The House on Hallowed Ground

by Nancy Cole Silverman

  “A portal.”

  “A what?” I fell back into the chair. Of all the things Wilson might have told me, news of a portal was the last thing I expected, and it was a shocker. Portals aren’t exactly commonplace, and I hadn’t had a lot of experience with them.

  “It’s some type of passageway.”

  “I know what a portal is, Wilson. My question is, exactly where did you find it? And when?”

  “Inside the playhouse. Alicia found it. She said she’s known about it for a while, and when she showed it to me, I thought perhaps it was the beginnings of a small sinkhole. You know how sinkholes are, particularly with all the rain and the recent construction Zoey’s done on the property. Alicia’s afraid her playhouse and her world are about to collapse into the abyss. She’s frightened, Misty.”

  “I imagine she would be. What made you think it’s a portal and not a sinkhole?”

  “Alicia said she had seen a spirit come through. That whoever she was—”

  “She?” I asked.

  “Yes, Alicia was quite adamant the ghost was a she, and that she had come and gone several times. That’s when I knew it wasn’t just a sinkhole, but a portal.”

  “And I assume you explained the difference and assured Alicia she had nothing to worry about?”

  “I did, but unfortunately I’m afraid I wasn’t much help. You see when I told her how ghosts use portals to come and go between the worlds, she wanted to know why her mother hadn’t come through.”

  “Augh,” I sighed. Of course, Alicia would think that. She had been waiting for so long. The surprise of seeing a spirit come through and the disappointment it wasn’t her mother, must have been overwhelming. “I assume you told her there could be any number of reasons why she hasn’t.”

  “Yes, but she says the other ghost is Zoey’s mother and—”

  “Of course!” I slapped my thighs. “Cora Chamberlain. I knew it. She’s here. Zoey’s willed it, and it’s happened. I felt her presence in the great room this afternoon. I could feel her standing behind me at the piano. So strong in fact, that when I brushed my fingers across the keys, they picked out the tune ‘Clair de Lune.’ The tune she used to play for Zoey.”

  Wilson sat down on the chair opposite me. “Alicia thinks Cora’s been here before. But that something new is happening. Something unfamiliar and it’s making Alicia very nervous.”

  “She shouldn’t be. It’s all as the universe intends it to be. Cora’s here because Zoey’s willed it to be. That’s the way energy works.”

  “Yes, but I’m beginning to wonder. If Alicia’s right and Cora’s been here before, maybe we’ve got Lacey’s death all wrong?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if Zoey’s mother killed Lacey? If she knew about the affair, she might have wanted to protect her daughter.”

  “Nonsense. Ghosts don’t kill people. Mortals do. Ghosts may haunt people and cause them to do crazy things out of fear. But they don’t kill people.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “About Zoey mother’s killing Lacey? A hundred percent. If Cora was going to kill anyone, she wouldn’t have killed Lacey. She would have killed Chad.”

  “Umm...” Wilson got up and paced the room. “I’m sorry to hear that. Personally, I was rather looking forward to settling a few old scores once I officially crossed over.”

  “Wilson!” Had all my efforts to rehabilitate the man gone for naught?

  “Is that wrong?” Wilson winked then handed me my cell phone from within my bag. “Here, call your Detective Romero. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to know you’ve eliminated all possibilities it was a ghost who killed Lacey, and that we’re in hot pursuit of Kelsey or is it Crystal? I just don’t know.”

  I snapped the phone from Wilson’s hand. I didn’t need any smart-aleck remarks concerning our investigation. What I needed was time to think. With everything Wilson had just told me about the portal beneath the playhouse, and from what I had discovered in Crystal’s notebook and Lacey’s poems, my head felt like a pinball machine. One idea ricocheting off the other, and a scoreboard that kept coming up zero.

  I held the phone in my hand. I had been channeling the detective since the moment I found Crystal’s notebook beneath the bed in the guest bedroom. But I hadn’t called him. I sensed he was about to reach out to me and considered that the better of the two scenarios. Particularly since Romero and I had parted ways after Zoey’s arrest.

