Murder on the Ghost Walk

by Constance Barker

  Chapter Fourteen

  My routines are boring, I know, but I follow them because they are comfortable and work for my life. Working in the tea room with Grandma makes me happy and I know this is where I belong. But at eight thirty this new morning, The Monkey's Eyebrow was the last place I wanted to be. I wanted to be back in my comfy, warm bed. But I worked on, fully aware of my responsibilities and I could not let Grandma down.

  When I was six, Grandma Rose took me in after Mom and Dad split up and went their separate ways, leaving me behind in Sinking Springs. And when Grandpa drowned in the boating accident, I was only eight years old, but I helped Grandma through the ordeal. It is just the two of us, however, we are still a family, and we love and support each other.

  The events of the last two days mocked our structured lives and our routines lay in shambles. We both went to bed well after midnight and it showed. Even Daisy seemed a little grumpy.

  Grandma patted my hand. “Six o’clock came fast this morning, and I hate to admit it, but my buns are dragging this morning. However, it doesn’t mean we are going to let up. Lambert should be here anytime and I can’t wait to talk to him. I hope he has some information to share.”

  “Me too. We did an awful lot of work on the computer last night, and have little to show for it.”

  Daisy fell off her stool, letting gravity do most of the work. She was up with us last night and moved like she carried an extra twenty pounds. After sliding a menu off the stack stored on the counter, she walked to the front door to greet Detective Lambert. The blunt, all business policeman made some courteous exceptions for Daisy. “Well, hello pretty lady. Don’t you look nice today?”

  Daisy smiled and nodded in agreement, then walked Lambert to a table near the large storefront windows. She pulled out a chair and handed him the menu.

  I took a step, but felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and Grandma smiled at me. She said, “You forget? This is my job.”

  Grandma Rose removed her apron, fussed a bit with her hair, then walked over to the waiting cop. “Good morning Detective. Here a little early today, aren’t you? Does this homicide have you burning the midnight oil?”

  Lambert smiled and laid the menu on the table without looking at it. “I could say the same about you. I saw lights glowing here around midnight last night. Staying up late for a good reason I hope?”

  Grandma took it as an invitation and sat down at his table. “Yes, we have been puzzled by the lack of a good suspect. Some people seem to have motives, but no opportunity. And those with opportunity, have no motive. And then there’s this ghost flying around in the middle of all this. It is all very confusing.”

  Lambert grinned. “Murderers don’t want to be caught. They usually make it hard to find them. It’s just the way it is.”

  Grandma shrugged. “I get that. But I can’t figure out why you are holding George Wicks and Nikki Hawkins.”

  Lambert crossed his hands on the table. “Before we talk more business, could I get a large cup of your heavenly coffee.”

  “Of course, where are my manners.” Grandma twisted her torso to see me, and pointed at the coffee pot.

  After pouring a cup of coffee and making a cup of Black Ceylon tea for Grandma, I loaded a tray and brought the drinks to their table.

  Lambert bowed his head slightly and smiled. “Good morning, Raine. I was hoping to see you here.”

  After putting the tray down, I stood tall and put my hands on my hips. “Me? Why?”

  He took the cup of coffee and dumped a teaspoon of sugar into it, then stirred. “I saw your gang working late last night. And I thought you might like to share what you found or know.”

  I laughed. “Funny, we were hoping you might share some information with us, too.”

  Lambert tapped the spoon on the lip of the cup to stall a second or two. “You know I can’t share police information. It could jeopardize my case.”

  My response automatically spilled out. “Well, we were wondering if you found any clues from the knives. Maybe we could trade information.”

  Grandma glared at me. “Don’t be rude, dear. This is not a swap meet.”

  Lambert chuckled and made eye contact with me. “What do you have to trade, Ms. Wilson.”

  My eyes pinched together against my wishes to keep an unreadable poker face. “Using my last name. So formal. It almost sounds like you might have something you’re willing to let slip, if we have something you can use.”

