Ghost in the Polka Dot Bikini: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery (15 page)

“Emma,” Granny whispered, moving closer with Archie on her heels. “Maybe that cranky ghost is his dead wife.”

Emma’s eyes popped open. “Of course,” she said out loud toward Granny before catching herself.

“Excuse me?” asked Manning.

Turning back to him, Emma did some quick damage control. “I meant, of course, it wouldn’t matter now about an indiscretion that took place so many years ago.”

She focused on the senator, trying not to look in Granny’s direction. The possibility that the unknown ghost might be Linda Manning buzzed through her nervous system like a nest of disturbed hornets, making her antsy to make contact with the spirit again.

“But I’m not concerned about that, Senator. I just want to know what you remember about Tessa North, such as when was the last time you might have seen her.”

Manning laughed and straightened up. “Forty years ago. That exact enough for you?”

“He knows something, Emma.” Granny moved toward Worth Manning. “I just know it.”

As Granny drifted in the direction of Manning, Archie followed. Manning put his hand down, inviting the dog to enjoy another scratch, but as soon as the dog was within reach, Granny spun and drifted off in another direction, with the animal following. She paced the room, oblivious to the zigzag motions Archie made while tracking her across the carpet.

“What’s wrong with your dog?” asked Manning.

“Archie,” Emma called to the animal. “Stop that and come here.” Archie stopped, puzzled by the decision before him—follow Granny or listen to Emma. In the end, the confused animal went to the person who fed him. He trotted over to Emma and settled at her feet, knowing he wasn’t allowed on the living room sofa, just the one in the den.

“Don’t mind him,” Emma said, reaching down to pat the dog. “It’s a silly game he plays with my father.”

Worth Manning looked at his watch, then at Emma, giving her a wide smile. “Why don’t you change and let me take you to dinner?”

“Dinner?”

“Yes, of course. One of my favorite restaurants is here in Pasadena, and I happen to have a reservation for eight o’clock. We can discuss Tessa North further over good food and fine wine.” Once again, Manning’s eyes scanned Emma’s body.

Emma’s first reaction was to wrap the cardigan sweater around herself several times and padlock it, but she resisted, knowing he would take pleasure in her discomfort.

Granny zoomed in close. “No, Emma.”

“Thank you, Senator,” Emma said. “That’s a lovely offer.”

“I forbid you.” Granny stomped her booted foot silently on the carpet. Archie stood up, his ears alert, his eyes wide.

Emma fought the urge to snap off a few choice words in Granny’s direction. Instead, she smiled sweetly at Manning. “But I’m afraid I’ve already made plans for the evening.”

Emma glanced at the antique clock on the mantle across from the sofa. “I just have a few more questions, but I’ll make sure you get to your dinner reservation on time.”

“She actually forbade me.
Can you believe it?”

On the other end of the phone line, Phil Bowers laughed with gusto. “You tell Granny that next season, I’m taking her to see a Chargers game in person. Best seats in the house.”

“Very funny.”

“You can come along, too, if you like, Fancy Pants. Unless, of course, Granny forbids it.” He laughed again.

Emma squinted in annoyance at the phone, giving Phil an evil eye he couldn’t see. “I’m glad you’re so amused.”

“Hell, this is priceless.” He paused, and Emma could hear him taking a deep breath. “But seriously, Emma, I’m rather concerned about you.”

“Because some old codger hit on me?”

“Let me remind you that that old codger could be involved in a murder—or the cover-up of a murder, at the very least. And I think you’re right about his little visit. No doubt the three Musketeers got together and planned how you were to be handled. And who better to do the handling than a suave, seasoned politician?”

“Well, Mr. Bowers, I did not allow myself to be manipulated.”

“That’s my girl. But while I’m proud of you, I’m also more concerned. From what you’ve told me so far, especially about Tessa’s things being cleaned out of her apartment and someone sending her roomies a postcard, forty years ago Tessa’s death was important enough to hide. It could still be important to some folks to keep it hidden. The more you go nosing around, the more danger you could find yourself in. Remember what happened in Julian last year? Someone actually tried to kill you...twice.”

