The House on Hallowed Ground

by Nancy Cole Silverman

  “You think it might have been Zoey’s mother? Or maybe Alicia’s?”

  “I take it your mother’s still alive?”

  “Oh, very much so. Although I happen to know Alicia’s mother’s not.”

  “I’d be surprised if she was,” I said. It hadn’t occurred to me Margaret Mann might still be living. The woman would have to be well into her mid to late nineties.

  “No, really, Misty. I happen to know because my mother was in the same retirement home as Margaret Mann. I probably wouldn’t have thought anything about it, except the last time I visited I noticed a memorial sign for Margaret Mann in the lobby. At first, I didn’t much pay attention. Older people are always passing away in places like that, but something about her felt familiar. Maybe it was her name, I don’t know. When I read the small memorial card on the table, I realized it was the same Margaret Mann who lived in the Pink Mansion. The card said she had been married to Clayton Mann and was the mother of Alicia Mae Mann, both deceased.”

  There it was, another breadcrumb. Along with the idea Alicia Mae may not be the only ghost in Zoey’s house. Perhaps both Zoey’s mother and Margaret Mann had been recent visitors to the Pink Mansion. It was a thought I needed to flush out with Wilson. If there were other spirits in the house, he must have some idea.

  Bossypants jumped down from Heather’s lap and disappeared beneath the stairs. Heather tented her fingers and looked at me.

  “You’ve a question,” I said.

  “I’m curious. I haven’t seen or heard anything in the news, but maybe you know. Are the police close to an arrest for Lacey’s murder?”

  “They’re getting there,” I said. “I believe we’ll hear something in the news very soon. But I sense something wrong with the report. They don’t have all the facts yet.”

  “Was it Zoey?”

  “No. I’m quite sure of that.”

  Heather’s eyes opened wider. “Chad then?”

  “Now I’m going to have to disappoint you. I can’t talk with you about Lacey’s death. Not now. I’ve been working on the case with Detective Romero, and I really shouldn’t be discussing it. But I can thank you for coming by today and chatting with me about Alicia and her mother. You’ve been more helpful than you might imagine. I think I’m beginning to get a better idea of who Alicia Mae is and what it is she wants.”

  “I hope so. I don’t know what I expected when I came by this morning, I just knew I had to come.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  “It’s somehow freeing to know, even all these years later, I wasn’t just imagining Alicia. That she’s real and that we aren’t so alone.”

  “We’re never alone, Heather.” I got to my feet and walked Heather to the door. I stopped short of opening it. I sensed Heather had one more question. “There’s something else on your mind. You didn’t finish asking me everything you came to ask.”

  “It’s really not all that important,” Heather said. “I shouldn’t bother you any more than I already have.”

  “You’re not a bother. It’s about the new house isn’t it, and the move. You’re concerned?”

  “It’s just—” Heather exhaled and looked up at the ceiling.

  “You’re going to love the neighborhood. You’ll make a lot of friends here. And...” I paused. The real question on her mind was far more personal and of a growing nature. “There are lots of young families, and while it’s a little early to be planning for schools, the grade school down the street, is excellent.”

  “So you know then?” Heather searched my eyes.

  “That you’re pregnant?” I smiled. It seemed there was a lot of that going around lately. “Yes, and congratulations. You’re going to be very happy. Any doubts you had about the house being big enough will disappear the moment you move in.”

  As soon as I said goodbye to Heather and shut the door, Wilson appeared from the study.

  “I see she’s returned my book,” he said. Then picking the book up off the entry table, Wilson hugged it to his chest.

  “She’s also posed an interesting possibility. I assume you heard?”

  “That there may be another spirit in the house?” Wilson opened the book to the page with the picture of the Pink Mansion. “Yes, I was listening.”

  “You think she’s right?” I explained to Wilson what Zoey had shared with me about being awakened in the middle of the night to the sound of the piano, thinking it must be Alicia. “But it couldn’t have been. Because according to Heather, Alicia didn’t play the piano. If it wasn’t Alicia playing the piano, who was it?”

