The Ghost of Kathleen Murphy

by Vickie Carroll

  Cassie laughed. “I understand. April loved it too and had forgotten about the old cemetery, or at least it just never occurred to her in connection with what is going on.”

  “Just don’t be seen snooping around down there in case one of them, or more than one of them, knows Maeve is buried there,” Jacob said.

  “We were careful, but time is running out so we won’t have much snooping time left.”

  “You can’t go digging down there, Cassie. It is their property, and it is against the law to go digging around in cemeteries, even those over three hundred years old. I will let David know we think it’s a prime location for our theory—Maeve’s final resting place.”

  “She’s there, Jacob, I can feel it.”

  “She is at the feet of the Virgin, isn’t that what you were saying before?”

  “Yes, but we didn’t connect it with the old cemetery. I didn’t know about it, and of course, April had long forgotten about it. Even if we had thought of the statue of the Virgin, we would have thought of the one in the Sisters’ main cemetery. That is where Kathleen appeared. If we had not found this statute at the old cemetery, Maeve might never have been discovered,” Cassie said.

  “I’m sure she went to the only cemetery you were going to at the time. She would have found a way to lead you to where you needed to be, I feel sure,” Jacob said.

  Cassie leaned into Jacob and rested her head on his chest. She was very tired but the anxiety retreated. She knew it was because she no longer felt alone.

  “Welcome home, Cassie. I like looking around and seeing you in my house, our house.” He kissed her, taking his time, his lips traveling down her neck.

  “I like this welcome very much.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into his body. It felt like the place she had been looking for. They fit together.

  “I hate to discourage this behavior, but I have burgers on the grill.”

  “Oh, yes, dinner. Kiss me again and go.”

  “I’ve cleaned out the closet in the bedroom and you have half the dresser drawers. It might be enough space to get your started. We can adjust once the rest of your things come over from America.”

  Cassie ran those words through her mind: her things, her life, was coming to Ireland. It sounded final. She didn’t want Jacob to see how the words shook her so she turned away toward the bedroom. “Okay, I’ll put the few things I brought in there now and leave the notes and papers in here for you to review and to keep where you think best.”

  “Come on out back when you’re ready.” Jacob went into the backyard singing a song Cassie didn’t know.

  She realized then they would have some work to do. They must combine two lives, two countries, two cultures, and all in the middle of what was sure to be a big scandal, and maybe legal complications. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph as April would say,” she whispered.

  Cassie joined Jacob at the grill and found him still singing the same song. “You look really sexy in your apron, I must say.”

  Jacob looked down. “I forgot I had this on. So you find pictures of tomatoes sexy, do you?”

  “On a handsome man who is cooking for me, yes I do.”

  “I’ll cook for you every day woman, if you look at me like that every day.”

  “I might manage it.”

  Jacob put the burgers on the platter and handed them to Cassie. She took them to the round table under the tree where he had set out plates, glasses, and a pitcher of lemonade.

  “This looks yummy, Jacob. What’s for dessert?”

  “Just like an American, in a hurry for the dessert before the meal has even started.”

  Cassie laughed. “My gosh, it’s so true. Americans have a hard time staying in the moment. You will have to teach me.”

  “I can do that. First lesson starts now. Sit down and relax. Breathe in and out, and stop thinking, just feel.”

  “Okay, oh wise man, how do you stop thinking?”

  “It takes practice. For you, today’s goal will just be to relax and enjoy your food. Can you do it, woman?”

  “I can try. I promise I will try.” Cassie sat back and closed her eyes and let Jacob prepare her plate.

  “Okay, now you eat. Just enjoy the food, and if you must think, think about after dessert.”

  “What’s after dessert, the dishes?”

  Jacob laughed. “Very well then, after the dishes.”

  Cassie smiled and took a huge bite of her burger. She let the juices run down her chin. Jacob gave her thumbs up as he did the same.

  As it turned out they had to delay dessert and everything else because David, Jacob’s attorney friend, called with some news just as they finished eating. The investigator David and Jacob hired had turned up some information. David said he would rather tell them in person. Jacob assured him they would be in his office promptly at ten the next morning. They spent the next hour gathering up what they would take to David and making some other notes with their questions about the legal issues of copying the old monastery files.

  “Cassie it is getting late. Will you just stay here tonight?”

  “I may as well. In another forty-eight hours, it won’t matter what they think of me at The Haven. But I need to call April and let her know.”

  Around midnight they finally got to dessert. Cassie sat in the kitchen wearing Jacob’s sweatshirt, and sipping tea. Jacob dished up the strawberry shortcake, his favorite, she noted, and they sat for an hour making a list of all Cassie needed to do to begin her move to Ireland and obtain legal status. It was something else to discuss with David. Neither had any idea about how long it would take Cassie to become a citizen or to retain citizenship in both countries. The list kept getting longer.

