Madison Johns - Agnes Barton Paranormal 01 - Haunted Hijinks (4 page)

“Then how did the door slam shut, and how is it now locked?”

“Cross breeze, probably. You know old mansions like this have plenty of drafts. Since you can’t go out, you might as well join me upstairs, unless you want to wait for a ghost to get you down here.”

The ghost laughed and gave Eleanor a nudge. Eleanor whirled, racing to my side. “I felt something touch me,” El said with tears swimming in her eyes.

“Not to worry. Even if this place is haunted, I won’t let them hurt you. I promise.”

“Your promises might not be so good if we both meet our end here, but I’ll go upstairs to check it out since you refuse to leave.”

I grabbed the banister and climbed the stairs slowly so as not to lose my footing since it was darker on the stairs than it was downstairs. When I reached the second floor, I yanked my cell phone out, but right before I was able to power on the flashlight tool, the lights flickered on. I froze for a moment until my ghostly companion joined us. The ghost was starting to make me feel at ease with her presence. She sure was less scary than seeing another ghost.

“Hey, Eleanor. So you saw the ghost go up the stairs?”

“Yes. You did too, right?”

“Yes, but is that the only ghost you saw?”

Eleanor gripped my arm in a death-like grip. “You mean there’s more?”

“I’m not sure just yet, I was just checking. This mansion could be filled with them from the amount of murders that have happened here, and those are the only ones we know about.” I turned to the right and headed down the corridor. “Let’s see. There was Herman Butler and the handyman.”

“Don’t forget Mildred Winfree,” Eleanor added. “The thing is, there might be more that we never heard about in the past. We should do some research on the mansion. It’s a mighty unlucky place.”

“Exactly.” I tried not looking at the portraits of the Butler descendants that hung side by side on the walls of the corridor. Why, the eyes seemed to almost follow us as we walked. I shook my head.
Stop it, Agnes, you’re losing it
.

I stopped at the end of the hall and went into the first room, ignoring the squeak of the door when it opened. I scanned the boxes stacked in the room. “Looks like just a storage room,” I said. I made my way back into the hallway and we searched the next room that was a bedroom. Each room had the same ornate, Elizabethan antique four-poster bed with tapestry. The colors ranged from green to deep burgundy, colors that were used during the same period. “Sara Knoxville certainly has gone all out turning this into a bed and breakfast that will awe the visitors.”

“I wonder. I guess we’ll have to ask her when she gets here. I can’t imagine that she was able to furnish the place so elaborately. It would cost quite a bit to stay at this place and most folks in East Tawas don’t have that kind of money.”

“Tourists might. I wonder if she plans to tell anyone about the dark history of the place. It might keep the place packed.”

“What?” Eleanor choked out. “Who’d want to sleep in a murder mansion?”

“Not us, but there are many people who are into that sort of thing. If they advertised the place was haunted it would even pack up more.”

“I don’t know this Sara Knoxville yet, but I can’t image anyone trying to take advantage of that kind of history. Besides, it’s not a proven fact that the mansion is haunted at all.”

At least Eleanor was on the same page with me. “Exactly. Let’s check that last door and we can leave, since I don’t see anything of much interest here.”

When we went into the last room at the opposite side of the corridor, there were containers of makeup on the dresser, and the closet door was opened a crack. I went over there and checked out the inside of the closet. At first, I thought it was empty, but as I ran my fingers along the back, I felt the ridge of a handle of a suitcase. I removed it and put it on the bed. “Looks like the sheriff missed something.”

I tried to open the suitcase, but it was locked. I pounded on it in frustration, and the ghost put her hand through it and then it snapped open. Eleanor backed up a tad. “How did you do that?”

“Beats me, but at least we can check it out now.”

I moved the contents to the side that were mostly clothing, but underneath were envelopes addressed to Katherine Clark, so I figured we were onto something.

I handed Eleanor the envelopes and she said, “Should we really be going through Katherine’s personal effects? It feels kinda intrusive.”

“Probably not, but we really need to find a clue or two if we’re going to figure out who might have murdered Katherine.” I took the mail from Eleanor and went to put in back in the suitcase. “Perhaps you’re right. We should take the suitcase to the sheriff’s department.”