Emma was tucked into bed. She’d been reading when Phil called, as he almost always did, to tell her good night. After Worth Manning left, she’d gone back to the guesthouse to pick up the scattered papers and shut it down for the night. She looked at the treadmill, then decided talking to Manning had been a workout enough. She was pooped. The mystery ghost had not made another appearance, even though Emma had called out to her several times, even trying the name Linda Manning to see if that got the spirit’s attention. Before locking up, she put the painting, still in its box, in a closet for safekeeping.

Granny followed Emma to the guesthouse, hanging around protectively until she was positive Worth Manning was gone and stayed gone, though Emma wasn’t sure what the ornery ghost could have done had Manning made a physical move on her. In the guesthouse, Granny voiced her doubt about going to Catalina.

“What if that snake comes back?” she’d argued with Emma. “It might be more than just painting the side of that fancy wagon of yours.”

“First of all, we don’t know if the spraypainting had anything to do with Worth Manning.” Emma arranged some of the disrupted papers on her desk and placed a stapler on top to make sure they stayed put. “And what would you be able to do if he did come back?”

Emma could see that Granny was going over the options in her head and not coming up with much. “I would tell Milo,” she’d finally said with a determined jerk of her chin. “He’d get help. It worked before.”

“And by the time he got here, I’d be done for. That is, if that was the senator’s intent.” Emma stopped fiddling with the stuff on her desk. “Granny, you’re needed in Catalina tomorrow to help Milo with Tessa. And don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’m going straight to bed after I finish here. And look, you’re fading by the second. You need to rest yourself.”

“The dead don’t need no rest. That’s why it’s called eternal sleep.”

“Well, then you need to recharge your batteries.”

It was true. Granny’s physical presence was fast growing faint. “I’d feel a lot better, Emma, if you had a gun in the house. In my day, we’d never be without a rifle.”

“I don’t need a gun, Granny. I’ll make sure I set the alarm, and besides, I have Archie.” They both looked down at the little black dog curled up on the loveseat. As they watched, Archie twitched and let out a series of loud snores.

“You need a gun,” Granny said with sturdy punctuation. “Better yet, I wish Phil was here.”

“But he’s not, Granny. And I don’t need him here. I’ll be fine.”

Granny’s image drifted off like mist on a breeze. “Yep, Phil
and
his gun. That’s the ticket.”

Emma didn’t feel particularly
threatened by Worth Manning, but she was wary of him. Like the snake Granny thought he was, he had slithered through her final questions slow and steady, all the time eyeing her as if she were an unsuspecting field mouse.

“Grant used to tell me how George and his buddies would go over to Catalina to fish and drink, often with female company.”

Manning had offered a slick smile. “That we did.”

“Did you go on your boat?” Emma asked, remembering that Denise had told her that Worth had owned a boat.

“Sometimes. If there were a lot of us, we’d take two boats.”

“Did you ever take Tessa over on your boat?”

“She might have gone over with me and the others. Hard to remember, Emma. It was a long time ago. But usually we guys took the boat and the ladies joined us later.”

His answer jived with what Denise Dowd had said, that the women joined the men on the island.

“What are you driving at, Emma?”

The senator’s voice was starting to take on an air of impatience, alerting her that she was losing his attention. She decided to jump in with both feet instead of just dipping a toe.

“Senator, Tessa is still on Catalina Island. She’s waiting for someone named Curtis to return to her. Only then will she be at peace.”

Manning tilted his head back and laughed. When he stopped, he aimed dancing dark eyes at her. “You really believe that, Emma?” Before she could answer, he added with a slight shake of his head, “You were always such a smart, level-headed girl. I must say, I’m a bit disappointed.”

Ignoring his comment, Emma pressed on. “Who’s Curtis, Senator? And where can I find him?”

“There was never anyone by the name of Curtis in our group. Tessa North was a pretty girl with a lot of suitors. Just because she had a few laughs with us doesn’t mean we were the only ones she kept company with.”

Emma noticed Manning tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair, a signal he was about to cut her off. “You were at the Ambassador Hotel the night Robert Kennedy was shot, weren’t you? You and Mrs. Manning were there with George and Celeste and several of your other friends.”

