by Marja McGraw
“The cupboards in the kitchen are going to have to be cleaned up, or maybe refinished.”
“Mom and Frank can take care of that when they move inside. They must be tired of the motorhome by now.”
“Frank tells me it’s actually comfortable for the short term. I don’t think I’d want to live in one though. I like a good, solid house.”
“Yes, Pete, I know you do.”
The walkie talkie buzzed. Actually, it was static, not a buzz.
“Sandi?” It was my mother.
“I’m here,” I replied.
“In about half an hour you need to take a break and come eat lunch. Racheal and Zoë are bringing a pizza over along with some breadsticks and salads.”
I glanced at my watch. “Okay, we’ll be out in half an hour.”
Pete smiled. “Pizza it is. Love that stuff.”
“Maybe we can talk about Blondie while we eat. We really need to come up with a plan. I’m feeling less like a private detective with every sighting.”
“We’ll figure it out.” He filled his paint pan and began working.
We were quiet for about ten minutes.
“Someday we’ll have to take a vacation and stay here at the B & B,” I said.
“Sounds like a plan to me. You can have the B & B part and I’ll take the Dude Ranch part. Win-win.”
We finished one wall before I glanced at my watch and saw it was time for lunch.
“Come on, Pete. Let’s go eat.”
“Wash your brush out first or the paint will dry.”
I nodded and headed for the kitchen and the sink. He was right. He put the lid on the paint can, loosely, and followed me.
After traipsing around the house, we found everyone already seated at the barbeque table and in extra chairs.
Tyler was filling everyone in on the surrounding area and what other things they could find in the hills.
Pete and I picked up paper plates and dished up salad and pizza.
Before I could sit down I saw Felicity suck in her breath and point toward the house. “I saw her! Just now. Blondie’s at it again.”
Stanley fairly leaped out of his chair. “Where?”
She sighed. “She’s gone. She waited until we were all together and stood by the house watching us.”
“What did she look like?” I asked. “Did she look like the photograph?”
“She was too far away. I have no idea. It’s too bad I didn’t have a pair of binoculars.”
“I’m going to drive into town and buy some,” Stanley said.
“Don’t bother,” Tyler said. “I’ve got a couple of pairs at home. I’ll bring them over.”
Frank looked around at the group. “I’ll say one thing. That Blondie of yours sure keeps everyone on their toes – especially my wife. She’s constantly watching the area, and even though she tries to be inconspicuous, I see it.”
“Like mother, like daughter.” Pete took a bite of his pizza.
I ignored his comment. “Okay, we said we were going to come up with a plan, and I may have one. At first I thought she wanted me to see something. I’ve had second thoughts. Now I believe she’s looking for something.”
“Like a set of wedding rings?” my mother asked.
“Could be. There’s really nothing else in the house to search for, unless there’s a secret compartment or something.”
“Don’t fantasize too much,” Pete said. “We’ve had a good look around the house. I don’t think we’ve missed much.”
“Except the hidden staircase in the garage.” Mother studied the table while she talked. “Has anyone seen her near the hidden staircase?”
Chapter Forty-one
“What hidden staircase?” Zoë asked.
The rest of the Hansens watched my mother, waiting for an answer.
“A box fell and knocked a hole in the wall of the garage, near the door to the basement. If you look through the hole you can see a wooden staircase, but we can’t see where it leads.”
“I’d like to see it,” Tyler said. “You know, just in case I can use it in a story.”
Micah shook his head and took a bite of pizza.
My mother glanced from face to face. “Let me repeat my question. Has anyone seen her near the hidden staircase?”
Frank answered for all of us. “No, Livvie, no one has seen her near the garage or the staircase.”
“Well, we know she ran through the garage,” I said, “but she didn’t stop to look around. She’d disappeared by the time I opened the door between the basement and the garage.”
“I wish I could get a good look at her.” Tyler sounded almost wistful.
Micah shook his head again. “Sure you do. You write mysteries, and here’s a real one right in front of your nose. Actually, I wish you could see her, too. You know everyone around here. If you recognize her, it might answer a lot of questions.”
“He’s right,” I said. “You’re the one who needs to keep the binoculars handy. Realistically, you and Racheal should both keep a pair with you.”
“What if it’s not someone from around here?” Racheal asked.
“We’ll deal with that if you see her,” I said.
“Here’s a plan.” Pete spoke slowly and set down the paper plate with the pizza on it. “If she’s looking for something, she needs the house to herself. What if she thought we were all gone for a while? We could leave in the late afternoon tomorrow. I mean all of us, the Hansens included. We can park somewhere down the road and quietly come back here – and wait for her.”
It was a good idea.
I told him so. “Great idea, Pete, but instead of everyone leaving, let’s just make it look that way. A few of us could hide out in the house or the motorhome until the rest of you come back.”
Before we could discuss it any further, everyone started to talk at once.
Pete and I sat quietly and listened.
Apparently they thought he’d come up with a good plan, too.
“One last thing,” I said. “I’m going to leave the wedding rings on the counter in the apartment. If that’s what she’s after, let’s give them to her.”
