Murder on the Ghost Walk Read online

  The men stopped their childish chest pounding exercise and stared back at me, the surprise evident on their faces. Then everyone laughed. Andrew spoke for the group. “You’re right. We’re sorry. So what and how are we going to tackle this?”

  I pinched my lips then said. “Split up. We have a number of people to talk with, and lots of details to pin down. Splitting up will allow us to move more quickly and be more efficient. We should form three teams of two. And assign a task to each team.”

  Jaxon slowly sighed. “You’re right. Let’s make the list.”

  So we all pulled chairs up to the table, took seats, and we began our debate on who should do what task.

  Chapter Six

  Jaxon wrote in his small notebook. The one he always carried for times exactly like this. It made him, in effect, our unofficial secretary and he wrote down the teams we decided upon:

  Team 1 – Andrew and Pinball. This was easy since

  Andrew knew Pinball, and no one else wanted to be near the gym rat.

  Team 2 – Jessica and Jaxon. The double J team.

  Team 3 – Grandma and me. This way, I could keep an eye out for Grandma, the most important person in my life.

  But this plan also created another problem, who would watch Daisy. Grandma and I knew the obvious answer. So, Rose called Aunt Mabel, and she was on her way over to keep the tea room open and watch Daisy.

  I continued, “So the teams are decided. Now who does what?”

  Jaxon answered, “I know how to talk to the police. Jessica and I should head to the station and see what we can find. And if we can visit with Nikki.”

  I nodded. “Good. Andrew and Pinball, what do we do with Team 1.”

  Jessica said, “Maybe they can...”

  “Point me in a direction, and I will break some heads!” Pinball growled at the end of his comment.

  Jaxon chuckled, “Well, see, that’s a problem. We can’t just go around ‘breaking heads’ as you call it. How about if you and Andrew do some research on my laptop, and help Mabel run the tea room.”

  Pinball turned red. “I don’t do computers or tea rooms.”

  Grandma sighed, “I don’t think Mabel needs help, and if she does she has people she can call. Maybe they can they can talk to Mr. Twain. We need to find out what he has to say.”

  I jumped in, “Well, I think you and I should go see Mr. Twain. He knows us and has probably talked to a lot of people today. He is more likely to relax and talk with us.”

  Jaxon nodded in agreement. “That’s good. So you and Rose speak with Twain.”

  I continued, “And there is something bothering me. George said there were museum employees there last night. But who were they? Maybe Andrew and Pinball can head over the museum office, and find out who was working there last night.”

  Jaxon blinked and then wrote on his list. “Good catch, Raine. And you remembered, never assume. I was wondering who else might have been in the museum last night, myself.”

  I made eye contact with Jaxon. “And you should confirm with the police that only Twain’s tour and the museum employees were there last night. George mentioned the police established they were the only ones there, but how did they confirm those present and are they one hundred percent sure?” I studied Pinball for a moment, then turned my gaze to Andrew. “We should be able to get a list of people on the ghost walk from Mr. Twain. But can you and Pinball also get a list of people who showed up on that bus from Pittsburgh? We can’t assume everyone who arrived on that bus went on the ghost tour.”

  Jessica bounced in her seat. “Now we’re cooking with gas. So much information to get. Well, we all have something to do. When should we meet back here at the tea room?”

  I sighed. “About that, this a place of business and this matter we’re investigating is not conducive to the tea room crowd. Maybe we should meet up someplace else?”

  Grandma chuckled. “As long as we stay civilized, meeting here is fine. I feel more comfortable here and there is no reason we can’t talk at a table like civilized people without scaring our customers. Plus, Daisy likes being part of things.”

  The mention of her name caused all to stare at our hostess. She was standing on her stool, intently listening to the conversation. I waved for her to come over.

  Daisy hopped off her stool, glad to end her time out. She made a circle around the table, and stopped for a couple of seconds to give Pinball the stink eye. Then she checked that Andrew was out of snacks before she climbed into Jaxon’s lap.