  I waited for the phone to ring. While I did, I considered the purpose of the portal beneath Alicia’s playhouse.

  Was the portal a sign? Was it really Zoey’s mother who had come through? Was Alicia’s mother next? If so, would Cora Chamberlain, Margaret Mann, and Alicia Mae all walk back through the portal together and leave Zoey and the Pink Mansion alone? Or would Zoey’s mother stay behind? And what about Wilson? What would become of him? Limbo is a temporary state. Was the portal there for him as well? Would Wilson walk through the portal with them, and once he did, would the portal and the playhouse disappear forever?

  I was lost in my thoughts when my phone rang. I looked at the screen and smiled.

  “Detective, I had a feeling you were about to call.”

  “Why, your ears burning?” Romero chuckled.

  “Should they be?”

  “Maybe. Our case against Zoey’s falling apart. Forensics can’t pinpoint when the cigarette butt we found out by the pool was tossed on the grass. Could have been that morning, maybe that night. No way to prove it. Which means we can’t put Zoey in the backyard the night Lacey drowned. Plus, we got hold of the sides, the pages from the script Zoey was working on. It’s just like Zoey said. She and Lacey were rehearsing an argument. And now Lacey’s cousin Joel’s not so sure Lacey would have confronted Zoey about the affair. Not without Chad by her side, and we know Chad wasn’t there.”

  “I won’t tell you I told you so,” I said.

  “Don’t get too excited. The DA’s not willing to drop the charges. Not yet. But I do have some good news.”

  If there was good news, I knew it had to be Denise. She hadn’t been around as much as usual, which in my mind could only mean one thing: she had captured the detective’s attention and he was keeping her busy.

  “You’re good, Misty. I won’t ask how you knew. But yes, it is Denise. She wants you to know I’ve set up a ride-along for her with my brother-in-law. He’s driving Hugh Jackman and his wife to the airport as we speak. She thought you’d be pleased.”

  “Pleased,” I said. “But not surprised. However, there is another matter concerning Lacey’s murder I want to talk with you about. Something’s come up. It’s important, and I’d like to discuss it with you. In person.”

  “One condition,” Romero said. “This thing you want to talk to me about, it’s something I can use. None of your ghost stuff, right?”

  “Yes, Detective. Meet me at my place. Soon as possible. I’ll explain everything when you get here.”

  Chapter 32

  The problem with being a psychic is that we don’t always have a clear picture. We’re human, with likes and dislikes. Those likes, the stronger they are, interfere with our ability to read others and make predictions, which I feared had happened to me.

  My ability to stay aloof, which is ultimately important for an intuitive, had been swayed by my concern for Zoey and Alicia. Two very different mysteries, but each uniquely tied to the other. I sensed Lacey’s killer was close. It troubled me I couldn’t see a face or get a clear sense about who it might be. And while I felt strongly the evidence I had uncovered from inside of Crystal’s notebook would help Detective Romero secure a warrant for her arrest, I was equally as troubled by the news Nora had shared with me that morning about Lacey’s potential threat to Kelsey’s career.

  Wilson helped me lay out the evidence from Crystal’s notebook on the dining room table. Her unexpec
ted return to the Pink Mansion had prevented me from thoroughly going through everything, and I wanted a little time to myself to see if I might get a psychic read on the papers she had hidden away.

  On the surface, the evidence presented a compelling case. The letter from the DOC. Crystal’s calendar with the date of AJ’s release circled in red and annotated with the initials AJ in small block letters. Two postcard-size notes addressed to Zoey and signed by AJ. And several loose sheets of lined paper where it looked like Crystal had tried to copy the same architectural style lettering AJ had used in his original notes to Zoey.

