The Ghost of Marlow House (Haunting Danielle Book 1) (24 page)

Danielle stood with Sadie at the gate of
Marlow House and watched Lily and Ian drive away. They’d taken the Missing
Thorndike with them, although Danielle thought the name no longer applied.

“I suppose we could still call it the
Missing Thorndike,” Danielle told Sadie as she scratched the dog’s right ear,
“in honor of the missing diamonds and emeralds.”

Danielle turned toward the house and
opened the gate. “Come on girl, let’s go inside and see if we can find Walt.”
Sadie followed Danielle up the front walk and into the house.

“Walt, where are you?” Danielle called
out when she closed the door behind her and Sadie.

“Dog sitting?” Walt asked when he
appeared a moment later. Wagging her tail, Sadie trotted to where Walt stood
and walked in several circles, moving through his legs, before she sat down.

“That kind of creeps me out when she
does that.” Danielle shuddered.

“What do you mean?” Walt looked down at
his feet under Sadie.

“The way she just goes through you all
the time. Plopping down in the middle of your body, or in this case your feet.”
Danielle looked at Sadie and shook her head before adding, “As for the dog
sitting, I told Ian I’d keep and eye on her while he and Lily take the necklace
to the jeweler.”

“So you told both of them?” Walt raised
a brow.

“Yep.” Danielle tossed her purse and
beach towel on the entry hall table. At Walt’s sudden scowl she let out a sigh
and picked up the purse, placing it on the towel instead of directly on the
cherry wood tabletop.

“Did you tell them the stones are fake
or are you going to let the jeweler tell them?”

“I probably should have let the jeweler
do it. Because, I couldn’t really come up with a logical reason why I thought
they were fake.”

“It’s too bad you have to go public with
the necklace. I understand why you want to, but I wonder if the heirs, when you
contact them, will accuse you of removing the real diamonds and emeralds.”

“Umm…I don’t think that’s going to be an
issue,” Danielle chuckled. “I haven’t told you what Ian discovered in his
research. Guess who’s the rightful owner of the necklace.”

“I imagine some distant relative of
Eva’s.”

“You.” Danielle grinned. “Well,
technically, it’s now me. For whatever reason, Eva’s parents left the necklace
to you in their will, should it ever be recovered.”

“I don’t understand. Why would they do
that?”

“I have no idea. But according to their
will, if you were deceased at the time of their death, then it was to go to
your heir, which was Kathrine. And when Kathrine died, everything went to Brianna,
and when Brianna left me her house, she included all the contents—which included
the necklace.”

Walt walked to a chair in the entry and
sat down, his expression thoughtful. “I think I know why they left me the
necklace.”

“I’d like to hear this.”

“I saw her every day that last month.
I’d come over and sit with her to give her mother a little break. Mrs.
Thorndike told me I was the one Eva should have married. Eva never loved me
that way. But her mother knew how much I loved her.”

“I don’t really get it…leave you
something they don’t have any more? It’s sort of like your parents saying I
have good news and bad news. The good news we got you a pony, the bad news it
ran away.”

“Not exactly. If you actually get the
pony you can ride him. I wasn’t about to wear a woman’s necklace. It was a
sentimental gesture.”

“I suppose…”

“Now what?” Walt stood up.

Wagging her tail, Sadie got to her feet
and watched him.

“Ian is using the information I found
about your murder in his article. People will finally know you didn’t take your
own life. This is what you wanted.”

“Does this mean I’m free to go?”

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to
see.”

Silently they stood in the entry hall
looking into each other’s eyes.
Is this goodbye?
Danielle wondered. She
had only met Walt a little over a week ago, yet she felt as if it had been much
longer.

“Thank you, Danielle.” Walt reached out
to her. She raised her hand to his, their fingertips touched—or so it seemed.
Danielle looked down at where their hands tried to meet; she smiled sadly.

“I’ve enjoyed our time together,”
Danielle said. Until Walt, her encounters with spirits had been brief.

“I will say I’ve never met a woman quite
like you. I’ve almost gotten used to those mannish slacks you often wear,” he
said with a chuckle.

“This house is not going to be the same
when you go.” Danielle lowered her hand to her side.

