“The head that you buried in the field as you ran home.”
“Oh, my heavens. Did I do that? No, that doesn’t sound like something I’d do. Quite dreadful. Can you imagine? I do remember the field. Lovely, really.” She sits up and sighs before ringing a little bell.
The nurse comes into the room. If she heard the bell, she was close enough to hear our conversation. That can’t be good. Grace asks her to serve the hors d'oeuvres and champagne. The nurse rolls her eyes and leaves the room. Grace has turned on an old-fashioned record player. The music sounds like screeching bats. I feel dizzy.
The nurse doesn’t look at me when she returns with cheese and crackers and gelatin spiders and two stem glasses with something sparkling that I hope is carbonated water. One sip and I know it isn’t.
Grace is dancing around the room. She empties her glass in one long sip and flops down on her chaise lounge. I think she’s close to passing out.
I move to a chair that’s closer to Grace in the hopes the nurse won’t hear us. “As I was saying last time, I’d like you to go to the barn with me so you can… so I can take some photographs of you.”
“Oh that would be delightful. A photo shoot. How many costume changes shall I bring?”
“Several,” I say. “Remember to keep this confidential until publication. You know the competition.”
She gives me a long, breathless yes, and closes her eyes again.
“Okay, I’ll make all the arrangements and call you tomorrow.”
I think the woman is asleep or passed out so I put out her cigarette. I’m about to walk out of the room when Grace shouts for me to wait.
She’s up and pacing and smoking the unlit cigarette while finishing my glass of champagne. “I wanted to tell you something. It’s a secret, though I don’t remember whose.”
I must be losing my own mind since I forgot all about the secret she said she wanted to tell me. “Of course, what is it?”
“I can’t recall, but this talk about my darling Argus has lit a spark. Your snooping around is what’s caused me to remember what I now can’t recall. Tell me again why you’re here? The truth this time.” She’s back on the chaise lighting her cigarette.
Grace is a little tipsy, and I’m not sure what truth would help her find the secret lurking in the cobwebs of her mind. I know my own efforts to sense what’s going on in that mind hasn’t found a single open door.
“The truth is that regardless of what happened that night in the barn, I want to help Argus’ spirit find peace. I think you want that too.”
Grace lies back and blows smoke at the ceiling. “No, that’s not it. It was something you said about the spiders.”
“I asked you why you had spiders at lunch the other day.”
“No, that’s not it either. Was that you who told me about the spiders losing their heads? Oh, never mind. It isn’t important. What I wanted to tell you was about that head. The one you found. That was you who found it, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. What about the head?”
“Oh, it was so sad and messy too. All that blood. Two heads are better than none.” These last words Grace thinks are hilarious then she sits up and dabs her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” I jump and Grace lies back as the nurse comes into the room. “It’s late,” she says. “I have to ask you to go now.”
“A few more minutes. Just to say goodbye,” I say. She walks to the door to wait.
“Grace. Ms. Gracie. What about the head?”
Chapter Thirty
§
While I try to refocus her thoughts, Grace drifts off to sleep. Although easy to wake, she denies knowing anything about headless spiders and informs me that she has no interest in holes in heads, including her own.
The nurse helps Grace upstairs while claiming it’s past her bedtime. It’s barely eight o’clock. She tells me to show myself out the door and watches me from the upstairs banister to make sure I do. I’m afraid I know the person who’s hired the woman, and that she will soon be calling Diana to report my visit.
Back in the jeep, I try to figure things out. The last thing I need is another piece in this ghost puzzle. The thing is though that I never told Grace about the headless spiders. The only people who know about them are my clients and only one of those clients knows Grace.
I shouldn’t assume that it was Loren who told Grace about the spider heads. Calvin and even Russ could know about them and if Coleman knows, I’m sure I can count on her to blab about them to someone. The nurse has come to watch me sit in my vehicle from the front window. I wave to her and take off.
When I get back to the hotel, I soak in the tub to rid myself of the cigarette smoke, the cartoon chatter from the blue mansion, and the secret of the head that I may never know. My senses are barely recharged and I’m ready to sleep the evening off when my phone rings.
It’s Loren and she’s talking loud and too slow. She says the police have gone through the barn and removed the padlock. She agrees that would be a good thing if it wasn’t for Todd being arrested for Owen’s murder.
“So they found his body?” I almost choke on the words.
“They did?”
“What? I don’t… I was asking.”
Loren’s more confused than I am. She says all Todd’s father told her was that he’s in jail.
I ask about Zeda. Loren says she was released and that all she intends to do is curl into a ball until Charlie’s gone and everything is back to normal. We agree that normal comes with its own set of problems.
She’s ready to hang up when I remind her of my evening with Grace. I ask about the spider heads, and she tells me she hasn’t talked to the woman in ages. It’s impossible not to believe her.
“So she never got to tell you her secret?” she asks.
“Not a single clue about it. Do you have any ideas?”
“Are you sure she wasn’t just talking about the spiders’ heads instead of the head in the hole. I’ve heard that she’s fond of the things.”
I agree that Grace could be confusing the two, though I doubt it.
