by Marja McGraw
“He did seem anxious to get away from here, but I can’t say I blame him,” I said. “He sounded sincere to me, too, but a good liar will always sound like he means what he’s saying.”
Bea had been standing at the door, listening to us. “I couldn’t help myself. I sat with your friends and listened to Bob’s story. It appears we know the answers to who-done-it in the cases of Sally and Bonnie, but there’s still the current mystery to solve. Who’s after the gold?”
I glanced at my watch. “It’s three o’clock right now. I want to drive over to see Brad one last time. I have a feeling he might know a few things that he didn’t realize might be important. I think I’ll just take a chance that he’s available to talk.”
Felicity stood and faced me. “I’m going with you. I like the old guy and I’d like to see him one more time.”
“The rest of you can talk over what we’ve learned and see if you come up with anything,” I said.
“Sure thing,” Pete replied. “I want to drive over to Bob’s and ask those questions, too, but you’ll have the Jeep.”
Bea smiled. “You can use my car, Pete.”
“Thanks.”
Felicity and I took off for Brad’s house while Pete and Stanley headed for Bob’s place.
We found Brad sitting on his front porch, taking in the beautiful day.
“Hi, Brad.” I approached him with a purpose in mind.
“Well, if it ain’t my favorite two ladies. More questions, I’ll bet. Let’s go inside.”
Felicity gave the old man a hug before we went inside. She really seemed taken with him.
As before, he brought us each a glass of water. It seemed to be something he felt was a courtesy. He sat down and turned his good ear toward us.
“Brad, I’ll get right down to it. Have you ever heard of Clyde Farmer? Do you know anything about him?”
“Did you say Clyde Farmer?”
I nodded.
“Let me think. Oh, yes. I remember my father talking about him. He was a good for nothin’ bum according to my pop, and he was friends with Charley… Uh, Charley Rogers.
“Oh, yeah! I told you about the Charley that died some years back and couldn’t thank of his last name. It was Rogers, too. But the one I’m talkin’ about was that Charley’s father. Now let me think on this for a minute.”
He sat back in his chair and pursed his lips. He thought about it for so long that I was afraid we’d lost him, or he’d lost his train of thought.
“My pop told a story about that bank robbery that was never solved. He said some thought the robbers were from here, but they never could figure it out.” He chuckled. “My pop said he knew who it was. Charley and Clyde were too full of secrets and whispered together a lot. He had his eye on them.
“The thing is, Clyde disappeared not that long after the robbery. My father thought he took the gold and left ol’ Charley high and dry.”
“We found the gold,” I said, “but did you know that Clyde disappeared around the same time that Sally Harper disappeared?”
“Sally Harper. Huh. I know the story about her. Some people thought she took off on her husband, but my pop said he didn’t believe it. He said she was a good woman and they were a faithful couple, just like me and Sara. Let’s see. I was born in 1918, or thereabouts. I’ve kinda lost track. Anyway, my pop was around when Sally disappeared, but he was a young ‘un at the time.”
Brad chuckled.
“My pop loved a good piece of gossip, just like a little old lady. He listened to everything that was going on, and he remembered all of it. It always bothered him that the two things happened so close together. My mind works in mysterious ways. I sometimes wondered if Sally ran off with Clyde. But, no. Now her body has been found. I think maybe Clyde killed her. I don’t know why he’d a done that, but somehow it makes sense.”
“Yes, it does,” Felicity said. “It turns out that Clyde hid the gold on her property and she probably saw him hanging around.”
“Well, well. I suspicioned that, and now it looks like I was right.”
Brad had added some confirmation to Bob’s story, even though it was mostly hearsay.
“There’s one more thing, Brad. It looks like the second Charley was the one who murdered Bonnie.”
