What Are the Odds

by Marja McGraw

  “That makes sense. Between everyone outside and us inside, we’re bound to catch her in the act.”

  “I’ve decided to wait in the basement with you.” My mother put her fork down and gave me a challenging look.

  “Okay.” I was fine with that.

  She looked surprised, but picked up her fork and started eating again.

  ~ * ~

  Six o’clock rolled around and everyone filled the roles they’d been assigned. When Tyler pulled around back to turn around, I slipped out of the truck and quietly moved to the corner of the garage where my mother was waiting for me. Tyler rolled the windows up and turned on the radio.

  Frank started to follow him out of the driveway. Felicity made a point of making him stop so she could run back and get something she’d allegedly forgotten. She seemed to want Marion to be sure to see that she was in the car. Stanley stood by the car door until she returned.

  It looked like things were going perfectly, as planned.

  I watched the vehicles travel past the Ellis house. Marion was watching out the window. She turned her back and spoke to her grandparents, moving farther inside the house.

  I waited.

  Everyone had remembered their walkie talkies and each one checked in with me as they reached their assigned hidey hole, or actually, a bush, tree or fence to hide behind.

  “No more talking,” I said. “I don’t want her to hear anyone.” I glanced pointedly at my mother.

  Dead silence followed my comment.

  About half an hour passed before I saw Marion open the front door. She stepped out and I heard her say, “I’m going for a walk, Gram.”

  She shut the door, pulled a blonde wig out of somewhere – I couldn’t see where it had been hidden – and headed in the direction of Legend Ranch.

  I watched until I saw her heading for the garage before grabbing my mother’s hand and hightailing it through the door and down to the basement.

  Chapter Forty-nine

  I pulled out my walkie talkie. “Don’t answer me, but she’s on her way to the garage. I think that means she’ll come to the basement.”

  I heard some static and knew that was confirmation that they’d heard me and might be moving in.

  Our wait wasn’t long. Shortly after my message went out, the door to the basement opened. We watched from a dark corner.

  Marion had a flashlight with her. She pointed the light at the floor of the basement and started searching, almost inch by inch.

  The wedding rings we’d found rested on top of a small pile of wood. She worked her way in that direction and I watched, fascinated. Would she find them? And is that what she was looking for?

  She pulled the wig off and scratched her head. It must have been warm with that thing on. Before long she put it back in place, tucking the ends of her own hair under it.

  She rubbed her back and stretched, groaning in the process. All the bending to search the floor must have been getting to her. She shined the flashlight on the small pile of wood and headed for it, still holding her back. I assumed she needed to sit down for a few minutes.

  And she saw the rings.

  I was across the room from her and her eyes were as big as saucers. Her mouth formed a big “O”, and she began to cry.

  I stood and headed her way. Mother waited in the dark corner. She didn’t seem to hear me coming, and she picked up the rings and sat down on the wood.

  “Marion?”

  Startled, she jumped up and turned to me. “What…?”

  “Marion, we knew it was you with the blonde wig. I don’t understand what’s going on, but I’m sure you’ll fill me in.”

  The panic on her face couldn’t be missed. She turned and ran toward the door leading to the garage. Before she could leave, Pete opened the door and positioned himself on the steps leading down to the basement, with his arms folded across his chest.

  Marion cried harder, dropping to the floor and staring at the rings.

  I let her cry it out without saying a word.

  She finally calmed down. “I’ve wanted to tell my story for years, but I couldn’t do it. I don’t know if I can, even now.”

  “You saw something the day of the murders, didn’t you?” Pete asked.

  “Yes, but that’s not what this is all about. Well, not exactly.” She wiped away tears and took a deep breath. “I suppose I have to tell someone.”

  I took hold of her arm and helped her up. “Let’s go outside and sit at the barbeque table. We can talk there. I have a feeling you need some fresh air.” I couldn’t explain it, but I felt sorry for her. I knew she had some big things to talk about, maybe life-altering things, and I was pretty sure they were horrific. The pain on her face spoke volumes.

  Mother stepped forward and gave Marion a reassuring look.

  Pete and I helped Marion to the table and we sat down. Before long, the others joined us, but they stood behind Marion who faced the motorhome instead of the garage. She didn’t seem to realize they were there until Felicity entered the motorhome and brought out a glass of water, setting it in front of her. My mother sat next to Marion with her arm across her shoulders.

  “What happened, Marion? What’s had you so upset for so long?” I asked.

  And the story began.

  “I told you what a creep Harry Stockholm was, but I’ve never told anyone the whole story. He had a mouth on him that would make a sailor blush. He was horrible, and mean. I know that Francine wanted to take Barbara and leave him, but he controlled all the money and she was afraid of him.

  “One night I went out for one of my walks. Barbara was gone. She was staying with her grandmother for a week. I heard Harry yelling at Francine. He was saying horrible things. It was so loud that I could hear him out in the street. I looked up and saw him and his wife through the front bedroom window. I could see a gun in his hand. I thought he was trying to scare her – to dominate her.”