  Cassie checked in with April again the next morning. There were no more classes, but she would miss the students’ departure, and she felt bad about that, but meeting with David was more important. She asked April to make her apologies to the students for her, saying she stayed over with a friend, and was not feeling well, which was not a total lie. Her stomach was the first thing to let her know how stressed she was, and this morning it started to talk to her.

  “What do you want for breakfast on this sunny just-born morning?” Jacob called from the kitchen.

  “Anything is fine. Nothing too heavy, my stomach is a bit nervous. Kudos to you for your cheerfulness.”

  “You may as well know: I’m a morning person, Cassie. Here is tea, toast, and fruit for your nervous stomach.”

  When Cassie got to the kitchen, Jacob was already there sipping his tea and reading the paper. Shamus was curled up in the corner on his new dog bed and looked as if he had been there forever. Jacob set out toast, mixed fruit, and a jar of wonderful strawberry preserves. Cassie sat down willing her stomach to behave. She put a big spoonful of the preserves on a piece of toast. “Oh, this is fantastic. Sorry for talking with a full mouth, but yummy.”

  “I get it from a family down the road who does preserves, pies, cakes, fantastic things, and the bread is something special. I’ll take you to meet them soon.”

  “I may get fat living here.”

  “No, you won’t because you will walk more and drive less. I’ll get you a bicycle and we can ride in the evenings.”

  “Sounds like heaven to me.”

  “It’s a great village and for all my remarks about people knowing my business, they are people with big hearts and kind souls,” Jacob said.

  “I know I will love it here; I already do love it. The place inspires my imagination and brings out my mystical side. Well, I am seeing ghosts, so there’s the proof.”

  Jacob laughed. “Stranger things have happened. You will find all sorts of stories, myths, legends, and odd folks to write about here. You will have no problem with inspiration.”

  “Jacob—about living together…”

  “Don’t tell me you have gone off me already.”

  Cassie laughed. “No, what I was going to say was, I am not Catholic and you are, or were. I was wond
ering about how all this would affect your life and what your family might say. We haven’t talked much about things like that yet.”

  “I have no strong church ties left, Cassie, and not a lot of family to approve of me or disapprove of me.”

  “What about the family you do have, your cousins, and your Aunt Bernie, won’t they be upset about all this?”

  Jacob put down his cup. “I have an aunt and uncle and three cousins left, and they live in London and Dublin, and one here in the village. None of them are religious. As for Bernie, well, I don’t think it matters anymore.”

  “I don’t have much family left either, just a cousin or two.”

  “Cassie, enough of your trying to make problems where they don’t exist, and back to our plans.”

  “Do I do that? I am very insulted you think I’m a worrier.”

  And then he smiled. “Okay, I get it, American humor.”

  “No, just Cassie humor.”

  “I’ll figure you out, woman, just give me time.”

  Cassie put more preserves on her toast. “What, and destroy the mystery that is me?”

  “I don’t think it’s possible, and you have strawberry preserves on your face, by the way. But now we must get back to matters at hand. We need to get on our way soon, and I don’t think the sweatshirt and pajama bottoms is a good look for the lawyer’s office.”

  “Oh, maybe not.” She rushed into the bathroom, dabbed on a bit of makeup she had stashed in her purse, and put on her jeans and shirt from the day before. It would have to do. She couldn’t go back to change clothes now.

  David greeted them with tea and scones when they arrived. He was very tall, and reminded Cassie of Liam Neeson but with darker hair. He even had the off-center nose. Jacob told her David had been a martial arts fighter in college so that would explain it. Regardless, he had a rugged handsomeness, and it was most attractive. His blue eyes were expressive, and his manner was sincere and direct. She could see how he would make a winning lawyer. She looked at him and wanted to believe everything he told her.

  Cassie could tell Jacob and David were good friends, and knew each other well by watching them interact. They even shared some of the same mannerisms, she noticed. Jacob told David about their theory of the body at the foot of the Virgin in the old cemetery, and David cautioned against them against telling anyone else.

  “Do not even think about digging there,” David said.

  “We thought you would say that.” Jacob handed him the files they had copied from the old monastery archives.

  They were quiet as David thumbed through the files. “Most of this looks like it might be available from public information sources except for the internal notes, which could be a problem. Just leave it all with me to look over for now,” David said.

  “Can’t we just say we ran across it accidentally?”

  “You could, Cassie, but why would you need to copy it? You see the problem here.”

  “Yes, of course, sorry, David.”

  “We can hold onto anything like this. If we can get a search warrant, the original you found would turn up then, and you won’t have to show you copied anything.”

  “David, while we are here, Cassie wanted to ask about any liability she might have if she wrote about this,” Jacob said.

  “Yes, David, as you know, part of the reason I’m at the retreat center is to have time to write my book. I came here for that reason primarily, but also to find something compelling to write about. Originally, I was going to base the story on a local legend, myth, or old story of some sort. Then we stumbled onto this real story and I decided to write about it.”

