The Ghost of Valentine Past (15 page)

“
L
et's not
,” Walt said when he appeared in the library.

Curious, Danielle studied Heather's reaction, waiting to see if she could see Walt. Heather didn't appear to have an inkling his spirit lingered just a few feet from her.

“But I'll have to get the oils out when I come back,” Heather said.

“Come back? Are you going somewhere?”

“I got a call this morning from Police Chief MacDonald; he wants me to come down to the police station again, for more questioning. I'm afraid if I don't go now, he'll come here, and frankly, I would rather talk to him down there.”

“Are you going to have breakfast first? I know Joanne is making it now.”

Heather shook her head. “No. Would you mind telling her I won't be here for breakfast?” Heather glanced at the cellphone in her hand, checking the time. “I need to go.”

“
S
he reminds
me a little like someone from the Adam's family,” Brian told MacDonald. The two men stood together in the room adjacent to the interrogation room, watching Heather Donovan through the two-way mirror. She sat alone at the table, absently surfing the Internet on her cellphone while waiting for someone to come in and interview her.

“She does, doesn't she?” MacDonald chuckled.

“What grown woman goes around wearing her hair in two ponytails?”

MacDonald studied Heather for a moment, noting her coal black hair, pulled into low pigtails and the severe bangs cut straight across her forehead. He shrugged. “It rather suits her.”

“Might as well get this over with,” Brian said before leaving the room.

A few minutes later, Officer Brian Henderson sat across the table from Heather Donovan in the Frederickport Police Department's interrogation room.

“Thanks for coming down this morning,” Brian said as he opened his folder and shuffled through its papers.

Heather turned off her phone and set it on the table. She looked across at Brian. “I figured it would be easier to do this down here, instead of at Marlow House.”

“It does make it easier on me.” Brian smiled.

“What did you want to ask me?”

Brian looked up from his papers to Heather. “Do you know a man by the name of Logan Mitcham?”

Heather closed her eyes and let out a groan, slumping down in her chair. “I suppose he called you about me, right?”

“Why would Mr. Mitcham contact us about you?”

Heather sat back up straight in her chair and glared at Brian. “I imagine because I said that if I could strangle Peter Morris, I would! But that doesn't mean I stabbed the SOB, does it? Damn!” Heather angrily folded her arms across her chest and slumped back down in her chair. “What ever happened to client confidentiality? I sure won't recommend Mitcham to anyone!”

“Why don't you back up a moment, Heather. Tell me how you happen to know Mr. Mitcham—and then you can explain why you told him you wanted to kill Peter Morris.”

Sitting up straighter, she continued to glare at Brian. “Just because I said I wanted to strangle him, doesn't mean I wanted to kill him. It's a figure of speech, for goodness sake!”

“Once again Heather—how do you happen to know Mr. Mitcham?”

Heather let out a sigh and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “I don't know why you're making me say everything you obviously already know. But fine—I hired Mitcham to investigate Peter Morris.”

“Why would you do that?”

Heather studied Brian for a moment. “You don't know, do you?”

“Go on.”

Heather shrugged. “I hired him to look into Peter Morris and Earthbound Spirits in regards to Presley House; well, the property, anyway.”

“What did Morris have to do with the property?”

“I found out my mother hadn't been paying the taxes on the property. After the house burned down, I assumed I still owned at least the lot, but I found out it had been sold for back taxes, and the new owner was Earthbound Spirits. I spoke to someone over at the assessors' office, and she told me on the QT that something looked a little hinky about it, and she promised to look into it. I decided to hire someone to look into it for me; so I hired Logan Mitcham.”

“What did he find out?”

“After charging me more than I could afford, he told me Earthbound Spirits hadn't done anything wrong. That when someone doesn't pay property taxes, that's what can happen. He told me it was nothing personal, that Earthbound Spirits acquires a lot of land this way.”

“How did you happen to tell Mitcham you wanted to strangle Morris?”

“After he told me what he found, I got…well, I suppose I was upset. I really thought I would find out something that would help me get my property back. But according to Mitcham, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. He told me I needed to simply move on. I suppose I didn't appreciate his advice. Told him I was pissed, and that I didn't care if Morris took my land legally...that I still would like to strangle him.”

“How did Mitcham react to your outburst?”

“Sort of got the feeling he was used to clients getting upset when he told them something they didn't want to hear. I don't know why he had to run to you the minute he finds out someone killed Morris. I don't even see how that's ethical.”

“After you got upset with the news, then what happened?”

Heather shrugged. “I left his office. Told him thank you for his help. Although I suppose, I probably said that a little snarky. But I was pissed at the time!”

“How did you happen to hire Mitcham?”

“Someone recommended him. Claimed he was the best one for my situation.”

“Someone? Who?”

“I don't know.”

“What do you mean you don't know? You don't know who recommended Mitcham?”