  Lambert took a long sip of his coffee and ignored my last comment. “Rose, you make the best coffee. I don’t know how you do it.”

  Grandma blushed. “It’s not such a big secret. We use good coffee and put a few grains of salt in with the grounds.”

  He took another sip. “Mmmm. It works. I’m going to have to get a second cup.”

  I turned to get his refill. But Lambert stopped me. “Where are you going? We weren’t finished making our deal.”

  His face was now stern and I sensed some urgency in his voice. I moved a step closer to the table. “Okay. What did you have in mind?”

  Lambert cleared his throat, to stall, and took a deep breath for the same reason. After several face contortions, he decided on his words. “The Sinking Springs police force is convinced that this apparition committed the murder. They say it has to do with the original Montague murders, or some such nonsense.”

  I locked eyes with the weary man. “But you don’t buy into it.”

  He snorted. “Of course not. Even if you tried to buy into it. The timing is off. The ghost is at the top of the stairs when it happens.”

  Grandma blurted out, “So there is a ghost on that video!”

  Lambert spun his coffee cup a quarter turn. “Yep. Quite unusual. But it doesn’t interest me like it does everyone else.”

  “What does interest you, then?” Sheesh! Lack of sleep seemed to draw out my blunt side. Pretty soon I might be staring at the inside of a jail cell if I wasn't careful.

  “The knives. We've been studying them, but they are clean of fingerprints. Not surprising since we found gloves in Nikki’s bag.”

  Grandma added, “And that is why you are holding Nikki?”

  Lambert chuckled. “Nope. We are holding her to protect her. Everyone is so focused on the ghost they missed one thing.”

  My frankness reared up again. “Nikki was with George, and the ghost video puts them outside the conservatory when the murder is committed.”

  Lambert smiled and downed the last bit of mud from the bottom of his cup. “I could use that second cup.” He stared at Grandma with a smile.

  She took the hint and went off to get another serving for the detective.

  Lambert continued. “Your good at putting two and two together. And I need some help. The amount of work on this one is overwhelming and the local police are, let’s say, preoccupied. Lauren Stewart is another homicide detective with the state police here to help me, and I think a couple of your friends met her when they interviewed Nikki.”

  I locked eyes with him. “Soooo, you are hoping for us to do what?”

  “We are holding Nikki and George because they are from the small group of people caught on camera that night. It excludes them from my suspect list because we know where they were when it happened.”

  “And?”

  “And, the killer dropped the rubber gloves in Nikki’s bag to throw us off. I want the killer to think it worked, and then maybe he or she will get a little bolder and make a mistake. Do something to reveal themselves to us.”

  Grandma came back with more coffee. “What did I miss?”

  I chuckled. “I’m not sure. But the detective is looking for help. And he has a plan, sort of.”

  He glowered at my little dig. “I think I have a good plan, one that has been successfully used in many cases over the years. A simple bluff is often an effective play.”

  Grandma retook her seat and Daisy returned, cozying up to Lambert’s side. She then decided to jump up into his lap an
d make herself comfortable. Suddenly, she stuck her tongue out at Grandma and me. Lambert chuckled. “What was that Daisy?” The dress wearing chimp smiled back at him.

  Grandma Rose replied. “She likes you, and didn’t want to leave Raine and me alone with you. She needed to be part of the party.”

  Daisy nodded yes, vehemently. Lambert gave her a weak hug, then put her down and said, “Well, that is pretty perceptive of you, Rose. I understand where Raine gets her intuition from.”

  Grandma blushed a bit, then threw out, “I also perceive there are two things that could trip up the killer. How did they knock out the security cameras and where is the second set of gloves?”

  Lambert was savoring another sip of coffee, but choked when he heard Grandma make her second point. He wiped his mouth and asked, “How do you know there is second set of gloves?”

  Grandma Rose shrugged. “I don’t know. But it is a good guess worth exploring because there were two knives. I am sure you have thought of it too, detective.”

