“Oh my, Bill never said that part,” Sophia said. “I-I mean you k-know Trooper Sales.”
I nodded at her curtly and waved my hand at her. “None of my business, dear.” Truth was I didn’t want to know.
“Gramms, we’re just friends.”
“I know all about how the friend thing goes. I have lived a bit too.”
Just then a rap at the door was quickly answered. Perhaps they both wanted the subject dropped.
Trooper Sales came in and took a look around. “Everyone okay?”
“I guess. This isn’t the kind of homecoming I imagined.”
“Anything missing?”
“I’m sorry, Sales, but I barely had the time to take stock of the place. I have just been victimized again is all.” I buried my head in my hands and shook my head. What next?
I stumbled outside removed to tears. Why does something bad happen everywhere I live? I wondered to myself.
I turned just as Leotyne strolled back, but this time, her expression was quite somber. “The Devil not find you this time, but he’ll be back.”
My mouth gaped open. “It’s a premonition then?”
She walked by without saying another word. Maybe that’s why she wanted to move her camping site. Maybe the fire had a little to do with it.
Trooper Sales came to me with a police report for me to sign and he left. Martha stopped me from getting up. “Mom, let us clean up the place, just rest there and take it easy.” How was I meant to do that; act like my camper wasn’t just trashed? I quietly snuck off in my red-hot Mustang before either of them missed me. I don’t think the hum of the engine was even noticed over the frantic shrieks inside the camper.
When I arrived at Eleanor’s, a blue Impala was parked sideways in the driveway. I raced inside fearing the worse. She wasn’t in the house, so I raced to the deck, nearly tripping over discarded clothing. Eleanor was sitting in a chair with her back to me.
“El-Eleanor?” My mind racing wondering what I had just walked into when a buck naked Mr. Wilson appeared. He waved, lucky for me his lower region was blocked by the high-back chair. All that pasty-white wrinkled skin made me want to hurl.
I whirled around, covered my eyes and thought about clawing my eyeballs out for good measure.
From between spread fingers, Mr. Wilson grabbed his clothes and donned them leaving through the open patio door. “Party pooper,” he called out.
Eleanor got up; her flip flops flapping across the deck like flippers. She dressed and walked inside, ignoring me.
“My trailer was ransacked,” I said.
That got her attention. “Do tell,” she said pouring ice and tea into two frosted glasses, handing me one.
I felt out of breath, so I sat down and took a big gulp, wiping my mouth with the back of my arm.
“That must have been some scene to have rattled you this bad.”
Tears filled my eyes, dropping to my lap. “You should have seen it. They went through my belongings like a savage beast and now Martha has admitted her estranged boyfriend might be behind it!” I took another gulp. “She said he robs banks too!” I did breathing exercises to calm myself down before I was in a full on panic attack!
“Okay, so that’s two mysterious deaths at the Butler Mansion, a bank robber, and now an estranged boyfriend. This is snowballing real fast and I don’t want to be around when the avalanche starts.”
“I have no clue why somebody would tear through my camper like that. I haven’t even pinned down a suspect yet. Betty Lou Butler is our only viable one at this point.”
“Or the maid,” El pointed out. “But I’m not sure why either of them would ransack your camper.”
“We need to tail Betty Lou, but I’d sure love to check out Robinson’s Manor to find out what, if anything, is going on.”
El nodded her head. “I’m game.”
“Sorry for the interruption.”
She shrugged. “Next time I’ll leave a note on the door, ‘Aggie stay away’.”
“It’s just I didn’t know what Wilson drove and when I saw the Impala—”
“You kinda went into rescue mode.”
I nodded. “I guess.” I excused myself and went to try and make some sense of my hair and met El outside, whipped out the door a little too fast because that squirrel Eleanor kept as a pet squawked at me before darting up a tree.
“Damn little rat needs to be exterminated,” I said out loud.
“I heard that,” Eleanor replied. “He’s a bit of a handful. If he had a way over to your camper, he might be the culprit that messed it up.”
