The Ghost and Little Marie

by Anna J. McIntyre

  MacDonald studied Stu a moment and then asked, “I’m curious, how is it you just found out about it?”

  Stu leaned back in the bench seat and looked across the table at the chief. “I’ve been in California. Went there to spend Thanksgiving with my sister’s family. I just got back this morning. My next-door neighbor told me. Couldn’t believe it. Not that her death would come as a particular surprise, considering her age. Although, with her family leaving before Thanksgiving, I figured she must be doing a lot better. But now with this…”

  “What do you mean her family leaving before Thanksgiving? They’re still here.”

  “Yeah, I saw them over there this morning. I just figured they came back.”

  “Came back?” MacDonald frowned.

  Stu shrugged. “Maybe I’m wrong. I left for California early Tuesday morning, when it was still dark, and I noticed there weren’t any cars parked in front of her house or in the driveway, and the house was all dark. I’d noticed they’d had two cars over there on Monday, and Marie only has a one-car garage. I just naturally assumed they had gone home. At the time, I thought that was a good sign for Marie, meant she must be doing better.”

  “Do you remember what time it was?” the chief asked.

  “Sure, it was around three in the morning.”

  The chief frowned. “Are you certain of the time?”

  Stu nodded. “Yeah. I wanted to get to California Tuesday morning, and I was too tired to travel on Monday, so I just figured I’d get up real early and leave. I know I left the house a few minutes past three.”

  By the time Danielle arrived at Lucy’s Diner, Chief MacDonald was again alone. “Morning, Chief,” she greeted him while taking the seat Stu had occupied minutes earlier.

  “Morning, Danielle.”

  Before they could continue the conversation, the server arrived with coffee for Danielle and took their orders.

  “I really don’t think Sondra had anything to do with Marie’s murder,” Danielle said after the server left the table. Picking up one of the creamers, she ripped off its lid and poured cream into her coffee.

  “Maybe not. But I think I have to take another look at Warren and Chloe.” The chief went on to tell Danielle about his conversation with Marie’s neighbor.

  Danielle leaned back in her seat, her right hand absently stirring her coffee with a spoon. “We know where Jason’s rental car was—at Seahorse Motel. Of course, I imagine you’ll want to talk to Sondra’s ex-boyfriend to verify her story.”

  “Brian already did that this morning. After you gave me the ex’s information, I had Brian check up on it. He drove out to Portland early this morning and talked to the guy at his work. He substantiates Sondra’s story.”

  “Maybe Chloe parked the car in Marie’s garage?” Danielle suggested.

  The chief shook his head. “When Adam was interviewed, he told us that when he arrived at Marie’s early Tuesday, looking for his cellphone, Sondra was gone—in the rental car—and his parents were still upstairs in their bedroom, and their car was parked in front of Marie’s house.”

  Danielle cringed. “This doesn’t look good for Warren and Chloe. And frankly, if they were responsible for Marie’s death, it’s going to devastate her.”

  “I have to assume if one of them murdered Marie, the other one had to have known, since one of them left the house to kill her,” the chief said.

  “Unless it was Chloe, and Warren is like his son and can sleep through anything.”

  MacDonald shrugged. “I suppose it is possible.”

  “If one of them did it, I hope it was Chloe, not Warren, for Marie’s sake.”

  “I’m going to have to talk to them again.”

  Danielle sipped her coffee and considered what he had just told her. After a moment, she set her cup back on the table and looked at him. “I have an idea. There is one witness we haven’t been able to talk to. Let me see if I can find her again.”

  The chief arched his brow. “I assume you’re talking about the ghost who saw Marie’s killer leave the building after smothering her?”

  Danielle nodded. “She’s an eyewitness. I know you can’t really use what she says against the killer, and even if she can’t identify the killer, she can at least tell us if it was a man or woman.”

  MacDonald considered Danielle’s suggestion and nodded. “It would help me to know if I need to focus on Warren or Chloe.”

  “After we eat, I’ll head right over there.”

