Who Killed the Ghost in the Library: A Ghost writer Mystery (8 page)

BOOK: Who Killed the Ghost in the Library: A Ghost writer Mystery
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Chapter 14

“I don’t get it,” Randy said. “What’s the big deal?”

“When I first met her, Aggie talked about her husband in the present tense. She said that he told her she looked younger than she really was. I remember thinking that her husband was full of it, but I didn’t say so out loud.”

“So maybe he disappeared for a while.”

“You don’t understand, Randy. Mike told me that Cliff came in to see him last month about a missing person case. What if this is the case they were talking about?”

“Why don’t you call Mike and ask him?”

“Oh right,” I scoffed. “Like he’s going to tell me that.”

Randy shrugged. “You won’t know if you don’t try.”

I
called him. “Penhall.”

“Hey Mike, it’s Cam.”

I heard him sigh. “What do you want?”

I decided to go for the indirect approach. “I was wondering if you’ve seen Ray Foley lately.”

“Why?” he said warily.

“I thought I might ask him what happened the night Stanley died. From what Aggie told me, he was on the property. He must have heard something.”

‘You know more than you’re telling me.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I mentioned that Cliff had come to see me about a missing person case, you already knew it was about Ray Foley, didn’t you?”

“No, but thanks for confirming it for me.”

I swear I heard his teeth grinding. “How did you find out?”

“I was just curious who it was.

“Didn’t you learn anything about being curious after what happened this morning?”

“It was a simple question, Mike.”

“And I think you’re hiding something.”

“Thanks for answering my question. Have a good day!” I hung up as he was still talking.

“He is not a happy man.”

“No, he’s not,” I said. I picked up both reports and held them out to Randy. “Go to my office and make a copy.”

“Why?” he replied, taking the reports from me.

“I have a feeling that we’re going to have unexpected company in a few minutes.”

Randy barely had time to get the copies made before the doorbell rang ten minutes later. “There’s no way he got over here that fast,” he said, handing me the originals.

“He probably had his lights on the whole way,” I said, as the pounding started. “You better open the door before he breaks it down.”

Randy opened the door. “Why, Chief
Penhall, what a pleasant surprise!”

“Shut up, Randy,” Mike said as he came inside. “I want to know how you know Ray Foley was the name on that report.”

“Nice to see you, too,” I said. “We have to stop meeting like this. People are going to start talking.”

“That’s true,” Randy said, closing the front door.
“Word travels fast around here.”

“How did you know?” Mike repeated.

“Maybe a little ghost whispered in her ear,” Randy replied.

“Shut up, Randy,” Mike and I said.

I held out the missing person report. Mike took it from me and looked at it. “This is the file Cliff Scott had when he came to my office. How did you get it?”

“It was in an envelope that Cliff gave Randy yesterday.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me about this?”


I didn’t even know about it until a little while ago!”

“Does anyone else know you have this?”

“Just the three of us.”

“Good, keep it that way,” Mike said, moving toward the door.

“Hold on a minute!” I said. “You can’t take that! It was given to me, not you!”

“It is an official police report. I can take it if I want to.”

“It’s from 1968. I’m pretty sure it’s not even an active case,” Randy said.

“It is still police property. You’re lucky I don’t run you in,” Mike said.

“Just try it,” Randy replied, standing toe to toe with Mike. “My lawyer would have a field day with this.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Mike said, reaching behind him and pulling out his handcuffs.

“Oh, knock it off, you two!” I said. “You’re acting like idiots. Take it, Mike. I understand. But I don’t understand why you’re so worked up about this.”

Randy sat down in the recliner
as Mike put away his handcuffs and sat on the other end of the couch. “When Cliff came to see me a month ago, he told me that he had a lead on Ray’s case. We went over the information he had, and I told him that if he could bring me definitive proof, I would reopen the case.”

“Did he have a good lead?”

Mike was quiet for a minute. I guessed he was debating with himself about what to tell me. “Yes.”

“Can you give me a clue? Did he leave voluntarily? Is he dead? What?”

“Cliff was pretty sure that Ray was dead.”

“Why did he think that?” Randy asked.