I laughed. “At this point, I wish that was all it was.”
We climbed into the Caddy, El must have driven it home after I was admitted to the hospital. We rumbled up the road and down the long and winding trail through the woods that led to Robinson’s Manor.
I gripped the steering wheel, “I still can’t believe that this manor turned into a bed and breakfast and stays so packed.”
“I hope this ghost story is for real. I’d love to meet a ghost face-to-face.”
“Sure you would, El, that’s what they all say, until they meet one. I’d rather not myself. I don’t mind staying a skeptic.”
“Whatever reality you wanna live in, Aggie, is fine by me.”
We cleared the path just as a crow flew overhead. “That can’t be good,” I said.
When I parked, we walked inside and my arch enemy, Mildred, was present in the dining room alongside, Elsie, and that woman I had seen Andrew with!
Elsie waved us over and I had no choice but to wander over there. “Hello, Aggie,” Elsie said from beneath a wide brimmed blue hat that matched her outfit like always. It would teach me to tell Elsie that she looked good in powder blue. It seemed that’s all she wore these days. “I heard you were in the hospital.”
Mildred and I were glaring at each other and I never heard the question until Eleanor nudged me in the ribs. “Ow! Yes, I had an allergic reaction to—”
“I heard you saved Sheriff Peterson’s life, any truth to that?” Mildred said with a gravely voice; her face puckered up like she had just sucked a lemon.
“TH-That day is a bit hazy.”
Eleanor puffed up her chest. “We sure did, I did chest compressions and Aggie did mouth-to-mouth on ole Peterson.” She leaned in, “Even though she knew he had just eaten a tomato which she happens to be allergic to.”
“That’s pretty dumb if you ask me,” Mildred squawked.
“Well nobody did ask you, dear,” I said sweetly.
Mildred rose to her feet, but El eased her back to her seat. “Have you ever been in a life or death situation, Mildred?” She paused and when Mildred opened her mouth to speak, El continued. “Have you ever had to make a split-second decision in the heat of the moment. I think not. You just don’t think, you have to react and do something real quick like.” El had her hand clenched into fists.
“You two are to be commended,” the silver haired beauty said. “I’m Evelyn or Evy to my friends.”
I stood erect, “Evy what?”
She laughed. “Why, Evy Hart, dear. I thought you already knew that.”
Tiny knives stabbed at my heart. Andrew is married. “So are you from Michigan?” I pried. I wanted details.
“Lord no, I live in New York City.” She sighed. “And I’m going back just as soon as I talk Andrew into it.”
“That’s nice, I’m sure you and Andrew will be very happy in New York.” Turning to the girls, “I’ll see you ladies later. El and I are here on business.”
We trounced away heads held high and ignored the ladies talking. “Why I never,” followed our retreat.
Tears threatened to spill, but I sucked it up. Part of me died, but I knew for certain that Andrew was married and that was that.
“Excuse me,” I interrupted a server. “Is there someone I can talk with about the recent ghost sighting here?”
She turned and chatted excitedly and spoke for the momen
t about what a thrill it was to work at a real haunted house. That was until a man with a black suit led us into the study where leather bound books lined the curved bookshelves.
“Wow, this is amazing.” I ran my hand across the books in wonder. “A real old fashioned book to hold in your hand.”
“Who would have thought that would happen in this digital age.”
“Yes, true. I still like to hold an old fashioned book in my hands.”
A well-dressed woman in her forties glided in and shook my hand. “Agnes Barton, it’s great to finally meet you. I’m Frances Bowdine, my husband and I own Robinson’s Manor.”
El smiled widely. “Really? That’s one story I’d love to hear. Did you know what this house once was?”
El’s eager smile revealing just how gullible she was or so I thought. “My friend, Eleanor Mason, means the murders that happened here.”
