house. Her young heart sank. He parked there almost every day now. She didn’t know why or what he wanted. She waved shyly and dashed inside the house. He frightened her the day he came pounding on the door yelling for Vanessa, and Leo had to ask him to leave.

  She sure hoped he wouldn’t be at the party.

  Feeling safe inside, she went off to find Connie and to learn what her next chore would be.

  The house looked amazing. The chandeliers sparkled, and the woodwork gleamed. There were crystal vases filled with fresh flowers everywhere.

  The kitchen staff hummed as they produced tray after tray of exotic food created by the household’s new chef, Patty Boyle.

  Chef Patty was funny to listen to. She called things glacees, bombes, and pommes, words that were foreign to Chelsea. The food in question was not only pretty to look at, but also quite tasty.

  Last evening, she made them something called bouillabaisse. Chef Patty wanted Vanessa to taste it and see if she liked it for the third course served at tonight’s party. She used walleye, a local fish, and then jazzed it up with weird creatures in their shells that were delivered overnight from the ocean. Vanessa loved it. Chelsea was too skeptical to try it, but she did like the little toasted bread that Chef rested on top of the bowl.