Pall in the Family (19 page)

“Well, you have two witnesses right here, so technically you
are
doing your job,” Vi said, and gestured to the dogs. “Too bad they're both sticking to the same bacon story. And none of you seem interested that Milo was buying bacon.” She narrowed her eyes at the dogs and rested her chin on her hand, which dragged her mouth into more of a frown than usual. Her knitting had tangled, and she let it slip to the floor.

Seth reached over and patted Baxter's head; he shot Vi a look and held Tuffy tighter.

“All we have right now is that both Sara and Tish were shot with a small-caliber revolver,” Tom said. He consulted his ever-present notebook. “The ballistics test says it's the same gun, so whoever shot Sara didn't think he needed to get rid of it.”

“That's interesting,” said Diana. “It takes a certain amount of arrogance to kill someone and then assume you're never going to be a suspect.”

“There was no sign of a break-in at either address. We're assuming the killer knew both victims,” Tom read from his notes. “The only other thing we're looking into is the threats that were coming through Sara's website.”

“What threats? She never told me about any threats,” Mom said. She looked around the table to see if she was the only one in the dark.

“Gary told us about it. Apparently, in the past month or so she'd been getting threatening comments on the blog at her website,” Tom said.

“What kind of comments?” Mom said.

“Mostly it had to do with her work as a psychic. Gary said she thought it was another psychic in town trying to scare her off,” Tom said.

“Alison mentioned it the other day,” I said. “It started with comments about her being a fraud and needing lots of ‘theater' at her séances. Then the tone became more threatening. They said that if she kept doing her séances she would regret it.”

“According to Gary, Sara thought it was Tish.” Tom flipped through his notes again. “Tish said she didn't know anything about it. She never went to Sara's site, according to her computer-search history.”

“You know you can delete browsing history,” Seth said. His voice indicated he didn't think Tom could even turn on a computer.

“I
know
.” Tom glowered at Seth. “We have a computer guy in Grand Rapids looking at both machines for us. So far, there's no link.”

“I heard there was some issue with Gary and Sara over this land deal,” Diana said.

“Yeah, he came clean on that one.” Tom nodded.

He explained Sara and Gary's fight over the land and their divorce settlement.

“I remember her telling me about that,” said Mom. “She wanted to build there someday but was waiting to see what would happen with Milo's strip mall plan. She didn't want to live next to a business area, but she also didn't want to sell and help him in his quest for more space.”

“All right. Gary needed money and had land he couldn't sell because Sara wouldn't sell hers.” Dad ticked the points off on his fingers. “Milo really wanted both plots of land, and Sara stood in the way. She was getting threats from someone about her séances, and had recently come up against Tish when applying for her certificate,” Dad said. He looked at his fingers and shook his head.

“Don't forget the séance she did just before she died. She basically accused someone in that room of being a murderer,” Diana said.

“There's only one thing to do,” said Vi, looking around the table.

I didn't want to know what she had in mind, but she was unstoppable.

“We're having our own séance,” she said, and crossed her arms.

“Wicked!” Seth said. His grin spread, and his eyes snapped with excitement.

Vi claimed that a séance would be most effective
in a place where Sara felt comfortable. She was quickly backed by Mom and Diana. We were going to break into Sara's house. We waited for Alex to finish at work, because he didn't want to miss out.

It was after nine o'clock when Seth and I approached Sara's house through the woods. I felt a bit like a SWAT team member except that what we were doing was against the law, and my backup team consisted of tarot readers, Wiccans, pet psychics, and a dentist. I didn't want to think about what would happen if we got caught. Certainly I wouldn't have to make a decision about Ann Arbor; that would be the least of my problems. Even though Sara didn't have any neighbors close by, Tom had given strict instructions to leave cars parked several streets away and to come through the back to avoid having any neighbors or drive-by traffic notice us. He was our lookout.

We arrived in groups of twos and threes. The rest of the crew had gone ahead of us.

Seth tensed as we neared the back door, and I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you think they've cleaned up in there?” he whispered.

I shrugged. “I hope so, but I don't know.”

“You go first,” he said. He hung back and pushed me toward the house.

I hesitated at the door, took a deep breath, and then swung it open. There was no sign of the violence that had occurred a week earlier. I breathed out slowly and sent a quick thank-you to whoever had cleaned up, and signaled Seth to follow.

Mom was in the kitchen and rushed to meet us at the door. I hadn't described Sara's body lying on the floor to Mom, so she didn't have the same aversion to the room as Seth and I did.

“You have to stop her, Clyde.”

“Who? What are you talking about?” I pried her hands off my arms.

“It's your aunt. It's not bad enough that we're in the same house where Sara died, now she's going through her things.” Mom took a shuddering breath. “She's in there ‘tossing' Sara's office. She claims Tuffy told her Sara spent a lot of time there in the past few weeks.” She pointed through the kitchen to the small office beyond.