Loren moves on to her favorite subject. “Most wouldn’t feel the same, but I think her love of spiders is just so romantic. Well, not where Edith was concerned. I don’t blame the man’s wife one bit for going after him. I can’t count the number of weddings that have never made it past my down payment fee. And eighty percent of the time, the planning came to a screeching halt because the groom was messing around with another woman.”
Loren’s worked herself into a knot about the cheating heart. I can’t imagine a job more laced with emotion than hers. Not even ghosts stir up feelings as intensely as do love and the promise of eternal commitment.
I’m starting to dose off when Loren starts in on it being such a classic love story: tragic, secretive, complicated. I agree that relationships are difficult. Unfortunately, this launches a ten minute Q and A discussion about my own love life. The A’s comprise about one-sixteenth of the conversation as does the Q’s. At one point, I’m sure I fell asleep.
We say our goodbyes, and Loren tells me to be careful with Grace tomorrow. I promised to do so if only to get her off the phone.
“If we’re lucky,” I tell Mojo, “we’ll get to meet our ghost tomorrow.” I can tell he’s very excited.
∞
It’s nine the next morning when I head to the barn. I’ve already tried calling Grace to confirm that I’ll pick her up tonight for her photo shoot. The woman, whose voice I recognize as the housekeeper’s, tells me Ms. Gracie doesn’t get up before noon on good days. Based on last night’s smokes and booze fest, I’m guessing it’s not one of those days.
My head has cleared and I’m ready to proceed with this bogus photo shoot. I have a top of the line ghost trackers’ camera that I’ve owned for a year and have never used on the living or the dead. I don’t think even Grace would be fooled if I tried to use my iPhone camera. My plan is to take photos of the woman in a few areas of the barn while quietly
asking Argus to crossover. If only it turns out to be that easy.
I fully expect the barn to be empty this morning, and I’m anxious to get in and clear the energy for this evening. I’m still praying that Diana doesn’t discover my plan and put a swift end to it. I got a clear vibe that the nurse wasn’t all that fond of me, so I have a reason to be concerned.
If the roof doesn’t come crashing down once Grace is in the barn and my whispered words to Argus don’t work, I’m insanely considering doing a séance with the woman. I pray that asking Grace to remember her love for Argus will be enough to release his spirit, even if her love is not what he remembers most about that night.
Before she hung up last evening, Loren said meeting across the veil was the saddest thing two lovers could ever do, though she worried that Argus might have a change of heart after he sees the old lady with the lavender hair. She’s right and that’s a plus I hadn’t considered. If my ghost is Argus, he may crossover with Godspeed upon seeing the woman.
When I go to unlock the barn door, it squeaks open just a few inches. Since there are no cars parked alongside, I assume the police left it unlocked. I stick my head in and call out. Zeda answers.
She comes running and throws her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re here. I hate being in this place alone. I used to love it, but it’s evil. Please, you have to get rid of Charlie. I’m the last one he has to destroy. Except for you, I mean.” She gives me puppy dog eyes, and heads to the lunch table where a box of donuts is taking center stage.
“All I can do is eat. It’s like my body needs sugar to stay alive.”
At the rate the girl’s eating sugar, she’ll live forever and in a very hyper yet sad state. “How did you get here?”
“I took a taxi. I almost didn’t survive the night in our apartment. I hate to be alone.”
“Owen’s apartment?” I barely had the thought before it popped out of my mouth.
Zeda crunches her nose before telling me that she’s been living with Todd since the day Charlie killed Morgan. She says she couldn’t bear to go back to the place she shared with him. With this new turn of events, Argus and his presumed innocence has been forgotten.
“Have you been able to talk to Todd?” I ask
“Not a word. The police wouldn’t let me see him at the station. I keep expecting him to call me, but all I got was a message from his dad that said he had to stay overnight.”
She thinks they just have more questions to ask, and I don’t tell her that’s not grounds for holding him. The girl may be brilliant at coding, but seems that’s the only thing her brain is processing.
I don’t need her energy messing up the space; she needs to leave so I can get to work. The barn is heavy with spikes of anger and deceit. I can’t blame all of it on Todd. Deceit is something I’ve been feeling for awhile, and especially since the Silvers had their meeting here.
Right, the Silvers. The couple who was here when Morgan fell and returned in time for Owen to go missing.
“So are you planning on working all day?”
“Working?” Zeda’s picking the sprinkles off her donut– the second one since I’ve been here. “No, I’m waiting for the search team. Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“No, I’m here to work on the haunting.”
“But everyone in town will be looking for Owen. You have to search with us. It wouldn’t be right not to. How’d you find his jacket anyway? Detective Coleman said it was way back in the woods covered by brush.”
“Mojo found it,” I say, and wonder what else Coleman is lying about to the kids.
Chapter Thirty One
§
The wolfdog rolled his eyes at me when I ratted him out for finding Owen’s things. In general, we aren’t fond of the police or the press since we never come off good or legit.
It doesn’t really surprise me that Coleman lied to Zeda about the jacket being in the woods. I’m sure the woman was trying to bait her and Todd into confessing, but still wonder what other stories she told them.
