The Ghost of Kathleen Murphy

by Vickie Carroll

  Chapter 17

  Cassie officially discharged her teaching duties by picking up her supplies and class critiques. She and April spent a few minutes going over what each of them would say to the owners of The Haven and decided April would go first. She would talk with Rose or Emily about her departure as soon as she could locate one of them, and Cassie would talk with them after dinner. To quiet their nerves, they went for a walk in the garden but were careful to stay away from the nearby Sisters’ cemetery and the area leading to the old cemetery. They were now paranoid about being watched. After discussing the merits of what they were doing, they both returned from their walk with new resolve and courage. April would now go find Emily and tell her she was leaving, but first she needed to call her mother and let her know. She dreaded talking to her mother more than Emily.

  Later, Cassie watched from a distance as April followed Emily down the long hallway toward her office. April’s sandals made a steady clip-clop on the tile and Emily’s shoes made no sound at all. Cassie held her breath and paced as she waited in the hall nearby.

  Less than ten minutes later, April came back down the hall to find Cassie hovering around the corner. April heaved a huge sigh and crossed herself. “Well, over and done.”

  “Come up to my room and tell me what she said, what you said, everything.”

  As soon as they got into the long hallway leading to their rooms April slowed her pace. “I told her I wanted to get some working in the world experience. She seemed to understand. She seemed to accept it without too much concern. I told her Jacob offered me a job in the store and found me a place to stay the last month that’s acceptable to my parents.”

  “And…”

  “Emily said she understood, and asked if you knew about this, and I told her yes. She said maybe it was just as well.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I was inching toward the door the entire time. I didn’t ask questions, I just tried to answer her the best I could without saying too much. I don’t even know how I got it all out. I just remember I thanked her for understanding and bolted. I told her I would be leaving tomorrow, but didn’t say exactly when,” April said.

  They both glanced across the hall at Lydia’s old room as they made their way to Cassie’s room. Cassie unlocked her door and paused, turning to April. “You know, of course, she is going to think we planned all this when I tell her tonight about my plans. But it can’t be helped. I suppose it doesn’t matter what she thinks at this point.” She closed and locked her door behind them.

  April sat down at the work table. “Yes, it is almost done. What time is Jacob coming for us tomorrow?”

  “At nine sharp, so be ready.”

  “I’m ready now!”

  “What did your family say about you leaving here?”

  “They were fine when I told them I would be making more money at the bookstore to help with my school fees in September. I talked mostly about that, and as little as I could about you living with Jacob, me living with you both, and nothing about what was coming with all this investigation mess.”

  “It will all work out, April; we just have to stay strong for a while longer.”

  “I know. I just want to be out of here and put this behind us.”

  Cassie walked over to the balcony French doors and peeked out. “Have you noticed it has been a while since Kathleen has made an appearance?”

  “I was thinking the same this morning. The professor once said, when a spirit had served its purpose they could move on. Do you think Kathleen has?”

  “I guess we will know soon enough,” Cassie said.

  “I found my Gaelic handbook just in case.” April walked onto the balcony and looked around, taking it all in, as if saying goodbye.

  Cassie walked out to join her on the balcony and put her arm around April’s shoulders. “Taking one last look?”

  “Yes, I guess I am, and it makes me sad to leave it all in one way. It has not been all bad here, and the place is so beautiful. But then knowing what happened here spoiled it all. Why must there be evil and death?”

  “Oh April, greater minds than ours have pondered that. The best answer I ever heard and I forget who said it: if there were no evil, we would not know good, and if there were no death, life would have no meaning.”

  “I sort of get it, but God has a weird sense of humor if you ask me.”

  Cassie laughed and hugged her hard. “I will miss you when you go away to college in the Fall.”

  “And I you. You will invite me to the future wedding, won’t you?”

  “Invite you—I fully expect you to be my maid of honor, if there is one.”

  “Oh Cassie!”

  “Don’t get too excited since future is the operative word here. We are far from that point. In fact, I’m not even sure I want to get married, or if he does.”

  “Oh, Cassie, you will, I’ve seen it in the stars,” April said.

  “If you say so. You are an unapologetic romantic. A warning for you though, I hear the maid of honor job comes with many duties.”

  “I won’t mind the duties. But don’t feel you have to pick me, Cassie. You must have friends you have known longer or relatives you rather have as maid of honor.”

  “There are relatives I love, and friends I have known longer, yes, but there is no one I feel closer to, April. I feel we have lived a lifetime together these weeks. You are one of the kindest and wisest people I know. I want you there with me on that day, whenever it comes.”

  “Now look, you have made me cry. I have to go finish packing. Cassie, I know the wedding talk was meant to make me feel better and less anxious, and thanks for trying.” April walked to her door without looking back.

  “April—don’t be afraid.”

  “I’m not afraid anymore. See you at dinner.”

