Those of the Margin: a Paranormal Suspense Thriller (Derek Cole Suspense Thriller Book 2) (13 page)

BOOK: Those of the Margin: a Paranormal Suspense Thriller (Derek Cole Suspense Thriller Book 2)
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"You said," John continued, "that you inspected the footprints towards the end of the Way and that they were shallower despite there being no remarkable change in the snow covering the path?"

"I swear, it was like the person I was chasing starting to float the closer he got to the end of the path."

"And you said that when you inspected the place where the man appeared, you didn't see any footprints leading to the spot you saw him. Like he just appeared in the spot you noticed him?"

"Exactly," Derek said. "But honestly, it was dark out, all I had was a small flashlight, and I was in a fair amount of pain when I was looking for any footprints leading to the spot I saw him standing."

"Did the person really look like Ron?" Maggie asked, her head tilted to the side and her eyes squinting with either curiosity or exhaustion,

"Again, it was dark, and I wouldn't bet my life on the person I saw being Ron. I mean, especially since he had probably already been killed by the time I saw him. I heard sirens right before I saw whomever I saw. I have to believe those sirens were the police responding to the nursing home."

Maggie and John fell silent, remembering Ron and struggling with the disbelief that he had been brutally murdered. Derek was angry with himself for seeing Ron's murder as little more than another twist to his case.
 

"Guys," he said solemnly, "I'm really sorry about Ron. And I'm sorry that I've been acting like Ron was just some random guy off the street who got murdered. I know he meant a lot to you both."

"What if," Maggie said, without acknowledging Derek's apology, "what Robby has been seeing, what I heard and saw, and what you were chasing earlier," she nodded towards Derek, "were actually ghosts?" Maggie slid her hand across the table towards Derek's. When hers reached his, she gave a little squeeze and shot him a brief smile. "We both know you didn't mean to discount Ron's life or the friendship John and I had with him. You've been thrown into this whole thing and had no idea what you were getting yourself into when you told Jack and me that you'd give us two days to solve Robby's problem."

"I'm still sorry, but, thanks for understanding."

"I hate to say this," John said, "but if we assume that what you two and Robby have experienced are actually the results of spirits, things do fall into place fairly neatly. Except Ron's murder. I've never heard of a ghost killing someone."

"Neither have I," Derek said quickly. "That's why I think that if we find out who killed Ron, a lot of other pieces to this puzzle will fall into place."

"If the police think that you're a priest," Maggie said, a coy smile dancing across her face, "how in the world will you be able to get us all involved in the investigation?"

"The four of us will have to conduct our own investigation. Maggie, Father, my friend Ralph and me. If we're a team now, we each need to understand our role in this investigation."

"I feel like a double private investigator," John said. "What's my role?"

"And mine, too?" Maggie added.

"Maggie," Derek began, "if you can contact Ron's family, you could learn a lot about him. You already know them, I believe, so you calling them and offering help and comfort won't be a stretch for you or difficult for them to believe. Tell them that you want to help them with whatever planning they need to do. Ron said his family lives in Canada, which means that, most likely, they will want his body sent to Canada for services and burial. Not only is transporting a body across country borders a challenge, but also the murder investigation will cause some delays before that can happen.
 
You let Ron's family know that you will do whatever you can to help them. I don't think I'm asking you to do anything that you wouldn't do without my suggestions, so your part in this is 99% just being your own kind self and 1% digging for information about Ron's life to see if there are any clues about why he was murdered."

"Thanks for the compliment," Maggie said. "I was going to contact his wife tomorrow anyway."

"Like I said," Derek continued, "I'm not asking you to do anything you wouldn't have done if you weren't part of this team."

"And my part?" John asked, his excitement refusing to be tempered by his sorrow for Ron being killed.

"Father, I think what you need to do is also something that you would probably do on your own as well. Tomorrow, go up to the nursing home and talk with as many residents and staff to see if anyone saw anything. I'm sure some people are not only emotionally upset that Ron was killed but also scared for their own safety. I'm sure the police have already started or will soon start interviewing everyone in the nursing home, but I have to believe that more people would be comfortable speaking with you than with a cop."