  Wilson cradled the open book to his chest. “What if it’s Alicia’s mother? What if she’s finally come back for her?”

  “It could be,” I said. “Alicia admitted she’s been waiting for her mother. And if Heather’s right, Alicia’s mother just recently passed. In such a case, the time is right. It’s often the mother spirit that arrives to carry us to the next world.”

  “And what if you’re wrong? What if it’s Zoey’s mother?” Wilson put the book down on the entry table.

  I felt a chill down my back. “Then we need to get back to the mansion. If it’s Alicia’s mother, you need to be there to say goodbye.”

  “And if it’s Zoey’s mother?” Wilson asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  Wilson went back into the study and shut the door behind him. My mind was awash with the possibility of two mother spirits inside the Pink Mansion. I wasn’t sure what it all meant. Only that I knew change was coming.

  Chapter 25

  The following morning I was meditating in the living room, drifting in and out of a semi-conscious state, trying to decipher what it was the universe wanted to tell me. Alicia, Zoey, Lacey? The Pink Mansion? The two mother ghosts? All of it mixed together with a sense of unease like a storm brewing. I was about to get up and suggest Wilson and I hash it out, when the front bell rang.

  I shuffled to the front door, hoping I wasn’t about to face a new consult, and found Detective Romero on the porch. He looked like he hadn’t slept nor shaved, was dressed in the same khakis, wrinkled sports shirt and tweed blazer he had worn when I had last seen him two days ago.

  “Good. You’re home.” Romero opened the screen and stepped inside. “I’m afraid I’ve bad news, and I wanted to deliver it in person.”

  My first thought was that something terrible had happened to Denise, and because of my concentrated efforts on Lacey and Alicia, I’d missed the universe’s warning. “Is it Denise? Is she back in jail?”

  “Denise is fine. Better than fine in fact. I took her back to her place after we had coffee. Told her I was releasing her on her own recognizance provided she promise not to try to make contact with Hugh Jackman again.”

  “Did she promise?” Denise was never one to give up so easily.

  “She did.” Romero grinned.

  “And you believed her?” I was dubious.

  “I bribed her. Told her if she promised not to go back to Hugh’s hotel or try to follow him, I’d fix it so she could meet him before he left to go back to New York. If she does that, there’s a good chance Jackman will drop the charges against her.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I have a brother-in-law on the force who works transport for the studios. Just so happens he’s been driving Jackman around while he’s in town. I told him about Denise and asked for a little help. Suggested he let Jackman know the lady who broke into his hotel room wasn’t really a threat, just an overeager fan. Jackman said as long as she agreed not to bother him the rest of the time he’s in town, he’d be happy to meet with her. In fact, she can drive with Hugh and his wife to the airport when they leave.”

  “That’s very nice of you.” It occurred to me as I listened to Romero that whoever the psychic was Denise had two-timed me with—and predicted she would meet a man under u
nusual circumstances, and that they would have a lot in common—was right. Only the man Denise was destined to meet wasn’t Jackman, it was Romero. I tabled the thought and planned to share it with Denise later.

  “That’s not what I came to talk to you about, and I’m afraid you’re not going to like what I have to say.”

  I suggested bad news was best delivered over a pot of hot tea and invited Romero into the kitchen where I brewed some chamomile peppermint tea. A favorite of mine for soothing jangled nerves.

  “What is it you felt was so important you had to race over here to share it with me, Detective?”

  I felt I already knew. A great black cloud was about to burst and rain down on our investigation.

  “The DA issued a warrant for Zoey’s arrest. It’s being served as we speak. Since I promised I’d keep you posted, I wanted to stop by before Zoey called or you heard about it on the news.”

  I finished pouring our tea and calmly put a cup down in front of the detective. This wasn’t unexpected.

  “You won’t mind if I tell you I think you’re wrong. That I don’t believe she’s guilty.”