She watched as Walt silently blew her a
kiss and faded away, leaving Sadie barking at the spot where he no longer
stood.

“He doesn’t belong here anymore,”
Danielle told Sadie as she reached down to calm the dog.  When Sadie finally
stopped barking Danielle took her into the kitchen. After filling a bowl with
water and setting it on the floor for the dog, Danielle sat wearily at the
kitchen table.

 
What’s wrong with me? I should be
happy. Everything is working out like I wanted. I’ve set the record straight
regarding Walt’s death, or at least it will be set straight when Ian publishes
his article. The necklace was recovered so future treasure hunters won’t be a
nuisance, and I no longer live in a haunted house.

Before Danielle could come up with
answers to her question her cellphone began to ring. By the time she made it to
the entry hall to retrieve the phone from her purse she missed the call.
Looking at the phone, she could see the caller was Lily.

“Dani, you have to get down here, fast!”
Lily squealed on the other side of the line when Danielle called her back.

“What’s wrong? Get down where?”

“Ian and I are at the jewelry store. You
were wrong, those aren’t fake stones! They are real! And according to the guy
your necklace is probably worth over a million bucks! Holy crap Dani, Ian and I
don’t want to be walking around town with something that valuable!”

When Dani got off the phone she called
out, “Walt, are you still here? Please tell me you didn’t go for good!” There
was no answer.

Leaving Sadie alone at Marlow House,
Danielle drove immediately to the jewelry store. She found Ian and Lily inside,
standing at the counter talking to an excited jeweler.

“My dad and I used to joke about someone
finding the Missing Thorndike and bringing it in to us to have it appraised. I
can’t believe I actually got to hold it!” the excited jeweler told Danielle
when Ian introduced her to the man. As it turned out, the jeweler, Samuel
Hayman, owned the jewelry store, which was founded by his grandfather in the
1920s. He had grown up hearing the story of the missing necklace.

“Are you sure the diamonds and emeralds
are real?” Danielle asked.

“Without a doubt. What I told your
friend about the necklace’s value is only a rough estimate, but we do appraisals
here, and I would imagine you’ll want to get one done for insurance purposes.”

“
Insurance purposes?”
Danielle’s
head began to spin. Things were much simpler when the necklace she had
inherited—if in fact it was rightfully hers—was made with pretty glass. It
would be fun to wear such a beautiful piece on special occasions, but would she
actually wear a necklace worth over million bucks? Not bloody likely. She
needed to contact an insurance agent—her lawyer—would this mean she’d have to
pay more inheritance tax?

Rubbing her temple, Danielle felt a
headache coming on. “I think we better go over to the bank and put this thing
in a safety deposit box until I figure things out.”

“Why in the world did you think the
stones were fake?” the jeweler asked.

“Wishful thinking?” Danielle smiled
weakly.

• • • •

Danielle was at the bank with Ian and
Lily, filling out the paperwork for the safety deposit box when a newspaper
reporter showed up, along with the police chief. It seemed Hayman wasted no
time spreading the word about her discovery.

“I thought jewelers were under some sort
of confidentiality oath,” Danielle muttered under her breath to Ian.

“You have to remember, it’s considered
stolen property. I imagine he really had no choice but to call the police,” Ian
said.

“What about the reporter?” Danielle
quipped as the pair approached them. A curious crowd was gathering, prompting
the bank manager to usher Danielle, Lily, Ian and the police chief into his
office. The reporter was left standing in the bank talking with Sam Hayman, who
had just showed up.

“Danielle Boatman is the rightful owner
of the necklace,” Ian explained to the police chief.  “The Thorndikes left it
to Walt Marlow or his heirs, which was the mother of Ms. Boatman’s great aunt
who left her Marlow House.”

“If it is the Missing Thorndike, it’s
stolen merchandise, and until this thing is straightened out I need to take it
into custody,” the police chief insisted.

“Really, Chief?” Ian asked. “You
honestly think a necklace worth more than a million dollars will be safer
locked up in your evidence room than in a safety deposit box at the bank?”

“I just don’t want Ms. Boatman to return
tomorrow and remove the necklace, only to discover she isn’t its rightful
owner.”

