The Ghost Who Dream Hopped

by Anna J. McIntyre

  “Umm…so what happened in this dream?”

  “Not much. Aside from me pushing you and Steve off the roof. It was your roof, by the way.”

  “Why would you push Steve off the roof…or me?” Danielle asked hesitantly.

  Beverly’s smile disappeared and she stared at Danielle for a moment, her expression unreadable. Finally, she said, “It was a dream. No rhyme or reason. Just a silly dream.”

  Seven

  After leaving Beverly’s house, Brian returned to the police station. The chief had already returned and was back in his office. Brian told MacDonald about the envelope Alvin had dropped by, but he already knew about it and had already given Joe the go-ahead to simply drop it by Marlow House that evening.

  When four o’clock rolled around, Brian was out the door and in his car, heading to the museum. He wasn’t sure what he was hoping to find there, but he just felt compelled to look. It was a short drive to the museum, and the first thing he noticed when he pulled up was Ben Smith’s old Packard Coupe parked out front.

  Just before heading into the museum, Brian stopped by the Packard, admiring it a moment. Ben rarely took the car out, and when he did, it was normally to the museum. But Brian hadn’t seen the old car for months and had wondered if Smith had finally sold it. From what Brian understood, the car was worth a fortune, and it was in pristine condition.

  After giving the Packard one final look, Brian turned and sprinted up to the front door of the museum. Once inside, he heard voices coming from the direction of the gift store.

  “Hey, Brian!” Ben called out. “I haven’t seen you in here for a long time.”

  Brian walked into the gift shop off the entrance and found Ben behind the counter. But he wasn’t alone; there were four other people in the gift shop with him, gathered around the counter as if having some sort of gab session, and Brian knew them all. There was Millie Samson and Herman Shafer. The last time Brian had seen Herman was when he had been questioned about his land in Arizona, after the hijacking. That had been last year. Herman, like Millie, regularly served as a docent at the museum, and Brian had heard Herman was back on the Historical Society’s board of directors.

  While Brian guessed Ben, Millie and Herman were probably all in their eighties—spry eighties—the other two people in the gift shop were much younger. One was Sam, who worked over at the Seahorse Motel, and the other was Pastor Chad. Brian said his hellos.

  “I haven’t seen you in church,” Pastor Chad noted after shaking Brian’s hand.

  “I imagine that’s because I haven’t been there,” Brian said with a chuckle.

  Pastor Chad didn’t seem offended by Brian’s retort, but Millie said, “Now that you’re dating one of Pastor Chad’s parishioners, maybe it would be a good idea to come to church.”

  “Millie,” Ben reprimanded.

  “Oh hush, Ben, everyone in town knows Brian is dating Beverly Klein,” Millie snapped.

  “Ahh, I hadn’t heard,” Pastor Chad said, arching his brows.

  “Then I guess everyone in town didn’t know,” Ben quipped.

  “We’ve only been out a few times,” Brian said.

  “She’s a good-looking woman,” Sam noted.

  “She’s a godly woman,” Pastor Chad put in.

  “Beverly and Steve were good friends of my wife and me,” Herman said in his scratchy voice. “You just be good to her, you hear?” Herman smacked the floor a couple of times with his cane to accentuate his point.

  “I did help her move some boxes today. Does that give me points, Herman?” Brian teased.

  “Were they heavy?” Herman asked.

  Brian chuckled. “Not particularly. But they were up in the rafters in the garage. I had to get on a ladder.”

  “So you risked your life for her?” Sam laughed.

  “Pretty much.” Brian grinned.

  “Beverly did mention to me at church that she was going to finally get around to cleaning out her garage and sort through the last of Steve’s things. Horrible thing to have to do. I remember having to go through my husband’s things.” Millie shook her head at the thought. “But it’s been about a year now. It’s good for her to get on with her life.”

  Brian looked over to Ben and said, “Now that I think about it, a couple of those boxes I took down might be something the museum would be interested in. They were old wooden apple boxes from the Marymoor Orchard. I haven’t seen one of those in years. Beverly had three of them. You might want to ask her before she gets rid of them.”

