The Magic of Halloween Night

by Kathi Daley

  After dinner, I helped Gracie with the dishes while Tom and Cass took Paisley into the living room to practice her lines. Tom and Cass had both offered to help with the dishes, but I really wanted to have a chance to chat with Gracie, and she pretty much insisted on doing the cleanup herself.

  “It sounds as if you had a good first day,” Gracie said.

  “I did. It was interesting even though nothing really happened today. I did get to meet a few people, and I did have a chance to speak to Robert.”

  “Did he have a feel for what might have happened to Bill?”

  “According to Robert, he didn’t even know Bill was dead until I told him. On the one hand, I find that hard to believe, but on the other hand, I understand the stars are staying out at the resort, and it is pretty isolated. If Robert returned to the resort after his meal with Bill and stayed there all weekend, it’s possible he hadn’t heard.”

  “I suppose that might explain it.”

  “I haven’t really had the chance to talk to Paisley today. Did she mention anything more to you about what might happen to her if her grandmother isn’t able to return home when you picked her up from school?”

  “No. Not really. She was pretty excited about the play, and we chatted about that the entire way home, but I imagine that has been on her mind as well.”

  I picked up a dishtowel and began drying the hand-washed items. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve decided that I want to pursue the idea of becoming Paisley’s guardian in the event Ethel is unable to continue in that role.”

  Gracie smiled. She didn’t say anything, but I could see she was happy about my decision.

  “Do you have any idea what I need to do next?” I wondered.

  “I suppose we should speak with Ethel. I know that she will be thrilled since you taking over for her seemed to be what she wanted to see happen when we spoke last week. I guess that once we speak to her, we can work out the details. I’m not sure we even need to change the legal status of Paisley’s guardianship so much as to work out the details of her physical custody. Perhaps we might want to consult an attorney. Ethel has already been through this when Paisley’s mother passed away, so perhaps she knows what needs to be done to ensure that Paisley is taken care of the way we all want her to be.”

  I put a dish I’d dried into the cabinet. “I have the movie thing all this week and most likely part of next week, so I won’t be able to make the trip to visit with Ethel. But if you go back, perhaps you could talk to her on my behalf.”

  “I’d be happy to. Paisley seems to have settled into the guest room, but if it looks like she’ll be here longer, perhaps we should allow her to redecorate a bit.”

  “I’d wait to bring it up,” I said. “I’m sure there’s a part of Paisley that still hopes her grandmother will be able to come home. If we offer her the chance to redecorate the room at this point, it might send the wrong message.”

  “I guess you have a good point.” Gracie smiled. “See. You are good at this mothering business.”

  I smiled back. “I hope so. Parenting is not the sort of thing you want to mess up and do wrong.”

  “You love Paisley, and no matter what you do, your heart is in the right place. Paisley knows that. I doubt you could ever do anything she would consider wrong; maybe less than perfect, but not wrong.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, well, just wait until she’s a teenager.”

  Gracie laughed in return. “Yes, I suppose there is a phase where everything a parent or parent figure does is wrong, but only in the best sort of way.”

  After we finished in the kitchen, Paisley went up to her room to do her homework, and Cass and I bundled up and took a walk along the lake. Milo trotted along behind us. I wondered at times, now that I was staying, if perhaps I shouldn’t get a dog of my own. Paisley loved Milo. I knew she’d be thrilled with a puppy.

  “So, how was your first day on the set?” Cass asked, holding my hand as we strolled along.

  “As I said at dinner, nothing really happened today, but I did have a chance to talk to Robert, which helped to answer some questions.”

  “He called me after you spoke,” Cass informed me.

  “Was he able to fill in any of the blanks?”

  “Not really. He told me the same story he told you about running into Bill in LA and striking up a friendship. He told me about meeting Jennifer, and he told me the story of how giving her a ride to an audition led to a change in his career path. As he told you, he mentioned that Jennifer and Bill married, although it didn’t work out in the long run. He confirmed that he continued to see Jennifer from time to time after Bill left LA, but he assured me they weren’t really close. He said that they’d run into each other at parties at times and that they’d worked on a few movies together.”

  “Did he happen to say why they were together at the restaurant Thursday night?”

  “He said that he’d planned to have dinner with Bill, and when he mentioned it to Jennifer, she insisted on going along. He said he wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but he called Bill, who’d told him it was fine to bring her. He also shared that the meal started off okay, but then Jennifer and Bill started sniping at each other, which made for a stressful evening.”

  “Did you ask about the document Jennifer waved in Bill’s face after they left the restaurant?” I asked.

  “I did. Robert told me that all three of them had shown up in their own cars and that he left before the altercation in the parking lot occurred. I asked him if he knew what it was that Jennifer wanted Bill to sign, and he said he had no idea.”

  “And he had no idea what Bill did after he left the restaurant?”

  Cass paused to pick up a stick and toss it for Milo. “He said no. He said he left right after they paid for their meals, and he didn’t speak to or see either Jennifer or Bill again until he ran into Jennifer on the set Monday. I asked him if Bill had mentioned going anywhere at all, and he said no. He also said he had no idea why Bill might have been out on the old highway.”

