by Bobbi Holmes
Jackie smiled. “Teddy is a shrewd businessman. He runs everything through his corporation—which he set up before he ever met Polly. Even the house they live in he owned before they were married.”
The chief asked her a few more questions and then said, “Do you know of anyone who had an issue with Chase?”
“We all had issues with Chase; he was incredibly annoying at times. But the fact was, he was good at his job. And now, with him gone, I’m seriously not sure how we can continue with this project. Especially if Teddy is drinking again.”
“Do you know of anyone who would want to sabotage the making of Moon Runners?”
Jackie shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
“Did anyone staying at Marlow House have second thoughts about the project?”
“Just the opposite. I imagine they’ll all be devastated if the movie doesn’t move forward. Seraphina is counting on this as her breakout acting role. While she was in another film I produced, and she did amazing—if she hadn’t, I never would have considered her for Moon Runners—this movie could definitely make her acting career.”
“Any jealousy between Seraphina and Polly? I understand Polly used to be an actress.”
“Yes, but Teddy sabotaged his wife’s career. Of course, Polly let him. It’s her choice. As for Polly and Seraphina, they got close during the last film. Polly would help her with the lines.”
“Did Seraphina or Polly have any issues with Chase?” he asked.
“Aside from Chase making some not so subtle advances, I don’t think there were any serious issues. And Birdie set him straight.”
“Birdie?” he asked.
“Since Randy’s death, Birdie has become Seraphina’s champion. Randy was Birdie’s husband, and they discovered Seraphina in a little dive. Randy had all the connections to help Seraphina’s career, and after he died, Birdie picked up the mantle. Birdie is a bit of a mother hen when it comes to Seraphina. And if we aren’t able to move ahead with Moon Runners, I suspect Birdie will be the most disappointed—after Seraphina and Walt, of course.”
Birdie was questioned next, and everything she told the chief substantiated what the others had already said.
“By any chance did you hear anyone leave the house last night?” the chief asked Birdie.
Birdie smiled and pointed to one of her hearing aids. “When these come off, I can’t hear a thing. They could be having a party outside my room, and I would never hear a thing.”
Seraphina’s turn followed Birdie, and like her benefactor, she had nothing new to add.
“Someone mentioned there had been an altercation between Phoebe and Chase,” the chief asked, failing to mention that had been information overheard by a ghost and passed on to him.
Seraphina smiled. “Yeah, when Chase has too much to drink, he can be kind of handsy. We were in Vegas filming, and one night he tried something with Phoebe. He’s a big guy, and it got a little out of hand, but Teddy walked in. I’ve learned to keep my distance.”
“And when he asked you to stay with him?” he asked.
“Well, that was not going to happen.” Seraphina then took a deep breath and smiled softly at the chief. “I will be honest. While I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, and I am truly sorry for what happened to Chase, it’s just awful. But the fact is, I didn’t care for the man.”
“I imagine it would have been a better work environment if they had replaced Chase with another writer,” the chief asked.
Seraphina shook her head. “I don’t think so. There are a lot of jerks out there, especially in this business. Chase was hardly the worst, and I didn’t have a problem dealing with him. I certainly had never campaigned to replace him.”
Polly was the last one showed into the interrogation room. She sat alone at the table, waiting for the chief to return. When he walked in the room, she blurted, “I think I’m going crazy!”
The chief took a seat across from her. “I understand. This has been a stressful week for all of you.”
“No, you don’t understand. I think I killed my husband.”
Thirty-Two
Polly Larimore wasn’t the first distraught wife to make such a claim to Chief MacDonald. Sally Welsh had once frantically called his office, convinced she had killed her husband when he slipped on a peach cobbler she had dropped on the floor, and then he hit his head on the cabinet and had been knocked out. And then there was the time Jillian Bucket had insisted her husband was dead, and it was her fault because they had fought, and he had left the house during a storm and hadn’t come home yet. However, in Polly’s case, he knew her husband was in fact dead. Yet by her response to Walt after he had claimed to see her husband, it didn’t jibe with a woman who had turned black widow.
Chief MacDonald silently studied Polly for a few moments before asking, “What exactly do you mean when you say you think you killed your husband?”
“I would never hurt Teddy,” she insisted. “But these crazy images keep popping into my head. They feel so real.”
“What kind of images?” he asked.
“I keep seeing myself pushing Teddy down the basement stairs at Marlow House.”
“Why would you push him down the stairs?” he asked.
“Oh, I wouldn’t. And I didn’t. I know I didn’t. I would never hurt Teddy. But he left right after they found Bentley’s body, and he hasn’t come back. I’m so worried about him, and I keep seeing myself pushing him. Why do I keep seeing that? It’s driving me crazy.”
“You say he left after Bentley’s body was found?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“So you imagined you pushed him after they found Bentley?”
“No, before. Sunday night.”
“Why don’t you tell me about that,” the chief suggested.