  “Marymoor Orchard boxes?” Millie glanced from Pastor Chad to Sam.

  “Where would she get Marymoor apple boxes?” Herman asked.

  Brian shrugged. “I don’t think she got them anywhere. Steve’s the one who put them up there.”

  “Did you notice what was stored in them?” Pastor Chad asked.

  “Umm…no…why?”

  Pastor Chad shrugged. “Just hope it wasn’t something that needed to be sealed. Apple boxes aren’t always the best for storing. Dust and bugs get in.”

  “So why are you stopping by the museum?” Ben asked.

  “It’s been a while. Thought I’d drop by and have a look at the displays.”

  “Let me take you,” Ben offered.

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll just look around if that’s alright with you,” Brian said.

  “Certainly. Help yourself. And if you have any questions, just ask,” Ben said.

  When Brian left the gift shop a moment later, the five remaining people stood silent. After a moment, Millie stepped out of the gift store and looked into the main section of the museum. She could see Brian, who was some distance away, looking through the Marlow exhibit. She quickly returned to the gift shop.

  “They can’t be the same boxes,” Millie whispered.

  “He said he was shredding the papers,” Pastor Chad reminded them. “He probably just kept the boxes.”

  “Maybe he didn’t,” Sam suggested. “Maybe he kept the papers too.”

  “I can’t believe Steve would do that. He knew what it meant,” Ben said.

  “Not for him,” Millie snapped. “I always said one of us should have destroyed those papers. We had the most to lose, not Steve! And you know how squeamish Steve was about destroying any historical documents.”

  “But he finally agreed to do it. And he had the paper shredder,” Chad reminded her.

  “What are we going to do?” Sam asked. “I’m going to need to tell Ruby.”

  “You’re not going to tell Ruby and get her all worked up over this,” Ben insisted. “Like Chad said, he probably just kept the boxes.”

  “I remember what Steve said back then. He was going to shred what he could and then put everything back in the boxes and burn them in a bonfire. After all, there was no way he could shred that ledger. It was all going into the bonfire—in the boxes,” Ben said.

  Millie sat on a nearby folding chair and groaned. “I feel sick. What if Steve kept those papers? What if Beverly is going through them right now?”

  “She may not even realize what she has,” Pastor Chad told her. “If—and it is a big if—if he kept those papers.”

  “She’s not stupid,” Sam said. “And what if she shows them to someone else? Someone who does know?”

  “If Steve did keep the papers, maybe we’ll be lucky,” Ben suggested.

  “Lucky how?” Herman asked. “I’m too old for this crap. And frankly, I’m not sure I really care anymore. I mean, what is the point? My boy is gone; my wife is gone. Hell, I don’t even know why I’m still alive. Just taking up air anyway.”

  “Oh, stop that pity party, Herman,” Millie snapped. “And this isn’t just about you. Think what it will do to poor Ben, and Ruby could lose everything.”

  “That’s why I need to tell Ruby,” Sam said.

  “Not yet,” Ben said. “We need to think this out.”

  “And we can’t do that and tell Ruby?” Sam asked.

  “Ruby can get a little emotional,”
Ben said. “We don’t need any hotheads right now.”

  “Easy for you to say. I have to work for her! She’ll tan my hide if this blows up and she finds out I kept it from her!” Sam said.

  “My reputation is on the line. What have I done?” Pastor Chad groaned. He flopped down in a folding chair next to Millie.

  “You haven’t done anything,” Millie insisted, reaching over and giving his knee a quick pat.

  “I think one of us needs to go over to Beverly’s house and check out those boxes,” Ben said. “Maybe we’re worrying about nothing. Maybe Chad is right. Maybe Steve just kept those boxes after he shredded the paper.”

  While the five people huddled in the gift store fretting about some old apple boxes and what they might hold, Brian strolled through the museum looking at the exhibits. He wasn’t sure what he had hoped to find. There was very little on Walt Marlow, and certainly nothing that had his signature.