“No need to get hasty, Agnes. I just meant it seems wrong, not that I wasn’t willing to take a look-see. Then you can take it to the sheriff.”

I handed the mail back to Eleanor, who carefully tucked it inside her purse. “Anything of interest besides the mail?”

“Nope.”

Eleanor came over and fingered the fabric on the inside of the suitcase. “No hidden compartments.”

“Why would you think there’d be a hidden compartment in a suitcase?”

“Good point. We should check out the inside of the closet instead.”

Before I could say anything, Eleanor was face first in the closet, slapping her palms on the walls, her round bottom nearly in my face.

“Eleanor, please. You’re not going to find anything in there.” I stared at the bookshelf next to the closet and began to pull books out. Suddenly, the entire closet rolled to the side. Poor Eleanor barely had time to move out of the way before it disappeared into the wall. We both stared, wide-eyed, at a door behind the closet and before I gave it much thought, I opened it. On the other side was an opening that led to a hidden passageway.

I stared at the cobwebs with little enthusiasm. “This sure looks interesting, but being surrounded by spiders—not so much.”

“Since when are you afraid of a little adventure? And those are probably only cobwebs.”

“Oh? So you’re not worried about meeting up with a gigantic spider?”

“Nope. Because you’re going to check it out—not me.”

I reared back. “What? Why me? My name isn’t Indiana Jones.”

“Because you’re younger, dear.”

“Yes, but old enough to know better than to be walking down some corridor where I might break something. Who knows the condition of the inside, or what else might be in there?”

“I suppose, but it’s worth the challenge, isn’t it? You might discover treasure down there.”

“Or meet my maker, which I’m so not ready to do just yet.”

I looked for the ghost for emotional support, but she was already headed through the opening. I had to follow, but I really hated to be covered with cobwebs so I yanked a sheet off the bed and threw it over my head, gathering it beneath my chin.

“Good thinking, Aggie,” Eleanor said.

With the light from my iPhone, I led the way inside. The floor beneath our feet was wood, and clumps of hair were gathered in the corners. “This looks like animal hair,” I observed.

“I sure hope not from rats,” Eleanor said.

At some point, I lost sight of the ghost and then I felt a breeze blow on me from above. I stared upward, but I figured it must have come from the ductwork so I continued. Before we knew it, there was a set of stairs to descend, which made sense since we were on the second floor.

I jumped when the ghost glided toward me with a smile on her face. She then turned around and led us deeper down the hallway. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and once we neared it, I shoved hanging vines aside and stepped out into the sunshine. I gasped when I saw we were standing in the Butler’s family cemetery. “Well, I’ll be. I sure never expected the pathway to lead to the cemetery.”

“Me, either,” Eleanor said. “But it must have been there for a reason. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to leave the comforts of the mansion to be out here in the graveyard?”

“Someone with something to hide, like their comings and goings.”

“Well, whoever that was had to have been one the original owners because that pathway had to have been put in long ago.”

“Exactly. It also means that anyone could come into the mansion undetected and leave without anyone knowing.”

“Aggie, do you think that whoever killed Katherine might have used this passageway to escape after they murdered her?”

“Not sure, but it makes perfect sense. I can’t help but wonder who knows that much about the mansion to perpetrate the crime.”

“So, not only do we need to find out more about who Katherine really is, but the history about the mansion, and hopefully we’ll find out who might have wanted the poor girl dead.”

“At this point, we don’t know all that much about her other than she was readying the mansion for the bed and breakfast opening,” I mused.

“With Sara Knoxville coming to town, we might get some answers.”

“Not so sure about that, though. She’s only inherited the mansion since her father met his demise, but I suppose there’s no reason to think negative just yet.”

Eleanor and I made our way back into the mansion and brushed our clothes off the best we could, concealing the opening again. Also the sheet I had worn was tossed in a nearby chair. The ghost floated alongside us as we made our way down the stairs.

When I stepped back on the first floor, Andrew stared me down. There was a beautiful blonde standing next to him with a puzzled look on her face. “Hello, there,” I greeted them.

