by Bobbi Holmes
“I can tell you what happened, that fool got drunk. Not the first time he’s done something stupid. But it’ll obviously be the last,” Teddy said with a laugh. He then turned from Walt and Danielle. Instead of going to the dining room, he headed upstairs.
“Wow,” Danielle said when Teddy was out of earshot. “That was cold.”
“He didn’t seem broken up about Bentley’s death. Yet he also seemed surprised. Not shocked, but he didn’t act as if he already knew Bentley was dead.”
“I have to agree.” Danielle let out a sigh. “I should probably call the chief and let him know Teddy’s here, if he wants to question him.”
“You go ahead and call. I’ll go in the dining room and let Polly know her husband is back. I think she’s been worried about him.”
“Yeah, she seemed pretty anxious,” Danielle agreed.
When Walt walked into the dining room a few minutes later, he found his guests sitting around the table, eating and talking. The moment they noticed him, they all went silent and looked his way.
“I just wanted to let you all know Teddy is back.”
“He’s back?” Polly asked, a relieved smile washing over her face.
The others began shooting him questions—where is he, where was he, did he know—but Walt didn’t pay attention to the questions; instead he was curiously watching Polly and the array of emotions flickering over her face. She must have been seriously concerned about her husband’s whereabouts, Walt thought, judging by her current demeanor. It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders and she was finally able to relax.
“Where was he?” Jackie asked for the second time.
Walt looked to Jackie and said, “He told us he went for a walk and got lost.”
“Lost? How could he get lost?” Jackie asked.
“Did you tell him about Bentley?” Julius asked.
“Yes, we did,” Walt said.
“Where is he?” Polly asked.
“He went upstairs,” Walt told her.
Polly tossed her napkin on the table and stood up. “I have to go give him a hug.”
“A hug?” Jackie frowned.
Polly flashed Jackie a smile. “I was worried about him.”
“What did you think he had done, gone swimming with Bentley?” Birdie asked.
Polly shook her head. “No. I just, well, you wouldn’t understand.” Polly turned abruptly and dashed from the dining room.
“I certainly wouldn’t,” Birdie muttered.
“I must say, I’m torn between wanting to throttle Bentley for doing something so stupid, and then wanting to curl up and cry again. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.” Jackie picked up a napkin and dabbed the corners of her eyes.
Danielle had just finished calling the chief, who told her he would be over later to interview Teddy and asked her if she could make sure he didn’t go anywhere before he could get there. She was tucking her cellphone in her back pocket when Polly came running out of the dining room, looking incredibly happy.
“Walt said Teddy’s back and went upstairs? He hasn’t come back down yet, has he?” Polly asked as she stopped by Danielle.
“No, he hasn’t come back down,” Danielle said as she glanced over Polly’s shoulder and saw Walt walking in their direction.
“Thanks!” Polly said brightly, turning and dashing toward the staircase.
“Someone is happy her husband is back,” Danielle said when Walt reached her side. They both looked to the staircase and watched Polly run up the steps.
“She certainly is,” Walt agreed.
“I hope she doesn’t fall. We don’t need any more accidents around here,” Danielle said.
The next moment Eva and Marie materialized, sans any glittery snow.
“We couldn’t find Teddy,” Marie announced.
“That’s okay. He’s back, he’s upstairs,” Danielle said. She then went on to tell Marie and Eva about the two ghosts who had been there earlier and what they had told them about Bentley’s death.
“I don’t understand. In all our lurking, we haven’t overheard anything that might incriminate any of them,” Eva said.
“Excuse me, have you seen my wife?” a voice asked. They all turned around and found Teddy strolling in their direction.
“She just went upstairs to find you,” Danielle explained. “How did you miss her?”
Teddy ignored Danielle’s question and instead turned his attention to the two women standing next to Walt—his gaze fixed primarily on Eva.
“Well…hello. And you are?” Teddy said. “I swear, your resemblance to the Gibson Girl is uncanny. Has anyone ever told you that? And I love your costume.”
Eva raised her brows and glanced to Marie, who had an equally raised brow.
“I don’t feel good about this,” Danielle groaned, looking to her husband.
Walt cringed and shook his head.
The sound of footsteps hurrying down the staircase caught their attention, and they all looked in that direction and saw Polly hurrying toward them. They all remained quiet as Polly quickly approached.
“Teddy’s not up there,” Polly said when she reached them. “Did you see where he went?”
“Are you trying to be funny?” Teddy snapped.
“He’s not up there?” Danielle squeaked.
“Obviously not,” Teddy said.
“You didn’t see him come back down?” Polly asked.
“I think I’m getting sick,” Danielle muttered.
“Polly, stop being ridiculous,” Teddy snapped.
“She can’t see you,” Eva told Teddy.
“Who can’t see me?” Teddy asked.
“You didn’t see him?” Polly asked.
“Your wife, of course,” Eva said.
“I need a vacation,” Danielle grumbled.
“That is a ridiculous thing to say,” Teddy told Polly.
“You never treated her very nice anyway,” Marie said. “She’s better off without you.”
“What are you talking about?” Teddy asked.