Diana stood on the other side of the desk from Vi and Alex and cast worried glances our way. Vi had opened every desk drawer and rummaged through it.

“Here's something!” she said, and waved a sheet of paper. She handed it to Alex.

“Vi, what are you doing?” I said. I had hurried in to stand next to Diana.

“I'm searching the scene of the crime for clues.” She continued to search when Alex said that her find was just a flyer for window cleaning. There was a phone number on the back that Vi thought we should track down.

“It's probably the Pizza Shack number. The police already did this,” I said.

She looked at me doubtfully.

“Well, they didn't do a very good job. It doesn't look like they touched the desk.”

“They probably left it the way they found it, which is more than I can say for you,” Mom said from the doorway. She took a step forward and then stopped, clutching her protective amulet.

“Oh, please. They either didn't look or they just opened and closed the drawers hoping something would jump up and down screaming, ‘I'm evidence!'” Vi punctuated this statement by making the flyer jump up and down.

Seth giggled. Diana smiled. Alex flipped through the bottom file drawer.

“Here, let me do that.” I started around the desk.

Alex held up his hand to stop me. “Look at this. Sara had copies of old newspaper clippings stuffed here under ‘Taxes 2007.'”

He pulled out the copies and we all leaned forward to look. Vi cleared her throat as we read the headline: “Hunter's Death in Greer's Woods Ruled an Accident.”

“What's she doing with these?” Vi looked up, her eyes bright and wet.

I took the file and inspected the articles. One stack covered the shooting death of Mike Jones from the time it was reported until the time they closed the case. A second group followed the case of Julia Wyatt and the search for her body, including finding her clothing in Greer's Woods.

“I think we should turn this over to the police,” I said.

“We can't do that. We're not supposed to be here,” Diana said.

“Can't we just tell Officer Andrews to search the place again?” said Seth. “And tell him how to find the office, and how to open the desk, and where to look—”

“That's enough, Seth. He's not that bad,” Mom said.

“He's not that good, either,” Seth breathed into my ear.

“I can't remove evidence, but I'd like to get a copy of these,” I said. I put them back in their original order. “I'll have to get Tom to copy them for me.”

Seth had gone to Vi's side of the desk and opened a panel.

“You could just copy them now,” he said. He did something inside the panel and then we heard clicks and beeps.

I handed him the papers and motioned everyone else into the dining room. Dad arrived just as we were setting up.

We'd decided Diana would run the séance, since she had the most experience. She wasn't a medium, but she knew what to do. Vi hoped that the combined “psychic talent” of the group would carry us along in our ignorance. It was getting dark outside. We pulled the curtains and left the lights off so no one would get curious. I wished we had stuck to the pendulum and tarot cards. Séances creep me out.

Seth came into the room with the copies and stood too close. His hand shook when he handed me the sheaf of papers.

“Okay, we need to sit around the table here. I brought some candles,” Diana said. “Rose, did you bring some food?”

“Sara always liked my banana bread. I brought some of that.” My mother placed a small basket on the table.

“Is a ghost going to eat that food?” Seth asked.

“No, we just put it there to attract her spirit,” Diana said. “We light the candles for warmth and light, which is also attractive to the spirits.”

“Let's get the show on the road here. I don't want to get caught in Sara's house like this,” Dad said. I almost hugged him.

We sat, and Diana lit the three candles.

Vi's eyes glittered across the table toward me, the candles lighting her face with an eerie glow. I felt a familiar chill settle along my spine. I really hate séances.

“Everyone focus your energy and your thoughts on Sara. We all need to be thinking of her to get her to communicate with us.” Diana's voice was quiet and soothing; I wished I were sitting next to her.

I had Seth, whose eyes had grown to what looked like twice their normal size, on one side, and Alex, who had his eyes shut tight just like he always did in scary movies, on the other. These two were not the ones I'd want backing me up in a dark alley. Dad looked worried next to Mom, then came Diana and Vi.

Everyone seemed nervous except Diana and Vi. They acted like they were about to attend a party.

“Put your hands on the table and lightly hold your neighbor's hand. The circle will be broken if you let go, and the spirit will leave.”

I saw Mom give Dad's hand a squeeze; she glanced at him, and he seemed to relax. I got no reassuring squeezes from Alex and Seth, but I did hold on to Seth a little tighter than necessary. He looked a bit unsettled, and I didn't want the circle broken by nervous vomiting.

Diana closed her eyes, and said, “Our dearest Sara, we bring you gifts from life. Commune with us, Sara.”

The few séances I had attended in the past had been disappointing. We had never been successful, and as the silence stretched it looked like this would be another bust.