  Everything on the table seemed to point to the fact Crystal knew about AJ’s release and had covered it up. She had copied AJ’s stilted style of writing and sent a note to Zoey along with flowers after Lacey’s death. But why? Had she hired AJ to kill Lacey, or was Crystal simply trying to frame him because she had killed Lacey and feared Romero was getting too close to the truth?

  Then there was Lacey’s notepad full of poems, and Chad’s scribbled writing promising to record them. Did Kelsey know? Had the idea Chad might throw Kelsey and Zac over for Lacey caused her murder?

  I still had no answers when Romero knocked on the door.

  I told Wilson to make himself scarce. I didn’t want any disturbances.

  “So, what is it you found, Misty?”

  “These,” I showed the evidence on the table. “One is a notepad full of poems Lacey wrote. The other is Crystal’s notebook.”

  Romero zeroed in on Crystal’s notebook and the letter from the DOC. “And where did you find these?”

  “The notebook was under the bed in the guest bedroom. The letter from the DOC was inside.”

  “Did Crystal give this to you?” Romero wrinkled his brow.

  “No. I found it.”

  “You mean you stole it.”

  “I’d hardly call it stealing. Zoey asked me to get Chad’s jacket out of the closet in the guest room. When I was there, I saw the notebook under the bed. It all seems relevant, don’t you think? The letter from the DOC? The notes from AJ, and what looks like Crystal’s attempt to copy AJ’s handwriting?”

  “Except, we can’t use it. Not any of it. Not unless Crystal handed it over voluntarily. Plus, if Crystal discovers you’ve taken this, I don’t even want to tell you what troubles you might have created for yourself.”

  I paced back into the living room and sat down in the wingback chair. “What about Lacey’s poems, and the note from Chad? Is there enough of an implication there to make you suspect Kelsey?”

  “Of being jealous?”

  “Murder, Detective. Kelsey was afraid Lacey wasn’t just sleeping with Chad, but that Chad would replace her as his lyricist.”

  “It’d be hard to prove,” Romero said.

  “So we’re no farther along than we were right after Lacey was murdered?”

  “Other than Zoey’s been arrested and the evidence supporting those charges is falling apart? No.”

  “Are you satisfied AJ’s no longer a suspect?”

  “You said yourself you thought as a suspect AJ looked a little too convenient. With what you just showed me on the dining room table, if anything, I’d say that makes Crystal a lot more interesting. But no judge is going to allow me to use the evidence you found to prove it. As for Lacey’s poems and Chad’s scribbles about making her a songwriter, it’s a bit of a stretch to think Kelsey or even Kelsey and Zac murdered her because of it. Unless you can convince me a ghost did it, I don’t see any other likely suspects.”

  Wilson sat down next to me on the arm of the chair. “All’s not lost, Old Gal. The power rests with you. You still have the notebook and tomorrow’s séance.”

  “The séance?” I asked.

  At first, I wasn’t certain what Wilson meant. Then I realized he was right. Under the proper circumstances, with Wilson’s help, I might be able to solicit anything I wanted from those around the table. Whether I did an actual séance or not, nobody attending tomorrow night’s meeting would know. Only Wilson and myself.

  “Are you talking to yourself again, Misty?” Romero looked at me oddly.

  “Actually, I was thinking out loud. What if I could secure a confession from the killer? If whoever murdered Lacey told me, and you heard it, would it be enough for you to make an arrest?”

  “And how do you propose to do that?”

  “A séance,” I said. “It’s what got us into this in the first place. And I think it’s what’s going to get us out.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Very. In fact, I’ve already arranged for it. Chad will be here tomorrow night. He believes Lacey’s ghost has been haunting him and he wants me to do a séance to get rid of her.”

  Romero sat down on the couch and put his hand to his head. “I don’t believe what I’m about to ask, and the department may never understand, but explain to me, exactly how it is you think this séance idea of yours will secure a confession?”

  “I’ll save the details for the séance until later. But for now, I’ve asked Zac, Kelsey, and Crystal to be here tomorrow night. One of them could have killed Lacey. When they’re sitting around the table tomorrow night, I believe we can get whoever killed her to confess.”