“What is wrong, Danielle?” Polly asked. “Has something happened to Teddy?”
“How you treat your wife. You are not a very nice man,” Marie said.
“Who are you?” Teddy demanded. “And what do you know about me and my wife?”
“I’ve been watching you. I see how you talk to that poor thing,” Marie said.
Teddy frowned at Marie and then reached out to grab his wife’s right hand while saying, “Polly, let’s go.” His hand moved through Polly’s wrist. He froze.
Danielle reached over to Polly and grabbed hold of her hand, gently pulling her away from the ghosts, leading her to a quieter section of the foyer.
“You’re dead,” Eva explained. “I don’t know where your body is, but what you have now is your ghostly illusion, which your wife can’t see, hear or touch.”
Teddy raised his hands to his face and looked at them. “I don’t understand.”
“Do you know how you died?” Marie asked.
Teddy shook his head and then vanished.
“What?” Polly asked after Danielle pulled her to the side, away from Walt.
“Umm…I think maybe we were wrong about seeing your husband,” Danielle stammered.
“What do you mean wrong? According to Walt, he went for a walk and got lost.”
Danielle shrugged. “Maybe Walt meant maybe he went for a walk and got lost?”
Polly studied Danielle, her brow furrowed. “Did you or did you not see my husband?”
Danielle smiled sheepishly. “I really need to call the chief.”
Twenty-Eight
The mediums all gathered at the Bartleys’ to discuss the recent development. The only Frederickport medium not in attendance was the chief’s young son Evan. They preferred to keep him away from the crime spree, considering the current ghost count (they could not say body count, since they hadn’t found all those yet). They had a serial killer on t
he loose. And it looked like it was one of their guests.
Smiling ear to ear, Walt sat on the rocking chair, holding Connor on his right knee, forgetting for a moment their crisis while he encouraged smiles from the baby by tickling his nose and then his ears. Connor’s green eyes focused on Walt’s playful fingers, giggling in delight over the game. Nearby, Lily glanced in their direction and smiled over the sight and then turned her attention back to what the others were saying.
“I think we can cross Polly off the list of suspects,” Heather suggested. She sat on the floor in front of the sofa, leaning back on one corner, as Danielle sat to her left, behind her. Danielle’s stockinged feet rested on the coffee table, her ankles crossed, inches from Heather’s left shoulder.
“Why do you say that?” Chris asked. He sat on the sofa with Danielle and Lily, with Lily in the middle.
“According to Walt and Danielle, she seemed genuinely happy he was back. I’d think if she was the killer, her more natural response would be, what the hell, why didn’t he stay dead?” Heather said.
“You have a point,” Danielle agreed. “But I did find something peculiar about her reaction. She was almost…well, too relieved to hear he was back.”
“Which makes me think she believes Teddy was in some way involved in Bentley’s death,” Chris suggested. “Maybe they left together, and she was afraid Teddy might have drowned too.”
“Then why wouldn’t she say something?” Lily asked.
Before anyone could respond, a suspicious sound came from the baby, and Walt quickly picked Connor up off his lap, holding him at arm’s length.
Lily laughed. “Sounds like someone did something over there.”
“Smells like it too,” Walt said, looking as if he did not know what to do with the squirmy baby, who was now red faced, making grunting sounds while shaking his legs.
“Let me take him,” Ian said, quickly scooping the baby up from Walt and then heading to the nursery.
Danielle looked over at her husband. “Walt, what did you think about Polly’s response to Teddy coming back?”
“In what regard?”
“Were you listening to what we were saying?” Danielle asked.
Walt grinned and shrugged. “Not really.”
Danielle rolled her eyes and then caught him up on the conversation he had been ignoring.
“I hadn’t given that much consideration,” Walt confessed. “I’m a little more concerned about when Teddy’s body is found and the others start questioning us about seeing him. If we’re on record as seeing him alive this afternoon, we could be handing the killer an alibi.”
“Not to mention if the coroner’s time of death doesn’t jibe with when you saw him,” Chris said.
Lily looked at Danielle. “So what are you going to say?”
They all turned to look at Danielle, waiting for an answer.
“What do you mean?” Danielle frowned.
“You always come up with a good story in instances like this. What have you come up with?” Lily asked.
“She’s right,” Chris agreed. “You do have a gift for this sort of thing.”
“She does,” Walt said with a nod.
Danielle looked from her friends to her husband and frowned. “I have no idea what I’m going to say. Walt is the one who marched into the dining room and announced to everyone he had just seen Teddy.”
Lily looked at Walt and asked, “Which of them acted shocked when you said that?”
“Shocked? How do you mean?” Walt asked.
“If I had just killed someone, and then someone else told me my victim had just walked in the house, I’d be a little freaked,” Lily said.
Walt shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t notice their reaction. I was watching Polly. She seemed genuinely relieved.”
The doorbell rang.
Walt stood up. “I’ll get that. It’s probably the chief.”
Police Chief MacDonald walked into the Bartley living room with Walt a few minutes later and took a seat. Walt reclaimed the rocking chair, and Ian joined them with Connor a few moments later. He handed the baby to Lily and then sat down on his recliner.
