Bubba's Ghost

by Marja McGraw

  Stanley gave Bubba a friendly two-fingered pat on the head, and Bubba lifted his nose and licked those fingers before he could stop him. The little man immediately washed his hands at the kitchen sink.

  He turned back to the table and noticed my toolbox, and began helping me put things away while we talked.

  Stanley liked nothing more than to tell a war story, so he gave me a blow-by-blow description of their wild ride up the mountain. He sounded surprised that they hadn’t driven right off a cliff.

  “The roads were so wet, and there were patches of black ice making it even more frightening.”

  “What’s black ice?” I asked.

  “It looks like regular road with an oil slick, but it’s actually ice. Fortunately, Pete knew what it was.”

  “Well, you’re home safe now, so maybe things will get back to normal.”

  “That reminds me, Sandi, has anything unusual happened around here while I was gone?”

  “Just Chrissy’s situation. Of course, you know about John Frendd. I talked to his stepbrother, and – "

  “No, I meant around the house. Has anything else happened around here?” His eyes wandered toward the hallway while he talked. “Has anything out of the ordinary occurred?”

  “Stanley, you know there’s no such thing as a – ”

  “Stan. Call me Stan, please.”

  “Sorry. And you know there’s no such thing as a ghost.”

  “Aha! Something has happened or you wouldn’t be bringing up the subject of ghosts. I knew it.” The expression on his face was somewhere between fear and excitement, and I couldn’t tell which way he might be leaning.

  “Now, Stan, don’t go off the deep end. I heard a few noises, that’s all.”

  “I can see it on your face, Sandi. What else happened? There’s something you’re not telling me, right?”

  “Weeell, yeah, there was one thing.” On the one hand, I didn’t want to tell him. On the other hand, I wanted someone to share the experience with me. “Last night I heard noises upstairs again, and when I opened the attic door, something was going out the window.”

  “What do you mean by something?’”

  “Uh, I don’t know. It looked kind of, um, ghostly, for lack of a better word to describe it.” Stanley’s eyes narrowed and I spoke quickly. “Now, Stan, why would a ghost have to open a window to get in and leave that way? Doesn’t make any sense. Ghosts would walk right through the wall, right?”

  “I don’t know, Sandi, but there’s definitely something going on in this house. I’ve been thinking it over and I believe I can help you with this. After all, I’ve been stalked, kidnapped, threatened and almost murdered, made friends with a horse-sized dog, and I’ve even been in a chase up a dangerous mountain. I’ve decided if I can go through all of that, I can take care of a silly little ghost.”

  I was watching his face and body language. He wasn’t feeling quite as confident as he tried to sound, but I had to give him credit for wanting to try to handle something that scared him.

  Chapter Forty-four

  “Why, Stan, I’m proud of you.” I was also pleased that I wasn’t going to have to face the ghost alone. No ghost! Whatever it was, it wasn’t a ghost. There are no ghosts. “But first I’ve got to take care of Frendd’s murder.”

  “The police will handle that, won’t they?”

  “Of course they will, but I have this gut feeling that we’re all missing something. There’s no logical reason for anyone involved to kill Frendd, except maybe Chrissy’s boyfriend. He could have been trying to protect her, but I can’t picture him doing anything violent. He strikes me more as the type who’d bury his head in the sand and hope for the best.”

  I put the toolbox away and heated up the morning coffee for us. We sat at the kitchen table and I filled him in on the details.

  “What would you like me to do?” Stanley asked when I finished talking.

  “I’m going to call Chrissy’s neighbor. I need to talk to him to see if I can jog his memory. Maybe he saw something he hasn’t told anyone about. Would you drive out there with me? Maybe you’ll pick up on something I’m missing.”

  “Certainly. I’d be delighted.” And I knew he would be.

  “Also, before we drive out to Covina, maybe you can do a little Internet snooping and see if you can come up with anything about Ted, Doug, or Officer Paley. Oh. Wait. I still don’t know what Ted’s last name is. I’ll have to run over and ask Chrissy.”