“What rings?” Tyler asked.
“Oh. I keep forgetting, you don’t know everything that’s happened.” I explained about the rings and finding them in separate places. “We also found a gun hidden under the bathroom sink upstairs. I don’t know if it has anything to do with, well, anything. It was hidden though, not out in plain sight.”
That last bit of information started another round of chatter. It took everyone by surprise and, of course, they all figured it must have something to do with… That’s when things got quiet. No one had a guess about what the gun might have to do with anything.
Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one feeling stumped.
“Sandi,” Pete said, “when some of you leave the house tomorrow, you need to be in that group. She’s always watching you for some reason. My guess would be because you’re an investigator and she wants something from you. I haven’t figured out how you’ll sneak back yet, but that’s the way it’s got to be.”
“I know. You’re right. If she doesn’t see me leave, she probably won’t take advantage of trying to search the house again. I think she’s looking for the wedding rings, because other than the gun, there’s nothing here out of the ordinary.”
“I don’t know about that.” My mother sounded thoughtful. “Think about it. We’ve found the rings, the gun, and the hidden staircase. It stands to reason there may be other things we haven’t found yet.”
“Are you saying you think we should actively search the house and grounds?” Frank looked dubious, to put it mildly. “We’ve got a lot to do around here without having a treasure hunt.”
“We could search while we work,” she replied.
“Uh huh. And all the work will take longer to accomplish. We can’t expect the kids to stay here, working their fingers to the bone, indefinitely.”
“We’ll talk later.
” Mother seemed to have made up her mind.
“But – ”
“Later, dear.”
I noticed a look that involved clenched jaws on his face, but he didn’t say anything else.
The Hansens looked uncomfortable and concentrated on their food. So did Felicity and Stanley.
Pete surprised me and started to laugh.
All eyes immediately turned to him.
“Oh, come on. You know Livvie’s going to have her way. She always does.”
Frank started to laugh with him. “You’re right, Pete. She just lets me think I’m getting my way from time to time. Let’s finish eating and get back to work. If we find something in the process, we’ll let everyone know.”
I glanced toward the front of the house and saw they’d pulled up some of the dead trees. Others seemed to be okay now that we’d started watering them.
“What’s next?” Stanley asked.
Frank smiled. “I want to plant a hibiscus bush by the side of the house.”
It was my turn to laugh, but I couldn’t explain why, at least not with my mother sitting next to me. When she was in the throes of menopause Frank planted a hibiscus bush in their back yard. When one of her moods struck, she’d take the broom outside and beat the bush half to death. It helped her get her menopausal anxiety out of her system. She never realized the broom beating was the exact reason he’d planted the bush.
“I’ll help you with that, honey. I do love hibiscus bushes.” My mother was trying to stay on Frank’s good side, or so I thought.
I picked up my plate and threw it in the trash before turning to head back to the house, trying to hold back another guffaw. Pete followed suit and when I looked up at him he had a huge grin on his face.
We walked around the back of the house and headed for the apartment. The walkie talkie hissed at me. I pulled it out of my pocket.
“Yes?”
“It’s your mother. I know why Frank keeps planting hibiscus bushes, but don’t let him know I know.” She clicked off before I could answer her.
Pete and I both started to laugh. Sometimes you have to deal with the crazy, the eccentric, and the drama all in the same day. This was one of those days.
“What now?” Pete asked.
“Let’s finish painting the room and do a quick survey of the apartment to see if we’ve missed anything.”
Pete saluted me. Uh huh, like I was the boss in the family. He’d known what we had to do without asking.
“I had an idea,” I said. “Something we should have thought about is nighttime. If we make out like we’re all leaving after dark, Blondie will believe she’s safely hidden in the dark, and we can sneak back without worrying too much about being seen.”
Pete held his paint brush mid-air for a moment. “Now why didn’t I think of that? I must be too relaxed to come to logical conclusions like that one.”
I placed my hand on his and started moving it up and down so he’d get back to work. The look on his face told me he’d already considered carrying out our plan at night.
“I’m going outside to mention this part of the plan to everyone. I think we’ve been too excited to think about details. If we hadn’t thought of it, someone else would have.”
Pete nodded and continued to paint while I climbed the stairs and left the house by the front door.
I stood on the porch for a moment, watching everyone work. Yes, they definitely had the harder jobs at the moment.
I watched my mother struggle to lift a pot with a young tree in it. Zoë saw her, too, and helped her lift it and move it to the area where it would be planted.
It suddenly struck me that my mother wasn’t twenty-five anymore. She certainly wasn’t old, but she probably shouldn’t be working so hard. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t agree with me, but I thought she deserved a rest. After we all went home, she’d have plenty left to do.
I hurried down the steps and took her side of the pot, nudging her out of the way.
Sandi to the rescue.
Or did she want to be rescued?
We’d talk.
Chapter Forty-two
Miraculously, the trees were all planted, and the painting in the apartment was finished.