  “Either way, she’s being charged. Her attorney will no doubt negotiate bail. The judge will grant it and request Zoey surrender her passport.”

  “I see.” I sat down at the table and took a sip of my tea. If Zoey had to surrender her passport, she couldn’t finish the movie and she’d be done. It didn’t matter if the courts would later find her guilty or not. Pulling her passport now would kill her career. “But until her trial, she’ll be free to go home and go about her daily activities?”

  “Long as she doesn’t try to leave the country.”

  “And you, Detective? What’s your next move?”

  “The DA’s going to want me to provide more evidence to prove his case against Zoey.”

  “Which means the real killer could go free?”

  “Look, Misty, I know you don’t like this, but let’s face the facts.”

  Romero started with AJ. The department’s forensics team couldn’t determine if there was a match to AJ’s writing and what they had on file from his prison record. And detectives had verified AJ was with his wife in the ER the night Lacey was murdered.

  “Just like he said. She had those Braxton Kicks something or other.”

  “Braxton Hicks,” I said. “Pre-labor cramps.”

  “Call it whatever you like, the nurse in the ER said AJ came in with his wife and never left her side. And you’re right about those babies coming early, the attending physician said they could be any day. So unless we uncover something new, we got nothing to pin AJ to Lacey’s murder, much less harassing Zoey.”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t see how all this puts Zoey back as your number one suspect.”

  “I know you think she’s innocent, but let’s face it. The girl’s an actress. Her best friend was fooling around with her fiancé. You ask me, she set you up. Planned the whole thing out, then pulled you in to act as a kind of character witness. She knew you had worked with the cops before, so she comes to you with a story that was bound to make headlines. ‘Star’s Home is Haunted.’ Must have been on the front page of every tabloid in the county, including how Zoey had solicited your help to do a ghost hunt or whatever you want to call it. Meanwhile, before you arrive, Zoey kills Lacey. Then you show up and she comes running down the drive to you, all panicked that her best friend has drowned in the pool. You ask me, the ghost was the perfect backup plan in case the coroner discovered Lacey’s death wasn’t an accident. Fits right into the whole Chamberlain Curse of mysterious, untimely deaths.”

  “You’ll pardon me if I tell you I’m just not feeling it.”

  “Misty, I know you’re close to this girl. But, look at the facts. Number one, Zoey was the last person to claim to see Lacey alive. That’s frequently a tip-off. Number two, and this is a biggie, we got physical evidence. Zoey’s prints on the doll the coroner believes was used to kill Lacey, and again on the cigarette butt we found in the backyard. Which the DA will say proves Zoey wasn’t just in the house the night Lacey drowned but in the yard. And three? We know Chad was having an affair with Lacey, that she was pregnant with his child.”

  “Which in my mind makes Chad the more likely suspect.”

  “Except Chad has an alibi. Michael Stevens, the fella who owns the sound studio where Chad was recording the night Lacey was murdered, confirmed Chad was there until two a.m. He even has the tracks set down on tape, and they’re all time stamped.”

  “What about Zac and Kelsey?”

  “According to Stevens, the two of them were in the studio with Chad and left ’round ten p.m. Kelsey said she had an upset stomach. I did a surprise visit and spoke with them this morning. Zac confirmed Kelsey hadn’t been feeling well and they stopped by a drug store on the way home to get some Pepto. They even had the receipt.”

  “Which I assume was also time stamped.” Another convenient clue I thought. Who saves sales receipts from drug stores these days?

  “It was. They claim after they visited the pharmacy they went home and went directly to bed. I pulled the video from the pharmacy. It backs up their visit.”

  “You’ve nothing to prove they actually went home from there, right? I mean they could have just as easily gone back to Zoey’s and waited in the backyard for Lacey. They certainly knew how to get in from the park.”

  “What’s their motive? Why would Zac or Kelsey want Lacey dead? What was she to them? Nothing.”