  I added. “It’s too convenient that the security cameras with good views of the conservatory and library were all out. Someone may have knocked them out. I get that. But why should we assume there are two pairs of gloves? One person has two hands and could easily plunge both knives into their victim. We seem to have two schools of thought on how two knives made into Jack Richardson’s back.”

  Lambert grinned. “I needed this time with you two.” Daisy was still hovering around the table and shrieked at him. “My bad, with you three ladies.” He smiled at Daisy and continued. “This little debate has helped me think things through. I have been arguing with Lauren about the way the knives were found. One is a little lower and on a different angle. I think it was done by two people. Lauren thinks it was just the difference between a person’s left and right hand.”

  I said, “We were thinking that Karen Broadhurst may have had an accomplice. So, we were on the more-than-one killer bandwagon for a while last night, too. We did some deep internet searches to try and find a link between Karen and George.”

  Lambert sipped his coffee once more. “But you found nothing. Because you were searching for links between the wrong people.”

  Grandma gasped. “Crap on a shingle. We worked so hard to set up an automated way to search for a link between them, too. We're still hoping to find something. But I guess we’re wasting our time.”

  Lambert’s face became stern and he got to his real intentions. “I need to talk with your P.I. friend. I suspect we may have duplicated some work. But that doesn’t mean we found the exact same information. And I want to talk about how you and your gang can help with out bluff. Plus, we need to explore how the cameras were taken out, the theft of the knives, and the second set of gloves. There is much to do.”

  I laughed. “As it just so happens, Andrew, my handyman friend, knows the museum curator pretty well. He can help with the cameras, if you are OK with it. But the knives and gloves, I don’t know.”

  Lambert’s eyes twinkled. “I have some ideas. Can you and your P.I. friend meet me at the police station at ten?”

  “I think so.”

  The detective shyly glanced at Rose. “And you can come, too. If you want.”

  Grandma blurted out. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Lambert smiled. “Good, I was hoping to spend a little more time with you, Miss Rose.” He downed the rest of his second cup, stood up with purpose, threw a ten on the table, and left the tea room.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Grandma and I met Jaxon out in front of the police station at ten minutes before ten. We wanted to be on time for our meeting with Lambert.

  “Well, this is a surprise. I didn’t expect to be back here so early.” Jaxon was a bit wrinkled. He actually looked good after a few hours of sleep, curled up into a ball in the back seat of his car.

  Grandma started for the station’s front doors. “We talked with Lambert and it was his idea. I have no earthly idea what he has in mind. But he wanted you and Raine for it.”

  Jaxon and I followed Grandma. The lack of sleep made my mind fuzzy on a day when I needed to be my sharpest. Destiny has a way of inserting irony into demanding situations. And whoever dealt our fate today had a sense of satire.

  “Well, I hope they have coffee. I need a cup of strong black Java or this is going to be a tough meeting.” Jaxon’s voice was raspy.

  “I would guess a police station has coffee. It is the one vice still allowed for police. It used to be cigarettes and coffee, but now it’s just coffee.” Grandma laughed at her own comment.

  Inside we found a number of large tattooed men sitting in the waiting area, in handcuffs. The station buzzed, and we soon learned there had been a big fight in the camp grounds just outside of town. From what we could gather, a rival bike gang rolled into town this morning and stirred up the place. The Sinking Springs police had their hands full.

  Lambert emerged from seemingly nowhere and signaled with his hand, clearly wanting us to follow. So we hurried over to meet him, glad to get away from the inked burly men wearing leather vests, bandannas, and cuffs.

  The detective opened a gray door with a large, frosted window and we passed into a long hall. After a surprisingly convoluted walk, we arrived at a door and entered a conference room.

  “Take a seat. Anyone want some coffee? It’s not as good as in the tea room, but it is hot and the least I can do. You know, reciprocate for the coffee you always serve in the tea room.” Lambert’s voice sounded tired.

  Jaxon raised his hand like a school kid. “I would like...No I need some coffee, please.”