  She took a long drink of the water.

  “I thought he was going to shoot her and I knew I’d better go call the police. But he didn’t shoot her. She turned away from him – I think she was going to run – and he hit her over the head. It stunned her and she stood still for a second, and he hit her again. She dropped, never got up again, and there was no doubt in my mind, she was dead. I could see him drag her out of the the room. That was the night he told everyone she was sick and she died at the hospital, and I knew I was right about her death.”

  “Why didn’t you report this to the police?” Pete asked.

  “I stayed where I was, in shock. Harry came back to the bedroom and looked out the window and saw me. He pointed the gun at me and I figured it meant if I said anything he’d kill me, too.”

  “What happened next?” my mother asked.

  “I went for my walk and tried to act like I hadn’t seen anything. Remember, I was fairly young. If the same thing happened today, I wouldn’t hesitate to report it. But things were different then, and I was scared half to death. I remember feeling like I had lead weights on my feet. I cried, but it was dark and no one was there to see me.”

  “I don’t understand why you kept looking for the rings.” I had to know what was going through her head.

  “Harry was out the next day and I snuck into the house to see if Francine might be alive. He hadn’t told anyone that she’d died yet. Her rings were sitting on the kitchen sink. That’s when I knew she was gone. I don’t know why, but I grabbed them. I guess because they were a statement about what happened to her.

  “I heard Harry pull in and ran through the living room to the basement. I dropped one of the rings in the living room. I dropped the other one in the basement, but I could hear him moving around and I couldn’t stop to look for it.”

  She glanced at the rings in her hand.

  “And you people came here and found them with no problem. Where were they?”

  I didn’t take my eyes from her face. “One ended up behind the baseboard in the living room. The other one was
in a crack in the basement floor. We found them by accident.”

  “There’s more,” Marion said.

  I didn’t reply, but waited for her to go on.

  “First, I don’t know what Harry did with her body. I watched the house, but I never saw him dig a hole or anything.” She started to cry again. “I adored Francine. She always treated me like I was special. She was such a good woman. I don’t know how she got hooked up with that… That murdering piece of scum.”

  I still held my comments to myself. She’d said there was more.

  “That’s why I wore the wig and snuck around the house. I figured you’d think it was Francine’s ghost and you’d go snooping around and find her body. She deserves an ending, like a funeral.”

  Frank quietly entered the motorhome and turned on an outside light.

  Marion flinched.

  “Why did you keep this to yourself all these years?” I asked.

  “Because I was afraid the police would arrest me for keeping it quiet. When Harry killed his daughter and the neighbor, I felt like he sealed my fate.”

  “Harry murdered them?” Pete asked. “I thought it was the ranchhand.”

  “No, it was Harry. I still can’t believe it after all this time, but I witnessed the second murders, too. I saw Harry walkng through the yard with a shotgun and a pistol and I knew there was trouble. When he entered the house I snuck up to the front window and peeked inside.

  “I saw that Harry had leaned the shotgun against the wall. He was screaming at his daughter. I don’t know why, but he was angry that she was in love with Mike, the neighbor. Mike started to charge Harry to take the gun away from him, and the old man shot him in the head. Barbara screamed and he turned the gun on her, too. He killed them both.”

  She stopped talking and took another drink of water. Her hands were shaking so hard that water spilled on the table. She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth with her arms folded, holding onto her arms as though she were cold, before continuing the story.

  “Clyde heard the shots and came running, tearing into the house like someone was chasing him. He saw the bodies on the floor and looked up at the old man. Harry started to cackle like he’d just played a funny joke.

  “Clyde charged him and wrestled the gun away from him, but in the process he accidentally shot Harry. But Harry didn’t go down. He grabbed the shotgun he’d leaned against the wall and killed Clyde. He picked up the pistol and wiped his fingerprints off of it. I don’t understand it, but it went off. That’s why there’s a hole in the screen door. He put the gun in Cyde’s hand and started to walk away, but he fell to the floor before he got very far.”

  She started to cry again.

  Mother patted her back and squeezed her shoulders.

  “I ran home and told Gram to call the police to tell them I’d heard shots fired at the house, but by the time they got here they were all dead.”

  “Why didn’t you tell the police what happened?” my mother asked.

  “Because I’d never told them what happened to Francine, and everyone had died. What good would it have done?”

  Chapter Forty-nine

  Pete took over the conversation. “If you’d told the authorities about Francine’s murder, then Barbara, Mike and Clyde would still be alive, and Clyde’s memory wouldn’t be that he was a killer. I understand how afraid you were. Harry had threatened you, even if it was only by pointing a gun at you. However, by keeping your mouth shut, he got away with four murders.”

  Surprisingly, Pete didn’t sound like he was sitting in judgment, even if his words did.

  “I know, but I was so afraid. I really was.”

  “It wouldn’t have made any difference if you’d told them everything after the multiple murders,” I said.

  “I might have been sent to jail.”

  “Unlikely,” my mother said.