“My husband told me all of that, but I never really thought much about it. My husband invested a great deal of money into restoring the old place. Of course we did get it for a great price.” She smoothed the invisible wrinkles in her black skirt. Her ruffled blouse hid a small-framed woman, her black hair swept back into a bun.
“Of course,” I added. “I can’t see any local buying it, not after the horrific nature of the crimes.”
“My husband dealt with plenty of bad press after the cold case was solved by you, Agnes.”
“Us,” El butted in. “I helped.”
Frances laughed nervously. “Well anyway, it turned out that we were even more busy than usual. We had a few ghost hunter shows vying to shoot a show here, but we never felt it was a good idea.”
“I don’t blame you, dear,” I said. “There are a few in town and I’m not at all impressed.”
El put up her hand as if whispering a secret, “They call themselves G.A.S.P., as in Ghost Association Special Police.”
Frances’ eyes widened at that. “I think we would be better off without G.A.S.P.”
“I agree, but I heard there was a ghost sighting here, is that right?” I asked.
“I suppose I can trust you two, right? I mean, it’s not going to show up on in the newspaper or internet is it? We don’t play up the fact this house was—”
El stuttered. “S-Scene o-of a horrific murder?”
Frances sunk into a leather chair, massaging her brow. “Well yes, and if you could please stop saying that.”
“Sorry, dear. El here,” I thumbed in her direction, “gets kind of excited, well… about everything.”
El nodded in response. “Sorry.”
“Go on, dear, you were about to say?”
“We had a few people that have sworn on a Bible that they saw a ghostly figure walking the grounds at night.”
“Really, where were they when they saw this?”
“They claim they have seen them while looking out the window, while others claim they saw it from the rooftop deck.”
“That is interesting. It could be wildlife and with the lighting you have outside it might look mighty strange.”
“That’s what I keep telling everyone!” She rubbed her brow, “We have banned the use of the roof top deck temporarily. We told the guests it’s under repair, but the truth is that too many were crowding out there and we were worried some poor soul would fall to their death from up there.”
“Good thinking,” El said. “There has been a lot of that happening in town, falling from windows I mean.”
I shot El a look to silence her.
“It’s not my fault we found two bodies this week, Aggie.” She turned to Frances. “She’s always trying to shush me up, but I wonder if you ever saw anything yourself Frances?”
“Of course not! I mean things do go bump in the night, but with a house filled with guests and the age of the manor, it’s to be expected.”
I nodded. “What about anyone besides you?” I noted her hesitation in answering. “Believe me you can trust us not to tell a soul.”
El shivered. “Oh, Aggie, I wish you wouldn’t say it like that! All this talk of ghosts and souls is giving me goosebumps.”
Oh I’d give you a bump alright, on the head. “Please continue.”
“We had a maid who swore she saw Mrs. Robinson standing at the top of the stairs.”
“What do you mean had?”
“W-Well, it seems she must have quit.”
My eyes flashed at that. “She quit?”
“She quit coming to work and that is always a sign that you no longer want to work here.”
“Did you try and call her?” I countered.
“Why no, she did a no call and that’s grounds for immediate termination.” She smiled sweetly.
“Do you have this woman’s name? I sure would love to follow up on this story.”
Frances walked to the file cabinet and pulled out a stack of papers, going through them. “Hmm, Connie Bristol from East Tawas. I don’t see an address, but here is the phone number.” She then rattled it off. “Please, don’t tell anyone I gave you this information. It’s not customary for us to release details about our employees or former ones for that matter to anyone.”
“I thank you for your candor and I’m not sure why, but I feel that following up this tip is very important.”
“We won’t tell a soul,” El agreed. She then motioned like she was zipping her lip and throwing away the key.
“Is it true you are having a Clue Game fundraiser here?” I inquired.
“Why yes. It’s a Dialysis Fundraiser. My mother was diabetic and was on dialysis for years before her death. It was just an awful thing to watch her wither down to nothing.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that, dear. I know dialysis is very hard and having to lay there for hours can’t be easy.”