  Jaxon chuckled. “Aren’t you being the friendly one. But I think you want to see the list. You've been watching me write.” He held up the tiny wire bound flip book of notes and let her inspect it.

  Daisy made a sound that sounded like low grunts to give her approval. Her actions captivated Grandma. “Aww, she can be so cute at times. Don’t you think, Raine?”

  “Yes, she can be cute. But Daisy is going to have to do without us this afternoon.” I saw Aunt Mabel through the big store front windows making her way down the sidewalk.

  Jessica reminded, “So what time should meet back here?”

  I glanced at my phone and saw it was now a quarter to three. “Let’s meet back here at six. That should give everyone enough time to make some headway.”

  Jaxon commented, “Should we sync our watches.”

  The five of us stared at Jaxon in reply. He shrugged. “What?”

  I asked, “Is that supposed to be funny?”

  Pinball shook his head in disgust. “I hope you are better as a P.I., because you’re no comedian.”

  Jessica grabbed Jaxon by the arm. “Come, you handsome gum shoe. We have work to do. I haven’t been to the police station in a long time. This should be interesting.”

  Pinball stood with force, and his chair slid what seemed to be half way across the room. “Come on Mr. Fix It. We got a couple of lists of people to get.”

  Andrew rose and shot a glance over to me. Even Daisy knew it was a plea from Andrew to reconsider the arrangements. But this was the best way to deal with Pinball, and Andrew would have to figure out how to manage the living comic book character.

  Grandma and I had an appointment with Mr. Twain. He was at the center of this whole ordeal and he would be our first visit.

  As soon as Mabel got settled, we headed out. It's not a long walk from The Monkey's Eyebrow to the tourist center. And this time of day, I was sure Twain would be perched behind his desk in the center.

  I let Grandma lead the way and we did find Mr. Twain right where we suspected. He was a middle-aged man who wore white suits with suspenders and let his hair fly wild, a good resemblance of the author he portrayed. But it was an odd sight finding him in his office talking to a policeman.

  Grandma said, “Oh my, we thought the police would be through with you by now. But we don't want to interrupt.”

  Mr. Twain held his hand up. “Rose, it’s fine. Just wait a couple of minutes, and I can talk to you. The police were done questioning me this morning. But I had to call them again because a muscular young man with a crew cut was in here raising Cain. And he scared me. He insisted on talking to George Wicks from my tour group. I had a moment of weakness and told him I thought George was over at the tea room. Please tell me he didn’t tear the place up. I fear that is why you are here.”

  I snorted. “In a way, he did. He drove off all our customers with some, um, theatrics. But everything is okay.”

  Mr. Twain smiled and nodded. “That would be the man, yes, the one and only. He never even told me his name.”

  Grandma declared, “It’s Pinball. But I think Pinhead would be more fitting. Except he was too scary to make fun of.”

  I chuckled. “Grandma, what has gotten into you today. You have been full of it.”

  She smiled back at me. “Well, I’m not sure what it is, but it needs to come around more often. I feel so alive today.” Hmm...maybe some extra male attention has given Grandma her groove back.

  Mr. Twain shook hands w
ith the officer and showed him to the door. Once the policeman was gone, he came back to have a word with us. “I have a good idea why you are here. Seems everyone is convinced this Nikki gal could not have done it. Well, maybe. But I can tell you she did have the rubber gloves in her shoulder bag. I saw the police find them.”

  I asked,”Did you see her acting strange in any way?”

  Mr. Twain thought for a moment. “No, not really. She was a very nice woman. In fact, she was the perfect tour guest.”

  Grandma jumped in, “What about any of the other tour guests?”

  The impersonator chuckled. “It was a ghost walk. So, strange is a relative term. But there was one woman, Karen, who was loud and obnoxious. But, that was all. She didn’t seem hostile or preoccupied with something like murder. She was actually quite intent on seeing a ghost. She just had a little too much to drink, so I stayed with her the whole time inside the museum to make sure she did not harm the precise artwork and history.” He chuckled. “I smelled rum on her breath. At least she could have had the decency to drink bourbon.”

