Haunted Tales (15 page)

Mary hung up the phone and smiled as Bradley walked into her
office the next morning. “Good morning,” she said.
“Perfect
timing.”

“Good, I have news for you,” he said, sliding into the chair
across from her desk. “I was able to get hold of the military discharge reports
for Mitch
Howse
.”

“And?”
Mary asked.

“He got home about two weeks before Kristen’s death,” he
replied. “It sounds like he might have been injured, but nothing that would
have prevented him from attacking Kristen.”

“Well, I just got off the phone with Daniel Toba, Kristen’s
old fiancé,” she explained. “He’s willing to meet with me…”

Bradley frowned at her. “Mary…”

“Here in Freeport, in my office, in the middle of the day,”
she finished quickly. “Okay?”

The frown turned into a slightly abashed smile. “Yeah,
okay,” he said. “That was nice of him.”

“Well, when I explained what happened to Andrew, he decided
he wanted to cooperate in every way possible,” she said.

“Great,” Bradley said.
“If you need me to
come over and sit in, just call.”

“I will,” she said, leaning back in her chair and tucking
her hands behind her head. “And now we have to discuss something really
serious.”

“Yes?” he asked.

“Your Halloween costume,” she said. “What are you going to
wear?”

“Costume?” he asked. “Mary, I’m not going anywhere. Your
family is coming over to tell stories. I’ll be answering the door and giving
children candy. I think a t-shirt and jeans are a perfect costume.”

“Bradley, it’s only once a year,” she said. “How often do
you get to wear a costume?”

“I wear a costume every day,” he replied.

She shook her head. “No, that’s a uniform, not a costume,”
she said. “You need a costume.”

“How about one of those t-shirts that say, “This is my…”

“A costume,” she interrupted her tone brooking no argument.

“What are you going to be wearing?” Bradley demanded.

“Rosie is getting a costume for me,” she replied. “I’m going
to be a gypsy.”

He paused and a smile grew on his face. “With one of those
elasticy
kind
of necklines that
slip down over your shoulders?”

“Could be,” she said with a returning smile.

He sighed. “Okay, Rosie did mention something about a
matching costume for me,” he admitted. “But it was a little silly – calf-high
pants and a vest.
 
That was it, not even
a shirt.”

“You as a gypsy,” Mary said, picturing the outfit he
described on her hunky husband. “Yeah, that could be nice.”

“Okay, I’ll wear the vest as long as you wear the nibble and
nudge blouse,” he said.

“Nibble and nudge?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

He actually blushed and shrugged awkwardly. “Yeah, you know,
you nibble on the exposed skin and then you kind of, um, nudge the material
down.”

She laughed out loud. “Bradley Alden!” she said in mock censure.

“Yes, Mary Alden?” he asked, smiling at her.

She sighed. “I can’t wait until Halloween.”

He nodded. “Yeah, my feelings about Halloween just went up a
couple of notches.”

Danny looks just like
his photos on his social media page
, Mary thought as he entered her office
later that morning.

“Hi, I’m Daniel,” he said, looking a little confused. “Are
you Mary O’Reilly?”

Mary walked over and shook his hand. “Yes, I am,” she said.
“Why?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I didn’t
expect a private investigator to be, you know, pregnant.”

“Oh,” she replied, looking down at her stomach. “Well, I
guess it happens to the best of us.” She looked up with a smile and met his
eyes. “But don’t worry, I can still think rationally.
At least
for a couple more weeks.”

Looking more than a little confused, he shook his head. “So,
you do want to interview me, right?” he asked.

“Okay, so he was never the sharpest knife in the drawer,”
Kristen said, appearing next to him. “But he looked really good in a uniform.”

“I do want to interview you,” she paused. “Daniel?”

“Danny, please, everyone calls me Danny.”

“Okay, Danny, have a seat,” Mary said, motioning to a chair
on the other side of her desk. “Would you like something to drink?
Water?
A soda?”

“No, I’m good,” he replied, slipping into the chair. “I just
want to know what’s going on. I mean Kristy died a long time ago.”