His head popped up, slowly because of his age. “Well, I’ll be a son-of-a-gun! Ain’t that somethin’? I never would have guessed. Now that I think back, I should have known. The night Bonnie was killed was the one night Charley didn’t ride his horse out to watch the house.” He shook his head. “I shoulda figured that one out. Poor Bonnie.”
I patted his hand. “You couldn’t have known. Did Charley ever threaten you?”
He thought for a moment. “No, but I remember my friend was kinda afraid of him. Say, how did you find out about all of this?”
Felicity reached over and patted his other hand. “We talked, or Sandi talked, to a relative of the two Charlies.”
“Musta been that kid, Bob.”
I almost laughed. Kid? I guess he was by Brad’s standards.
“By the way, like I said, the gold was found and Bea has it. Now that’s something newsworthy, isn’t it?”
“You bet your bottom dollar.”
Somehow I could picture Brad in my mind, heading for the phone to spread the word as soon as we were gone. I had a feeling he’d picked up his father’s habit of listening to gossip, and maybe spreading a little.
“Well, we’d better be on our way,” I said. “Someone has been trying to steal the gold and we want to watch over Bea. Any ideas about who it might be?”
“Nary a one. Take care of Beatrice. She’s one popular lady around here.”
We left after telling Brad how much we’d enjoyed meeting and talking to him, and on the way home I told Felicity that I knew I wanted to ask Brad something else, but for the life of me I couldn’t think of what it was.
“It’ll come to you if it’s important enough,” she said.
I half expected to see Pete and Stanley sitting on the porch when we drove up, but they weren’t back yet.
Bea sat and waited for us. “I think we have a plan to catch whoever’s been bothering all of us.”
“What would that be?” I asked.
“We’ve spread the word that I’ve got the gold again. I’m going to spend the night with my nieces while your little group watches the house.”
“What about Phil and Gloria?” Felicity asked. “Won’t they be in danger?”
Bea tightened her lips and hit herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand. “How could I have forgotten them?”
“I’ll never be able to forget Gloria,” I said.
“We’ll have to change the plan.” Bea shook her head. “And it seemed like such a good one. Sam’s going to be here, too. That would have made five of you watching the house. Shoot!”
“We told Brad about the gold being here, too.” I was curious about Bea’s reaction to that, and she didn’t let me down.
She laughed. “Brad? That’s like putting a notice on a public bulletin board. No, it’s more like using a bullhorn. Now everyone will know. Oh, that’s funny.”
Pete pulled in driving Bea’s car and parked it around back. He and Stanley had their heads together when they walked around from the side of the house.
“We’ve been talking,” Pete said. “We need to get Phil and Gloria out of the house for the night.”
Bea took a drink of iced tea, pursed her lips, and tapped her head. “I’ve been thinking. I’ve decided to sell this place. I’m not cut out to run it. I don’t really know what I’m doing, and it’s too big for me to live here alone. I’m going to tell Gloria.”
“And?” I asked.
“I’m going to tell her that I have company coming in, and if she and Phil will stay at a motel for this one night, it’s hers.”
“Really?” Felicity sounded skeptical. “She’ll know you’re trying to get rid of her and that’ll make her want to stay.”
&n
bsp; That’s when Phil and Gloria pulled in and parked. When they got out of the car, Gloria looked dejected.
“I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. We looked at houses until my eyes crossed.” She wasn’t a happy woman.
“I think I can help,” Bea said, and she told her guest about selling Mossy Glen Inn.
Gloria turned to her husband. “Phil?”
“We’ll talk about it.”
“But – “
“I said, we’ll talk about it. Later.”
Bea held up her hand. “There’s one condition. I have personal company coming in. If you two will stay in town for just this one night, the house is yours. Or at least we’ll figure something out.”
Gloria smiled the smile of a winner and almost glided into the house, speaking over her shoulder. “We’ll pack what we need and leave in a few minutes.”
“Gloria,” Phil said, “we…”
I couldn’t hear the rest.
“We need a new plan,” Bea said, turning to Pete. “Even if they leave for the night, I’ve decided that I’m staying.”
