“Do you know of anyone that might have wanted to hurt you?” I asked him.
He thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think I can. I mean, I’ve had my disagreements with people over the years, but nothing worth killing over. Besides, isn’t it more likely that I had a heart attack or something else natural?”
“Mr. Mathers, with all due respect, you wouldn’t still be here on the earthly plane if your death was natural. Unless there’s some unfinished business you have that I don’t know about?”
“Nothing I can think of. I guess saying goodbye to Henry is about all I’d like to do,” he said.
“Good. Because I can make that happen.”
“Is this something you do often? Help the dead pass to the next world?”
“Yes, it’s kind of my job,” I said. “Well, not kind of. It is my job.”
“Why haven’t you helped her move on, then?” Mr. Mathers asked while looking at Rebecca.
“It’s complicated,” Rebecca and I said in unison.
“Is it now?” Mr. Mathers asked, not looking entirely convinced. “It is strange that our paths should cross. Your job is to help people move on, and mine has been to call them back into this world, so that they could relay any messages they have for their loved ones.”
“And how successful were you? After I help people pass to the next world, I have no idea what happens to them. It would be interesting if we could compare notes and see what we come up with.”
“Well, if I’m to be honest, they aren’t the most enlightening of experiences. All they’ve said to me is that they’re in a beautiful location with their dear loved ones that had also passed on.”
There was a knock on the door then. Since I was busy talking to dead people, Kane went and answered it. It was Henry. He entered the room and closed the door behind him.
“I’m not saying I believe you, but I’m here because you appear to know some things that I can’t explain.”
“Come in, Mr. Smithson,” I said. “I can tell you more. Well, as much as Mr. Mathers is willing to share, that is. Are there any specific questions you might want answered?”
Henry paced the room, which now looked crowded, what with three people and two ghosts in attendance.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore. But if he’s really here, I want to talk to him. I owe him at least that much.”
“Japanese cherry blossoms,” Mr. Mathers said.
I gave him a questioning look.
“He’ll know what it means,” he said.
I relayed the message and Henry’s eyes went wide.
“No one but Charles and I would know the significance of that. He really is here, isn’t he?” Henry said, his eyes starting to water. He hadn’t shown much emotion at the time of his partner’s death, but now it seemed everything was catching up with him.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, though I think it would be easier for someone in your position,” I said.
Charles chuckled at that. “You would think, wouldn’t you?”
“Is there anything you want to say to each other?” I asked the two men, one living and one dead.
“I send my love,” Charles said. “Tell him I’ll be waiting for him on the other side. Tell him to enjoy the rest of his life with no guilt. I may be dead on the physical plane, but I am not gone. And neither will he be when it is his time.”
I relayed the message.
“Thank you,” Henry said to me. “Tell him that our years together have been the best of my life,” he said.
“He can hear you,” I reminded him. “He’s standing right in front of you.”
The two elderly men looked at each other. One could not see the other, but something special passed between them all the same.
“Goodbye, Charles,” Henry said.
“Goodbye, Henry,” Charles said. “For now.”
After I relayed the message to Henry we stood in silence for a few minutes.
“I’m not moving on,” Charles finally said. “Is there something that should happen?”
“A door of light usually appears when a ghost is ready to move on,” I said.
Charles looked around the room. “It doesn’t look like I’m ready then,” he said.
“I guess not,” I agreed.
“What is it? What’s the matter?” Henry asked, confused.
“It looks like Charles can’t move on just yet,” I said.
“What does that mean?” Henry asked.
“It means that his death might have been a murder after all,” I said. “Now we just have to find the person or persons responsible and bring them to justice.”
Four
“Of course, there’s always the chance that it wasn’t murder at all. Not in the normal sense. What if it was something supernatural? An evil spirit or something?” I said.
“I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and I don’t think that’s a great possibility. I’ve come across a few, let’s say, less friendly spirits, but none that could actually kill a person. Of course, I always work with safeguards in place,” Charles said.
“What kind of safeguards? I didn’t see a salt circle or anything of the sort at the séance,” I said.
“Salt repels spirits, and I wanted to attract them, so that would have been counterproductive, don’t you think, Ms. Good?” Charles said. “As for safeguards, I always say a silent prayer asking for protection before I start the séance.”
“Did you say a prayer tonight?”
“Of course,” Charles said.
I guessed it wasn’t the most effective of protections since the man was now dead, but I didn’t actually say that out loud. Contrary to popular belief, I actually did have some restraint when it came to these matters.
“What are you two talking about?” Henry asked.
“We’re trying to figure out if a spirit could’ve done this,” I said. “What do you think about all of this? Do you have any ideas?”
“I can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt Charles, at least anyone that’s alive. As for spirits, I never took that part seriously. I knew something was happening at those séances, but I thought it was just the power of the human mind, not actual spirits showing up,” Henry said.
