Buster looked at his watch.
“But there’s a kink in the works,” Holly said. “My ghost goes into hiding.” In the promised land. “When the Ghost in the Grove is a no show, the debunker smells chum in the water.”
“Sylvia doesn’t want to lose her reputation. Angel doesn’t want to be named a fraud. And I just want to keep my rooms rented, and a haunted house helps in the B&B business. Do you see the conflict?”
Buster didn’t respond.
“Anyway, enter one Tru Stalwart wearing superspy glasses he bought on the Internet. He recorded everything with them and no one knew.” She pointed at Jake’s computer on the table. “I’ll play a few for you shortly. Remember, we don’t have a ghost on duty but need one.”
“A ghost or lack of one is not going into evidence.” Buster eyed Jake. “I can promise you that.”
Jake nodded. “Stay with her.”
“Let’s just say some faking went on at the séance, and Tru caught us dead to rights. He told us he’d recorded it all with his spyglasses. He won. He’s going to expose us all as frauds all over the World Wide Web. It got a little crazy, and Bob slammed Tru over a table and knocked his glasses off. But in the dark and while everyone is all riled up, one of us steals the memory card right out of his glasses.”
“I’m aware,” Buster said. “Tru reported the theft.”
“That’s right” Holly held her index finger up. “The rest of us there, including Tru, don’t know that until later. Tru still thinks he has the proof to debunk the Ghost in the Grove and expose us as frauds. Tru goes up to his room to view his handiwork and he realizes one of us stole the memory card.”
“You said that.” Buster checked his watch again. “I’ve got an appointment in ten minutes. Can you just show me the evidence?”
Jake lifts his hand in a halting position. “Give her a minute, Buster. She’s almost finished.”
“You come.” Holly eyes Buster. “ Tru is already dead, right?”
“I was there, Holly,” Buster said.
“Everyone is a suspect, right?”
Buster nodded.
“Sylvia sweetens the pot with some very personal attention for Bob, who has secretly been in love with her for years. All she wants is for him to make this all go away and he’s willing. They buddy up on an alibi and Bob makes Tru go away by tossing him off the roof.”
“While we’re all freakin’ out thinking Tru fell to his death, Bob jimmies the lock on Tru’s room and finds more memory cards, and some of them could make Sylvia look very guilty, so he hides those away for insurance. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get to cash in because Sylvia tags Bob with a poisonous kiss, for him anyway, because he’s allergic to peanut butter. So Sylvia gets Bob to throw Tru off the roof and she gets rid of the evidence by killing the killer. Make sense?”
Buster slid his feet off his desk. “Look, this is all a good story, but it’s speculation, and that doesn’t beat a confession. You need evidence.”
“You’re so right, Buster.” Holly unzipped the computer bag. “How about videos?”
“Where did you find those?” Buster sat up straight. “My men covered every inch of that place.”
“They didn’t clean it.” Holly smiled. “I had a little help too. It occurred to me that Tru probably had lots of memory cards because he’d recorded everything for days. And what do you know? I found something else. Bob the camera guy had a hidden camera in his room, but it wasn’t of the séance. Will that do?”
Buster leaned forward and put his elbows on his desk. “Depends what’s on it.”
Holly pulled out flash drives loaded with copies of the videos. She held them up and described them one by one. “Here’s Sylvia and Bob all lovey-dovey. Here’s Sylvia threatening Tru. Here’s Bob manhandling Tru. Here’s a time-stamped video of Sylvia alone at the time Tru was murdered, which blows Bob’s alibi. Here’s Sylvia watching Bob die while she withheld his EpiPen. She thought she’d destroyed all the evidence, but sometimes the dead speak.”
Buster fingered a flash drive. “I’ll take a look at all this and get back to you.”
“While you keep an innocent man in jail?” Jake asked.
“He confessed.”
“Thomas Sinclair lied.” Holly leaned over the desk. “He did not kill Tru. He lied because he’s willing to go to jail for me. You know why?”
She didn’t wait for him to answer. “He’s my daddy and he loves me. Always has. Thomas is innocent, and I demand that you look at this evidence right now and release him.”
Jake stood. “Yep. Old Sam would love to solve a double murder between the pages of the Gazette. I bet he could stretch that story out all the way until the election”
“I’ll get my deputies on this right away.” Buster eased out of his chair.
Holly lined the flash drives up across his desk. “We’ll be waiting right outside.”
* * *
The siren blared as Holly and Jake raced behind Buster’s patrol car back to Holly Grove. Jake had left Mackie in charge of making sure Sylvia couldn’t leave and he didn’t care how he did it.