  I took another sip of my tea. Romero had zeroed in on Zoey, and I had nothing other than a feeling that he was wrong. No hard evidence Romero could carry into court to dispute their findings. I did a mental check list of everyone I had met since meeting Zoey.

  “What about Lacey’s cousin, Joel? He was at the house with his girlfriend the day after Lacey’s body was found in the spa. Maybe there was bad blood between them?”

  “I spoke with him. He and his girlfriend Nora were in Santa Barbara for a horse show the night Lacey was killed. He said he didn’t think Zoey and Lacey were running lines the night she was murdered. In fact, he thinks they were arguing. That Lacey told Zoey about her relationship with Chad and Zoey killed her.”

  “Sounds to me like the statement of a bereaved relative, not an eye witness.”

  “It’s circumstantial, I’ll admit. But it adds up.”

  “And Crystal? When you questioned her at Zoey’s the other day, I thought you might have warmed to her for Lacey’s murder. I’ll admit she gives me pause.”

  Romero played with his cup, turning it with both hands. “The night of the murder, we have her on Zoey’s security camera at the front gate. She left ’round ten p.m. Before Lacey was murdered.”

  “Did you know Crystal’s pregnant? And that it’s likely to be Chad’s baby.”

  Romero stopped playing with his cup. “How do you know that?”

  “Circumstantial evidence, Detective.” Where could I begin? There was no point in explaining to Detective Romero about Wilson. Romero didn’t believe in ghosts. He would never believe I had a recalcitrant spirit guide living in the house—Denise’s brother no less—who had developed an almost paternal relationship with Alicia Mae. And that Alicia had stolen Crystal’s birth control pills thinking they were candy.

  “Are we talking the type of circumstantial evidence I can drag into court or your psychic-ghost type of stuff?”

  “Call it whatever you want to, but if you’d allow me to, I’d like to make a psychic prediction.”

  Romero smirked. “Go ahead.”

  I put my hand on top of Romero’s. “You may have made your arrest, but there’s more information yet to come. And as it unravels I have a feeling you’re going to be surprised. In fact, I’d go so far as to say, not only will you be surprised, but you will agree to some rather unconventional police practices to bring our killer to justic
e.”

  Chapter 26

  I didn’t have to wait long for more breadcrumbs to drop. In fact, it wasn’t just bits of breadcrumbs the Universe rewarded me with, but a visit from Zac and Kelsey later that afternoon, and what they had to say hit me over the head like an entire loaf of bread.

  Zac rang the bell, and when I answered, I found the two of them on the porch with Kelsey standing slightly behind him. Per usual, the two were dressed similarly in dark pants, t-shirts, hoodies and military-style black boots with buckles. In Zac’s hands, he held a partially opened, brown packing box.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but Kels and I, we didn’t know what else to do.” Zac nodded at the box. “This here’s Zoey’s. It was in one of the guest room closets, and we accidentally packed it up when we were helping Chad move out. We were hoping maybe you might take it back to her.”

  I held the door open and pointed toward the coffee table in the living room.

  Kelsey waited in the foyer while Zac lumbered into the room with the box and set it on the coffee table.

  I stepped closer to the table and peeked inside. On top were several vintage looking, silver-framed photos and, beneath them, something soft and pink, a blanket maybe or perhaps a baby’s sweater.

  “You didn’t want to take it back yourself?” I asked. “Or perhaps you thought you shouldn’t?” I directed my question to Kelsey. After her run-in with Detective Romero at Zoey’s, I doubted she would want to go back to the Pink Mansion again without an invite.

  Kelsey stomped her foot. “I told you this wasn’t going to work.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Chad’s a mess.” Zac sat down on the chair opposite me, took a deep breath and dropped his shoulders. “Ever since he and Zoey broke up, he hasn’t been able to sleep. He’s talking to himself, and he’s canceled all our recording sessions. Out of loyalty, I didn’t think we should take the box back to Zoey’s place. What if we ran into her and she wanted to talk?”