  I laughed. “You would have been drinking buddies with Samuel Clemens for sure. You both love your whiskey.”

  He gave a slight head tilt as thanks for the compliment. “And there was another fellow, Lewis Bellamy. I remember his name because he seemed aloof, perhaps preoccupied with other affairs. He found the knives used for the Montague murders missing, but seemed unaffected by the theft. It was an odd reaction I thought.”

  “Alright, so Lewis Bellamy. Does Karen have a last name?” I could hear the relief in my voice. We were finally getting some information.

  Mr. Twain nodded. “Yeah, Karen...It’s on my list of people who went on the ghost walk.” He went to his desk and scanned a piece of paper. “Karen Broadhurst.”

  I added, “And the victims name was Jack Richardson?”

  Mr. Twain pinched his lips. “In fact, his name was John Richardson. But everyone called him Jack.”

  Grandma forced a smile and asked, “Can we get a copy of that list?”

  Mr. Twain grabbed his suspenders and stood straight. “My pretty lady, of course. But I will need a dime to operate the copier. I hate that they put that change gobbler on such a fine machine. But the tourist center has to pay the bills like everyone else.”

  I plunged my hand into my pants pocket. A dime was a fair price for this information. “You wouldn’t happen to know where the driver of that charter bus from Pittsburgh is hangin’ out, would ya?”

  Mr. Twain shook his head no. “Not really, he never even came in to say hello to me. But I would guess he’s staying at The Billowing Sheet with everyone else.”

  “Thanks for the help, that is what I was guessing too.”

  Mr. Twain chuckled. “And I’m guessing you want a list of all those who arrived on that bus?”

  Grandma and I glanced at each other, then we replied in unison. “Of course!”

  We giggled for a moment at the single focus we shared, but Mr. Twain interrupted our moment. “You should be able to get that from the police. I’m pretty sure they already have a copy of that list.”

  My smile faded as the thought became a need, and I locked eyes with Grandma. “I should call Jaxon and Jessica, ask them to try and get the list at the police station, if we end up with two copies of that list, it’s better than none.”

  Grandma lost her smile too. “You should call Andrew, too. Tell him he just needs to focus on who the museum employees were. He has Pinball to deal with, and he will be lucky if he can get that information, let alone the list of people on the bus. This is a better plan.”

  I snorted, “Thank goodness for cell phones. Time to move this investigation along.” I grabbed my phone and punched Jessica’s number.

  Chapter Seven

  Jaxon and Jessica entered the police station and noticed the increased energy in the air; last night’s murder had created a buzz in the law enforcement community.

  Jaxon pushed to the front desk and leaned on the edge. “Hello, Melvin. Seems you’re doing pretty well for yourself. Promoted to sergeant, I see. That’s respectable.”

  “How would you know. You dropped out of the academy after only a couple of weeks.”

  “Had nothing to do with the police force or the academy. I had a chance to make some real money and learn how to be a P.I. Was a no brainer, so I jumped at the opportunity.”

  “Well, I hear you spend a lot of time sitting in your car.”

  Jaxon chuckled, “That happens to be true. But it’s my office, and how much time do you spend here, in this office? Probably more than I spend in my office.”

  Jessica sneered. “As much as I’m enjoying this macho back and forth routine, and I like to reminisce as much as anyone, we came to get some business done.”

  Melvin rubbed his eyes. “I know why you’re here. To talk to Nikki. But, that is out of my hands. Detective Lambert is running the show. He will have to okay it.”

  Jessica inquired, “So, can you ask him for us?”

  Melvin picked up the phone. “Sure, but he's going to say no. She was found with incriminating evidence. And after her old boyfriend came in here and made a scene, she's not allowed to see anyone except counsel.” He leaned back in his chair with the phone to his ear.

  Jessica and Jaxon waited for the call to end.

  Melvin nodded his head a few times. “Okay, I understand.” He put the receiver down slowly and sighed. “Seems you and your gang got Lambert’s respect during that fiasco with the food critic. He agreed to let you talk to her if we have another homicide detective go in with you. Nikki is not talking and is a ball of nerves. Lambert thought maybe she might be more willing to talk with you. Maybe tell you something to help the case.”