  Lambert laughed. “Sleep is a luxury when investigating a murder. So you must be doing something right. Wait here, I’ll be right back. And if Lauren shows up, tell her to wait for me to get back.”

  We waited a few minutes till Lambert returned. He glanced at the empty chair. “Well, I asked for a carafe of coffee and we need Lauren. So while we wait, I can at least tell you what I have in mind.”

  Jaxon cut in. “Let me guess. It has to do with the knives.”

  Lambert glared at the tired private inspector. “Well since I told Raine and Rose that already, it is not really a guess, now is it?”

  Jaxon chuckled. “Yes, you told them you want to explore the knives, second set of gloves, and cameras. But I am guessing the knives are the key to solving this case.”

  Lambert nodded. “So Mr. Smarty Pants, do you know what I am thinking to explore those avenues?”

  Jaxon rubbed his eyes, then plunked his hands on the table. “Not until I get some strong, black coffee.”

  Lambert analyzed Jaxon. “I was told by Lauren you were good with Nikki Hawkins. But I fail to see what she saw in your technique.”

  Just then, the door opened and a cart was wheeled in with coffee and all the fixings. Lambert nodded to the woman. “Thank you, Betsy. Your break room is outstanding. You are the best.”

  Jaxon moaned in relief and shot over to the cart, taking a cup of coffee. He returned to his spot and sat slowly. “Now where were we?”

  The door opened again and Lauren entered. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get off the phone with Kentucky D.A. They are getting impatient with us on the upcoming trial.”

  Lambert chuckled. “That’s their problem. They always want an airtight case. Let them earn their salary. Our problem is finding and arresting the murderer for this case.”

  Lauren hung her head. “I know. But they still demand a lot from us, you know that.” She poured a cup of coffee and took a seat.

  Lambert drew a deep breath. “Alright, before we start this shindig, one important ground rule. No one, and I mean no one in this room, can ever mention this meeting. It did not happen. Is that agreeable?”

  Lauren rolled her eyes and nodded yes. The rest of us followed her lead and shook our heads in the affirmative.

  Lambert continued. “Now, you may have heard. There was a big brawl at the nearby campgrounds this morning. Two rival biker gan
gs banged heads and the local police have their hands full. And throw in that half the Sinking Springs police are already jittery from the ghost video, the local force is pretty much out of commission as far as this murder investigation is concerned. We are getting little to no help from them.”

  Grandma whimpered a bit, then said, “I am surprised, they are usually very good.”

  Lambert shot back. “I agree. But there are only so many of them and the murder case belongs to the state police. So, they don’t need to do much, or anything, technically.”

  Lauren added. “You understate the impact of the ghost video. It is more than half of the force that are spooked by it. Heck, I’m unsettled by it. But even worse, a fair amount believe the ghost committed the murder.”

  Lambert smiled. “Which brings us to the problem you can help me with.”

  Jaxon sipped his coffee, put it down slowly, then asked with a clear, polite voice. “So, how can we help.”

  Lambert stood straight and put both hands in his pockets. “The knives were taken with nobody noticing and we can find no evidence tying any of the people there that night to the theft of the blades. Very unusual.”

  Lauren added, “And the cameras were a little too convenient. The ones that would help us were all out. Someone must have taken them out.”

  The old detective went on. “So, we were thinking, there has to be more than one person who pulled this off. Too many moving pieces to this plot and more than a chance or two for something to go wrong. So we want to bluff. Let it be known we might have some evidence about the knives, gloves, or cameras. It really doesn’t matter about what. But we let it slip we might have the evidence and then sit back and wait and see who slips up or comes forward.”

  I was tired and remained quiet up to this point, listening and learning. But my curiosity moved my tongue. “Wait, why would that work?”

  Lauren chuckled. “Ever see the Godfather?” We all nodded yes and she continued. “The old Godfather tells Micheal Corleone that the one who sets up the Barzini meeting is the traitor.”