“No trace of him. There’s been no activity on his social security number, which means he hasn’t been working, no loans taken out for a mortgage or a car, and his bank account was closed in 1969.”

“By who?” I said.

“His wife, who would have intimate knowledge of whether or not he was still among the living.”

“So you think she killed him?” I replied.

“I can’t give you any more details until I determine whether Foley’s disappearance had anything to do with Cliff’s death.”

“Have you talked to her yet?”

“I can’t tell you that…”

“…because
it’s part of an ongoing investigation,” I finished for him.

“What
can
you tell us?” Randy said.

“Nothing
. This doesn’t concern you two.”

Randy started to
say something, but I shook my head. “You’re right, Mike. I hope what we gave you helps you. But I do plan to continue working on the Ashton case. If I get any information that will help you, I’ll be sure to share it with you.”

Mike looked at me like I had grown a new head or something. “What are you up to,
Cam?”

“Nothing. I don’t want to complicate things for you by getting in your way. I learned my lesson this morning.
One last question: any idea who that man is we found this morning?”

Mike shook his head. “
I haven’t had a chance to run his prints. And even if I knew something, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Of course not,” I replied. “I understand. I won’t trouble you further. Have a good night!”

He still looked skeptical as he left, as if he didn’t believe me for a minute, but I just smiled as Randy closed the door behind him. “What the hell was that all about?”

“I’m going to do exactly what I told him I was going to do: continue to investigate Stanley’s death. I can’t help that it appears the two might overlap.”

“What about the ‘sharing information’ garbage?”

“That wasn’t garbage. It is against the law to impede an official police investigation. If I learn something that will help him, I’ll share. I just didn’t say
when
I would share the information.”

Randy laughed and shook his head. “Very devious of you.”

“Thank you. Could you call Jo and ask her a question for me?”

He pulled out his phone and dialed. “What’s the question?”

“Ask her how to ghost proof my house.”

“Excuse me? Hi Jo, it’s Randy. Hold on a second.”
He put his phone against his leg. “What do you mean ‘ghost proof your house’?”

“Just ask her.”

“Jo, Cam wants to know if there is any way to ghost proof her house.” He listened for a minute. “She wants to know why you’re asking, too.”

I told him what happened the night before, and he stood there with his mouth open for a moment before he relayed the message to Jo. “Ask her if she’d like to talk to a ghost.”

Chapter 15

Two hours later, the three of us were standing on the front porch of the Ashton house. “
I don’t know how happy they are going to be with us dropping by unannounced,” I told them. “But I think it’s a good idea to catch Aggie off guard right now. Hopefully we’ll get some answers.” I glanced over at Jo, who looked so excited she could hardly control herself. “I know this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for you, but I would appreciate it if they didn’t know exactly who you are. I’ll just tell them that you two are helping me with research.”

“I understand,” she replied, “but I do hope that at some point, I’ll be able to ask him some questions.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said, knocking on the door.

Aggie definitely didn’t look happy to see us. “
Miss Camille, did we have an appointment scheduled for tonight?”

“No ma’am,” I said, “but I was hoping we could talk to you and Stanley for a few minutes. We’ve come across some information that we’d like to go over with you.”

She looked over my shoulder at Randy and Jo, then nodded and stepped aside to let us in. She led us to the library, where Stanley was seated at his desk. “Miss Shaw, what a pleasant surprise,” he said, rising to his feet. “And you brought guests, how nice.”

“This is Randy
Cross and Jolanda Williams. They’re helping me do some research regarding your…situation. Randy, Jo, I’d like to introduce you to Stanley Ashton III and Agatha Foley.” Randy said hello, but Jo just stood there with her mouth hanging open until I elbowed her in the ribs. “I hope you don’t mind our dropping by unannounced. We have some questions to ask you and Aggie.”

“Not a problem,” he replied. “Please, have a seat. Would you like some refreshments? A drink or something to eat? Aggie, is there any tea in the kitchen?”

“I just made a batch of fresh sweet tea this afternoon, Mr. Stanley,” she said. “I’ll bring some for everyone.” She hurried off.

“While she’s doing that, you and I are going to set some ground rules,” I told him.

“Regarding what?”


Don’t come to my house ever again.”

“I’m certain I have no idea what you’re referring to.”