“Are Marie and Eva here?” the chief asked.
“No. They stayed over at our house to keep an eye on our guests and do a little eavesdropping,” Danielle explained.
“How are they all doing over there?” MacDonald asked.
“When we left, Jackie was still trying to get ahold of Bentley’s mother,” Danielle explained. “And Polly said she was going to walk down to the pier to see if Teddy had gone down to the café.”
“I don’t think she’s going to find him down there,” Chris said with a snort.
“Everyone in my office believes Mason’s death was a foolish accident,” the chief began.
“Do you have the blood tests back already?” Lily asked.
The chief shook his head. “No. But the assumption they’re making—while waiting for the coroner’s report—is that it was an accident. Had he been fully dressed, we might wonder if he fell off the pier somehow and drowned. But he was wearing boxers, and the rest of his clothes were found not far from where his body was discovered. Now, if those tox reports come back showing he wasn’t drunk—or using drugs—then it makes us wonder, why would a sober person decide to take a midnight swim in freezing water?”
“Plus, we already know he was murdered,” Heather reminded.
“True. But I can’t tell my people that a couple of ghosts told us Mason was murdered. Not to mention the fact we can’t adequately investigate the other murders until the bodies show up, or when they officially go missing,” the chief reminded her.
“Were you able to do anything about Phoebe’s phone?” Danielle asked.
“Yes. It looks as if the last call she made was from your house. But we tried pinging it and nothing,” MacDonald told them.
Chase had arrived at Marlow House ten minutes earlier. He stood in the living room with the remaining Marlow House guests—the live ones. Eva and Marie hovered overhead on imaginary chairs, eavesdropping.
“Why would he go swimming?” Chase asked after hearing what had happened to Bentley. He sat with Birdie on the sofa, with Jackie and Julius sitting across from them in the wing-backed chairs. Polly anxiously paced the room, gnawing her right thumbnail, while Seraphina sat alone at the game table with a deck of cards, playing solitaire while silently listening to the others.
“He must have had more to drink than any of us ever imagined,” Jackie said.
“I did notice he switched to gin during the end of the evening,” Birdie noted. She looked at Polly and said, “I believe you did too.”
Polly stopped pacing and looked to Birdie. With a shrug she said, “It was stupid of me. I still have a headache.”
“I had a friend who said she couldn’t drink gin,” Birdie said. “Said it made her mean.”
“It definitely made Bentley stupid,” Chase said with a snort.
Jackie glared at Chase. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t talk about Bentley that way. He was a valuable employee, and I’m going to miss him dearly. We’ve all done foolish things.”
“Yeah, well, so far my foolish things haven’t got me killed,” Chase said. He then looked at Polly and asked, “Where’s Teddy?”
Polly stopped pacing and looked at Chase. “I don’t know. He was here earlier. After they found Bentley’s body, he went out again.”
“He didn’t tell you where he was going?” Chase asked.
“I’m his wife, not his keeper.” Polly stormed from the room.
Seraphina tossed the cards she had been holding on the table, stood up, and ran after Polly.
“What’s Polly’s problem?” Chase asked, looking at the doorway Polly and Seraphina had left through.
“I think she’s annoyed at Teddy, which I don’t blame her,” Jackie said. “Frankly, I’m pretty sure I know where he is, and so does Polly.”
“And where’s that?” Chase asked.
&n
bsp; “Probably on a bender,” Jackie said. “I’ve always thought a person with a drinking problem needs to stop drinking altogether. Not cut back.”
“I never thought he had a problem,” Julius said. “It was just that one time, and that was over three years ago.”
“Perhaps, but I noticed he was hitting it a little hard last night. I think that whole thing with Phoebe got to him,” Jackie said. “According to Bentley, he overheard Phoebe and Polly going at it in the kitchen the other evening. It was the night Bentley slept downstairs. Phoebe admitted everything.”
Chase chuckled. “I told him he had some big ones staying under the roof with his wife and Phoebe.”
“There was so much I had hoped to get accomplished this week, but now with Bentley gone, I’m not sure how I’m going to handle everything. Perhaps there’s a temp agency in Frederickport,” Jackie said.
“Why do I get the feeling she’s grieving more over the loss of what Bentley could do for her, rather than the man?” Marie asked.
“She’s a good actress, I’ll give her that.” Eva chuckled. “Did you see how she keeps dabbing her eyes?”
“Yes, what about it?” Marie asked.
“Look a little closer. Not a single tear. But just keeps dabbing away like it’s waterworks,” Eva said.
Marie cocked her head to one side and studied Jackie a little closer. The woman’s eyes weren’t red rimmed at all.
Seraphina walked back into the room.
“Is Polly alright?” Birdie asked.
“I think it’s just her headache. She had way too much to drink last night. She went to lie down.” Seraphina returned to the game table, sat down, and picked up her cards.
“Chase, last night you mentioned another project you were working on,” Julius said. “I heard you mentioning it to Bentley.”
“Ahh…yes, well, it’s in the research stage,” Chase said.
“I’d hope you would be giving all your attention to the current project,” Birdie said primly.
“I am. But one story inspires another,” Chase said.