“Kristen,” Kristen corrected. “I hated Kristy.”

“I know it was a long time ago,” Mary said. “But new
information has come to light that makes it seem like it might not have been
the accident everyone assumed it was.”

He leaned forward. “Are you saying she was murdered?” he
asked.

“Would it have mattered?’ Kristen asked. “Would you have
maybe put your marriage to Janice off another month or so?”

Mary took a deep breath and smiled at Danny. “Well, we don’t
know exactly what happened,” Mary said. “But we know that she wasn’t alone when
she died.”

“Oh, that’s good,” he said, nodding his head. “I mean, I’ve
heard that people don’t like to be alone when they die.”

“No,” Mary said, shaking her head. “I mean someone might
have pushed her down the stairs.”

“Oh, well, that’s not good,” he said.

“Okay, he wasn’t even close to being a sharp knife,” Kristen
said with an exaggerated sigh. “He was more like a spoon.”

“So, what we’re trying to do is piece together what happened
around the time of her death,” Mary said.

“Well, I was still in Nam when she died,” he replied,
starting to stand up. “So, I don’t know how much help I can be.”

“And we’re done,” Kristen added.

Mary reached over and placed her hand on his arm. “Well,
actually I think you could have more information than you realize.”

“Oh, yeah?
How?” he asked, sitting
back down.

“When you finally arrived home, did you notice anyone acting
differently towards you?” Mary asked.

“Different?”

“Sometimes guilt can be manifested in a variety of
ways.
 
For example, someone who might
have once been a mutual friend could avoid you if they felt guilty.
 
And, on the other hand, someone you barely
knew could suddenly try and act
like
your best
friend.
 
Any of those changes in
personality could be a clue.”

Danny nodded. “Oh, hey, yeah, that’s pretty cool.
 
Like one of those psychologist things on
television,” he said. “Let me think.”

He paused for a few moments, looking down at his hands while
he concentrated. “I thought about it,” he said, raising his head and meeting
Mary’s eyes. “And you know, Mitch, Mitch
Howse
, he
was never the same after I came home.
 
I
don’t know. I tried to get together with him and Viv, but they wouldn’t have
anything to do with me.”

“Is there any other reason they wouldn’t get together with
you?” Mary asked.

“Well, you know, Mitch almost died over there,” he said.
“And I came home pretty much blemish free. I always thought he was just jealous
of me. But, you know, it could have been that.”

“Well, really, facing death could change someone,” Mary
suggested.

“Yeah, but I could never figure out why Viv was his friend
but she wasn’t friends with me,” Danny said.

“Why wouldn’t Viv be his friend?” Mary asked.

“Because Viv’s twin brother died saving Mitch’s life,” Danny
said.

“What?” Mary asked.

“Yeah, they were under fire, and Mitch got pinned down in
the jungle,” Danny explained. “Their captain ordered the rest of them to
retreat, said it was too late for the ones in the swamp. But Vic didn’t want to
leave Mitch, so he disobeyed orders and ran back into the jungle, his machine
gun blazing.
 
They said he took out a
couple dozen Vietcong before they got him.
 
After all the smoke died down, the rest of the platoon was able to go in
and rescue the guys, including Mitch, but it was too late for Vic.”

“Oh, that’s awful,” Mary said. “I’m sure that it was
devastating for Vic’s whole family.”

Danny shrugged. “Well, it was just Vic and Viv,” he said.
“Their dad left when they were born. Their mom told them he couldn’t handle two
babies at the same time. Then their Mom died when they were in high school.”

“Best thing that could have happened to them,” Kristen
muttered. “That woman was a crazy bitch.
Blamed them both for
the hardships in her life.”

“So, Viv got a little money from the government because of
Vic’s death, and she bought the café,” he said. “Some people might have thought
it was blood money, and some people might have said that. But what choice did
she have?’

“People actually said that?” Mary asked, incredulous.

“And you thought I was bad,” Kristen said. “At least I had
the decency to only write my thoughts down and not say them out loud.”