  “Only problem, I don’t think you can just show up at Seaside Village and start going through the rooms looking for your ghost.”

  Danielle considered her options for a moment. Finally, she said, “Before I go over there, I’ll stop at Old Salts and pick up some cinnamon rolls. When I was over there before, I met a sweet little lady who lives there full time, and she loves cinnamon rolls. Her husband used to bring them to her. I’ll use that as an excuse if anyone asks. And I know what room the ghost hung out in. It’s at the back of the building, and there’s a good chance I can slip in and out of there without anyone seeing me if I wanted to. That section is usually vacant.”

  “Only problem, how do you get inside without being seen?” Instead of waiting for an answer, he reconsidered the question and then added with a shrug, “Of course, I guess that’s what the cinnamon rolls are for, you don’t really have to avoid being seen.”

  “I’ll be going through the back door. I know what the password is. So maybe I won’t need the cinnamon rolls to get in.”

  “You can try that. But I suspect they’ve changed the password, especially considering the recent murder. I can’t believe they wouldn’t have.”

  Danielle shrugged. “True. But I’ll try the back door first. I’d rather enter that way, because if I come through the front door, they might wonder why I’m going to the back of the building, since the patient I supposedly want to see has a room in the front section of the complex.”

  Less than an hour later, Danielle was pleased to discover the password had not been changed. Entering the back door of Seaside Village, she found herself standing alone in the back lounge, a sack of cinnamon rolls in her right hand and the strap of her purse slung over her left shoulder. Glancing down the long hallway leading to the front nurses’ station, she saw several people milling around, but it was too far a distance to tell who they were.

  Hastily she made her way to the corridor to her left, and to the patient room where she had last seen the ghost. Like before, the room appeared to be unoccupied. Shutting the door behind her, she focused her attention on the bed, now neatly made with crisp sheets and a clean blanket, waiting for a new patient.

  “Hello!” Danielle called out in a loud whisper. “Please talk to me. I want to talk to you about my friend, who ran out of here the other night.”

  In the next moment the elderly woman appeared, sitting on the side of the bed, still wearing her nightgown, its fabric a print with blue roses.

  “It’s you,” the ghost said.

  “Please don’t leave again,” Danielle begged. “I want you to tell me about the person who ran out of here before my friend left the other night. I need to know if it was a man or woman.”

  The ghost flashed Danielle a smile. “Is that all you want? Why, that’s easy. It was a woman. She was in a hurry, and then your friend ran after her. Did she find her?”

  “Do you know who the woman was?” Danielle asked.

  “Your friend really shouldn’t have run after her, you know. It’s not safe,” the ghost whispered.

  “Why do you say that?” Danielle asked.

  “Because I’ve seen things. Sometimes seeing things can get you in trouble.” The ghost vanished.

  Danielle called after the spirit several times, and when she didn’t reappear, Danielle pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and called the chief.

  “Any luck?” the chief asked when he answered the phone.

  “Sort of. I spoke to the spirit again, but like the last time, she vani
shed before I could ask any more questions. But I did find out the gender of the person who ran out the back of the building before Marie did. It was a woman.”

  “So it was Chloe?” the chief muttered.

  “It’s beginning to look that way. I just hope Warren didn’t have anything to do with Marie’s death. It’s going to be bad enough Adam will have to deal with the fact his mother killed the grandmother he loved. I don’t want it to be both of his parents.”

  “I understand your feelings. But I can’t worry about that. My job is to find Marie’s killer. Even if it is one or both of Adam’s parents,” the chief told her.

  After Danielle got off the phone a moment later, she opened the door and peeked into the hallway. It appeared to be empty. Just as she stepped out into the hall and took two steps, a nurse walked around the corner in her direction, coming from the front nurses’ station. It was SeAnne Easton, the nurse who had broken the news of Marie’s death to Adam and her.

  “Danielle Boatman?” SeAnne said in surprise, a frown furrowing her brow. “I thought that was you I saw coming in the back door.”