“And I’m certain you’re full of it, and you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

He smiled. “It is possible I might know. It was just a little harmless fun. Did I scare you?”

“More like annoyed me,” I said. “Just how long have you been able to leave the house?”

“I really don’t have much sense of time,” he replied, “but I’ve been able to come and go for quite some time.”

“I got the impression from Aggie that you never left the house.”

“I’ve never mentioned my outings to her. There are some things I keep to myself.”

“Well, keep yourself out of my house. That’s off limits, especially if you want my help.”

“I believe I can agree to that stipulation, provided you don’t tell Aggie about my adventures.”

“It’s a deal.”

“What happened to your arm?”

I looked down at the splint. “A minor accident this morning.”

Stanley glanced at Jo, who was walking around, trying to get a look at him from all angles. “Is your assistant feeling all right?”

Jo had the decency to blush slightly. “I apologize, Mr. Ashton, for being so rude. You’re the first ghost I’ve encountered that looks so life like.”

“Thank you…I think.”

Aggie entered the room carrying a silver tray with four glasses of ice tea in crystal glasses. Randy, ever the gentleman, took the tray from her and placed it on the coffee table. After making sure we all had some tea, Aggie sat down on the couch; Randy sat on the other end while Jo and I took the two leather chairs near the desk. “You said you had some questions, Miss Camille. About what?”

I decided to jump right in. “Where’s your husband, Aggie?”

“He’s in the guest house, watching his programs.”

“That’s a pretty neat trick,” I replied, “considering he’s been missing since
1968, he hasn’t held a job since then, and you closed his bank account in 1969.”

“What are you trying to say,
Miss Shaw?” Stanley said.

“Merely trying to find out the truth, Mr. Ashton.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Miss Camille,” Aggie said. “Ray is sitting in our house right now.”

I looked at her. She had a blank look on her face, but she had turned pale. I decided to call her bluff. “I’d love to meet
him,” I told her, standing up.

Aggie didn’t move. Stanley looked at her, then me. “Certainly sounds like a reasonable request to me, Aggie. Better yet, why don’t you call and ask him to join us?”

I reached into my bag and pulled out the missing person report. “Clifford Scott had the file about your husband, and he was looking into his disappearance again. Did you know that? And before you try to deny it, I have his notes.
All
of his notes.”

Sighing, she took a sip of her tea. “I ran into him
in town a month or so ago. He said he had received some new information about my husband’s case. He wanted to talk to me about it.”

“And did you?” Randy said.

“No.”

“Why not?” Jo said. “I’d want to know what happened to my husband, even after all these years.”

“I’m not you,” Aggie snapped. “Ray was a pig. Once I started working here, he quit working. He said we had it good, living in the guest house, getting the leftovers from the big dinners, and everything was being paid for. He never lifted a finger to help me around the house. I worked all day here in the big house, then I’d have to go out there and do it all over again.”

“So when he disappeared, you filed the report to make it look good, but didn’t follow through because you weren’t heartbroken about him being gone,” I said.

“Would you be?”

“Aggie, why wasn’t I aware of any of this?” Stanley asked.

“I didn’t want to bother you with my petty problems.”

“I would hardly call a man vanishing into thin air a petty problem,” he retorted.

“What I don’t understand, Aggie,” I said, “is why you’ve stayed here all this time. I mean, it’s obvious he had no real need of your services anymore. You and Ray could have left, started over somewhere else. Why did you stay?”

“Because I asked her to,” Stanley said.

I looked at him. “Why would you do that to her? She was young and married. You were dead…” he flinched when I said that, “…and your family was gone.”

He and Aggie looked at each other before looking away. “That’s none of your concern.”

“It is if it’s related to your murder,” Randy said.

“It isn’t,” Stanley said. “I think you should all leave. This entire thing has been a mistake. Your services are no longer required,
Miss Shaw.” He left the room.

We followed Aggie to the front door. Randy and Jo headed for the car, but I stopped to ask Aggie one final question. “Did you kill your husband?”

Her pale blue eyes flashed fire for a moment, and a sneer made her face look maniacal. Then she slammed the door in my face.

BOOK: Who Killed the Ghost in the Library: A Ghost writer Mystery
8.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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