"Funny," John said. "Like Maggie, I was going to do that exact thing tomorrow. I'll just add a few more questions to what I was planning to say to see what I can find."

"And one more thing, Father. I need you to go there during the day, when there is plenty of sunlight."

"Why's that?"

"Hopefully, Ron's telescope is still on the porch and still focused to the spot it was when I looked through it. Take a good long look through the scope, and let Maggie and I know what you see and if you spot anything unusual. Look to see if you can see my footprints and the footprints of my surprise visitor. I also want to coordinate the timing with you. We'll decide on a time when you will be at the telescope, and I'll be at the spot I saw my visitor. We will communicate via cell phones. I want to make 100% sure I was standing in the same spot Ron's telescope was pointed."

"I'll go with you, Derek," Maggie said. "Robby has school tomorrow, and we all know that my loving and devoted husband won't be around. Derek, I have Ron's home number in my phone. I'll call his wife, dig for information, then will meet you on the Marginal Way after I drop Robby off at school."

"Sounds like we have ourselves a plan," John said.

"We do," Derek said. "And Maggie, I hate to say this, but if Jack comes home tomorrow, we won't be able to meet here as a team to discuss our progress."

"I know, and I also know that you suspect Jack in Ron's murder as well."

"What makes you say that?" Derek asked.

"Because Jack is an asshole who has already killed one person, in all likelihood. What's to say that he wouldn't do it again? Sorry for the harsh language, Father."

"Don't worry. Jack is an asshole," John said, causing Maggie and Derek to stifle their laughter so as not to wake up Robby.

"One last thing before we call it a night," Derek said. "Maggie, you told me when I first met with you and Jack here yesterday, that Ron's name and Father John's name were added to your list of suspects by Jack."

"Yes," Maggie said, flashing an apologetic glanced towards John.

"How insistent was Jack to have me interview Ron and John?"

"Very insistent.
 
Almost to the point of rage when I first objected. I was actually curious about why Jack seemed so nervous about what Ron and Father may have said to Robby. I couldn't understand his demanding that both Ron and Father be on our list of suspects."

"I think that's a clue we need to follow."

John glanced at this watch then slowly stood, his hands clenched in loose fists on the dining room table.

"As much as I've enjoyed this evening with you both," he began, "we do have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Agreed," Derek resigned. "Father, what time do you think you can make it up to the nursing home?"

"I am meeting with a parishioner tomorrow morning at nine. I will head up after that. Say around 10:30?"

"Perfect." Derek turned to Maggie. "I think it would raise fewer suspicions if you met me on the Marginal Way. I'll park in the lot at Ogunquit Beach, and you park on the other end of the Way in Perkins Cove. We'll meet at the spot I saw whatever I saw around 10:15."

"And I should call you as soon as I feel I can get to the telescope?" John asked.

"Yes. If you can plan on being at the telescope by 10:45, Maggie and I will have enough time to search the area. I checked the weather forecast, and they are expecting a pretty nasty storm to hit later in the day tomorrow but are not expecting any snow tonight or tomorrow morning, which means that the tracks should still be visible. Maggie, when you are walking up from Perkins Cove, take a close look at the tracks and look for anything I may have missed."

"I think we have our plan ready to go," John said. "Then we have just one more thing to determine."

"And that would be?"

"The name of our little double secret private investigating firm."

"How about 'The Holy Ghost Hunters?'" Derek suggested.

"Clever, but a tad blasphemous," John retorted.
 

"How about 'R and R?'" Maggie said.

"For Robby and Ron?" John asked.

"Exactly."

"Then it's official," John said. "Tomorrow, the R and R Investigative Firm begins its first case."

"Both of you need to promise me one thing," Derek said. "We have no idea what we're dealing with here. Promise me that you won't do anything that puts you in jeopardy. Agreed?"

"Agreed, but, really, how much trouble can a priest and a photographer-turned-stay-at-home mom
really
get into?"