  Quickly holding up the sack of cinnamon rolls, Danielle flashed SeAnne an awkward grin. “Hi. I was looking for Mabel. I brought her some cinnamon rolls. She loves them, you know. Her husband used to bring them to her.”

  Still frowning, SeAnne glanced at the open doorway where Danielle had just come through. “Why are you down here? This section is just for rehab.”

  “Oh, I know,” Danielle said brightly. “But I thought I saw someone I knew. Small town, you know.”

  SeAnne studied Danielle. “Not sure what you could have seen. We only have two patients staying in this wing, and I just saw them leaving breakfast for therapy.”

  “Do you know if Mabel is still at breakfast?” Danielle asked, desperate to steer the topic from why she was poking through rooms on the rehab wing.

  “She’s back in her room. I took her there myself.”

  “And what room number is that?” Danielle forced a grin.

  SeAnne considered the question a moment. Danielle wasn’t sure if it was because SeAnne didn’t remember the room number, or if it was that she didn’t want Danielle traipsing through the facility unsupervised. Finally, she gave Danielle the room number.

  Thirty-Four

  Chief MacDonald stood at the front door of Marie’s house and rang the doorbell. A few minutes later, Chloe Nichols answered.

  “Chief, what can I do for you?” She stood in the house, not inviting him inside.

  “I need to ask you a few more questions.”

  “Warren just ran to the market, and Jason and Sondra went out for breakfast.”

  “It’s you who I wanted to talk to,” he explained.

  She stared blankly at him for a moment, seemingly considering his request. Finally, she let out a sigh, opened the door wider, and made room for him to enter. Motioning to the living room, she turned in that direction after shutting the front door.

  “Is there anything new on Marie?” Chloe asked as she entered the living room.

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  Chloe took a seat on the sofa and motioned to the chair facing her. The chief sat down.

  “Does that mean you have a lead on her killer?”

  “I understand you left the house Monday night—or more accurately early Tuesday morning.”

  Chloe leaned back in the sofa and crossed her legs. She had already dressed for the day, wearing dark slacks and a hip-length royal blue silk blouse. Folding her hands together, she studied the chief and smiled. “I believe we went over that. I left around midnight, drove around the block a few times and came right home. Not enough time to go to the nursing home and murder my mother-in-law. Although, considering her will, I would like to wring her neck.”

  “I’ve a witness that says you weren’t home at three in the morning—around the time when we believe Marie was murdered.”

  With a frown, Chloe shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. I was home in bed at three. You can ask my husband.” As if on cue, the front door opened and Warren entered.

  “Warren! Come in here!” Chloe called from her place on the sofa, making no attempt to get up.

  “Chief?” Warren said when he poked his head in the living room a moment later.

  “Warren, please tell him I was asleep in bed at three in the morning on the day your mother was killed.”

  Warren walked into the living room. With a frown he glanced from his wife to the chief. “What’s this about?”

  “It’s my understanding your car was parked in front of this house, early Tuesday, before either of you got out of bed that morning,” the chief said.

  Still frowning, Warren muttered, “So?”

  “I have a witness who claims your car wasn’t parked in front of the house at three on Tuesday morning. And according to your wife, she returned home before one that morning.”

  Chloe broke into a harsh laugh. “Seriously, this is what this is all about? The fact my car wasn’t parked in front of the house at three in the morning?”

  Expressionless, the chief stared at Chloe. “Can you explain where it was?”

  “Certainly, it was across the street.” Chloe rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  The chief frowned.

  Chloe continued. “When I came back, someone was parked in front of the house. Considering the condition of the car, I assume it belonged to the boy that teenage girl next door is dating. So I parked across the street.”

  “The next morning I got up and moved it,” Warren explained. “Tuesday is trash day on this street, and where Chloe had parked, it was blocking the neighbor’s cans. After I moved the car back to our side of the street, I went right back to bed. You can check with the neighbors. I’m sure they’ll back up my story.”

  SeAnne ended up taking Danielle to Mabel. The elderly resident sat in one of the two chairs in her small room, watching television.