  Jessica snorted. “Of course, we would be glad to help if we can. But Jaxon takes the lead in asking questions.”

  Melvin glared at Jessica and frowned. “I want to make this clear to both of you. I don’t like this. The investigation is official police business and professionals are running the show. So you do as you’re told when you go in there. And if you have a question, you wait your turn. As for now, wait right here in the lobby until Lambert sends another homicide detective over for the interview.” He pointed at the well worn chairs just inside the entrance.

  Jaxon shook his head no. “That won’t work. If we're going to hope for her to talk to friends, Jessica and I have to do the talking. Or we might as well not waste our time. And I will tell Lambert you interfered with our efforts.”

  Melvin popped from his chair like a Jack-in-the-box. “Who do you think you are?”

  Jaxon laughed. “Just a guy trying to do his job. And right now, that means talking to Nikki and assessing her role in all this. We’re not looking to upstage anyone, most of all the police, but you had your crack to get her to open up, and it didn’t work.”

  Melvin’s face turned red and veins rose in his neck. Then he exhaled and the red dissipated from his face. “I get it. I don’t like it. But I get it. Go sit over there and stop bothering me.”

  Jaxon led the way over to the dilapidated chairs, offered one like an old English gentlemen to Jessica, and pointed with his outstretched hand for her to take a seat.

  Jessica played along, and sat like a Duchess taking a seat in a horse drawn carriage. “Thank you, such a gentlemen.”

  Jaxon went to sit next to her, but first removed a wad of gum from the seat. “Anything for mi lady!”

  The whole time Melvin glared as if he hadn't already made the point that he disliked them being there.

  Jessica's phone played Roar. She answered after listening to the song for a few seconds. “Hello, Raine, what’s up.”

  Jaxon scanned the police station while she talked to Raine. He noticed Melvin wasn’t the only one who seemed a little testy. Everyone in the place seemed on edge.

  Jessica hung up and summarized. “Raine wants us to see if we can get a list of people who came on the tour bus from Pittsburgh. Twain told her tha
t he is pretty sure the police have the list already.”

  Jaxon nodded in acknowledgment. “That should be another fun conversation with the police. They don’t seem to be in a very good mood. So, how long you been rockin’ a Katy Perry song as a ring tone. Aren’t you a little old for that?”

  “Who you calling old?” Jessica’s face snapped from happy to stern and she dared Jaxon with her eyes to say it again.

  He chuckled. “No one. Just saying.”

  After ten minutes, a thirty-something woman wearing an off-the-rack matching navy blue skirt and jacket, with a lacy white blouse underneath, came into the lobby. She headed straight for Jaxon and Jessica. She was no doubt their escort for the interview, and the waiting pair studied her for a moment as she approached.

  “I’m Detective Lauren Stewart. The marshals will have Nikki Hawkins ready for us in a couple of minutes. You ready?”

  “Born ready.” Jaxon stood as he answered.

  Jessica remained seated. “Why in a couple of minutes?”

  “The marshals are retrieving her and bringing her to an interview room.”

  Jessica’s face went long at the thought of the woman in irons, being escorted by marshals.

  Lauren continued. “We got a hard to believe story from Nikki last night and again this morning. Seems she, and others on the ghost walk, think a ghost may have committed the crime. Nikki swears she saw a ghost fly into the conservatory just before she found the body.”

  Jaxon squinted. “Now I understand. The tension in here is unusual, even for the morning after a murder. But add a ghost into that, and now it makes sense. Some of the police force even believes the ghost story, don’t they?”

  Lauren would be a good poker player, her face didn't change. “Maybe. But that is unimportant. What we need to get to is the truth.”

  Jessica grinned, “Come on, a potential ghost murder must make you a little curious, or nervous, or something.”

  The detective coked her head. “I highly doubt it will involve a ghost. But like I said, my opinion is not important. We need to get to the truth.”