Andrew knocked the dust from my shoulder. “What on earth have you two been up to? You both look like you’ve been cleaning the chimney.”

“We’ve been looking for clues.”

“Where? Under the beds? Or in the cellar?”

“We thought we saw something strange.”

“Like what?”

“Not really sure, but Eleanor seems to think this place is haunted, if you can believe that.”

“You thought that, too, Aggie.”

“I’m really not positive what I saw, but if it was a ghost, it sure disappeared when we followed it upstairs.”

Sara grinned, fanning her delicate face with her hand. “That sounds cool! I wish I could see a ghost firsthand.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” I said, nodding to the ghost hovering close by.

Andrew’s brow shot up. “Whatever are you looking at, Agnes?”

“Nothing, but it looks like this place could still use a little dusting.”

“I’ll hire a cleaning crew right away,” Sara said as she was about to make a call.

“Actually, we better get the go-ahead from Sheriff Peterson before we go into a cleaning phase. I’m not at all sure if they’re done with this crime scene yet.”

“Oh,” Andrew said. “Then why are you two here?”

“We wanted to check for clues about Katherine’s untimely death.”

Sara bit her fist. “Oh, that’s so awful. I still can’t believe so many people have died on the grounds.”

“Do tell.”

Before Sara could respond, Eleanor asked, “Like recently or in the past?”

“Both, but perhaps we could discuss that at a later date, because the sheriff over there doesn’t look too pleased that we’re here.”

Sure enough, Sheriff Peterson’s frame filled the doorway, his nostril’s flaring like a bull about to charge. “Why are you all here? Didn’t you see the police tape?”

Sara sauntered over on her sky-high heels. Her ruby red lips parted and she smiled up at him. “Oh, I’m sorry, sheriff. I just flew into town and had to come here straightaway. It’s just dreadful what happened to Katherine.” She pulled off her sweater, revealing a white camisole top beneath that displayed her cleavage nicely. “But you must understand, I have to have this place ready for the grand opening on Halloween.”

Peterson eyes drifted to Sara’s cleavage and then he looked away as if they burned. His eyes looked anywhere except at Sara. “I see. W-Well, let me call the state police to assure they are finished here.”

He strode outside to his squad car and Eleanor said, “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Peterson do an about-face like that before.”

“Boobs do have their uses,” Sara said with a giggle.

Peterson came back in and gave us the all clear. “Agnes, can I speak with you outside?”

Eleanor and I followed him to his car where he leaned up against it. “I’m certainly no fool. You know better than to cross police tape.”

I tried not to burst out in laughter as the ghost stuck her tongue out at Peterson. “Oh, I know,” I finally said.

“Except that we came in the back door where there wasn’t any police tape,” Eleanor added, her eyes dancing in amusement. “And Sara and Andrew just showed up.”

Peterson sighed. “Whatever. We’ve been at this for a while now, Agnes. Did you find any clues that we missed?”

“Actually, yes.”

Eleanor’s eyes widened to the degree that I thought they might pop out of her head.

“I found a suitcase, but it was only filled with clothing. It was in the back of a closet.”

We were marched back inside and led the way up the stairs and into the room where we had found the suitcase … but it was gone!

“I swear it was right here,” I said in a panic.

Eleanor was about as shocked as I was and raced to the closet, searching for it there, but came up empty. She simply shrugged. “There is something strange going on in this mansion.”

“Oh, besides the two of you?”

“No, I swear it was here. Why would I tell you we found something if we hadn’t?”

“Is it possible Andrew or Sara took it?”

I gulped. “They just got here and we never even told them about finding anything.”

Peterson picked off a web from my shoulder. “Why do the both of you look so dusty?”

“We were cleaning,” we chimed together, as if on cue.

“Where? The attic?”

“No, we never even went up there.”

“Nope,” Eleanor added. “We’re not about to go up there. It’s haunted for sure.”

“Haunted? Are you back to that nonsense? I sure hope you’re not planning to call in those guys from G.A.S.P. again.”

Ghost Association Special Police, or G.A.S.P., had caused quite the stir in town before, and at this very same mansion in the past. They even recorded a ghostly voice in that third floor room.