  “Why don’t I go ask her? I’ve been wanting to meet her and Tammi anyway. Dolly always speaks so highly of them.”

  I’d forgotten that Stanley hadn’t met the girls yet. Initially, he’d known more about them than I did, but he hadn’t actually met them.

  “Why don’t you take Bubba with you? Tammi and Bubba seem to keep each other entertained.”

  “Do you believe he’ll go with me?”

  “Of course he will. Ask him.”

  “Ask him?”

  “Sure. He seems to understand a lot of what I say. Or at least he understands key words when I speak to him.”

  I turned to the dog. “Bubba, want to go see Tammi?”

  I didn’t know if he understood the word go or the name Tammi, or if maybe it was my tone of voice, but he pulled himself up off the floor and his tail began to swing back and forth. He glanced from Stanley to me and headed for the front door.

  “Well, I’ll be darned.” There was wonder in Stanley’s voice. “He does seem to know what you’re talking about. Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  I overheard Stanley speaking to Bubba before they walked out the door. “Now you’d better behave yourself, big guy. I don’t want to have to be stern with you.” I didn’t think being stern would work between Stanley and the dog, but one never knew.

  A few minutes turned into half an hour, so I knew Stanley was enjoying his visit at Dolly’s house.

  While he was gone I telephoned Doug Wilson to set up an appointment to talk with him. Unfortunately, all I got was his answering machine. I remembered he said he was always home by three o’clock, so I left a message. If he didn’t return my call, we’d drive out there anyway and hope to find him home. If he and his wife weren’t there, it wouldn’t be a total waste of time. I’d stop at the police department in the hope of talking to Don Chase while in Covina.

  Stanley finally returned and explained that Dolly had insisted on feeding him lunch. They had hot dogs, not one of Stanley’s favorites, but he’d eaten one anyway.

  “Chrissy told me that Ted’s last name is Majors. I’ll boot up the computer and see what I can find before we leave for Covina.” Stanley hesitated before adding, “I talked to Tammi a bit. She knows more about what happened than anyone realizes. For a child, she’s quite intelligent.”

  “What did she say? Was she upset?” It hadn’t appeared she was upset about anything. But then, not being a mother, I could have missed the signs.

  “I’ll tell you about it on the way to Covina. Right now I need to get busy.”

  Stanley disappeared into the office, and before long I could hear the rapid click of the keys as he searched for information.

  He didn’t come up with much about Ted or Doug, and he only found a little on Todd Paley. What he did find were things we already knew, nothing that helped us.

  By two o’clock I hadn’t heard anything from Doug Wilson, so Stanley and I left for San Gabriel Valley, home of Covina. We’d take our chances on Doug being home.

  “After we talk to Doug, I’m going to run by Covina P.D. and see if Detective Chase is in. Maybe he’ll be in the mood to share more with me.”

  “Why didn’t you call and set up an appointment with him?”

  “I guess I don’t want to give him time to prepare for a visit from me. I’d like to take him by surprise and see if he’ll let something slip. The police don’t have much to go on, but I have even less. An impromptu stop may help.”

  “Or it may irritate him.” Stanley made a good point
. I wasn’t exactly on Don Chase’s “A” list.

  “The element of surprise works for me sometimes, Stan. I’m hoping that’ll be the case this time.”

  Actually, surprise frequently worked for me. It didn’t give people time to think up prepared answers. Children seemed to be the most honest with their answers, with or without the element of surprise. That thought reminded me of Tammi.

  “So, you were going to tell me about your conversation with Tammi. What makes you think she knows anything?” I’d nearly forgotten his comment about the child.

  “She didn’t say much, but apparently the neighbor’s wife was upset, and Tammi overheard the two of them talking about Mr. Frendd. The point is, she heard more details than a child should have.”

  “But she seems okay? Well, at her age, it probably didn’t seem real to her.” I hoped.

