Madison Johns - Agnes Barton Paranormal 01 - Haunted Hijinks (2 page)

“And you’ve never had any contact with her before?”

“Nope.”

Peterson turned in Eleanor’s direction. “How about you, Eleanor?”

“I’ve spoken to her a few times on the phone. She had the nicest phone voice.”

“When was the last time you spoke with her?”

Eleanor pressed a finger against her head. “Let me think. Yesterday afternoon. She wanted to make sure that Agnes and I showed up today to help her ready the mansion for their grand opening on Halloween.”

“I see. Was that it?”

“Yup. That’s about all of it.”

“What do you mean
about
it?”

“Well, I was kinda excited. I drove past a few times and I couldn’t help but notice a black sedan heading up the drive to the mansion.”

Peterson took a step toward the body. “What do you make of that, Agnes?”

“I’ll have to call Andrew and see if he can get ahold of the owner. I believe the actress, Sara Knoxville, owns the Butler Mansion. It might have been her at the mansion in the sedan.”

I made my call and after I informed Andrew what we had found out at the mansion, he told us to stay put until he could get there. I then informed Sales and Peterson that Andrew would be along presently, just as the meat wagon pulled up outside the mansion. One of the deputies let a portly man in the front door and he stumbled his way toward the body. The new medical examiner was an odd fellow who wore a Colombo-type raincoat that he always wore come rain or shine. Walter Smitty was his name.

Sales shook his head. “So we have a body that was positioned near the stairs that has suspicious markings on the neck.”

“Very curious indeed,” I said, ignoring the ghost who shook her head sadly.

Walter checked for Katherine’s pulse and snapped the gum he chomped on. “Yup, she’s dead alright, and boy am I hungry,” he said as if we had a sandwich available to give to him.

“That sure ain’t brain surgery,” Eleanor said. “I could have said that for nothing.”

“You could, but you’re hardly qualified to, dear lady.”

I positioned myself between Walter and Eleanor just in case she flew off the handle. “Yup. You’re right. I sure hope you can get that autopsy done soon so we can figure out what happened here.”

“The coroner will be doing it tomorrow, most likely. All I do is pronounce.”

“Most medical examiners are public officials like the sheriff, and since he does a top notch job of investigating crimes in this county, I thought he could do that job,” I said.

Peterson chuckled at that. “Thanks, but I could use all the help I can get since Halloween is right around the corner.”

“Yup. It will soon be Halloween and we have a vampire on the loose,” Eleanor said.

“In that case, you might want to start wearing garlic around your neck,” Walter suggested. “Luckily, though, most of the vampires are only on television, not in a sleepy community such as Tawas, but what makes you think this is the work of a vampire anyway?”

I tried not to put too much significance to the ‘vampire’ part. “Well, there appear to be puncture marks on the victim’s neck.”

Walter took another look at the body. “Hardly the work of a vampire. It looks like fingernail marks to me.”

“Perhaps we should search the mansion. You know, just in case the perp is hiding out here,” I suggested to Peterson.

Trooper Sales sprinted up the stairs with an out-of-breath Sheriff Peterson behind him, while El and I cooled our heels downstairs. For the moment, my ghostly partner in crime seemed to be absent; that is, if she was even there at all. Instead of feeling relieved, I sort of missed having her around, even though I knew how nuts that sounded.

So lost in thought was I, that I jumped at the sound of a knock at the door. The ghostly figure appeared out of the ceiling, waiting patiently as I opened the door to Andrew, giving him a quick hug as he came in.

“What happened?” Andrew asked.

“Well—”

Before I was able to really give him the rundown, Walter Smitty piped up and said, “They found the yet-unidentified body of a woman at the bottom of the steps and called us in to deal with it.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I don’t know why Sheriff Peterson doesn’t just appoint these two as honorary deputies. From the word around town, they won’t butt out of the sheriff’s cases.”

“Please don’t encourage them,” Andrew said as he massaged the back of his neck. “I’ve been trying to tell Agnes to mind her own business for quite a while now, but even I have to admit that she and Eleanor are quite good at putting clues together.”

“That’s always a good thing, but I need to get this corpse back to the morgue so the coroner can do an autopsy to determine the cause of death.”