Charles chuckled. “I’ve already told you I don’t have any enemies,” he said to me. “The autopsy report might shed more light on the matter.”
I was bit taken aback at just how casual Charles was about his body being autopsied. Most people would be freaked out. But I guess Charles wasn’t just anyone. He’d been in contact with the dead for a very long time, so I guess he was more accepting of death and his own mortality.
“This isn’t going to be easy, is it?” I said. “Usually the ghosts I deal with have at least a few enemies in the background. You appear to have none. What about those other mediums or psychics around this town? Did you expose any of them as frauds? Maybe some of them still have some beef with you because of that?”
“I have run a few of them out of town, but I don’t see why they would come back years later to get their revenge. Surely, they would have done it when their tempers were hot.”
“Revenge is a dish best served cold,” Rebecca said.
“I have heard that as well, but in my experience, hot tempers prevail. It takes a very special kind of person to think about doing something long before actually committing the act,” Charles said.
“Do you have any experience with murderers? Have you ever brought anybody to justice because of spirit information you have received?” I asked Charles.
“There was one case, it must’ve been at least thirty years ago now, where a spirit of a murdered woman came to me and told me who killed her. I told the police, of course, but they did not believe me. The man in question was never arrested. That is, until ten years ago. Apparently, new advances in DNA testing finally got the guy. Of course, I did not get an apology from the police department.”
Henry paced back and forth across the room. “It was
very fortuitous for you to be at the séance, wasn’t it?” He asked me.
“Actually, the whole reason I’m in this town is because I got a strange anonymous letter inviting me here. And when we arrived at the inn, we found an invitation to the séance in our room.”
“How very strange. It was as if this anonymous person already knew that something like this was going to happen,” Henry said.
“That was my thinking exactly,” I said. “That’s why I’m determined to find out who sent the letter.”
“Well, as interesting as this has been, I have to get going,” Harry said. “While I know that Charles is actually here with us now, his body is very much still downstairs. I want to know where they’re going to take him so that I can make arrangements with the funeral home.”
“How very practical,” Charles said. “Do you think I should go? I can honestly say I’m not very attached to my physical body. It has been failing me for years. So tell Henry that I don’t even care about a funeral. Just cremate my body and be done with it. Tell him to throw the ashes somewhere beautiful if he’s so inclined.”
I relayed the message to Henry. He nodded in understanding but said that he was still in the world of the living, and he had to do the things that he thought were his responsibility.
Charles stayed behind and was now talking with Rebecca. He was asking her all kinds of questions about what it was like being a ghost and what kinds of things they could get up to. Pretty soon, they got bored with Kane and I and went through the door together. By the sound of Charles’ laughter, he very much liked going through physical objects.
“What now?” Kane asked.
“This is going to sound crazy, but maybe we should go in search of a psychic. Not a medium that talks to spirits, but an actual psychic that can tell me who exactly sent the letter.”
“Do you actually believe there are psychics and that they can actually do that?”
“That’s what most people would say about me, and my gift. Just because it sounds strange and unlikely, it doesn’t mean that it’s not real.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that,” Kane said.
The only problem with that plan was that it was almost eleven o’clock at night. No self-respecting psychic would ever work that late.
That’s why Kane and I decided to go get something quick to eat. Tomorrow was another day, and I could focus on the murder and the letter then.
Surprisingly, the town was still buzzing with people. As we walked the streets of the town, I looked around to see if I could spot any ghosts. A few times, I actually thought I did see some, but they disappeared so quickly into the crowd, I wasn’t sure.
“See anything interesting?” Kane asked.
“No, unfortunately not,” I said. “Hopefully, tomorrow brings more excitement.”
Charles and Rebecca had been gone the whole night. I couldn’t blame them really. Charles was a new ghost, after all, and he needed to learn the ropes. But if I had anything to say about it, I hoped that he would move on pretty soon. Unless he liked being a ghost that is. From the sounds of it, he was very much ready to move on. But the door of light didn’t come for him. There was a reason for that. And I was here to find out that reason.
I didn’t believe in fate because I didn’t think it was fate that brought me here to this town. It was the letter. I held it in my hands now, trying to feel out the sender. But nothing came. I wasn’t a psychic.
“I’m seeing a lot of psychics listed here,” Kane said as he looked up from his phone. “How do we know which one to go to?”
“Do they have any reviews?” I asked. “Or ratings at least?”
“This one here has a lot of ratings and reviews,” he said as he showed me a listing.
I read it through. Lady Rosanna was a third-generation psychic, at least according to her bio. “Curious about the future? Interested in the past? What about your present situation? I can help you with all of these. Book your appointment now, and you won’t have to wait in line. I look forward to reading for you!”
“I hope she doesn’t charge through the roof,” Kane said. “And I hope she doesn’t actually look into our future, if she’s legit that is.”
“Why are you so scared of the future?” I asked him.