  Cassie looked at her watch and knew the next hour would pass all too quickly. Dinner and then her talk with Emily and Rose. She packed all she could and left out just the few things she needed tonight and what she would wear tomorrow. One bag, her computer, and all her notes, were already at Jacob’s house. She hoped they would decide to cooperate and the authorities could find Maeve’s body and give her a proper burial. She didn’t want to see the retreat center closed, and the older surviving Sisters still around hurt unnecessarily. But if they knew something and kept quiet, then to her, it was unforgiveable. The church and its secrets—so many hurt by all the secrets.

  Cassie washed her face and reapplied her makeup. She heard the first of the dinner bells begin as she slipped into her shoes. She put on her grandmother’s rose quartz necklace for good luck, and with a final look around the room, picked up her key and locked her door. April was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Her long hair was tied back into a pony tail, and she wore a light green summer dress with white flowers around the top and at the border around the bottom.

  “You look so lovely, April. I’ve not seen that dress.”

  “I made it.”

  “Wow, you have many talents. I can barely sew on a button properly.”

  “My mother taught me. She is quite good and brings in extra money for the family. I was ten before I ever had anything from a store. She made all our clothes, even for the boys.”

  “With skills like those there is no need to go to a store.”

  “Thanks, Cassie. That brings me to what I wanted to ask you. Would you consider letting my mama, well, and me, make your wedding dress for you as our gift when the time comes?”

  “Oh April, I don’t know what to say. It’s just too much, too generous. But really, April, it could be months, years, if ever.”

  “I’ve told you, I’ve seen it. I have the gift, as my granny used to say. Besides, it is one thing we can do since we don’t have a lot of extra money for traditional gifts. You can pick any pattern you want. My mama can work with any material and any pattern.”

  “I would be thrilled and grateful, of course. What a wonderful gift, April. Has your m
om agreed to this? You know Jacob has not even asked me to marry him, right? Does she know you are getting ahead of everything?”

  April laughed. “I had to tell her you and Jacob were getting married if we were all living in the same house. She is still very much Catholic, after all. One thing led to another, and well, I have written her about how kind you have been to me. I never really said when you were getting married. Technically, I did not lie. She is happy to do it for you.”

  Cassie wiped away tears. “Now you have me crying! But April, I don’t want to be the cause of you lying to your mother.”

  “It’s no lie, Cassie, you two will get married, just like I said. I didn’t say when, did I?”

  “Oh, April.”

  Arm in arm they made their way into the dining room just as the last bell sounded. Cassie noticed Bernadette was missing from dinner again, and noticed Emily or Rose had opened the small private dining room where they were already seated, along with three guests, two men and one woman.

  “Look April.” Cassie nodded toward Emily and Rose and their guests.

  “Hope this doesn’t interfere with your plan to talk to her after dinner, Cassie.”

  “Me too. What will I do if I can’t get to her tonight?”

  “You will just have to interrupt her, and it might work in your favor. You can get away quicker.”

  “Maybe. Look, they are closing the door,” Cassie said.

  Their conversation was halted as two retreat employees joined them at their table. But it gave them a chance to ask about the guests.

  “Who are those people visiting Emily and Rose in the private dining room, Ruth?”

  “They are visiting from the Archdiocese in Dublin. The two men are anyway, and the woman is on the board they created to oversee the retreat center and the project to turn this area into a huge artists and writers’ colony. If they can finally get the church to sell the land.”

  Cassie could ask no more questions or they would wonder why she cared so much. She kept a close eye on the closed door as the meal came to an end.

  Almost everyone but Cassie and April had left the dining room, but the private area remained closed. Just as they were ready to give up Emily appeared at the doorway as she ushered her guests toward the dessert bar.

  “Now or never, April.” Cassie pushed back her chair and walked toward Emily. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I need a minute of your time this evening.”

  “I was expecting you, Miss Malone.”

  “Oh, why is that?”

  “I got a call from April’s mother telling me she was moving in with you and Jacob. I assumed you would be telling me you were leaving soon.”

  “Oh, of course, and I am sorry you had to learn that way. It was all just decided and the class is over, so we didn’t see the reason for the delay. The archive work is nearly done and can be finished on time by your staff.”

  “Will you be leaving tomorrow as well, Miss Malone?”

  “Yes, I thank you for having me here.”

  “I wish you all the best. Remember one thing. It is not always wise to pass judgment on things when you may not have a full understanding of a situation.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is… I have guests, perhaps we will finish this conversation at another time. Goodbye, Miss Malone.”

  Cassie could say nothing more and knew it. April was waiting for her in the hallway and Cassie could see the relief on her face. She grabbed April’s hands. “It is done, all done.”

  “So maybe her guests did give you a break. There was no time to give you the third degree.”

  “Maybe so. Are you up for a walk?”

  “Yes, it may be our last walk here. Dare we go down to the cemetery?”

  “David and Jacob warned me to stay away so maybe it’s good advice.”

  April slowed her pace. “I am a little concerned about Bernadette missing dinner tonight. Will you let Jacob know?”

  “Yes, I’ll call him tonight. Maybe he can visit with her tomorrow when he comes to get us.”