  Brian was wandering around the museum for about twenty minutes when he heard voices up at the front entrance and then heard the front door open and close. A moment later he spied Ben Smith walking in his direction.

  “Do you have any questions?” Ben asked when he reached Brian.

  “You don’t really have much on Walt Marlow, do you?” Brian asked.

  “Funny you should say that. Walt Marlow was in here today.” Ben laughed.

  “Ahh…I assume you mean the cousin?”

  “His eyes look like Walt Marlow’s. I mean, the original Walt Marlow in the portrait. But kind of hard to tell with that beard of his if his face really looks that much like him.”

  “Why was he here?” Brian asked.

  “Danielle brought him in. She wanted to show him what the museum has on his family.”

  “Was he disappointed? There doesn’t seem to be much about his namesake.”

  “I don’t think so.” Ben shrugged. “Although, now that you mention it, I should have probably offered to show him some of the church records. They aren’t on display yet. I’ve been working with Pastor Chad, getting them together. He would have recognized some of his ancestors’ names.”

  “What kind of records?” Brian asked.

  “Marriage records for one.”

  “It wouldn’t have Walt Marlow’s signature, would it?” Brian asked.

  “Signature? Yes. Why?”

  “Any chance I could look at it?” Brian asked.

  “Sure. Come on, it’s in the office.”

  Brian followed Ben back to the office. He watched as Ben removed a ledger from one of the shelves and then set it on the table in the middle of the room.

  “Right here,” Ben said, pointing to a line on one of the pages. “Walt Marlow’s signature, and his bride, Angela Calvert’s.”

  Brian expected to find a signature completely different from what he had found in the evidence box, or in any of the papers Alvin had brought to the station. It would prove to him that someone had definitely tampered with the evidence box by planting Clint Marlow’s fingerprints and signature. Or at least, a signature Clint had fabricated.

  Moving close to the table, Brian took hold of the ledger and pulled it to him so he could have a better look at the open page. He stared at it. After a few moments of silence, he asked, “Has anyone else seen this book?”

  “Other than myself and Chad, no. Although, I suppose anyone could have taken it off the shelf and looked at it. It’s been in the office for a couple of months. Why?”

  Brian shook his head and pushed the ledger from him. He stood up straight. “It’s nothing. I was just curious.”

  But that was a lie. It was something. Unfortunately, Brian didn’t know what that something was. All he knew was that it looked as if whoever had signed the church ledger had also signed the document in the old evidence box—and the receipt given to Alvin just last week.

  Eight

  Danielle sat in the library at Marlow House with Ian and Lily Bartley, Heather Donovan, and Chris Johnson, while Walt napped in the downstairs bedroom. According to the clock, it was almost five thirty p.m. Chris and Heather had stopped by after work at the Glandon Foundation to see if Danielle and Walt wanted to go out to dinner with them.

  They all lived on Beach Drive, and like Danielle, Heather and Chris could see and communicate with spirits. While Ian and Lily knew of the existence of spirits, they did not have the gift. But they all knew about Walt and his secret. Danielle had just told her friends about the day she had spent with Walt, beginning with their trip to tell Chief MacDonald about Beverly, their lunch at Lucy’s, and their trip to the museum, including Walt’s insistence that the Packard was the same one he had once owned. She hadn’t gotten around to telling them about the boxes Beverly had brought over that afternoon.

  Ian sat on the sofa with Lily on his denim-clad knee. He absently fiddled with the ends of her red hair, which she wore down, unrestrained. Lily glanced at her watch and then looked over to Danielle, who sat on one of the chairs across from her and Ian. Chris sat in the chair next to Danielle, with Heather sitting on the other end of the sofa.

  “Is Walt down for the night?” Lily asked. “I was hoping to see him before we have to leave.”

  Danielle glanced to the door and then back to Lily. “I’m sure he’ll be up soon. These naps don’t usually last more than two hours.”

  “I certainly can’t take naps,” Chris said.

  “Considering what Danielle told us about Walt’s fingerprints, I have a feeling his body needs this extra sleep to recharge,” Ian suggested. “Who knows what it’s really going through.”