“You must have some kind of idea how the victim died,” Andrew said, with the ghost nodding behind him.

“Not sure just yet, but her neck might be broken. There’s no sign of blunt force trauma.”

I was intent on staring at the ghost until Eleanor asked, “Why on earth are you looking at the wall like that, Aggie? Blood splatter?”

I whirled around really quick, or as quick as a woman of seventy-two can whirl. “Nope. Ever since my accident I haven’t been quite right.”

“I’d say way before that, but I understand, dear.” El puffed up her chest. “I really thought I had lost you that time.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been in such a weird mood of late and I really need to make a doctor’s appointment soon. My head feels so foggy lately.”

“It’s to be expected, Aggie,” Andrew said. “I had another case in Detroit, but I’m having an associate handle it. I’m just not ready to leave you so soon since the accident. Plus, I don’t think your son likes me all that much. It might be a good idea to get to know Stuart.”

“That makes two of us. If truth be known … I don’t know my son all that well these days, either.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Not since he graduated from college, but that was ten years ago. It seems that both of my children have all sorts of reasons to stay away.”

“That’s not true,” Eleanor said. “Martha is a free spirit and went on a ‘finding herself road trip’, but she eventually came to town looking for you.”

“Yup. When she was out of money, that is.”

“You, too?” Walter asked. “Children have a way of doing that, but with the economy like it is, I can’t say I blame them. It’s not like you can find high paying jobs these days. All of the factories have closed or sold out. I remember a time when US 23 had many businesses, but now, most of them have closed down.”

“Walter, I had no idea that you have lived in Tawas that long,” El said.

“I haven’t, but it’s been a great vacation spot for my wife and the family.”

Sheriff Peterson and Trooper Sales came back down the stairs, and Peterson announced, “The upper floors are clear. We’ll be checking the first floor and cellar.”

“Cellar?” I asked. “I had no idea there was a cellar here.”

“Oh, and how well do you think you know the Butler Mansion? Have you inspected every square inch during earlier cases?”

I clammed up when the ghost shook her head. “Nope. Knock yourself out. Can we leave now? I don’t expect that you’ll allow us to inspect the mansion ourselves, so we’ll do it at a later date.”

“We plan to put up police tape. It’s a crime scene.”

“Yup, sure is. Too many to count, but don’t forget that the actress, Sara Knoxville owns this place and is opening a bed and breakfast soon and we were hired to oversee things.”

Peterson laughed. “Well, in that case it seems like you’re off to a good start.”

I chose to ignore that barb sent my way. We moved to leave and I snickered as the ghost made a motion like it was giving Peterson a swift kick in the pants. Once we were outside, Andrew convinced us to ride with him since I had already admitted that my head was a bit fuzzy. Instead of arguing with him as I had a wont to do, I let it drop since it made all the sense in the world.

Once we were settled in Andrew’s SUV, with Eleanor in the front seat as it allowed for more room for her, and the ghost sitting next to me, off we went. On the journey to Eleanor’s place, I called Doctor Thomas, who agreed to meet me in an hour. He was the sort of doctor who made house calls, but since he lived a few doors down from Eleanor’s cottage on Lake Huron, it was hardly an imposition.

Chapter Two

Eleanor led the way inside her house, inviting Dr. Thomas, who was already waiting in the driveway in his red sports car, inside. I tried to get a good look at the occupant in the passenger seat, but it was really none of my concern. Word is that the good doctor prefers the company of men, but nobody even gives it a second thought since he’s a staple in the community, and the only doctor who makes house calls.

Eleanor busied herself in the kitchen, rustling up ice tea, while Dr. Thomas joined me outside on the deck. Andrew was kind enough to allow us privacy when I told him I wanted to speak to the good doctor alone. Thankfully, the ghost also took her leave.

I sat on a wicker chair and motioned Dr. Thomas to a chair next to me.

Dr. Thomas raised a brow on his handsome face. “What’s the problem, Agnes?”

I fidgeted. How does one ask a doctor a question like the one I needed to ask? “Well,” I began. “I was just wondering about the medication I’m on.”

“Are you having some kind of reaction?”