“I understand,” Danielle spoke up.
“Until we get this thing sorted out, I would feel more comfortable having the
necklace safely locked up at the bank—not at the police station—but I am
willing to sign whatever is necessary saying I won’t remove the necklace until
this is resolved.”

“I think that’s reasonable,” the chief
said, secretly relieved.

The bank manager’s desk phone began to ring.

“I’m tied up right now,” the bank
manager said when he answered the phone. He paused a moment then said into the
phone, “Hold on, I’ll see.” Looking up at Danielle and the police chief he
asked, “The reporter from the
Frederickport Press
wanted to know if we
could get a picture with Ms. Boatman and the necklace before you lock it up.”

“Fine with me,” Danielle said.
It
will be a good way to let Nichols and Jones know the necklace has been found.

Unlatching the parlor window, Danielle
tried opening it, but it stubbornly refused to budge. Recalling one of her
first encounters with Walt and how he had been unable to open the window, she
smiled sadly. Giving the window a firm tug it finally opened. The cool evening
breeze swept inside, sending the curtains fluttering. She stood there a moment
looking out at the darkness, breathing in the night air.

“I’m going to bed now,” Lily called from
the doorway. Danielle turned from the window to face Lily.

“Goodnight,” Danielle said with a faint
smile.

“It was a crazy day.”

“It was that,” Danielle agreed. After
returning from the bank the moving van had arrived with the rest of Danielle’s
belongings. She had instructed the movers to take most of the boxes up to the
attic and hadn’t had time to sort through any of her things.

“I guess tomorrow we can finally get
those groceries and fill up that new refrigerator of yours.”

“Not a bad idea. I’m getting a little
sick of peanut butter and cereal.”

“So you’re really going to sell it?”
Lily sounded disappointed.

“What am I going to do with a million
dollar necklace? Anyway, the inheritance tax and insurance would likely kill
me.”

“It’s still exciting. Well, night Dani.”

“Night Lily.” Danielle watched as Lily
turned and headed upstairs to her room.

Danielle had just turned back to the
window when she heard, “You could always wear it.”  Quickly turning around, her
heart lurched as she came face to face with Walt.

The first thing she noticed—he was
wearing a new suit. This one blue with pen stripes—more casual than the other
suit he’d been wearing.

“I thought you were gone?” Danielle said
excitedly, wishing briefly that it was possible to hug a spirit. “You have a
different suit…I like it.”

“I was getting a little weary of the
other one.” Walt glanced down briefly at his clothes and then looked back to
Danielle.

“I don’t understand?” Danielle said.

“I finally figured out how to—well,
change my clothes so to speak. Not that I put them on like I used to.” He
grinned.

“No, I wasn’t talking about your
clothes. I was talking about you—you’re here. I thought you had gone. What
happened, didn’t it work?”

“Oh, it worked I guess.”

“You guess?” Danielle frowned.

“If I want to go, I can. I’m just not
ready yet.”

“What do you mean ready?”

“Wherever I’m supposed to go next will
be there when I’m ready. But first, what is this about the diamonds and
emeralds being real?”

“They’re real. We haven’t had it
appraised yet, but the jeweler Ian took it to says it’s easily worth over a million
dollars.”

“Over a million dollars? Prices have
gone up a bit, I see,” Walt murmured and then added, “I think you should keep
it and wear it.”

“Where am I going to wear something like
that?”

“You could wear it to your open house.”

“That would be a great publicity stunt.”
Danielle turned to the window and looked outside. She could feel her heart
race—
why am I so happy he’s back?

“Yes, it—on you—would make quite an
impression on your guests,” Walt said as he stepped to the window and stood
beside Danielle.

“How long are you staying?” Danielle
asked.

“I don’t know. I would like to find out
how it is those diamonds and emeralds are real. Do you mind if I stay?”

“Not at all…” Danielle murmured. “I just
want you to be where you’re meant to be.”

“I am Danielle…I am…” They stood
silently side by side gazing out the window when Walt took a deep breath and
said, “I can smell it, Danielle…I can finally smell it…”

Danielle turned her head and looked up
at Walt, who stood beside her, his eyes closed and a peaceful smile on his face
as he listened to the not so distant sound of the waves breaking on the nearby
beach.

“What Walt? What do you smell?”

“The ocean…”