Pete stared at her for a moment, suddenly all business. “Yes, we need a new plan. I’ve learned more and I’m not sure I want you here.”
Chapter Forty-three
“What did you find out?” I asked. “Do you think Bob is the one after the gold?”
“Let’s take another walk. We need to talk.” Pete pulled me out of my chair and down the steps.
He filled me in while we strolled, although I have to admit I didn’t notice the scenery around me this time. He’d asked Bob some pertinent questions, and the answers didn’t settle his mind – or mine.
“So, Sandi, it really could be any number of people, including Bob. Other than us, I don’t trust anyone right now. He was angry about the whole thing and didn’t want to answer my questions, but now you know how it stands.”
“What are we going to do? This is a big place and there are all kinds of places this guy could sneak through to get to the house. We need more help.”
“I stopped and talked to Sam. Both of the girls were there, along with Joe. Joe will be off duty and he’s going to come out, too. He knows it’s wrong with him being a cop, but one look at a cop car and our guy will disappear and come back when we’re not here.”
“I understand, but – “
“No, this is the way it’s got to be. The more people surrounding the house, the better chance we have.”
“You’re right, Pete. It’s got to be done this way.”
“We’ve done this before. I mean, hiding in the bushes to catch someone. We can do it again. The difference is that this time we’re in the country and we’re going to have to be careful to stay quiet. There shouldn’t be a sound other than frogs and crickets.”
“I get it.” And I did. This wasn’t going to be like Los Angeles where we had traffic noises and planes overhead.
We walked back to the house slowly, defining our plan in more detail.
Phil was standing on the porch. In fact, everyone was still on the porch and they’d been joined by Sasha and Kimberly.
I could hear Gloria’s voice from inside the house, and took another look at the group on the porch. “Who’s she talking to?” I asked.
“The ghost.” Kimberly couldn’t contain herself and giggled, slapping her hand over her mouth.
“The ghost?”
Phil nodded. “You heard her right.”
Like Kimberly, I couldn’t contain myself. I quietly slipped inside the house and listened to what Gloria was saying.
She held her hands out, palms up. “I don’t know if you’re Sally or Bonnie, but it doesn’t matter. We know who murdered you both, and you’re free to go.” Her voice was soft and reasonable. She sounded like she was talking to a friend who stood right in front of her.
“Sally, Clyde Farmer killed you. And, Bonnie, if it’s you, Charley Rogers killed you. You can rest now.”
I gathered Bea, or someone, had filled Gloria in while Pete and I had gone for our walk.
“Now I have to be honest,” Gloria said. “If you want to stay here, I have no problem with that, but don’t forget that heaven is waiting for you.”
The crying started again, but just for a moment. The sound suddenly changed to one of light laughter. Joyous giggling.
Huh?
I glanced behind me and saw that Kimberly had disappeared. I’d be having a talk with her, and soon, because the giggling reminded me of her voice.
Gloria picked something up from the couch and held it in her hand. “I’m going to let you know you’re welcome here by putting up this photo. See?” She set a framed photo on the coffee table. “It’s you, Sally.” Apparently she’d managed to get the photo we’d brought home from the antique store.
I saw her pick up another frame. “You’re here, too, Bonnie.” She set the frame next to the first one. It was one of Bonnie’s personal pictures, not one from the studio.
With each word and each motion, I felt my eyes opening wider and wider. Was Gloria really a nutcase? Or had I deluded myself about the existence of ghosts for all of my life?
Kimberly – I had to find Kimberly. She knew something about the crying. I was sure of it.
I quietly backed out of the house and turned to Bea. “Where’s Kimberly?”
She pointed toward the side of the house.
I saw that Joe had arrived and as he listened to Gloria’s rantings, he had a look of consternation on his face.
Walking to the side of the house, I expected to see Kimberly. She wasn’t there. I walked around back to the kitchen area and tiptoed through the door. No one was in the kitchen.