“Well, I don't know them personally.”

“So what are you telling me, you walked up to some stranger on the street, asked them for a name of a good PI and they gave you Mitcham's?”

“Of course not,” Heather scoffed. “It was online.”

“You mean one of those referral sites, like Angie's list?”

Absently picking up her cellphone, she fidgeted with it as she explained. “No. When I found out who'd ended up with my land, I went online to see what I could find out about the cult. And it is a cult, you know. There had already been so much in the paper, what with Morris' right hand man killing himself and confessing to a murder and other crimes. It didn't take long to find out I wasn't the only one with a gripe with Earthbound Spirits.”

“How so?”

“I came across a forum on cults, and there was an active thread all about Earthbound Spirits. I joined the forum, started talking to other people there, exchanging experiences. That's when I met CultCurious.”

“CultCurious?” Brian asked.

“Yeah. That's his handle. Or her. Not really sure. He sent me a private message. Told me if I was really serious about going after Morris, I needed to hire Logan Mitcham. Said he was a PI who was already looking into the group, wanted to bring them down, and he'd probably appreciate any new ammunition that would help do that. Said he probably wouldn't even charge me. Of course, he was wrong there.”

“Wrong?”

“It wasn't free. But I really wasn't looking for a free private detective, just one who'd be best for my case. I'd hoped Mitcham would be it.”

“Do you think he did a poor job?”

Heather shrugged in defeat. “Probably not. It just wasn't what I wanted to hear. I wanted him to tell me Morris had done something illegal and that he could prove it, and I could get my property back. But that's not what he told me. And since he's not a fan of Earthbound Spirits, I have to assume had he found anything I could've used against the group, he would have told me. But still, to tell you about me is really jerky.”

Brian was about to ask another question when Heather angrily tossed her phone aside and looked across the table at Brian. “Did he give you all his client's names?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did Mitcham hand over his client list, all those poor people who have a legitimate grudge against Earthbound Spirits? While I didn't kill the man, I'm not crying over his death. He hurt many people. I don't think any of those people deserve to be harassed by you!”

“Heather, I've no intention of harassing anyone.”

“Boy, I'm going to give Mitcham a piece of my mind, and when I go online again, I'm going to let everyone know what a betrayer he is!”

“First of all, Mitcham did not say anything about you. In fact, we haven't even talked to him.”

Heather frowned. “I don't understand. You knew I'd hired him.”

“He's a person of interest. We're trying to locate him. We came across an invoice he made out to you, which is how we knew of the connection.”

She stared dumbly across the table a moment before asking, “Are you saying Mitcham never said anything to you about me threatening to strangle Morris?”

Brian nodded. “Like I said, we haven't spoken to him. But, we're trying to contact him. Do you know where we might be able to find him?”

Heather shrugged. “I met him at his office. Do you have that address?”

“Yes. Did he ever mention any other place he likes to go? Maybe a favorite restaurant where he meets with clients? A hobby he mentioned in passing? Something?”

“No. Sorry. I just met with him twice. Once when I hired him and the second time, when he told me what he'd found. Or should I say, hadn't found.”

“The night of the murder, when Chris stepped out of the parlor, when he was with Morris, you told Chris Danielle was looking for him.”

“I thought she was.”

“But you admitted you didn't actually talk to her. That you heard her call out from the kitchen.”

Heather shifted in her chair. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Danielle wasn't in the kitchen. But Chris left to find her…leaving you alone with Morris.”

Heather shook her head in frantic denial. “No…I didn't tell Chris that to be alone with Morris! I honestly believed I heard her cry out from the kitchen. Sometimes….well, sometimes I hear things…well…and see things…that other people don't.”

“I'm not sure what you're getting at.”

Heather leaned forward and whispered, “I think Marlow House is haunted.”

“Haunted?”

“I've seen Walt Marlow on a few occasions.”

“Umm….have you shared this with anyone?” Brian asked.

“Actually, I told Danielle this morning. Of course, she doesn't believe me. I could tell.”

“Let's forget about…ghosts…for a moment. Why don't you tell me again what happened between you and Morris after Chris left him with you.”

“Nothing happened between us. Maybe he didn't do anything illegal to get my property, but I still didn't want anything to do with him. I didn't want to talk to him. But I certainly didn't kill him.”

“What did you do, exactly?”

“After I told Chris about Danielle looking for him and how she might be in the kitchen, I admit I expected it to speed up the goodbye.”

“Speed up what goodbye?”

“Between Chris and Morris, of course. Haven't you ever noticed when you walk someone out to leave, they linger on and on, with inane conversation, until you want to just shove them out the door? I figured with Chris knowing Danielle was looking for him, Morris would just leave.”

“But it didn't work out that way, did it?”