  “That’s the impression I had when I spoke to the child.”

  I left the freeway at Barranca Avenue, as usual, and headed straight for Doug and Becky’s house. Doug’s car was in the driveway.

  Stan and I exited my vehicle and climbed the steps leading to Doug’s front door. I knocked, and we waited. No one answered. I rang the doorbell, but I wasn’t sure if it was working because I couldn’t hear the noise of the bell coming from the house. I tried knocking louder. Still no answer.

  “Maybe he went somewhere with a pal or something.” Stanley was ready to turn and leave.

  “I can’t explain it, but I have my doubts that Doug Wilson has many friends. I get the feeling that he and his wife are loners. Let me try knocking one more time.”

  I banged on the door, to no avail. The house was quiet, and it appeared that no one was home.

  “Okay, let’s go. They could have gone for a walk or something. I’ll try calling him again before we leave town.” I turned and walked back to my car, with Stanley following.

  We were in the car and I was about to turn the key, when Stanley tapped my arm. “They are home. I saw the curtain move. Someone was peeking out at us.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t have answered the door.” I paused, thinking. “Unless he’s got something to hide? That’s always a possibility.”

  “Didn’t you say he took his wife to see a physician yesterday? Maybe his wife is ill and he didn’t want us to bother her.”

  “If that were the case, I’d think he would have answered the door after the first knock.” My suspicions were growing. Why would Doug be avoiding me? Did he know something about the murder?

  Chapter Forty-five

  I backed out of Doug’s driveway and drove to Covina P.D., hoping Don Chase was in. He was. Stanley opted to wait in the car during this interview.

  Don met me in the lobby and directed me back to his desk, offering me a seat.

  “How can I help you, Ms. Webster?”

  I was starting out on the wrong foot, my frustration mounting as I realized that he wasn’t going to make this easy for me. He was once again calling me Ms. Webster.

  “Well, Don, I was hoping you might have some information to share with me. I’ve interviewed Officer Paley, and I’m going to be talking with Doug Wilson, Chrissy Knight’s neighbor. But it sure would help if I actually knew something. I need information to base their answers on so I’ll know if they’re spinning a story or not. And, of course, I’ll share anything I find out with you.” Like that probably impressed him.

  “You know there’s not much I can tell you, Ms. Webster.” Uh oh. He was sticking to formality. Not a good sign.

  “Detective Chase, I’m not asking for much. Just something simple so I’m not working in the dark. I do know about Officer Paley’s background, and why he didn’t conduct business the way he should have where Frendd was concerned. But I honestly don’t think he killed his step-brother.”

  “Neither do I.” Good. At least the detective and I agreed on something. “However, you do know he’s on administrative leave pending an investigation, right?”

  “No one actually told me, but I’d assumed as much. Will he lose his job over this?”

  “I can’t answer that. And, no, I’m not keeping anything from you. Internal Affairs will have to complete their investigation before a decision will be made.”

  “You know, for whatever it’s worth, I believe he probably is a good cop. I think he briefly got his priorities mixed up, but he might be okay once the smoke clears.” Why on earth was I defending Paley? The words had popped out of my mouth before I realized they were hiding there.

  Chase sat quietly and didn’t reply. I knew I was treading where I shouldn’t be. I needed to change the subject, and my tactics.

  “Maybe you can answer a simple question for me. What was the gift Frendd brought for Chrissy the night of his murder?” I wasn’t sure why, but that was a question that suddenly needed answering. There weren’t many tangible clues, and this was one of the few.

  “He brought her a necklace. The kind that has a round disk with an initial on it hanging from the chain. Does that help, Ms. Webster?”

  “No, it doesn’t, Detective Chase.” I was becoming irritable. I couldn’t understand why Chase had suddenly become so formal with me. “But I was hoping it would. Leave no stone unturned.”

  “Uh huh.” Looking over my shoulder, Chase waved someone into the room.

  I turned my head as an officer entered and handed the detective a report.