Pete and I headed upstairs and, after talking to my mother about colors, we started working on the living room. She still had us using an off-white. We finished one wall and almost replaced the baseboards, but after a little discussion we decided they should all be done at the same time. That reminded us that the ones in the apartment hadn’t been replaced, but by that time we were tired. It would have to wait.
I glanced out one of the bay windows and saw Frank shaking first Tyler’s hand and then Micah’s, apparently thanking them for their hard work.
My mother gave the two women a hug before the Hansens headed home.
“I think you and I should take care of dinner tonight,” I said. “Everyone else has worked so hard.”
“You’re right. We’ve got some steaks in the refrigerator. Why don’t I barbeque while you put together a salad? We can figure out what else we want later.”
“Do we have enough steaks for the Hansens, too?”
“I think so. I’ll go downstairs and take a look.”
While he did that I headed outdoors to let everyone know what we’d planned. Once I knew we had enough steaks, I’d go over to Tyler’s house and ask them back to dinner.
Pete met me outside. “There’s plenty of food for everyone. In fact, I’m not sure how we ended up with so many steaks.”
“In that case, I’m heading to the Hansen’s to invite them over.”
“I’ll go with you,” Felicity said.
I nodded and we walked down the road, back to the Hansen’s house, with Bubba following.
I knocked and Racheal answered the door. She glanced past me, at Bubba, and grinned.
“We wondered if you’d all like to come back to my parents’ house for a barbeque. We’ve got plenty of steaks, and I’ll make a salad. I’ll have to think about what else we’ll have.”
She turned to her sister-in-law who’d joined her at the door. Zoë nodded her assent. “Thank you. We’d love to. And I’ve got several ears of corn we can barbeque, too.”
“Really?” Felicity seemed surprised. “I didn’t know you could barbeque corn. Sounds good.”
“We’ll be down as soon as we clean up a little. Micah wants to get rid of the stripe I painted on his shirt. I kinda like it myself.” She pointed behind me. “I see you brought the big brute with you, and he’s grinning as usual.”
“He doesn’t like being left out,” I said, offering my own grin.
Felicity and started home and I saw Marion headed in our direction. When she saw us, she started to turn back.
“Marion,” I called loudly. “Wait and we’ll walk with you.”
Her back hunched a little, but she turned back to us. “I was out for a walk and decided it was time to go back to Gram and Gramp’s house.”
“What’s up?” Felicity whispered out of the side of her mouth.
“Wait and see.”
She didn’t know about the conversation I’d had with my mother.
We caught up to Marion. I noticed she didn’t look happy.
“What do you want?” she asked. “And why’d you bring that big dog with you?”
“Nothing. We’re just being neighborly.”
She tipped her head and watched me, giving me a nonverbal, Yeah, right. She started walking and we fell in step with her. Bubba walked beside her and she patted his head.
I was surprised. She didn’t seem afraid of him at all, and he acted like she was an old friend.
“I’ll get right to the point,” I said. “I got the feeling you wanted to tell us more than what you said in front of your grandparents. Is there something you’d like to tell us?”
“No.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I really felt like you wanted to talk.”
Felicity shifted her look back and forth
between us. I could tell by her expression that she was beginning to understand what I was doing.
“No, I don’t want to talk. I don’t have anything else to tell you. You’re imagining things.”
“Okay, but can you tell us more about Harry Stockholm? I definitely got the feeling from the other neighbors that he was a real piece of work. It sounds like you might have been right. I think he was abusive to his wife, and maybe to his daughter, too.”
“What does it matter now? They’re all dead and gone anyway.” Marion sounded petulant, but I didn’t understand why.
“They may be dead and gone, but some stories need an ending. I think there’s more to what happened in that house than anyone knows.”
Marion stopped and turned on me. “You could be right, but is it any of your business? I know you’re a private investigator, but what do you care about something that happened so long ago? It’s over and done with, and it should stay that way.”
“But…”
Bubba backed away from her, not sure how to process her attitude.
She turned and stomped away from us in the direction of her grandparents’ house before I could ask more questions. When she reached their yard she didn’t turn in, but kept going – and she continued to stomp her way down the road.
Felicity turned to me and looked up, into my eyes. “What was that all about? Explain.”
“I can’t really. It’s just a hunch, but my mother and I believe she knows more about what happened in that house. We both got the feeling she didn’t tell us everything she knows about the past.”
“I got that same feeling when we first met her. I think you’re right.” She chuckled. “Your investigative skills sure didn’t come through for you this time.”
“They will. I’m simply getting a feel for Marion right now.”
“Oh. I see.” Felicity sounded like she thought I was making excuses.
I wasn’t – not really.
“Bubba seemed to like her.”
Shrugging, I watched Marion walk away. “There’s no accounting for a dog’s tastes. I’m telling you, I’ve seen her somewhere before. She looks so familiar. I might think she’s been showing up wearing a blonde wig, but she’s taller than Blondie. No, shorter. Maybe a little heavier. I’ll figure it out.” It’s something I couldn’t explain, but my shoulders tightened up. There was something about her that set my teeth on edge. I had no idea what was going on.