I try to squirm my way out of joining the search for Owen without coming off too insensitive, but once Zeda learned that Mojo was already on the case, she wasn’t listening. While I’m still pondering excuses, the troops arrive and Zeda runs out to welcome them. I reluctantly follow.
There are four trucks and a half dozen cars. Detective Coleman and three police vehicles are blocking the jeep.
Coleman nods her head at me then turns her attention to Zeda. “Ms. Raine, do you think it’s wise to be out here all by yourself?”
“I’m here to help look for Owen because the police can’t find him.” She takes off in the direction of an officer who is barking instructions on what to do and especially what not to do. Some thirty people are divided into groups and ordered to go in four separate directions. I’m about to do as told when Coleman tells me to hold up a minute.
She’s quiet until the groups disperse then she gives me a nasty glare. “You satisfied?”
“With what?”
“Two down, two to go.” Coleman’s got her mirrored sunglasses on and her arms crossed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see a news truck driving too fast in our direction on the dirt road. “Two what?” I ask, and inch towards the barn’s doors.
“One kid is dead. According to forensics, a second is probably dead too. If you’d cooperated, Owen Thornton would be alive right now.”
The news truck is seconds from us so I ask Coleman to come inside the barn. She follows and walks around, snooping in every corner, then she slips off her sunglasses and says, “You have work to do.”
“What?”
“Spiders.”
“Right. They’re back. So you’ve concluded that Owen is dead?”
“Is he, Raven? Want to tell me what really happened to him?”
“I have no idea what happened to Owen. If I did, you’d already have heard it.”
She presses her hand on the back of her neck before twisting her head in every direction. When she spots the donuts, she heads to the lunch table and I follow.
“Here’s what I think happened. The Silvers hired you to pose as an insect inspector.” She raises her eyebrows and nods her head up and down while bug eyeing me.
I remind myself that she has a gun under her jacket. “For what purpose?”
She rubs her fingers together and licks the sugar from them. Then she says real slow, “Insurance money.”
“You’re kidding? You think I’m in on some insurance scheme with the Silvers? That’s a little far reaching.”
Coleman claims if I was innocent, I would have agreed to wear the wire. She tells me she’s been keeping an eye on me. She knows I had lunch with Russ. She knows I’ve talked to Harper, the guy who sold the barn to the Silvers. She says she’s on to all of us. I’m only slightly curious about her not mentioning Diana since she already said the cameras caught me at Starlings.
“So why is Todd in jail instead of me and the Silvers?”
She shrugs. “Todd’s being held for punching an officer. Boy’s got an anger problem. He’ll be out later today. Your time will come soon enough… unless you want to get it off your chest right now. Come clean, Raven. The Silvers are going down for murder. They’re just using you. Don’t be a fool. Tell me all you know, and I’ll tell the DA’s office to go easy on you.”
“I don’t think you can make deals for the District Attorney’s office, but thanks for the offer. I’ve never met the Silvers. I’ve never even spoken to them.” My stomach quivers as I get ready to confess. “But you caught me; I’m not a spider exterminator—
“I knew it.” Coleman throws a donut across the table and high-fives the air then retrieves it.
As soon as she takes a big bite, I say, “I help the haunted.”
She chokes then tells me she could arrest me right now for lying to her, obstructing justice, and interfering with a murder investigation. Mojo goes to stand beside her. He sniffs her when she isn’t looking a
nd glares at her when she does.
Coleman starts to say something, but Mojo’s distracting her and then so is the barn. She’s looking from one end to the other while pretending she isn’t, then her eyes stop in the east corner. Dare I hope the woman knows about Argus’ murder and has information I want to know?
“You charge for your services?” she asks. She tries to focus on me but her eyes are wandering. Now they’re scanning the loft.
For a second, I think I have a new customer. I don’t.
“We have laws in this town against shysters,” she says.
“My services are legal and legit,” I say, but I don’t know anything about the laws in Minnesota or any other state. I pay my taxes and that’s as close as me and the government ever get concerning my services.
“You talk to dead people? Like in the movies?”
“Talk, listen. I help release earthbound spirits. You know, show them to the light, wish them a happy ever afterlife.”
Coleman’s pacing. She runs her fingers over the electrical cords hanging from the wire hangers. She picks up a coffee cup in the sink and smells it. Mojo has moved to stand behind her. Now he’s just being a brat, and I really should tell him to knock it off.
She’s got her back to me then spins around and yells, “What about Nordquist?”
“What about him?” I ask, and smile. Unless she already knows the barn is haunted, she would have to assume that’s the reason I’m here. So why’s she asking?
She’s jerking her arm in pointing at the loft and everything else. “You’re saying he’s haunting the place?”
“No.” Now I’m just being a brat, and I really should knock it off since I have work to do.
Coleman walks to the door and I think she’s leaving. Then she stops and looks in the corner. I haven’t checked for decapitated spiders lately. Seems I’m not the only one doing the checking. Coleman does have information I need, but getting it out of her tight cop lips is another thing.
“Any spiders?” I ask.
The Eton Bluff Haunting (Jack Raven Ghost Mystery Book 4) Page 15