  “Thanks. I’ve been waiting for this.” He ignored me for a moment while he glanced at the pages in his hand.

  “I will tell you this, Ms. Webster, and then we’re done here.” I thought he was going to share information from his report with me, but I was wrong. “The initial on that necklace wasn’t a C or a K, for Chrissy Knight. So any way you look at it, the necklace doesn’t seem to be significant.”

  “You know, he brought her used gifts in the past. At least he did once. He brought her some old-fashioned, hand-embroidered hankies. So maybe this necklace came from the same source. Was it old?”

  “No. It was a cheap piece of costume jewelry, but it wasn’t old. Now, Ms. Webster. You’ll have to excuse me. This isn’t the only case I’m working on and I have things to do.” He was tapping the papers in his hand, indicating they involved something other than Frendd.

  “Before I leave, Don,” I said pointedly, “may I ask why you’re being so formal with me?”

  “Because you’re stepping on my toes. You’re sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

  “Sorry you feel that way,” I replied. “I’m doing the job I was hired to do, and I’m going to do my best to protect my client – with or without your permission or cooperation.”

  His eyes narrowed, and he stared at me intently for a moment. “You do your job, and I’ll do mine. But don’t impede my investigation or I’ll make sure you lose your license.”

  I stared back. “This isn’t my first rodeo, Detective Chase. I’ve always turned any information I’ve uncovered over to the proper authorities. I don’t intend to change that procedure now. It’s a shame you can’t work with me instead of against me.”

  He tapped his foot while chewing on his lower lip. “I’m going to take a chance on you, Sandi. The last time I tried to work with a P.I. was the last time I wanted to work with a P.I. The other one almost got me shot. Maybe you’re more of a professional than he was. Let’s see if you can change my opinion of private investigators.”

  “If I turn up anything, anything at all, I’ll let you know, Don.” Things had taken a good turn, and I didn’t want to screw that up.

  “You do that. And if I uncover something I can tell you about, I won’t hesitate. Much.” He grinned.

  “Thanks, Don.” I smiled my most gracious smile in return. “We’ll work this out.”

  “Uh huh.” He turned back to the papers in his hand, and I made a quick getaway.

  By the time I climbed in the car, I was feeling pretty good.

  “You look like the cat that swallowe
d the bird.” Stanley looked at me closely. “What happened in there?”

  “Detective Chase and I came to an understanding. I think things may work out for the best with him. I’m going to show him that I’m good at what I do, and that I’m responsible. He needs to see that the majority of investigators are conscientious and professional.”

  “You are a professional, Sandi.”

  “So are you, Stan. Which brings up something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

  Chapter Forty-six

  Stanley studied me, waiting to hear what I had to say.

  “How would you feel about coming to work for us on a full-time basis? I believe we’ve reached a point where we can keep you busy. The business is growing, and you’re a good researcher. And occasionally you can work in the field with us, like you do now.”

  Stanley beamed, and when that man beams, you know you’ve done a good thing. “You and Pete must have a lot of confidence in me.”

  “We do. You’d be an asset to us.”

  “I’d be honored. I never imagined I’d be working as a private investigator. Yes, I’d truly be honored.”

  “Now, hold on a minute. You’ve got to put a lot of time in before you can apply for a P.I. license, but you can do it. In the meantime, you’d be a researcher. And I want you to bear in mind that you wouldn’t be working regular hours anymore. In fact, there will probably be plenty of times you’ll be working weekends, or even seven days a week. And we put in more than eight hours a day. You already know it can be dangerous. And the pay won’t be great, but you will be paid.”

  I still had enough money left from my inheritance to keep the business going for a while, and the clients were gradually beginning to pay us on time, which had been a problem until recently.

  I wanted Stanley to realize that there was more involved here than what he saw on the surface. He already knew the work itself wasn’t always peaches and cream because of his involvement in other cases, but he also needed to know about the long and tedious hours involved in the business.