Manning was noticeably surprised by the sharp turn in the questioning. Tilting his head slightly, he studied Emma, wondering what she was up to. “Yes, a lot of us were there. As a politician in the Democratic Party, it was also my duty to be there.”

“That must have really shaken you up, Senator. Your political career was really starting to take off about then, wasn’t it?”

He gave a hearty laugh. “What? Now you’re going to insinuate I had something to do with Kennedy’s death?”

Emma smiled. “No, of course not. It’s just that Tessa disappeared shortly after Robert Kennedy was murdered.”

“So you think maybe she had something to do with the assassination? Who knows, maybe she was Sirhan Sirhan’s accomplice and lover.” His amusement was as solid as a brick.

“After Kennedy’s death, what did you do?”

“We were all questioned by the authorities. Horrible night; absolutely horrible—for us, for the entire country.”

“What about the days following the murder? You would have been very upset. Maybe you went over to Catalina to relax, to try to forget for a few days what had just happened?”

Manning stood up. “I must be going, Emma. Sure you won’t join me for dinner?”

Emma stood with him. She had other questions but could see she was being dismissed. Unless she followed him to dinner, she would have to end her interrogation. “Thank you, Senator, but I do have other plans.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Granny giving her a thumbs up.

At the front door, they exchanged a handshake, with Emma thanking him for his time. But Manning did not immediately let go of her hand. Instead, he held it firmly, enclosing it in a two-handed grasp.

“I always heard, Emma, that Tessa North packed it in and went back home—another Hollywood dream dashed. Now, don’t you think that’s a much more reasonable explanation than all this ghost nonsense?”

“Tell you what, Emma,”
Phil said in an inviting tone. “Why don’t you come on down to Julian tomorrow and stay the weekend? You can work on your cabin. Start decorating it so it’s ready for your family for Christmas. I’m sure Aunt Susan would love to make plans with you for everyone’s visit.”

“I know you, Phil. You just want me to cool things down with my Tessa research.”

“Yes, I do. But I also want to see you. Unless you already have plans with a certain former US senator.”

“Phil, please. He’s more than thirty years my senior.”

“Maybe, Fancy Pants, but he recognizes quality female flesh when he sees it. Remember, he was a big time alpha wolf in his day, and it sounds like he still enjoys baying at the moon.”

“As inviting as a trip to Julian sounds to this quality female flesh, I have to take care of my car tomorrow.”

“Something wrong with the SUV?” Alarm slipped into Phil’s voice. “Did you have an accident of some kind?”

Darn
, Emma thought. She didn’t mean to let anything slip about the vandalism. In bringing Phil up to speed on everything she’d uncovered and about her exchange with both the unknown ghost and Manning, Emma had carefully edited out the spraypainting of her SUV. She knew it would worry him.

“No, no accident. Just some vandalism. Kids probably.” She cringed as the half lie escaped her lips.

“What happened?”

“Nothing really, just a little spraypaint.”

“Fancy Pants.” He stretched the two words out into a full sentence.

“Someone just sprayed a few words across the side of the Lexus. That’s all.”

“What words?”

“Nothing.”

“If it’s really nothing, you’d tell me. Do I have to drive up there tonight and see it for myself?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then you stop being evasive.”

Emma knew good and well that Phil Bowers was stubborn enough to jump into his truck and drive all the way to Pasadena tonight from San Diego just to see what she was avoiding telling him.

“All right,” she said in frustration. “Cool your jets.” She took a deep breath and held it as if jumping into deep water. When she released it, she said in a series of nonstop words, “When I was at Milo’s today, someone spraypainted the words
leave the dead alone
across the side of my car.”

There was a short silence on Phil’s end, then the sound of a throat clearing. “And you consider that
nothing
?”

“I realize it’s not nothing, but I’m not sure what to make of it.”

“It’s a warning, Emma. A big one. Surely you know that.”

“Of course I do. But it doesn’t make me want to stop looking into Tessa’s death—just the opposite. Now I want to know
exactly
what happened and who’s involved.”