  “We?” Romero raised his brows.

  “In your line of work, I believe you call it a sting.” I explained to Romero I was sure, from all the cop and robber shows I’d watched, that he would want me to wear a wire so he can have everything on tape. I’d want him at the Pink Mansion early enough so we can set up the dining room for the séance, and nobody would know he was there.

  “There’s an antique dressing screen next to the piano. Zoey’s grandmother used to use it. It’s big enough for you to hide behind, and from there you should be able to hear everything I say. More importantly, everything anyone says to me.”

  “And Zoey?” Romero asked. “If you’re going to do this, I’d like to have her there as well.”

  “Zoey can’t be at the séance. I doubt she and Chad could be in the same room. Not after everything that’s happened. But don’t worry, I’ll clue Zoey in to my change of plans and have her here well ahead of time. She can hide upstairs in the gym. She’s as anxious as you are to know who murdered Lacey, and we should wire the gym so she could hear as well.”

  “And if you don’t get a confession?” Romero asked.

  “If I don’t get a confession from one of those around the table, I promise you, if Zoey killed Lacey, I’ll find out. I’ll get her to confess to me. You have my word.”

  “This is highly irregular, Misty.”

  “Like I told you before, Detective, I’m highly irregular. But very effective.”

  Chapter 33

  The following morning I called Chad to remind him of the séance. In his present state, I wasn’t convinced he hadn’t remembered anything about our meeting yesterday. Chad grunted agreeably, and before he hung up, I reminded him Zac and Kelsey needed to come along as well. I then called Crystal. Despite the fact Crystal didn’t believe in ghosts, she did believe I had some magical hold on Chad, and for that, I reminded her how important tonight’s séance was. She agreed and told me she had set Zoey up for a facial in Beverly Hills at six p.m. Both Crystal and Chad would be at the mansion by seven p.m. After I hung up with Crystal, I called Zoey. I instructed her to cancel her appointment with her facialist and meet me at the Pink Mansion precisely at six p.m. I told her I’d explain why later, but for now, not to tell anyone. Particularly Crystal.

  While I was doing all this, Wilson was having a meltdown. He came down with a bad case of stage fright. Like a director on opening night, he had the jitters and had begun to obsess over what it was I expected him to do and when. I told him not to worry. All he had to do was to babysit Alicia Mae and make absolutely certain no ghosts came through the portal until I cued him I was ready.

  Wilson
and I arrived at the Pink Mansion slightly ahead of time. While I waited at the front gate for Detective Romero, Wilson slipped the bars and went around to the backyard to find Alicia Mae. Detective Romero arrived a few minutes later. With him was another, much younger detective of junior rank. Romero introduced him simply as Detective Richards and explained he was here to back him up, should the need arise.

  I didn’t feel that would be a problem—at least I hoped not.

  At precisely six p.m. Zoey pulled up in front of the big security gate. With a quick wave to us, she punched in the lock code then pulled her Audi convertible into the garage and closed the door. With the garage door closed by the time Crystal returned to the mansion with our guests, no one would suspect Zoey was home.

  The detectives and I walked up the hill and met Zoey in the front courtyard.

  “Why’s he here?” Zoey looked nervously at the detective then back at me.

  “I’ll explain later,” I said. “Right now, we need to get inside before anyone sees us. Trust me, when you understand what I have in mind, you’ll be happy he’s here.”

  With her hands shaking, Zoey unlocked the front door and ushered us inside.

  Once behind closed doors, Romero took Richards on a tour of the house, including the upstairs studio where they set up a listening post so that Richards and Zoey could monitor everything going on downstairs. While the detectives went about setting up what they needed, I explained to Zoey I had taken the liberty of asking Chad, Crystal, Zac, and Kelsey here under the pretext of doing another séance.

  “Another séance? I don’t understand. Why would Crystal agree to such a thing?” Zoey looked confused.