“It’s very difficult to witness someone you love to go through that.” She then perked up, “I thought a murder mystery fundraiser would be perfect.”
“I’d love to take part in it.”
“Please do. It’s tomorrow night.”
“Great, how much, dear? My family wants to attend too.”
“It’s a hundred dollars, but for your family I’ll waive the fee.”
Eleanor pointed at her own chest.
“It wouldn’t be a party without you, Eleanor, I assume,” Frances said laughing. Frances led us out and we parted ways. It was quite pleasant outside with a soft breeze blowing. The abundant garden was loaded with various vegetables. When I saw the tomatoes, I about ran to the car. We made our way back to the Caddy, but when we got there, Evy Hart, was waiting for us.
“Fancy meeting you out here like this, Mrs. Hart,” El said. “Won’t your friends be waiting for you inside? Unless you didn’t notice we are not that popular with Mildred.”
“I know, she’s really such a sour puss that I did all I could to sit through lunch.”
I nodded and walked past her to open the Caddy door, but she stopped me.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot. Andrew told me so much about you, Agnes, that I just had to meet you.”
My eyes narrowed. “Really, and that is why?”
El’s eyes went to blinking, and I glared at her, but that only encouraged her. “Yes, why is that?” El chimed.
“I think you misunderstood me,” Evy said.
“I think I understand everything perfectly. Somehow you wormed your way into Andrew’s heart with your big city ways and store-bought looks.”
She backed up a few steps at that. “Store-bought looks? I’ll have you know I have not undergone any plastic surgery or had any Botox.” Her smile vanished, replaced with a notable frown.
“If you frown like that you’re gonna get frown lines,” El said.
My temper was red hot, but I tried my best to keep my anger in check. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded, but Andrew left town and promised he would be back soon, and well, he came back to town with you!”
She started laughing. “You’re too funny. Aggie, just how Andrew sa
id you were. Silly, I’m not Andrew’s wife… I’m his sister!”
Chapter Twenty
I stood there for a total of five minutes, my mouth agape and eyes bulging. Had Evy really said what I thought I heard or was I dreaming? Andrew wasn’t married or otherwise entangled with another woman? This was too much to handle standing up so I leaned back on the car.
“Why on earth didn’t Andrew say so?” I blurted out.
Evy stood there with hands on hips smiling. “He said that he tried, but you kept cutting him off.”
El’s belly jumped inside like making popcorn in laughter. “You did, Aggie.”
I narrowed my eyes at El. “He could have told me!”
“Men and their stupid pride,” Evy added.
“I suppose that I owe him an explanation and you both an apology.” I hung my head like an errant child. “I kept seeing him with you while he flirted with me the whole time. It was driving me crazy.”
“Not much of a stretch really.” El laughed.
“Look who’s talkin’ Mrs. Heavyweight Champion of Tadium.”
“I haven’t had a fight all summer with Dorothy Alton out of town.” She frowned. “I almost miss the ole girl or at least her husband.”
“She’s Eleanor’s nemesis,” I explained to Evy. “You did tackle Mildred though.”
“I had to. She just knocked you to the ground. I can’t have the superhero getting hurt, what would us sidekicks do then?” — Turning back to Evy, she said, “As you can well guess, Mildred is Agnes’ rival.”
“Well it seems you two get into plenty of trouble, could you two be a dear and drop me off at Days Inn, it’s where I’m staying.”
I straightened up again as my hip began to ache. “You’re not staying here?”
“Staying at a Haunted Bed and Breakfast isn’t the top of my list. Did you two know an entire family was murdered here in 1968?”
El and I nodded our heads in unison and we told her about our hand in solving the cold case to which she shuddered like a baby rabbit facing down a hungry wolf. We piled in the Caddy and Evy was such a dear she didn’t even fuss a bit about the ripped interior, compliments of Eleanor’s pet squirrel Rattail.
Madison Johns - Agnes Barton 02 - Grannies, Guns and Ghosts Page 13