  Cass stopped walking, and we simply stood staring at the lake. It really was beautiful, but since it was also sort of cold, we decided to head back.

  “I guess we might never know why Bill was out on the old highway that night unless he happened to tell someone who hasn’t come forward yet,” I said once we’d turned around. “Other than your conversation with Robert, did you find anything new?”

  Cass paused and then answered. “Maybe. I spoke to the coroner today, and he told me that Bill had small traces of black paint on his hands at the time of the accident.”

  “Black paint? He’d just been at a restaurant. Where would he have picked up black paint?”

  “I don’t know. It wasn’t a lot of paint as if he’d picked up the residue while painting something, it was more as if he touched something that had recently been painted and then tried to wipe it from his hands, leaving traces behind.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I suppose that might provide a clue as to where he’d been before the crash. Anything else?”

  “He had a scratch mark on his arm. Now keep in mind that his car hit a tree at a high rate of speed, so his entire body was pretty banged up with cuts, broken bones, and bruises, but the coroner said the scratch marks on his left arm looked like fingernail scratches. Although he also said that they could have been made by an animal such as a cat.”

  “I wonder if he had the marks on his arms before dinner.”

  “I asked Robert if he’d noticed any marks, but he said that Bill wore a long sleeve dress shirt and dinner jacket during dinner. He confirmed that Bill didn’t mention having been scratched, but that doesn’t mean that he hadn’t been.”

  I put my arm around Cass’s waist and tucked my body in a little closer to his. “Okay, so we have scratches and black paint. Anything else?”

  “Bill had mud on his shoes when his body was found. He was still wearing the dress shoes that he had on at dinner, so he must have driven somewhere and gotten out o
f his car at some point between leaving the restaurant and being killed in the crash. I’m not sure the mud helps us much. We know he was out on the old highway, and there is a lot of open land out there. It hasn’t rained recently, but there are places under tree canopies that remain wet for weeks once they get a good soaking. At one point, it occurred to me to head out to the old highway and look for footprints, but the area is endless. It would be an impossible task.”

  “Yeah. We’d need to be able to narrow things down a lot for it to make sense to look for footprints. I guess he must have had mud on his tires as well.”

  “He did, but there’s no way to know when he might have picked it up.”

  “I guess that’s true.” We arrived at the house, but not wanting to go in quite yet, we sat down on the swing. “So other than paint, mud, and scratch marks, did the body or his car reveal any other clues?”

  “The guys who went over the car didn’t find tampering, but they did find these little red and green stones in the tire tread of all four tires.”

  “Red and green stones?”

  “It seems like the stones might have come from gravel like the sort one might use to cover a dirt drive. I don’t know if that’s relevant. Bill could have picked up the stones anywhere. But it is a clue that I intend to keep in mind should I discover a reason to open a formal investigation.”

  “Do you still think the crash was just an accident?”

  He nodded. “At this point, I haven’t found anything to suggest otherwise. The only thing I’m still waiting for is the final coroner’s report. Once I’m able to verify the official cause of death, I should have what I need to make a decision about a formal investigation.”

  “I thought the cause of death was the accident.”

  “It appears that the accident was the catalyst that led to Bill’s death, but we’re interested in specifically how he died. Did he bleed out? Did he hit his head and suffer a brain injury? Did he pass out after his airbag deployed, causing him to suffocate?”

  “Does it matter?” I wondered.

  “It might or might not, but it seems like something we’ll want to know. If nothing else, we need to eliminate a cause of death inconsistent with an auto accident.”

  Okay, that made sense. What if the reason Bill ran his car off the road was because he’d been injured before entering the car and simply lost consciousness while trying to get away? That was a much different scenario than swerving to avoid a collision with a deer and hitting a tree.

  “Will you be out at the movie site all day tomorrow?” Cass asked after the conversation paused.

  “I think so. I’m not really sure what hours the film crew and cast work or how long they’ll want me hanging around, but I plan to show up in the morning and see how it goes. I’ve already told Naomi that I probably won’t be by for my volunteer shift. She said she understood and could find someone to cover, but I will miss doing playtime with you.” I paused to consider the situation. “I might be done in time to do the play hour. Maybe I can just call or text you to let you know how things are unfolding.”

  “That works,” Cass said. He stretched and then stood up. “I think Milo and I are going to head home. It’s been a long day.”

  “Okay. I probably should check on Paisley anyway.” I walked him to his truck.

  He leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. It took all my willpower not to lean into his body, but I supposed I should finish my conversation with Gracie about the curse before I let the barely suppressed passion we shared bubble to the surface any more than it already had.

  Chapter 10

  Friday

  The next few days had flown by. I’d settled into somewhat of a routine at the movie set. I now knew to arrive early and to plan to knock off around four o’clock. While I still wasn’t off early enough to pick Paisley up from school, as I would have preferred, I was home early enough to help her with her homework and offer a presence in her life.

