The door slammed open and G.A.S.P.‘s Nate and Troy, raced through the door and tacked Brutus in one swoop, sending the knife whirling into the air.
Teresa picked up the knife and I stared her in the eyes like Leotyne told me and grabbed ahold of the bloodstone. This was the face of pure evil! Bright light split the room and I stepped down on something hard and metal, it sent the chair into motion and the maid fell onto it. As it sped forward it propelled her out the open window. Her screams were all we heard and then a sickening thump.
El and I raced toward the window and sure enough, the maid laid in a crumpled position below us. “Hold that man, he’s a murderer,” I told G.A.S.P.
Just then the police flew into the yard and troopers and deputies raced toward the house, their heavy feet pounding on the floors below us. They found their way to us within minutes. Spotlights now lit up the tiny room and I directed the police to Brutus who Troy and Nate had restrained, informing them that he was one of the murderers they had sought and that the other could be found on the front lawn. I then knelt to Andrew who was starting to come around.
“If Andrew didn’t shout out, ‘Grab Eleanor, she’s pulling the rope’, who did?” I asked Eleanor.
“Beats me, maybe this house really is haunted.”
I walked to the wall where a portrait was hanging and in the picture was the group of senior citizens that I had first seen at the first crime scene right here. “I think you might be right, El. These were the people I saw the first time we were here.” I hugged El tight. “They saved you I just know they did.”
“But, Aggie,” El smiled. “You don’t believe in ghosts.”
Tears glistened in my eyes. “I know, but I sure do now.”
Nate pulled out what looked like a butchered radio. “Did you save Eleanor?”
Static came from the box and everyone froze waiting for something to happen. It became very cold, my breath like mist and a voice came from the box like a wisp of wind. “Yes.”
“Did you hear that, Nate?” Jake shouted. “I knew this house was haunted!”
I smiled. “Yeah, but it’s a friendly spirit.”
“You mean like Casper, Aggie?”
“Nope, this one belongs to the descendants that obviously want us old folks to go on living.”
Trooper Sales and Sheriff Peterson appeared and helped Andrew from the room where a stretcher waited. He was loaded and taken away as I told both Peterson and Sales what had happened and how I did my part to put it together. “How did you know to look for me here?”
“It was the scene of the first crime,” Peterson said with a glint in his eye.
“Dispatch received a call from Leotyne Williams. It seems she was awful worried that Andrew and you might have run into trouble out here,” Sales said. “Good thing you told her where you were going.”
“She just keeps turning up and hands out the best advice.”
“Premonitions that is,” El added. “I believe that one has the eye.”
“She sure does, I do wonder where the light came from in that room, the police hadn’t arrived yet.”
“Silly goose, it came from that stone you held in your hand, didn’t you see.”
“Well no, I mean everything happened so fast.”
I turned to G.A.S.P. and asked, “Hey how come you boys showed up?”
Nate had a smile plastered to his face. “Well, we saw you turning in here and—
“Decided to follow me or check out the mansion.”
“I’m sure glad we did too or you would have been a goner for sure!”
I nodded in agreement and thanked the duo of ghost hunters.
We followed the police outside while Sales and Peterson went to check out the rigged chair. It was the closest to spy gear I had ever seen before.
We raced to the hospital and it was me waiting by Andrew’s bedside for a change, not the other way around. All I knew was that he told me he loved me and I couldn’t wait until I could say the same to him when he got better.
I was hugging Eleanor when Sophia and Martha rushed in the door. “I swear you two are a couple,” Martha said to us.
“We sure are, a couple of super sleuths!” I then told them what happened and how we barely escaped with our lives.
Epilogue
Three weeks later…
I was on Hidden Cove’s deck where I greeted Trooper Sales who sat next to Sophia, their fingers laced. It seems that Bill reconsidered and so did I about the whole situation. Sophia was a grown woman and quite capable of making her own decisions. I had to respect her enough to butt out as El had told me on many occasions. Not that I didn’t want to do that. It was just so hard to do with Sophia. She had gone through so much and never failed to impress me with her keen ability to roll with the punches. Speaking of which, she has since taken up Karate classes. Can’t really blame the girl. She was going to be a lethal weapon one day and I almost felt sorry for Bill if she ever gets in a mind to toss him around. He’s a bit on the short and thin side. I believe Sophia could take him quite easily. I grinned when Andrew brought me a drink, Sex on the Beach, my favorite.
“Thanks,” I told Andrew. “Are you ready to give me the skinny on your mysterious client?”
“Herman Butler’s daughter is Sara Knoxville.”
“The actress?”
“Sure is, she wasn’t known to many people as she was conceived out of wedlock. It wasn’t until a few years back that Herman had met Sara.”
“That must have been quite the shock.”
“Yup, they had a distant relationship, but when she found out Herman had married and died mysteriously, she wanted to prevent his burial at any costs.”
“I’m betting she wanted to stop the cremation.”
“Sure did, but for all Betty Lou’s gold digging ways, she didn’t deserve to be murdered.”
“I agree. I wish I told her that there was already a grave waiting for her.”
“You didn’t know she was going to be murdered.”
“I know, but I still wish I had told her.”
I listened in enjoyment to the friendly banter of my guests. The waves of Lake Huron lapped the shore, and I wondered if we would ever see the Erie Board of Trade again. It still prowls the lake and while some still consider it a myth, I know first hand it’s real.
Madison Johns - Agnes Barton 02 - Grannies, Guns and Ghosts Page 18