“When I woke up yesterday morning, I had these flashes—images. In them I pushed Teddy down the basement stairs at Marlow House. I was starting to think maybe something had happened when I was drinking. I don’t do well with gin, and I had a lot. You have no idea how relieved I was when Walt told me he had seen Teddy that morning. Do you think perhaps something has happened to Teddy, and he is sending me messages?”
While the chief knew Teddy was in fact dead, he also knew his body was not in the basement at Marlow House—they had already looked there.
The chief arched his brow. “Messages?”
She nodded. “I’ve read about this sort of thing. Someone’s spirit reaches out, trying to tell a loved one what happened to them. I know I wouldn’t hurt my husband. But I keep seeing things. Maybe he’s putting these images in my head.”
“Did he tell you where his body is?” the chief asked.
Joe looked over to Brian, who continued to stare into the interrogation room via the two-way mirror. “That woman is certifiable.”
Brian shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.” Don’t I know, he thought to himself.
“I don’t know why the chief isn’t questioning her about her husband’s relationship with Wilks,” Joe said. “He obviously had something to do with his murder. Larimore goes AWOL right after Mason’s body is found. And then Wilks is murdered, and still no sign of Larimore. Find Larimore, and you’ll find Wilks’s killer.”
“Unless the killer got rid of Larimore first,” Brian suggested.
Polly nodded and then closed her eyes. “I see myself unlocking the opening to the tunnel. The key is hanging on a hook in the basement. In my vision I drag Teddy in there. It’s horrible. I feel so evil when I do it.”
“I don’t know if your husband is trying to send you a message, but perhaps you can tell me what his relationship was with the other guests staying at Marlow House. Such as Phoebe Greda and Bentley Mason.”
Polly stared down at her hands, now fidgeting on the tabletop. “That’s why Teddy and I argued. I found out he and Phoebe had a brief relationship. I was pretty angry. I…well…to be truthful…I was pissed that night, and in my head I thought of ways to punish Ted
dy. But I’d had too much to drink, and sometimes that makes me think crazy things. I think that’s why I keep seeing those ugly images. I shouldn’t have had those evil thoughts, and now Teddy is missing.”
“What was Teddy’s relationship with Bentley?” he asked.
“I think Teddy liked Bentley. They didn’t seem to have any issues.”
The chief glanced over at the two-way mirror. He knew Joe and Brian were listening, and he also knew they had Teddy at the top of the suspect list for Wilks’s murder. They believed he had gone missing after finding Bentley’s body. They had no idea the man was already dead. There was no way he had anything to do with Wilks’s death. He also knew he had to ask questions as if he believed Teddy was still out there somewhere.
“Did your husband have any issues with Chase Wilks?”
Polly looked up from her hands and met the chief’s gaze. “My husband wouldn’t kill anyone.”
“But did he have any issues with Chase Wilks?”
“Chase knew about the affair with Phoebe. That’s how I found out. I walked in on Chase talking to Teddy about it. But Teddy said they were joking around, and that I had misunderstood what had been said.”
“And you believed that?”
“I did until Phoebe told me the truth.”
“Do you have any idea where Phoebe went?”
“I assume back to California.”
“Such a shame about that young man drowning,” Carla the waitress said as she filled the chief’s cup with coffee. He had just arrived at Pier Café after completing the interviews with his suspects and now sat at the booth alone. Yet he would not be alone for long. Walt and Danielle were joining him, and they arrived just as she made her comment. A moment later they walked up to the booth and started to sit down across from him.
“You’ll be joining the chief?” Carla asked.
“Yes, we are,” Danielle said as she scooted to the far side of the booth seat.
“I was just telling the chief how awful it was about that man drowning. He was staying with you, wasn’t he?” Carla asked. She spent the next few minutes shooting off questions about the drowning, but after a while she realized they weren’t offering up any spicy details, so she took their orders for pie and left the table.
“I don’t think Carla’s heard about Wilks yet,” Danielle said as she picked up her cup of coffee.
“No, she didn’t say anything about it,” Walt agreed.
“So did you learn anything?” Danielle asked MacDonald.
The chief told them about what had been said during the interviews, and then said, “Julius Stafford implied they may be cutting this trip short, considering all that’s happened, and his wife inferred the movie may not be going forward.” He looked at Walt and added, “Sorry about that, Walt.”
Walt shrugged. “At this point, I don’t care about the movie.”
“But I did make it clear I didn’t want any of them leaving right away. Although, I’m not sure how you feel about possibly having a killer under your roof.”
“Fortunately Marie is sticking around, acting as our ghostly watch dog—and then Walt has his own gifts. So I’m not too concerned quite yet,” Danielle said.
“What do you think? Is Larimore’s ghost reaching out to his wife?” MacDonald asked.
“If she had dreamed it, I would suggest it might have been a dream hop. But why is he showing her as the killer?”
“Maybe he believes she is,” Walt suggested.
“He didn’t act like she was the killer when we saw him,” Danielle reminded. “Remember, he wanted her to go upstairs with him. Anyway, it was not a dream.”