D
anielle was
about to step into the front lobby of the Frederickport Police Department when Heather stepped outside. Heather paused and looked at her before stating, “You didn't mention you were coming down here.”

“Thought I'd stop by and see if there was any news on the murder investigation.”

“Are you sure you didn't just come down here to find out why they wanted to talk to me again?”

Danielle frowned. “No. Why would I come all the way down here to ask that when you're living at Marlow House?”

Heather shrugged. “Well, your friend Police Chief MacDonald isn't here. Or at least, I didn't see him.”

“I thought that's who called you.”

“It was. But I spoke to Officer Henderson.” Heather pushed by Danielle. “I'm out of here. Going to grab some breakfast.”

“Bye…” Danielle said lamely, watching Heather make her way to the parking lot. After a moment, Danielle gave her head a little shake and made her way inside the building. After being buzzed in to the inner offices, she came face to face with Joe Morelli.

“Happy Valentine's Day, Danielle,” Joe greeted.

“Morning. Any breaks on the case?” she asked.

“Nothing I can really share at this time. But hopefully, we'll have something we can tell you.”

“Is the chief here?” she asked.

“The chief won't be able to tell you any more than me,” Joe told her.

Danielle smiled. “I just wanted to say hi,” she lied.

“I was hoping you might have changed your mind about going out with me tonight.”

“Thanks, Joe. I appreciate the offer, but with everything that's going on right now, I can't even think about going out.”

“Morning, Danielle,” Brian greeted, walking to where she stood with Joe.

“Hi, Brian. I see you talked to Heather again this morning.”

“She told you?” Brian asked.

“Earlier, she mentioned the chief asked her to come down, and I just ran into her on her way out. But she didn't say why you wanted to talk to her again.”

“Just routine,” Brian shrugged. “Rechecking our facts, that's all.”

Danielle smiled. “I was wondering, is the chief here?”

Brian told her he was in his office at the same time Joe reminded her the chief wouldn't have anything new to tell her. She smiled at both officers and then politely excused herself and made her way to the chief's office.

“She does make herself at home around here,” Brian observed dryly.

“I should probably tell her to wait out front while I check with the chief.” Joe started to follow Danielle when Brian reached out and grabbed him by the arm. Joe paused and looked back at the other officer.

“Don't waste your time, Joe. The chief will see her. You know it. I've no idea what's with those two. If it wasn't for Carol Ann, I'd swear they've got something going on.”

“Oh please, the chief is hardly Danielle's type,” Joe scoffed.

“You're right. I imagine Chris Glandon is more her type.”

“
T
his is a surprise
,” the chief greeted when Danielle entered his office, closing the door behind her. “We just had your—what is Heather Donovan, your boarder or guest? She was just here.”

“I suppose she qualifies more as a boarder,” Danielle said as she sat down. “I just ran into her outside. She mentioned earlier she was on her way down here. So, anything new?”

The chief glanced down at the stack of papers on his desk and gave them a little shove. “I don't know. But whenever I turn around, I find someone else connected to Logan Mitcham.”

“You don't mean Heather?”

“Apparently she hired him to look into Morris and Earthbound Spirits, something about them getting ahold of her Presley property.”

“Are you saying Earthbound Spirits is the new owner?”

“You know about it?”

“I knew she lost it for back taxes. I had no idea Earthbound Spirits was the new owner. She left that part out.”

“Apparently, Earthbound Spirits has picked up a number of properties because of unpaid property tax.”

“According to Heather, she suspected the new owner had done something illegal to get ahold of the property; that's why she talked about hiring a private detective. But, I didn't realize she'd hired someone. I sort of had the impression she didn't have the money.”

“She hired someone all right—Kelly Bartley's neighbor. Yet according to Heather, Mitcham claimed Morris didn't do anything illegal. Earthbound Spirits apparently got the property fair and square.”

Danielle leaned back in the chair. “I suppose there is a first time for everything.”

“So why did you stop by? Just to see why we wanted to see Heather?”

Danielle smiled. “Not particularly. Though that's just what Heather suggested. No, the real reason I want to see you this morning is to tell you something I learned last night. Actually, it's someone else with a connection to Mitcham.”

“Who?”

Danielle leaned toward the desk. “You know how I told you about Max seeing Arlene go downstairs after Heather went up to her room for the night?”

“Yes. I've been hesitant about bringing her back in for more questions. At least, not right now. I suppose I could say someone claimed to have seen her come downstairs, but who? I'm sure everyone has compared notes by now.”

“According to my sources, after stabbing Peter Morris, the killer—a man—stashed the knife in the bathroom. Just as he was leaving the bathroom, he ran into Arlene, who had just come downstairs.”

“She saw the killer?”

“Not only did she see him, she knew him. Knew him enough that he kissed her before he told her to go back upstairs to bed, shortly before he left.”

“You're saying Arlene Horton was part of the murder?”