  “Where are you guys going, anyway?” Heather asked. “Isn’t it a school night?” While Heather still wore her work clothes, having not stopped at home to change before coming over, the outfit was on the casual side. She wore black skinny jeans and a bulky gray sweater, and her black hair was fashioned atop her head in two lopsided knots.

  “It’s not like I’m one of the students,” Lily said. “I’m an adult! If I wanna go out on a Wednesday, I can!”

  Ian patted Lily’s right shoulder and said, “Yes, you can. You are a big girl now.”

  Heather rolled her eyes. “Oh brother.”

  Lily giggled and then said, “We’re going out with Joe and Kelly. Joe has tomorrow off, so I guess for him this is like a Friday. Anyway, aren’t you planning to go out tonight? Isn’t it a work night for you too?”

  “Just to get something to eat. We have to eat,” Heather said. “It’s not like it’s a date or anything.”

  “Now that we’re married, when we go out to a restaurant, is it still a date?” Ian asked. “Or are we just getting something to eat?”

  “I’ll have to check the rule book,” Lily teased.

  “How is it working out for them, Joe and Kelly, living together?” Heather asked.

  Lily shrugged. “They seem to be getting along okay.”

  “Doesn’t it bother you guys, what Danielle told us about Beverly?” Chris asked.

  “Well, sure it does. But what are we supposed to do?” Heather said.

  “For one thing, if Beverly offers me something to eat, I will politely decline,” Ian said as he gave Lily’s hair a gentle tug.

  Lily giggled and then leaned back on Ian, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Goodness, you two are always touching!” Heather snapped.

  “I have a license,” Ian said.

  “Me too!” Lily added.

  Chris chuckled. “Okay, back to Beverly. So no one is especially bothered she killed her husband?”

  “The guy was cheating on her,” Heather reminded him.

  “Heather!” Danielle asked. “You seriously don’t think that gave her the right to kill him.”

  “No. But you told us even Steve said she didn’t mean to kill him.” Heather shrugged.

  “I might be keeping a closer eye on you,” Chris told Heather.

  Heather chuckled. “Nah, I need my job. You’re safe for now.”

  “Are you having
a party and didn’t tell me?” Walt said from the open doorway.

  “You’re getting good with your hopping, I didn’t even hear you coming,” Danielle told him.

  “Hey, sleepyhead,” Lily greeted him as Walt hopped his way into the library. He held his crutches yet didn’t appear to be using them.

  Chris stood up and said, “Here, take my chair.”

  “Thanks,” Walt said as he accepted Chris’s offer.

  Chris walked over to the sofa and gave Heather a little shove, pushing her toward Ian and Lily so he could sit down.

  “Why do I have to sit in the middle?” Heather grumbled as she moved to the center of the sofa.

  “Because whenever I sit next to Ian, he gets fresh with me,” Chris told her as he plopped down next to her.

  After settling in the chair, Walt glanced around and then asked, “Where’s Sadie?”

  “We left her across the street,” Lily told him. “We’re going out with Joe and Kelly. They’re meeting us here.”

  “What are those boxes in the parlor?” Walt asked Danielle. “I went in there looking for you and about tripped over them.”

  “Oh, Beverly brought them over this afternoon.”

  “Beverly?” Danielle’s friends chorused.

  “Yep. I haven’t gone through them yet. Apparently she’s cleaning out her garage. Steve had a bunch of boxes stored in the rafters. Three of them had what looked like historical documents and old newspaper clippings.”

  “Why bring them here? Why not the museum?” Heather asked. “Steve was pretty active in the Historical Society.”

  “I asked her that too. But she said it looked like information about Marlow House. I figured Walt and I could go through them. What he doesn’t want, we can give to the museum.”

  “Nice to see you and Beverly can remain friends. Wouldn’t want something like homicide to get in the way of friendship.” Chris snickered.

  “Oh, shut up,” Danielle retorted. Walt chuckled.

  “It’s not like she poisoned Danielle,” Heather said.

  Chris glanced over to Heather. “You are sort of twisted.”