CHAPTER TWENTY

Derek was exhausted when he finally got back to his hotel room. He tossed the notebook onto his bed, then retreated to the bathroom to shower, inspect his injuries, and prepare for bed. When finished, he climbed into the queen-sized bed, flicked on the lamp that sat on the nightstand, and then simply held the notebook in his hands.

Derek knew that his effectiveness on a case was highly determined by how organized his thoughts were. As he lay in bed, he realized that, on this case, his thoughts were scattered, disconnected, and seldom stayed along the same line of thought.
 

The moment he told Maggie and Jack that he would give them two days, his thoughts were simply to find out enough to satisfy his clients that their son, Robby, needed professional help. Derek wasn't closed minded and fully dismissive to the possibilities of ghosts actually existing, but he was much quicker to accept an emotional disorder than to invest time tracking down a spirit and formulating a strategy to convince or to persuade the spirit to "head for the light" and to leave Robby alone.

His wife, Lucy, had taught Derek that being honest with yourself was just as important as being honest with others. He, like so many others, found it easy to deceive himself but knew that the deception would, eventually, demand a heavy toll. As he lay in bed, Derek admitted to himself that one of the reasons he gave the Bryants two days was for the chance to spend more time with Maggie. And the more time that he spent with Maggie, the more time he wanted to spend with Maggie.

"She's married," he said to himself. "Doesn't matter that her husband is an unfaithful, lying, murderous son of a bitch. She's married."

Derek smiled after he committed to himself that he would ignore whatever growing feelings he felt for Maggie. He knew that he would never be able to keep that commitment, no matter how hard he tried. As his smile slowly faded, he admitted to himself that he was more attracted to Maggie and to a possible relationship with her than he had been with any other woman since the passing of his wife.

"Be honest," he said. "See what happens, but make damn sure nothing happens until things are resolved with her marriage. One way or another."

Feeling somehow relieved, Derek's mind became instantly sharper, more focused. He flipped open the black and white patterned composition notebook of Ron White, and committed himself to skim through the pages.

"Get the highlights," he said to himself, "ignore anything that is strictly personal. Mark any pages that need additional exploration and study them in the morning."

The first page of the notebook was filled with terribly neat printing. The page was divided into five columns, the titles of each written in larger handwriting across the top line of the page. "Date-Time-Duration-Conditions-Notes-Summary." Beneath each column were times, dates, and hand-printed notes. Nearly everything written under the "Notes" column was the same: "Not Remarkable."
 
Only two lines, found on the 25
th
the page, had "Potential Sighting" written, instead of "Not Remarkable" under the "Notes" column.

Derek flipped through the pages and found that at least 80 pages were laid out exactly as the first: page after page of dates, times, weather conditions, and notes. Like the first page, the "Notes" column on every page was filled with "Not Remarkable" and a few "Potential Sighting" reports. On about the 70
th
page, Ron had highlighted four entries. The writing under the "Notes" column of each highlighted entry read "OBIT/PIC!"

As he continued scanning the pages, Derek saw one entry that was highlighted in successively larger ovals. The note was scribbled as if written by a hurried or excited hand, and read "RECOGNIZED/RETURNED!" In small handwriting next to those words, a name was written: "Henry Turck."

Derek retrieved his Moleskin notebook that was placed on the TV stand, flipped to a blank page and wrote, "Who is Henry Turck???"

Derek returned to his bed and to the notebook with heightened curiosity. He flipped through several more pages until he saw a page with the letters "JB Investigation Notes" written in large letters across the header of the page. The notes below the heading filled the entire page and continued onto the next page. Each entry was marked by a small asterisk and began with the date the note was written, a letter, then a summary note.

The first line read,

"* 11/10/13
 
'C'
 
Contact with Portland Detec. HT (ret) Claims JB suspected in other cases. F/U"

Derek tried to decipher Ron's code. He assumed that the letter "C" was the grading system that Ron used to judge the validity of the entry. As he quickly scanned several other entries, Derek noticed that the letters written after the date of entry ranged from A+ to F, giving more credence to his belief of Ron's grading system.
 

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