  “She has always been kind of other-worldly, but these past few days she has been truly odd,” April said.

  “I was thinking she may be on the verge of some sort of breakdown but I didn’t dare bring it up to Jacob with all the other things going on.”

  “I know he has been concerned about her but what can he do? He can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to do,” April said.

  “Maybe he can reason with her. I’m a bit concerned they will fire her now that she is older, but as long as they think Jacob is going to invest in their project she was safe. But now, as soon as tomorrow, they will know he is not going to invest.”

  “I had a terrible thought, Cassie. If they think she may tell Jacob something they don’t want him to know what would they do?”

  “I doubt they think her a real threat.”

  “I guess we will find out soon enough,” April said.

  They walked through the flower gardens and then to the vegetable gardens, their favorite areas. It was a bittersweet walk, especially for April who touched the flowers and trees as if for the last time.

  “April, I know you might like some time alone here on your last night. I’ll go write for a while now just to make a few notes. I need to call Jacob about Bernadette anyway. If you want to talk or need anything I’ll likely be up late reading, so come by or call if you need to, and I mean it.”

  “Thanks, but I don’t want to be alone. Let’s take the long way around to the old tower side for a last look, and then we will have some tea and biscuits.”

  Cassie hugged her. “Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”

  “Perfect. I need to make sure I have everything out of the drawers in my room, and clean my bathroom. I left it a bit messy, but don’t want to face it just yet.”

  Cassie took April’s hand. “Let’s pick up the pace before it gets too dark.” The ringing phone startled her. Her nerves were more on edge than she had thought. She sighed with relief when she looked at the caller ID, it was Jacob. “Hello beautiful girl, how was your day and is the deed done?”

  “Yes, the deed is done. April and I are out walking around the grounds to say goodbye to the place and then we are going to go to my room and stuff ourselves with biscuits and tea. Then we will talk of nothing but our plans for our brilliant futures.”

  “A wise plan. You’ll be happy to know I’m about to clean the house and get the spare room ready for April. I stopped on the way home and stocked up on a few things you told me she liked to eat, so I think she’ll be comfortable. Also, Shamus is very excited about his two favorite girls are coming to live here with us.”

  “Give Shamus a hug for us. Wait…hold on Jacob. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there looks like a body on the ground ahead, near the bell tower.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll call you back, Jacob.”

  “Cassie…”

  She ended the call and looked around for April who was frozen in place, hands over her mouth.

  “April, stay here…”

  But April had already seen the body on the ground and was crossing herself. “It’s Bernadette, Cassie.”

  “Oh God.” Cassie made herself put one foot in front of the other until she was close enough to see it was indeed Bernadette.”

  “April, here take my phone, call for help, an ambulance, the police, everyone, and then go get someone and I will stay here with her. She is unconscious and I can’t tell where she is hurt.”

  April took the cell phone and started punching in numbers as she ran toward the main part of the building.

  “And April… I’ll need the phone back to call Jacob.”

  Chapter 18

  By the time Jacob arrived the police had marked off the area as a possible crime scene. Bernadette was insisting someone pushed her down the steps even though she could not remember why she was on them. The local doctor had just arrived and checked her over. He diagnosed
a broken ankle, cracked ribs, and a host of soft tissue injuries all over her body. They were waiting on the ambulance to take her into hospital for X-rays to confirm the diagnosis. Cassie saw Jacob across the yard but couldn’t go to him because they had pulled her aside for questioning. She saw him go to one of the officers and introduce himself, and they took him into the building where they had taken April minutes before.

  Cassie pleaded with the officer. “Please, can I go inside now? I have told you all I know. We were out walking and saw someone on the ground and I went to see who it was and to see if I could help. I then realized who it was, checked her pulse, and asked April to make all the necessary calls.”

  The tall lady officer made a few more notes and slapped her notebook shut. “Yes, you can go now, but leave your contact information with the officer inside.”

  Cassie nodded her agreement and ran into the building. She found two officers sitting with Jacob and April in the community room. Emily and Rose were off to the side of the room with another officer. They glanced her way when she entered. She stood close enough to hear Jacob’s conversation with the officers but did not join him on the sofa.

  The stocky blond officer leaned in toward Jacob. “So let me get this straight, she is your aunt, she works and lives here, and you know of no reason why anyone would want to hurt her?”

  “What are you saying?” Jacob stood, color creeping up from his neck to his face.

  “We are just trying to rule out whether it was an accident or something else since she still insists she was pushed.”

  “What?” Jacob sat back down on the sofa and ran his hands through his hair. “No, she didn’t have enemies if that is what you mean.”

  The officer looked back down at his notes. “She is seventy-four, so do you know if she was on any medication that might have side effects to account for her fall, or her confusion?”

  “Not that she discussed with me, but it’s possible.”

  “Very well, I think we have what we need for now, Mr. Sullivan.”

  “Will you let me know as soon as you finish the investigation?”

  “We will be in touch, and I am sorry for your troubles.” The officer shook Jacob’s hand and turned to Cassie.