“Yeah, they said it,” he said with a shrug. “But Viv’s
always been strong. She can take it.”

“Viv, I really need you to be strong,” Mitch said as they
sat alone in the café.
 
The sign had been
turned to “CLOSED,” and the shades had been pulled down to block the midday
sun.
 
Mitch pushed the plate with a
half-eaten piece of pie away from him. “We need to talk about this.”

“Mitch, I don’t understand,” she said. “Kristen’s death was
a long time ago. Why bring it up now?”

“Because Andrew Tyler was also killed,” Mitch said.

Viv nodded. “I heard,” she said, purposely keeping herself
busy behind the counter. “They found his body in the school. And that’s a
shame. He seemed like such a nice young man.”

“But Viv, you need to listen to me,” Mitch insisted. “He was
murdered.”

“It’s not like I’m unsympathetic,” Viv said, looking up from
shelving some coffee cups. “But what does that have to do with us?
 
We don’t know what kind of stuff he was
involved with in Chicago. I figured his life just caught up with him.”

Mitch stood up and paced to the door of the café and back.
“Don’t you get it?” he said, trying to keep his frustration in check. “It
didn’t have anything to do with Chicago. I
know
it didn’t. Do you understand?”

Staring at him, she came around the counter and walked to
him, placing her hands on his arms. “Mitch, are you saying you know who killed
Andrew?” she asked, meeting his eyes.

He stared at her for a moment and then dropped his head.
“Yes. Yes, I know who killed Andrew,” he replied, his voice filled with
incredible sorrow.

“Oh, Mitch,” Viv said, sliding her hands up his arms and
embracing him. “I won’t tell. I promise. It will be just our secret.”

Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gently pushed her
back. “But that wouldn’t be right, would it?” he asked. “It wouldn’t be right
to lie about what happened, would it?”

She sighed and tears glistened in her eyes. “I know that
things changed after you came back from Nam,” she said. “And I know that all of
us were changed when Vic died.
 
And back
then, they didn’t understand things like post-traumatic stress disorder, so we
all just stumbled through life.”

“But that doesn’t give us the right to kill someone,” he
said. “Even if we feel our secrets are going to be revealed, it still doesn’t
give us that right.”

She shook her head, stepped away from him and walked back to
the counter. “Kristen’s death was an accident,” she said. “I know it was an
accident.”

She felt his hands on her shoulders once again. “But this
time,” he whispered, “this time it wasn’t.”

“No, you’re right,” she agreed. “This time it was
deliberate, to cover up the secret from so long ago.”

He exhaled harshly. “And how many have to die to cover up
the past?” he asked. “I thought it was only a one time occurrence. I thought I
had it all handled…”

A tear slipped down her cheek. “Are you…” she faltered.
 
“What are you going to do?”

He turned her and pulled her into his arms for a comforting
embrace. “I’m going to go down to the police department and confess,” he said.
“And I have to do it before that woman Mary O’Reilly gets any more information
on the case.
 
If Mary testifies, it will
cause more trouble than we can imagine.
 
Besides, I know Vic would want me to do it.”

She shook her head and looked at him. “Vic would want you to
be happy,” she said. “That’s the most important thing. You don’t have to do
this. You don’t have to worry about Mary O’Reilly.”

He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. “Yes, I do,” he
said. “Goodbye, Viv. Take care of yourself.”

“So, then there’s this knock on the door,” Stanley said,
sitting at his kitchen table watching Kate and Rosie create cheesecakes. “But,
I can see straight out the window, and there
ain’t
no one
on the door
stoop
doing the
knocking.”

Kate paused from pressing chocolate cookie crumbs into the
bottom of a spring-form pan and turned to Stanley. “Are you kidding me?” she
asked.

“Scout’s honor,” Stanley said, raising his hand to form the
familiar sign.
“‘
Tweren’t
hide nor
hair
of anyone even close to that door.”

“So, what did you do?” Kate asked, returning to her task.

“I called my older sister’s name and told her someone was
waiting at the door
fer
her,” he chuckled. “I figured
if anyone could scare away a
ghostie
, it would have
been Lenora.”