  “They wouldn’t have known where to look for Francine’s body, and Harry would have come after me, even if it was just in my bad dreams. I’m getting sick to my stomach just thinking about it.”

  “That makes sense to me,” Felicity said.

  Marion started rocking back and forth again. “The guilt has been too much to live with, so maybe your husband is right. Maybe I’d better finally talk to the police.”

  She looked deeply into my eyes.

  I knew she wanted something.

  “Would you come with me?”

  “We’ll call them and they’ll send someone out to talk to you. Under the circumstances, and since it’s been so long, I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about. They’ve got too many current crimes to worry about.”

  “What about Francine’s body?” she asked.

  “Let me think about it.”

  In the next moment, I had the answer. I looked past Marion, toward the house, and I saw a glow in the garage. It came from in front of the hole in the wall where we’d found the hidden staircase. I didn’t see a woman’s figure standing by the wall, just the light. But I knew in my heart we had the answer.

  So did Bubba. He sat quietly with his head up, listening to something none of us could hear.

  I turned to Frank. “It’s time to tear down the wall in the garage and see what’s at the top of that hidden staircase.”

  “Hidden staircase?” Marion stopped rocking.

  My mother rubbed her back. “Yes, dear, there’s a staircase leading to who knows where? I’ve wanted to check it out all along, but no one would listen.”

  “I’ll take care of it first thing in the morning.” Apparently Frank had decided this would be the prudent thing to do. “We’ll do everything in the morning, including calling the police.”

  I stood. “He’s right. Tonight we need to get some rest.”

  Tyler stepped forward with Racheal. “We’ll come over for moral support, Marion. That’s what friends are for, right?”

  She looked at him in wonder. “You’re my friends?”

  Racheal held out her hand. “You bet we are. Come on. We’ll walk you home. You’ve been through enough for one lifetime, so once tomorrow is over you can get on with your life.”

  Micah and Zoë nodded and the Hansens walked Marion home.

  ~ * ~

  Frank tore down the garage wall early the next morning, but we left it to the police to climb the stairs. They found Francine’s body, or at least what we assumed was her body. They’d run tests to be sure.

  Things worked out, although we’d had our doubts. The police took Marion’s statement. Everything had happened so many years ago that the D.A. didn’t prosecute her; they were just happy to update and close their files. We turned the gun that had been hidden under the bathroom sink over to them. Yes, it was blood on the grip of the gun.

  Mother watched them take Francine’s remains away and stood quietly, shaking her head. “So sad. What a horrible ending to a tragic life.”

  She headed into the house, up to the front bedroom.

  I followed her.

  “I think I’ll have this entire room redone. Or I’ll do it. I’m going to use cheerful colors in honor of Francine. By the way, what made you decide the staircase would lead to her body?”

  “I saw a light in the garage, by the hole in the wall. I can’t explain it, but I knew it was a message.”

  “But you don’t believe in ghosts, sweetie.”

  “I didn’t say it was a ghost. It was just a light, and it was purely coincidental that I saw it when I did.”

  “Uh huh.”

  EPILOGUE

  Over the next week we worked with renewed vigor and did as much as we could around the yard and house. When we finally left there was still a lot to do, but Mom and Frank seemed to have things covered.

  Felicity and Stanley left for a honeymoon in Australia. They had a fantastic time. An Australian friend, also a model, had taken the time to make sure the couple was able to do and see things that the average tourist wouldn’t.

  Pete and I decided to forego our honeymoon unti
l we had the business up and running again. We were happy with the way things were and couldn’t decide where we wanted to go anyway.

  Tyler helped Frank find horses and they filled the stable with four geldings, part appaloosa and part quarter horse.

  One horse was a solid bay with blanket markings. Although dark brown, he had a black tail and mane. The second horse was black with a snip, or a white marking between the nostrils. The third horse was a sorrel, a reddish colored horse with three white socks. Lastly, the fourth horse was gray with black spots. On a weekend trip back to see my parents, I went nuts over the sorrel and we developed a special bond. Yes, people and horses can become friends.

  Mother bought some chickens, of all things, and said she wanted fresh eggs from her own chickens. I laughed. My mother would smother those chickens with affection. She’d probably name each and every one of them. And Racheal helped her start her own vegetable garden.

  I have no idea why, but Frank set up a spot for them and bought four goats. Go figure.

  I read Tyler’s book and enjoyed it so much that I started recommending it to friends. He called me from time to time to ask technical questions.

  Micah and Zoë left before we did, returning to their farm. They invited us to come for a visit.

  Mom and I stopped trying to frighten each other. After we heard Marion’s story, it wasn’t so much fun anymore.

  I still believe there’s no such thing as a ghost, glow or no glow.

  Legend Ranch

  About the Author

  Marja McGraw worked in both criminal and civil law enforcement for several years before relocating to Northern Nevada, where she worked for the Nevada Department of Transportation. She also lived in Oregon where she worked for the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and owned her own business, a Tea Room/Antique Store. Her next stop was Wasilla, Alaska. The draw to Northern Nevada was strong, and she eventually returned.