“I wouldn’t say I’m scared, I just don’t want to be influenced, you know?” Kane said. “I’m more a living in the present kind of guy. What about you? Do you want to know your future?”
“I’m pretty sure it involves a lot of ghosts, so I guess I’m not that interested either.”
Lady Rosanna had a website where you could book the appointment. I saw that she had an opening for today at three in the afternoon. I booked it up before it could be snatched away and hoped for the best. If this Lady Rosanna turned out to be a fraud, I might just send Rebecca her way to mess with her a little.
Since I had time to kill, I decided to make myself familiar with the inn we were currently in. If this place was so haunted, I wanted to see who was haunting it. Kane decided to come along, even though he didn’t seem too enthused with the idea. But I guess he didn’t have anything else to do, so why not?
We walked the halls of the inn and went in search of ghosts. I did not run into the pervy ghost that Rebecca had told me about, but that was probably because I didn’t have access to any of the rooms, just the hallways and common areas.
I did, however, run into the ghost cat Rebecca had told me about. It was in the common sitting area, laying by the fire.
I went to the cat and introduced myself. Kane looked at me like I was crazy. Thankfully, the few other guests that were there were too busy talking amongst themselves about the death of Charles to pay much attention to me.
“What?” I asked Kane.
“Seeing you talk to people is one thing, but seeing you talk to an invisible cat like that is weirding me out.”
I laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of spirit animals? Or, I guess the proper term would be ghost animals? Even I’m not sure what to call them.” I looked down at the cat. “What do you want to be called, little one? And why haven’t you moved on?”
The cat just looked up at me in surprise. Probably because I could see it. But sadly, it did not utter a word. I didn’t even get a ghostly meow out of the creature.
“I’m not scared,” Kane was quick to say. “It’s just weird.”
“So you’re the one keeping my cat busy?” A woman’s voice said. I looked up and wasn’t surprised to find that she was see-through. She was dressed very much like most of the people at the séance last night. And I guess now I had my answer about why the cat was still around. The cat stayed for the woman, and for as long as the woman remained on earth, so would the cat. At least, that was my theory.
“So there actually are ghosts in this place? I was starting to think that this whole haunted inn thing was just false advertising,” I said to the woman.
“It used to be a lot busier here, but the more people came to gawk at us, the more spirits decided to move on to more peaceful places. The frequent séances didn’t help matters either if I’m to be honest.”
“But you’re still here?” I looked down at the cat. “And so is your cat.”
“I have some unfinished business,” was all she said. Then she looked out the window with a longing look in her eyes.
“Maybe I can help you finish it?” I said. “It’s kind of what I do.”
“I can see that. I’ve only ever met one other living person that could see me, but she’s long dead now from what I’ve heard.”
“You didn’t exactly answer my question,” I said.
She smiled. “I didn’t, did I? Let’s just say I’m waiting for someone.”
She picked up her ghost cat. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” she said to the cat. “Let’s leave the living to their own devices.”
“What was that about?” Kane asked. “Do I even want to know?”
“Probably not, but I’ll tell you about it anyway.”
And that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t run into any other ghosts at the inn. Besides Charles and Rebecca, of course. When it was time to go to the appointment with the psychic, the two ghosts decided to tag along.
“I have a personal interest in the matter,” Charles said after I asked him if he wanted to come along. “Of course I’m going.”
I asked him if he knew anything of interest about Lady Rosanna.
“All I know is that she has a very good reputation,” he said.
I hoped her reputation was based on her accuracy, and not on her showmanship.
Five
Lady Rosanna’s house doubled as her place of business as well. She opened the door herself and welcomed me and Kane inside. She offered us something to drink, but I was there to get this over with so I declined.
She led us to a room that looked like a very stereotypical psychic lounge you would see in movies and on TV. There was a large round table in the middle. There was even a crystal ball prominently displayed on the table.
Lady Rosanna must have seen me looking at it. “We won’t be needing that today,” she said. “I believe you have a letter you want me to look at?”
“How did you know?” Kane asked in surprise.
Lady Rosanna let out a laugh. “I’m pretty sure it was in the description that came with the booking.”
Lady Rosanna looked like the typical psychic. She looked to be in her fifties and she wasn’t afraid to wear makeup. Her dramatic drawn-on eyebrows gave her an aura of urgency. Her flowing, multicolored dress completed her look.
Charles and Rebecca were also there, just standing and observing in the background. Lady Rosanna didn’t show any signs of actually knowing that they were there. She wasn’t a medium, that much was certain.
Kane and I sat across from Lady Rosanna. I took the letter out of my pocket and handed it to her.
“I’d like to know who sent this. Anything you can pick up would be useful. Right now I have no idea where to start.”
Lady Rosanna nodded. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said.
Ghostly Town (A Ghost Hunter P.I. Mystery Book 4) Page 3