“Stanley,” Rosie scolded. “As I recall, Lenora was a lovely
woman.”

“Well, yeah, she mellowed in her old age,” he replied. “But
as a youngster, she pinched my ear so many times my left ear was a full inch
longer than my right one.”

Kate chuckled and then wiped her hands off on a dish towel.
“Okay, Rosie, here’s step one,” she said. “How does it look?”

Coming up next to her, Rosie critically eyed the baking pan
filled with the chocolate crust. “It looks perfect,” Rosie said.
“And delicious.
Now put it in the oven for about five
minutes, to set it.
 
And while it’s
baking, you can melt the chocolate over the double-boiler.”

“Okay,” Kate replied. “I am so grateful that you are helping
me with this.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure,” Rosie said. “It’s nice to have
company while I’m baking.”

“I’m always here when you’re baking,” Stanley interjected. “What
am I, chopped liver?”

Rosie shook her head. “No, you’re a nuisance,” she replied.
“A sweet nuisance.”

He stood up, walked over to where Rosie was creating her
cheesecake and stuck his finger in the batter bowl. He popped the batter in his
mouth and nodded happily. “It’s good,” he said. “What is it?
Something
with cinnamon?”

Rolling her eyes, Rosie shooed him away from the mixer.
“Stanley Wagner, you step away from my work area,” she said. “
It’s
pumpkin cheesecake, if you must know, and it’s for
tomorrow night.”

Grumbling, Stanley moved away from the mixer. “A man could
starve in his own house,” he muttered, moving back towards the table.

Kate sent Rosie a quick grin, and Rosie shook her head.
“There are some fresh oatmeal raisin cookies in the cookie jar,” she said. “I
made them this morning because I knew you’d be prowling around the kitchen
getting in my way.”

He hurried over to the counter, pulled the lid off the
cookie jar and inhaled deeply. “Rosie, my love, you are amazing,” he said,
lifting out four cookies.

“Two,” she said. “After that shake last night, you don’t
need four cookies.”

Stanley glanced over at her, dropped one cookie back in the
jar and slid the extra one into his pocket. “I’m just gonna take a little drive
downtown,” he said.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Rosie agreed. “And while you’re
out, would you mind dropping that box off at Mary’s office?
 
It’s her costume for tomorrow.”

“Well, then I probably need a couple more cookies for Mary,”
he said, lifting the lid off the jar once again. “You know she’s eating for
two.”

“I’m going to call Mary and make sure she got those
cookies,” Rosie warned Stanley.

He grabbed a handful of cookies and turned to Rosie with a
smile. “She’ll get them all right,” he said, and then added with a grin. “Leastways
she’ll tell you she got them.”

Rosie shook her head once he was gone. “That man,” she said
with a huff.

“You totally adore him,” Kate said.

Rosie smiled. “Yes, I really do,” she said. And then she
stopped and clapped her hand over her mouth. “You don’t think he’ll mention to
Mary that we were baking together?”

Kate slipped the double-boiler from the heated element to
the middle of the stove. “Oh, call him, quickly,” she said.

They both hurried over to the counter, and Rosie picked up
her cell phone.
 
As soon as she dialed,
they both heard a phone ringing in the living room.
 
With a sigh, Rosie shook his head. “He forgot
his phone,” she said.
“Again.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now,” Kate said,
going back to her melted chocolate. “I will sure be glad when this shower is
over.
 
I never realized how hard it would
be to keep this whole thing a secret.”

“Well, perhaps he won’t tell her,” Rosie said. “You know, he
did some top secret work when he was in the military. He does know how to keep
a secret.”

Kate turned, met her eyes and raised one eyebrow.
 

“You’re right,” Rosie said. “He’s going to spill the beans
as soon as he walks through the door.”

Kate nodded. “We could always call Bradley and have him cut
Stanley off at the pass,” she suggested.

“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea,” Rosie said, picking up her
phone again. “And Bradley will be happy to shut Stanley up.”