Someone sniffed. Alex cleared his throat. The silence became heavy, then uncomfortable as we waited. Nothing happened. The flickering candles cast long, jumping shadows on the walls. I heard the unfamiliar noises of Sara's house all around us. The refrigerator's quiet groan in the next room, the pops and clicks of a house settling in for the night, the high-pitched whine in my ears that I only noticed when it was really quiet, all became louder and more sinister as we sat in expectation. Diana repeated her request, and we waited. Still nothing.

Alex shifted in his seat, and I glanced at him; he got ready to say something when Vi spoke.

“There is murder here.” She stared at a spot above my head, and it was all I could do not to turn around and see if there was something there, but I didn't want to break the circle.

Diana looked surprised and turned to Vi.

“Sara? Are you with us?” Diana asked.

“No, not Sara. She has crossed over,” said Vi.

Vi continued to stare without blinking, just over my head.

“A murderer is unpunished. You must use your talent before another dies,” Vi said.

“Who are you? What can you tell us about the murders?” Diana asked.

Something brushed my cheek, and I fought the urge to scrub at it. At the same time, Alex sneezed and broke the circle. The candle in front of Vi went out, and she slumped in her chair.

Everyone else jumped out of their seats and rushed to her side. She looked around and blinked. I was the only one still seated. I ran the last few seconds through my mind—I thought I had seen her blow out the candle.

“Vi, are you okay?” said Mom.

“Who do you think that was?” said Seth.

“This is very strange,” said Diana. “Vi, has this ever happened to you before?”

“I don't know. . . .” Vi put her hand to her head. “I just sort of spaced out for a second, and then I guess I broke the circle. Sorry, everyone.”

“You don't remember what you said?” Seth asked.

“I didn't say anything.” Vi frowned at him.

I caught her eye and raised an eyebrow. She cocked her head and looked surprised, like she didn't know what I might mean.

“Well, we're not likely to have any more ‘manifestations' tonight,” said Dad. “Let's pack it in.”

Everyone talked at once as Diana blew out the other candles and stowed them away. I tucked the packet of articles in my bag. There were quiet exclamations of “fascinating” and “unusual.” I stayed out of the conversations and tried to make sense of what had happened. The discussions finally died out, and we left in groups of twos and threes, sneaking through the backyard to where the cars were parked.

Seth chattered away in my ear the whole way home. He was no longer green; he was geeked.

I wondered if everyone had been fooled by Vi's performance.

* * *

I wait on
the stone bridge in the woods near Message Circle. The sun is bright overhead, but the leaves filter the light, which is soft and gentle. I can hear the small stream trickling along under the bridge. I am happy and I am waiting for Mac.

I see him come through the woods, along the path. He's not using his cane, and his stride is long and purposeful. He speeds up when he sees me. In a breath or two he is at my side, and then I am in his arms and we kiss, and I lose track of where we are. I feel dizzy and my head is spinning. When the kiss ends, I turn and we are no longer in the woods, we are in the front of a church and all our friends are there. I am wearing a dress and he is wearing a tux and smiling, smiling.

A slamming door invaded my sleep. It took me a moment to recognize that I was in my parents' house and not my Ann Arbor apartment. I began the day by cursing myself for coming back to Crystal Haven.

I had come to think of it as the wedding dream. It was the dream that had changed everything. The first few times I had the dream, it started with Grace's wedding. I could see Paul clearly, and I knew the wedding was in New York City. I was devastated when Grace took this information and packed up to move to New York. Even though she was jealous of my “talent” and called me “psycho sister,” she believed as much as my mother in the prescience of my dreams. But I missed her the way only a younger sibling can miss an adored big sister. After Grace met Paul, the dream changed and focused on the part where Mac and I were together. The beginning was different each time, but it always ended the same. It visited every year or so and left me feeling sad and confused. Sad that I had once believed it to be true, and confused that it persisted even after all this time.

* * *

I was still
thinking about Mac and the way his face had fallen when he realized I had known about Dean, while I sipped my coffee in Mom's kitchen that morning.

I took a deep breath. I felt cooped up in this house with my dreams and memories. I decided to go out to Message Circle and think things through. Before I was old enough to have a gun, walking through the woods and sitting at Message Circle had been my therapy.

I took a fast shower, yanked my hair into a ponytail, threw on my jeans and a T-shirt, and grabbed my car keys. I planned to spend some time in Greer's Woods and be back in time to go on dog rounds with Seth.

Twenty minutes later, I stood on the bridge from my dream. I had taken the long way from the parking lot just to see it again and dispel the feeling from the dream. It was overcast, so the light was different. I heard the birds call to each other and the squirrels chatter, which drowned out the sounds of the stream. Then I saw Mac coming down the path, but he was using his cane. He made his way carefully up the bridge to meet me in the center.