I tiptoed through the kitchen and into the laundry room, and there was Kimberly, with her face against the wall at some kind of vent. She was giggling delightedly, and the sound echoed throughout the house.
I had a feeling I’d just found our resident ghost.
I tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped, falling back on her hind end.
Seeing me, she put her finger to her lips and pointed toward the yard.
We both tiptoed outside.
“Are you telling me it’s been you all along?” I asked.
“No. Honestly, no. Just today. Sasha and I figured out that whatever that vent was for, it made our voices echo throughout the house. I couldn’t help myself when I heard Gloria talking to the ghost. Can you blame me?”
“But you’re encouraging her.”
“No, I’m not. I’m just having fun, and it’s making her happy.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed this was the one and only time she’d used the vent, but why would she lie about it?
I rolled my eyes and sighed, a double whammy. “Come with me. We have a plan.”
Phil went inside and put an end to Gloria’s rantings. Her voice had been rising and he looked worried. “Let’s get our things and find a motel,” he said.
“Yes, dear.” She sounded surprisingly meek.
As soon as they were gone, we put our plan together. It was similar to something we’d done before.
Sam brought his walkie talkies with him, and Pete and I always carried some in the car. In total, there were four, with an extra one for Bea.
“I shouldn’t be doing this you know,” Joe said. “I could lose my job.”
“You won’t,” Kimberly said. “Trust me.”
He grinned at her. “I always have. Trusted you, that is.”
Ah, a romance in the making.
Pete held up his hand for silence. “Okay, this isn’t our first rodeo. Listen carefully. When we’re in place, you have to be very quiet. No talking on the walkie talkies. Whisper only if you absolutely have to. If someone asks a question, just push the button to make static; once for yes and twice for no. Keep it to a minimum. It’s too quiet out here and we don’t want to spook whoever shows up.”
“How do we know he’ll show up tonight?” Sasha asked.
“I made a point of letting Bob know that we’re
all going out tonight. He thinks we’re taking Bea out to dinner to celebrate our stay here.”
“Good thinking,” I said. “I’ll call Brad and mention it to him, too.”
Stanley raised his hand. “While Pete was speaking to Bob, I stopped in the store and made a few comments about the house being empty tonight. I let them know that we were leaving to go home soon and we wanted to thank Bea for her hospitality.”
“Very good, liebchen,” Felicity said. “That’s a term of endearment for those who’ve never heard it.”
I smiled at my friend.
We discussed a few more details and each casually pointed out a spot where we’d hide. We had decided on staying outside because we didn’t want to be trapped inside.
Bea glanced at the ground and then at me. “Maybe I’ll just go stay with a friend for the night, after all.”
“Good. You don’t want to be outside all night.”
Pete reminded everyone to leave their cars across the road in a small neighborhood and to come in after dark, careful not to be seen.
We discussed a few more details and everyone went their own way.
“Now what?” I asked.
“We wait.”
“Oh, now I know where the crying was coming from, although Kimberly said she hasn’t been the one making the sounds.” I went on to explain what I’d found. “If the other incidents weren’t her, I don’t know who could have been behind it.”
“I’m sure it was her. You caught her at it and she didn’t want to take the blame.” Pete sounded positive that he was right.
For some reason, I wasn’t so sure.
We ate a light dinner that Bea fixed for us. While we ate, she left for her friend’s house.
Pete was quite amused about Gloria’s conversation with the alleged ghost. He couldn’t hear most of it from where he’d been sitting.
We ran out of things to talk about, so I seized the moment and called my mother. I knew she’d want an update. Silly me.
“If you’d only waited, Sandra, I could have flown up and been a part of your adventure.” Leave it to my mother.
“Adventure? Mother, we have no idea what to expect tonight. We don’t know how desperate this character is and when there’s money involved, usually all bets are off.”