  “You have a visitor,” SeAnne told Mabel as she entered the room, Danielle trailing behind her. “Looks like she brought you some cinnamon rolls.”

  “Cinnamon rolls!” Mabel said excitedly, her gaze darting to the paper sack in Danielle’s hand. She quickly turned off her television.

  Flashing Danielle a departing smile, SeAnne left the two women alone.

  “Do you remember me?” Danielle asked.

  Mabel’s expression went somber. “You were here visiting your friend—the one who died last week.”

  Danielle nodded.

  The elderly woman’s mouth twitched into a smile. “You’re also the one who gave me a cinnamon roll.”

  Danielle walked to Mabel and handed her the paper sack. “I thought you might want some more.”

  Jerking the sack open, Mabel looked inside. “They’re not all for me, are they?”

  “Sure.” Danielle sat down in the empty chair.

  Pulling a roll from the sack, Mabel handed it to Danielle. “You have to have one too.”

  With a smile, Danielle accepted the roll. Grinning, Mabel took a second one from the sack and then carefully folded the top of the bag together before setting it on the side table. “This is very nice of you.”

  “I just remembered how much you enjoyed them.” Danielle smiled at the elderly woman.

  “You’re nice like your friend.” Mabel took a bite from the roll and then let out a satisfactory sigh as she chewed.

  Danielle then remembered Mabel had claimed to have been friends with Marie—even telling her Marie had snuck into her room at night to talk to her. Yet, according to Marie, she had never visited the woman.

  “Can you describe my friend, the one who you say visited you?” Danielle asked.

  Taking another bite of the roll, Mabel considered the question a moment while she chewed. After she swallowed her bite, she said, “You don’t think it was your friend who visited me? She told me she was staying in the rehab section, and your friend was the only one staying there. Plus…” Mabel let out a sig
h and added, “She hasn’t been back to see me. So I have to assume she’s the poor woman who died last week.”

  “Can you tell me what she normally wore when she visited you?”

  Mabel shrugged. “Actually, she always wore the same thing—her nightgown. Of course, she only visited me late at night, so that’s what I’d expect her to be wearing.” Mabel took another bite of her roll.

  “By any chance, was the fabric of the nightgown a rose pattern?” Danielle asked.

  “Blue roses,” Mabel said as she popped the last of the cinnamon roll in her mouth and then licked her fingers.

  Blue roses, Danielle thought. Like the ghost I just saw. I wonder what Mabel is going to think the next time she visits?

  “Would it be bad of me to have another?” Mabel whispered, eyeing the paper sack sitting on the side table.

  Danielle grinned. “Certainly not. They’re yours.”

  With a giggle, Mabel snatched up the sack and removed another cinnamon roll.

  “Can I ask you a crazy question?” Danielle asked.

  “Keep bringing me cinnamon rolls and you can ask me anything!” Mabel bit down on a roll.

  “Do you believe…umm…in the possibility of ghosts?”

  Chewing her bite, Mabel eyed Danielle and arched her brow. After swallowing, she asked, “This is because of your friend who died, isn’t it? You wonder if you might see her ghost?”

  Danielle shrugged. “I suppose. A little.”

  “Well…” Mabel returned the sack to the side table while holding onto her roll. “After my mother died, she came to see me. Of course, my sister said that was nonsense. And after my husband died, he came to me to say goodbye. I’m not sure they were really here, but it’s rather comforting to imagine they were.” Mabel smiled kindly.

  “Has there been anyone else?” Danielle asked.

  With a shrug, Mabel said, “Maybe.”

  Danielle sat quietly while Mabel finished her second cinnamon roll. She understood now that the woman who had visited Mabel hadn’t been Marie. It had been the ghost who had seen Marie’s killer leave the building. What Danielle wondered now, just how sensitive was Mabel to spirits? She suspected it was somewhere between Lily and Heather—Lily who had seen the ghost of Pilgrim’s Point, and Heather, whose sensitivity had increased over the last year.