“Maybe not, but it might be possible for a spirit to show someone a vision during a waking moment. I never tried it, but we know spirits are capable of showing themselves to non-mediums. And considering Eva regularly gives us a show where we see all sorts of things that aren’t there—snow, glitter, furniture—then why not?” Walt suggested.
“And you’re sure Larimore’s body isn’t in the tunnel?” the chief asked.
“He’s not in the first opening. But we didn’t look in the tunnel,” Danielle said.
“What? I thought you told me you did?” the chief said.
“No. But I can’t imagine anyone opening that door. I told them all the tunnel could collapse if they tried,” Walt said.
“Maybe a killer doesn’t worry about those things,” the chief said.
“I guess we should have had Eva or Marie check it out. But really, Chief, I can’t see someone getting in there. That second door isn’t easy to open,” Danielle said.
“I think we should at least look,” MacDonald said.
“When we go home, I’ll have Marie or Eva check it out for us,” Danielle said.
Thirty-Three
When Walt and Danielle returned to Marlow House after meeting the chief at the pier, they found Jackie in the library with Birdie and Seraphina—with Marie listening in. The three women looked up when Walt and Danielle walked into the room.
“We’ve just been discussing Moon Runners,” Jackie told them. “Perhaps you want to join this conversation, Walt.”
Danielle glanced over at Marie and said, “I’ll leave you guys to talk. I need to go to the parlor and call Marie.”
When Danielle left the room a moment later, followed by Marie, Jackie said, “We’ve been trying to figure out how we can salvage Moon Runners. We have to find someone to finish the script, and I’m not having a good feeling about Teddy. If he’s on a bender—which certainly looks like the case—we’re going to need a new director.”
“I know this is inconvenient, but I believe in this film,” Birdie said.
Inconvenient, Walt thought. The situation was a lot of things, but inconvenient wouldn’t be how he would describe anything that had happened in the last few days.
“What do you need, dear?” Marie asked Danielle when they were alone in the parlor a few minutes later.
“Where’s Eva?” Danielle asked.
“With Julius and Polly. They went for a walk,” Marie said. “Actually, Jackie told her husband to occupy Polly, she wanted to discuss getting rid of Teddy with Birdie, and she didn’t want Polly around when she did that.”
“I don’t think she has to worry about getting rid of Teddy,” Danielle scoffed. “He’s not coming back.”
“I must say, Jackie Stafford is one cool, determined and focused woman,” Marie said. “She doesn’t seem that broken up over Bentley’s or Wilks’s deaths, other than it being inconvenient.”
“I got that.”
“I do wish we would find those two bodies,” Marie said.
“About that. I need you to check the tunnel again. It’s possible Teddy might be there.”
“But we’ve already looked,” Marie reminded her.
“No. I mean actually in the tunnel. You only looked in the first passageway. It’s possible he’s farther in.”
“Okay.” Marie vanished.
Marie stood in the dimly lit basement, looking at the padlocked door leading to the first passageway. She glanced up at the overhead light and it turned on. A moment later she was through the door and standing in the small dark space. If not for the ill-fitting door that had been added to replace the original panel, she would have been unable to see anything. Being a ghost didn’t mean you had the ability to see in the dark. Just enough light slipped through the edges around the new door, allowing her to see if the space was empty or occupied by a body. As it had been the last time she stood in the passageway, it was empty. She hadn’t expected to find anything different. The next moment she stepped through the second locked door.
Surrounded by darkness, Marie grumbled when she realized the area could be piled with corpses and she wouldn’t be able to see them. She couldn’t even feel around for the bodies—her hands were nothing but an illusion. While she might be able to direct her energy to pick up anything that was around her, if she wasn’t careful, her energy might go astray and collapse the t
unnel.
I’m going to have to get the key and open the doors to get some light in, Marie told herself. But when she returned to the basement, she discovered she was no longer alone. Polly stood with Julius by the padlocked first door. Eva stood behind them.
“What are you doing down here?” Eva asked.
Marie explained why she was in the basement, and then said, “I can’t very well open the doors with these two down here.”
“This room is what you keep seeing?” Julius asked.
Polly nodded and walked closer to the first door and placed her hand on the padlock. “I have a memory of me opening this.”
“You don’t really think you killed Teddy and then forgot about it and then suddenly remembered? Come on, Polly, that doesn’t even make sense.”
“I know I didn’t kill him. I would never hurt Teddy,” Polly said. “It just all seems so real.”
“I think you’d better come down to the basement,” Marie told Danielle when she popped back up to the parlor again.
“Did you find something?” Danielle asked.
“It’s darker than a crypt down there,” Marie said. “I didn’t have a flashlight on me.”
“I didn’t even think about that,” Danielle said.
“And Polly and Julius are down there poking around. It sounds like she has told him about her little visions. Eva is down there watching them.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if Teddy is in some way communicating with her,” Danielle said as she stood up and started for the door, snatching her cellphone from the desk as she walked by it.
When Danielle and Marie reached the basement, they found Julius and Polly still there. The couple startled when Danielle walked into the room.
“Oh, I guess we shouldn’t be down here,” Polly said, sounding embarrassed.