Danielle leaned back in her chair and crossed her denim-clad legs. “I'm not sure I'd say she was part of the murder, exactly. According to Lucas, she seemed genuinely surprised to find the man downstairs.”

“Lucas? Your deceased husband?”

“Yeah…” Danielle sighed. “Lucas is still hanging around. He witnessed the murder.”

“What does he say happened?”

Danielle repeated what Lucas had told her. When she was finished, she and MacDonald sat in silence for a few moments, considering the new information.

“We know David has a tie to Peter Morris. He's a Hilton. The youngest grandchild of Helen Hilton who left her estate to Earthbound Spirits.”

“And one of the grandchildren involved in the lawsuit against the cult,” Danielle added.

“Hilton has the motive…” the chief muttered.

“There is obviously a tie between Arlene and Mitcham. But if there is something romantic between those two, why is she sharing a bed with David?”

The chief smiled. “Sounds interesting. How long are they staying? I'm a little concerned about them still being with you. It may not be safe, but until I can find something—other than testimony from a ghost or cat…”

“Don't worry about our safety. Walt promised to keep an eye on both of them. But, I have this gut feeling that they aren't killers.”

“Maybe not, but Mitcham is still missing, and it was his fingerprint we found at your house.”

“Have you talked to Will yet?” Danielle asked.

“Yes. Which now, considering what Heather told me, makes me even more confused about the players in all this.” The chief leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

“How do you mean?”

“According to Wayne, Mitcham found evidence Isabella was murdered, which I know is false.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I looked into it again and had someone else review the medical records, and there is no doubt Isabella died of natural causes. Yet according to Wayne, Mitcham offered to hook him up with a hit man—to kill Morris. Because, according to Mitcham, Morris was so well connected he'd get away with the murder.”

“You aren't suggesting Will hired Mitcham to kill Morris, are you?”

“No. According to Wayne, he was more interested in finding out who in the coroner's office was involved in the cover up, but he backed away from Mitcham after the offer. Plus, the PI never handed over any of the information he claimed to have uncovered. So basically, he expected Wayne to simply take his word on it.”

“Why would Mitcham lie about something like that?” Danielle asked.

“I just hope your friend didn't hire Mitcham to kill Morris and just told me all that to throw me off, in case Mitcham screwed up—which he did—and left a clue that would lead us to him.”

Danielle shook her head, “I just can't believe Will would hire a hit man.”

“You don't have kids, Danielle.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“If someone hurt one of my boys like that—I honestly don't know what I'd do. In fact, I don't even like to think about it.”

“No…Will Wayne is a good man.”

“I'd like to think I'm a good man too. But when it comes to someone hurting one of my kids—well, anything is possible. It's not as if Peter Morris was a particularly likable man. He had a history of bilking vulnerable people out of money, and if Wayne honestly believed he had Isabella killed, it wouldn't surprise me.”

“So why haven't you arrested him yet?”

“Aside from the fact I keep tripping over other people connected to Mitcham who also have motives, I think it would be premature. I really don't want to repeat your cousin's murder investigation.”

Danielle knew what he was talking about. Several people, including herself, were arrested for Cheryl's murder before the real killer was arrested.

Danielle listed off the current suspects. “So far, there is Heather, Arlene—David, if you consider his connection to Mitcham through Arlene and his history with Earthbound Spirits—and then there's Will.”

“You forget Kelly.”

“Kelly? Sure, she's his neighbor, but she didn't have a reason to kill Morris.”

“Sure she did.”

“What are you talking about?” Danielle asked.

“What's our agreement, Danielle?” the chief asked.

Danielle let out a sigh, “What you tell me in confidence about an ongoing case can not go any farther than you and me, unless you give me permission to tell someone like Lily or Walt. And I'll be your spiritual informer.”

“Spiritual informer?” The chief smiled.

“Or is it spiritual snitch?” she asked.

“Okay…whatever…but for now, you need to keep this between us. If Kelly happens to tell you herself, pretend like it's the first time you've heard it.”

Danielle frowned. “Heard what?”

“Kelly believes Peter Morris was responsible for her roommate's suicide. Not much different from Cleve's suicide, yet it this case, it was primarily about money.”

“Money?”

“The young woman had an inheritance from her grandmother. She was troubled. Morris convinced her to move on to paradise—and oh, by the way, leave me your money so I can continue to help other girls like you.”

“Damn…” Danielle shook her head in disgust. “We should be giving Logan Mitcham a medal, instead of finding him so we can throw him in prison.”

“I know how you feel, believe me.”

“So now what?” Danielle asked.

“Now I'd like to learn more about the connection between Mitcham and Arlene. I'd also like to figure out how Hilton plays into all this.”

“It's interesting how all roads seem to lead back to Mitcham. But how did all these people happen to hire the same private detective? What are the odds of that?”