  “I can see the problem. You think they will make it seem as if you went there on purpose to dig up some scandal to embarrass the church just to sell books.”

  “Well, yes, I can see someone suggesting it; but of course, there is no truth in it at all,” Cassie said.

  David tapped his pen on the desk. “Do you have your notes on anything you researched or wrote prior to getting involved in this story of the missing girl?”

  “Yes, I do, and in fact, it is dated so I can prove I did other things before. Will that help?”

  “It could, but they can always claim you did it on purpose too, to cover your tracks.”

  Cassie sighed in frustration. “Can they keep me from publishing my book?”

  David held up his right hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Cassie. Let’s talk to the authorities, see if they think we have enough to even get a search warrant. I have talked to them in a preliminary sort of way, to a trusted person, let me say, and he believes we will have to tread carefully, but with the journal, we might have enough.”

  “What about the journal, since we found it on their property?”

  “Yes, Cassie, you did find it on their property, but it belonged to Jacob’s wife because she found it and took it home, so technically, though a legal stretch, it’s his property now and does not belong to The Haven.”

  “I’m sorry, David, I don’t know Irish law. I’ll leave all this up to you and Jacob, and I will certainly do as you say. I have already told April to say nothing to no one. She will be coming to Jacob’s house tomorrow to stay and we both will be out of The Haven and off their property.”

  “I believe it’s for the best, Cassie. Be sure you leave nothing behind and have everything out by noon tomorrow. The investigator is set to go some time in the afternoon. They will go without calling and request a meeting right then with the owners, while another investigator will be doing the same at the Archdiocese in Dublin. Depending on how things go, they will proceed with a formal investigation. The rest will be determined by what their lawyers do,” David said.

  “Getting permission to dig up a grave will be a bit more complicated, I’m guessing,” Jacob said.

  “Yes, we need real evidence someone or something is buried at the foot of the statue. The best we might prove is the old priest and/or his assistant was an abuser, and they may or may not have had something to do with the child’s disappearance,” David said.

  Jacob stood up and stretched. “David, I’m not sure how hard the authorities will push on this since it involves the church and everyone is long dead. It could be hard to prove any of the living Sisters knew anything and covered it up.”

  “Regardless, if we find the remains of a girl, then we would have a case to pursue and I think the rest would fall out in good time. Oh, and Jacob, you need to sever all ties with the retreat center right now, today. I know you were a potential investor in their plans to buy the rest of the property and develop it.”

  “Can you draw up something for me and email me, David?”

  “Yes, it will only take a few minutes. I’ll have it sent to you and you can send it on to them today.”

  They left David’s office with as many questions as answers, and a lot of notes. They got back into the car feeling a bit drained and somewhat discouraged.

  “What do I tell Emily and Rose? What does April tell them? We need to get out tomorrow. Are we ready for this, Jacob?”

  “We have to be ready, right?”

  “I’m starting to feel guilty now. I got you into all this, and your aunt, and April. What have I done?”

  “Time is past for the guilt trip, Cassie. We know too much now. Could we live with the guilt of doing nothing—is the real question now?”

  “You’re right, I know you are. I’m just dreading this next step which will start things into motion; things once started that we can’t take back and can’t stop. It’s all a bit daunting.”

  “Just think of it this way, Cassie, we are going to be the voices of Maeve and Kathleen, long silenced through no fault of their own. You are not only putting them to rest but solving a really old missing person’s case, and a murder, if it is Maeve’s body in the old cemetery. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

  “Yes, but we are stepping out with little evidence and a lot of hope we are right; and Jacob, I am aware this may make publ
ic Lydia’s illness and her death. I don’t take that lightly.”

  “I’m looking at it as if we are giving her a voice too, one she wanted and was not allowed to have,” Jacob said.

  They pulled into the circular drive back at The Haven, and Cassie took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to them this evening after dinner. I’ll tell them you and I have decided to live together. She can do with the information what she wishes. April will tell her she found a job and place to live in town. She does not owe them more. Do you agree?”

  Jacob nodded and got out of the car, and they stood looking at the building as if it were a living thing. “Remember, Cassie, say what you need to say, no more.”

  “I just feel like such a sneak running away before it all happens tomorrow.”

  “You know you must do it this way. They can’t have warning if the evidence is to remain intact,” Jacob said.

  “I just know they will never give permission for the old cemetery to be excavated.”

  “Positive thoughts, Cassie. Let’s hope they do it without dragging everything out in the open, but if they resist, then the journals will go on record and may be the deciding factor for the church.”

  “It will make it easier for all concerned if they give the authorities all the information and allow them to search for the body,” Cassie said.

  “If not, it will all come out anyway, and in the end they will have no choice. Let’s hope they can see it the same way. Their lawyers will help them make sense of things from their side.”

  Cassie kissed Jacob. “Wish me luck, and I will see you at nine tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll be here.” He waved and gave her the thumbs up sign as he drove away.

  Cassie went straight to April’s room to go over plans for their exit one final time.