  Paisley was staying with Anna again this weekend, and I was going to be off early enough this evening to do the play session with Cass and the dogs, which thrilled me to no end. I’d missed Tuesday’s session since I’d hung around the movie set a lot longer than I’d really needed to, wondering if the filming would continue into the evening, but apparently, the schedule provided for an early start and a wrap well before the evening meal. I’d planned to work through the weekend, but there was a huge storm blowing in, so the director decided to break until it passed since all they had left to shoot were exterior shots.

  I hadn’t seen Cass since Monday and really missed him. We’d spoken on the phone a few times, but he’d been busy with his investigation into the cause of the auto accident that had killed Bill Fuller and hadn’t had a lot of time to chat. I did find out that the official cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, which was consistent with an auto accident. Cass also informed me that he’d spoken to Jennifer about the conversation she’d had with Bill before his death, and she told him that although she and Bill were separated and had been since before he left LA, they had never filed the official divorce paperwork. She’d been trying to get Bill to sign the paperwork that their attorneys had already worked out, but he’d been dragging his feet. She’d seen the dinner between Bill and Robert as a good opportunity to get in front of him and had taken it.

  As far as where Bill had gone after they’d spoken Thursday evening, Jennifer had no idea. Cass decided to pull Bill’s phone and bank records. The last call he’d made from his cell was to Robert at four o’clock Thursday afternoon. Robert verified that Bill had called him around then with the time of their dinner reservation. As for Bill’s bank records, Cass couldn’t find anything suspicious or out of line. I knew that Cass was still working on the case despite the fact he still had no hard-hitting reason to suspect that the crash that killed Bill was anything more than a terrible accident.

  As for me, I’d been busy with my assignment. Not only did I spend each day watching the filming, talking to people, and snapping photos I hoped to get permission to use, but when I got home in the evenings, I had to write something up for Dex, who, by the way, I was still worried about, but hadn’t had time to speak to further. I had spoken to Gabby almost every day, and she said it seemed like Dex might be doing better. We both hoped that his forgetfulness had been a temporary thing.

  Gracie had talked to Ethel yesterday, and she was thrilled that I was willing to take over as Paisley’s guardian in the event she was no longer able to continue in that capacity. She had a friend who happened to be an attorney whom she planned to speak to in order to ensure that everything was set in motion to progress smoothly when it was time. Paisley still hoped that her grandmother would get better and come home, but after I’d told Paisley about the plan Gracie and I were working on with Ethel to ensure she could stay with us if her grandmother was unable to care for her, she began to relax and settle into her new routine.

  Paisley’s play was on Thursday of next week. I was pretty sure the film crew would be done filming by that point, and I wouldn’t have a conflict, but whether they were done or not, I planned to be there to cheer her on. She’d been working so hard to learn her lines, and it seemed like she was ready for opening night, even though they still had another week of rehearsal.

  I hadn’t had the chance to talk to Gracie about the curse again. I’d planned to talk to her Monday evening, but by the time Cass and I had returned from our walk, she’d been playing cards with Tom, and I didn’t want to disturb them. I’d gone upstairs to help Paisley with her homework, and then the two of us had run lines until it was time for her to go to bed. Once she’d settled, I’d gone up to the attic and began putting together an outline of the articles I hoped to write that week.

  “You’re up early,” I said to Gracie after I’d quietly snuck down the stairs on my way out. Now that I knew the group from the movie studio started work early, I’d been getting up while it was still dark so I could arrive at the set by the time filmin
g got underway.

  “I wanted to catch you and ask about your schedule for the weekend. Paisley is going home with Anna after school today and plans to stay the whole weekend. I spoke to Anna’s mother, and she indicated that she would take both girls to school Monday. I’ll plan to pick Paisley up after school Monday. That gives us three free days between now and then, so Tom and I thought we might take a little trip out of town to see the trees, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t have anything going on I needed to be here for.”

  “I think a trip to see the trees is a wonderful idea,” I answered. “And you shouldn’t ever feel you need to be here for me.” I smiled as I poured a cup of coffee. “I know it might not seem like it, but I really am able to take care of myself.”

  Gracie smiled back. “I know that, but I guess I’m just used to making sure you’re all set before I go off somewhere.”

  “I’m set,” I promised. “I get off at four today and plan to head over to the shelter for my training session and playtime with Cass and the dogs. When I spoke to him on the phone last night, he mentioned that we might go to dinner after the play session. There’s a storm rolling in, so the film crew and cast are taking a break. I shouldn’t have to go back to the set until Monday morning, so I’m going to hang out and work on my articles.”

  “How are they going?”

  “Really well. The experience has been fun but demanding. I’m ready for it to be over. It’s been a busy week, but it looks like the filming should be finished by midweek next week. Paisley’s play is Thursday, and I thought we could go to the pumpkin farm and pick some pumpkins to carve on Friday. Pumpkins and chili is a family tradition.”

  Gracie grinned. “I’d love that. Next weekend will be busy as well with the Halloween Festival, but I agree that we need to be sure to do at least a few things for just us.”

  I hugged Gracie. “Traditions are important, and I want us to have a bunch. You, me, Tom, and Paisley.”