“W-Would it cause me to see things, like things that aren’t there?”

Dr. Thomas pulled out his iPhone and began to punch at the buttons on the screen. “You’re not on anything too heavy duty. Vicodin can cause drowsiness, anxiety, and nervousness. You’re not taking Tylenol with it, are you?”

“No. So it can’t cause me seeing things then?”

“No, but just to be safe it might be better to quit taking it if you’re concerned. Perhaps it might be a good idea to come back to the hospital and get a CT scan.”

“A CT scan? I’ll quit taking the pain meds. I’ll just take Tylenol if I get any more headaches.”

“You’re still getting headaches?”

“Yes, but they’re not all that bad. I’d really hate to have a CT scan, but it might be a good idea just to make sure everything looks okay.”

“You sure took quite a blow to your head in the accident. Perhaps it might be best to take time away from your investigative duties. At least until you are feeling better.”

I massaged my brow and stood as Dr. Thomas handed me a slip of paper with the written orders for the CT scan. This sure was the last thing I wanted to do, but I wanted to be sure that I could rule out any medical condition that might be causing me to see the ghost.

Andrew took me to the hospital and I had the test, but while I was readying to go back home, I noticed the ghost was still strangely missing. The funny thing was, I kinda missed her. I mean I had gotten used to seeing the apparition.

Once Andrew pulled into my drive, it was beginning to get dark. I really had to admit that I was quite tired. Andrew sacked out on the couch and Duchess, my cat, leapt on his lap, enjoying the petting she got and purring loudly to the amusement of Andrew. Duchess had hissed at Andrew when we first began dating, but now she sure enjoyed the special attention he gave her. I, on the other hand, had felt too under the weather of late. It wasn’t like I had been ignoring my cat on purpose. She glanced over at me lazily, like she knew I was thinking about her.

I wandered down the hallway and dressed in my pajamas, crawling into bed. I smiled to myself since the ghost was missing. Perhaps I might just wake up refreshed in the morning and find out this was all a bad dream, or that’s what I kept telling myself. It’s been hard keeping a secret this big from everyone I love, but the truth was that I worried they might just lock me away in an institution.

It wasn’t long before I nodded off, catching the fragrance of vanilla, which was too hard to ignore, but at that point, I wasn’t willing to think it meant anything. All I know is that I have smelled vanilla from time to time without any real reason. I didn’t currently have any flowers, even in the house, and I was all out of my room freshener that shoots fragrance in the air every half hour or so.

* * *

I yawned once I got out of bed in the morning and headed straight for the shower. I’m quite the creature of habit. If I don’t take a shower straight away, I won’t take one until well into the afternoon, but since Eleanor and I have some investigating to do, I hardly had time to laze around.

By the time I finished my shower and was dressed comfortably in blue crop pants and white shirt with an anchor over the lone pocket, I strode into the kitchen where my handsome fiancé, Andrew, awaited me with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. And this time when I smelled vanilla, I knew it was from the vanilla creamer I always use. A little coffee with my cream, Andrew always said.

“It sure was cold in here last night,” Andrew remarked. “I froze all night. Even checked to see if the air-conditioner was on.”

I froze for a moment, but said, “Well, it is October. We get quite cool nights now, especially since we’re so near to Lake Huron.”

“Oh, I know, but I could have sworn…” He paused. “Oh, never mind. You’d think that I’m crazy.”

I lifted my coffee mug that Andrew had poured for me with the creamer already added. “What? Do tell?”

“It’s just that every time I’m near you, I can’t help but wonder if we’re really alone—even when we are. Perhaps it was being back at the Butler Mansion again. I’m not sure why Sara Knoxville even wants to open up a bed and breakfast there. Not with all the murders that have happened on the property.”

I sipped my coffee and smiled appreciatively. “I’m sure it seems interesting to her. Look at how popular paranormal reality television is of late. She could play off the paranormal activity part even.”

“She’s hardly that type of woman.”

“Oh, I know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of her Hollywood friends showed up in town to check out the place.”

Andrew washed his coffee cup and carefully put it on the drain board. “I don’t take her for a manipulative woman, or someone who believes in ghosts.”

“I never said she was, just that with Halloween coming—”