When they turned down the gravel driveway covered with an oak canopy, she spotted Mackie sitting on the front porch of Holly Grove with Nelda. Sylvia was nowhere in sight. Holly’s heart fell.
Sure, the police would find her eventually, but Tru needed that closure. He needed an arrest to go with the name he provided to the devil. He needed the satisfaction that justice was done so he could rest in peace. And so could she.
They piled out of the car and Holly rushed to Mackie. “Where’s Sylvia?”
“That woman ain’t goin’ nowhere except to jail,” Nelda said, poking one foot from under the handmade quilt on her lap. She gave the porch swing a good push and glided backward.
Mackie grinned and thumbed toward the chicken coop.
Buster sauntered that way and everyone else followed except Nelda.
“How’d you get her in there, Mackie?” Jake asked as they walked across the side yard.
“I didn’t.” He eyed Dog. “She did. Herded that lady right in the coop. Pretty good, considering she’s carrying a litter.
Jake grinned. “I bet Dog has some border collie in her mix too.”
“Good dog.” Holly had never thought she’d say that and mean it about Dog.
“Thank God you’re here,” Sylvia yelled. Her fingers curled around the chicken wire so tightly they’d nearly turned purple. The winter wind had whipped her Bergdorf blond hair into a string mop. She jerked against the chicken wire and rattled the whole coop.
Dog leaped to her feet and let out a low, nasty growl while Rhett backed her up with a barrage of sharp yaps.
Sylvia jumped back and pointed at Mackie. “That man is holding me against my will.”
“Ma’am, it’s called a citizen’s arrest, and I didn’t put a hand on you.” Mackie stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Heck, I didn’t even latch the chicken coop. You could walk right out.”
“At your own risk.” Holly folded her arms and stood in front of Sylvia. “How do you feel about starring on prison TV?”
“Don’t harass my prisoner,” Buster said, removing his handcuffs from his utility belt. “Don’t worry, Ms. Martin. The good news is Louisiana hasn’t executed a woman since 1942.”
“What?” Sylvia snapped.
“That’s right. You’ll have the rest of your life to wait to go straight to hell.” Holly drilled Sylvia with a stare. “I have it on good authority that your name is on the list.”
Cuffs in hand, Buster opened the chicken coop door.
Sylvia’s stilettos sunk into the dirt as she tried to back up. “You can’t put those on me!”
“Yes ma’am, I can.” Buster wrangled Sylvia into the handcuffs. “You’re under arrest for the murders of Bob Morris and Tru Stalwort. You have the right to remain silent—”
“I have an alibi, or are you so daft you forgot I was with Bob when Thomas threw Tru off the roof? And Bob died of an
aphylactic shock. That is a medical condition. Not murder.” She shook her wayward hair off her face.
“Watch your step, ma’am.” Buster guided her toward his patrol car.
“Not only am I not going to be executed, I’m going to sue Holly Grove and this rat trap you call a town for everything you’ve got.”
“You know I speak to ghosts, right?” Holly said as she trotted beside Sylvia and Buster, leaving Mackie and Jake behind with the dogs.
Sylvia threw her head back and laughed. “So now you’re on speaking terms with your Burl.”
“Nope.” Holly trotted alongside Sylvia. “Tru is my new ghost, but he won’t be here long now that his murder is solved. Bob didn’t come back as a ghost, but he left you a message.”
“Really?” Sylvia gave Holly a side glance. “Some sort of woo-woo ghostly message. Yeah, right.”
Buster put his hand on Sylvia’s head and guided her into the backseat of his patrol car.
“It was more of a video message.” Holly pasted a sarcastic grin on her face. “He set up hidden cameras in your room and his.”
Sylvia turned ashen.
“And I gave the memory cards to our chief deputy sheriff here, and Tru is going to give your name to the devil.”
The wind caught the door, slamming it hard.
Holly looked skyward. My sentiments exactly.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Holly turned to go inside Holly Grove and walked right through the icy cold aura of Tru. She shivered and brushed herself off.
“Wow.” Tru grinned. “That was like a hug. Can we do that again?”
“What? I mean no.” That was like an ice bath to her. She looked over her shoulder to see if Nelda was still on the front porch. The empty swing barely moved in the breeze.
Tru followed her gaze. “They’re all inside.”
“Didn’t you get the memo?” Holly let out a breath like a pressure release valve. “Sylvia was arrested for Bob’s murder and accessory to your murder.”
“Yeah.” Tru dug his loafer across the grass. “I heard.”
“What are you still doing here?” Holly held her hands palms up. “Aren’t you happy?”
“I guess,” he said with a shrug.
“You get a choice of eternal fire or heaven. You got heaven. And you guess you’re happy?” Holly rolled her eyes. “Let me give you a little hint. Heaven is the happy part.”
Tru nodded but didn’t look up at her. “Remember, I told you I’d been thinking.”
“Yeah.” Holly dragged out the word. “And . . .”
“When I was a little kid, my grandfather died suddenly of a heart attack.” Tru finally looked up at Holly. “He and my grandmother had taken care of me while my mother worked since I was a baby. He was the only best friend I ever had and he was gone forever. It was a huge deal.”
“I’m sorry, Tru, but now you can go be with him.”
Tru shook his head. “He’s not there. I checked.”
“Where is he?”
“I’m getting to that.” Tru looked out in the distance as he spoke. “When I was little, Grandma said she knew how to visit him. Every week she’d go to a medium and pay her to call Gramps up for a visit.”
“Did it work?”
“At first, I thought so. I felt like he was there, but I couldn’t see him.” Tru gave a sheepish look. “But Grandma did. After a while I quit going, but Grandma never did. Even when she was in the nursing home the medium would come and call up Gramps. Then Grandma ran out of money. Every time I’d visit her, she wanted me to pay the medium. It made her happy, so I did it for a while. I decided to check out this medium. She lived on gated acreage and was loaded, but she made a woman in a nursing home pay her last dime to pretend to talk to her dead husband. I decided I would never let anyone take advantage of someone like my grandmother again. It took years, but I took that medium down, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I thought I was the good guy.”
“I’m sure you did take down some frauds.”
“And probably some legit mediums,” Tru said.
“You didn’t know any better, but now you do.”
“Yeah. That’s why I want to find my grandfather. When Grandma stopped paying, they lost touch before she died. She went on to Heaven and he’s stuck in between.”
“Like you were?”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking about. I have another choice. I can stay in between and help the people everywhere like Grandpa find their way. Like you do.”
Holly swallowed hard. “You think I help?”
Tru nodded. “Other than Grandpa, you’re the first real friend I’ve ever had.”
Jeez. He’s going to make me like him after all. “Thanks, Tru.”
“I’ve got a lot of work to do in faraway places, so I don’t know when I’ll see you again. If you ever need me, call me.”
“But . . .”
Tru faded into a misty gray.
Debunker to spirit guide. She didn’t see that one coming. Good-bye, Tru. Maybe I’ll see you on the other side one day.
* * *
Miss Alice’s pale blue Cadillac eased down the driveway as Buster’s patrol car motored toward the blacktop highway. The gravel crunched under the whitewall tires of the Cadillac until it idled in front of Holly.
When she spotted Thomas in the backseat, something twisted in her as though every missed birthday and holiday had been wrung out of her. She’d only just begun to know her father, but she now knew he loved her without bounds.
Chris climbed out of the car first and opened the door for Miss Alice. Thomas kept his head down for a moment before he opened the door. When he stepped out, he covered his mouth and stared at her with watery eyes.
A lump she couldn’t swallow lodged in her throat. She didn’t know what to say, but she did know what to do. Holly walked to Thomas and wrapped him in a hug.
Neither of them said anything for a moment. They just held each other tight and let the tears flow.
Thomas took a step back. He held her at arm’s length and looked into her eyes. “I’m not good at talking about this kind of thing, but I want you to know I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you were growing up. I can’t change that, but if you’re willing I’d like to be here for you now.
“I’d like that.” Holly took a big breath of a new life. “We have a lot of time to make up for.”
They walked in the house and joined Chris, Miss Alice, Nelda, and Jake for celebration Sazeracs.
“I knew who you were when you walked in my kitchen,” Nelda said as she sidled up between Holly and Thomas. “But I was still mad at you for leavin’ Holly’s mama brokenhearted. Mind you, I didn’t know the rest of the story. Everybody who knew but Miss Alice are dead and gone.” Nelda crossed herself. “God rest their souls. But when you marched yourself up to the jail and took the blame for Holly, I scratched off all the mad I ever had at ya.”
Thomas clinked his Sazerac glass to Nelda’s iced-tea glass. “That means more to me than you know.”
Holly caught a glimpse of Jake stepping out the back door with his phone pressed to his ear. “Yes, sir.” Jake listened for a minute or so. “Normally, I’d do it, but I need to spend some time back home. I’ve made promises to myself and others I need to keep. I’ll see you in about three weeks.”
She smiled at Jake as he crossed the porch and leaned against the banister next to her.
“Think you can spare a room for three weeks?”
“Sounds promising, but we’ll see.”
Downright Dead Page 26