The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds (14 page)

“Danielle, if you keep
turning down reservations, one of these days people are going to stop calling,”
Lily insisted. “And before you know it, the summer season will be over.”

“I just can’t open the
B and B yet. Not with Cheryl missing,” Danielle said as she emptied the
dishwasher.

“You need something to
occupy your time. You can’t just sit around here and wait.”

“Who’s sitting around?
I’m putting the dishes away.”

“You know what I mean.
And at the end of the month I’ll be returning to California. I can’t leave you
here like this. What if Cheryl never comes back? For all you know she’s sitting
on some tropical beach somewhere laughing her butt off.”

“It isn’t just about
Cheryl being missing. There are so many unresolved issues.  If her attorney
convinces the court she is an equal partner in the estate, does that mean I’ll
have to set aside half the profits for her if I open the B and B? Everything is
just too damn complicated right now.”

“This is crazy.” Lily
sat down at the kitchen table.

Danielle closed the now
empty dishwasher and turned to face Lily. “You want to go down to the beach? Looks
like a nice day today and I wouldn’t mind getting out of the house.”

“Sure. It would
probably do us both some good. How about I make some sandwiches for us to
take?”

“Sounds great. I’ll go
upstairs and change.”

“I need to change too.
But I’ll make the sandwiches first.” Lily stood up from the table.

Danielle gave Lily a
quick smile and then left the kitchen. When she reached the second floor
landing she heard what she thought sounded like a woman’s voice coming from the
Red Room.

Cheryl?
Danielle asked herself.
Has Cheryl come back?
Hurriedly she walked to
the closed bedroom door and flung it open. Sure enough, Cheryl was standing in
the middle of the room cursing angrily.

Turning to the open
door, Cheryl looked at her cousin and asked, “Where is it?”

“Cheryl! My god, where
have you been?” Danielle blurted.

“What did you do with
my things? Everything is gone. Where is my suitcase?”

“The police took it,”
Danielle said as she stepped into the room. Her first impulse was to hug Cheryl
but by Cheryl’s angry expression that didn’t look like a terrific idea.
Danielle was surprised at the sense of relief she felt seeing her cousin safe
and sound, and not in danger.

“What do you mean they
took it? Why would they take my suitcase?” Cheryl shrieked.

“For one thing you ran
out of here with the necklace and disappeared for a week.” The joy Danielle
initially experienced quickly faded into annoyance.

“You had no right to
give them my things! Call them and have them bring my stuff back.”

“What is all this
ruckus?” Walt asked when he appeared the next moment.

“Who are you?” Cheryl
demanded of Walt.

“Can you see him?”
Danielle asked.

“What kind of question
is that? Of course I can see him. Who is he? Have you already turned this place
into a stupid inn?”

“Madam if you can
really see me, what am I doing right now?” Walt asked.

“Good lord, stop
jumping up and down on your foot. You look ridiculous,” Cheryl snapped.

“Well I’ll be. She can
see me too. Your cousin must share your gift.” Walt said.

“I don’t know what
you’re talking about, but please leave my room,” Cheryl demanded.

“This is my house, I
will not leave this room,” Walt countered.

“Your house? What have
you done, Dani? Did you get married again while I was gone?”

“Of course I didn’t get
married again.” Danielle’s head began to spin.

“What’s with all the
shouting?” Lily asked from the doorway. “Are you arguing with Walt?” Lily
glanced around the room.

“Cheryl’s back,”
Danielle explained.

“She is? Where is she?
Did Joe call?”

“What do you mean where
am I?” Cheryl frowned at Lily.

“Well?” Lily asked,
looking curiously at Danielle. “You said Cheryl is back, where is she? Do they
have her at the police station?”

“Lily…” Danielle looked
from Cheryl to Lily. “Can’t you see her?”

“What do you mean?”
Lily glanced around the room again.

“She’s standing right
there.” Danielle pointed toward the end of the bed.

“I am getting a bad
feeling about this,” Walt murmured as he wandered toward the bed and sat down
on the edge of the mattress.

“Get off my bed!”
Cheryl shrieked.

Ignoring Cheryl’s
tantrum, Walt scooted back on the mattress, pulled his feet up on the bed,
leaned against the headboard and summonsed a cigar.

“Are you okay,
Danielle?” Lily asked in a quiet voice. Danielle stood mute, looking
frantically from the bed to Lily. Lily took a deep breath and said, “Walt’s
here, I can smell the cigar. Is something going on between you too?”

“Yes, Walt is here,”
Danielle said quietly. “So is Cheryl.”

“Well duhh,” Cheryl
snapped. “Is Lily playing some sort of stupid game? Pretending she can’t see me
because she doesn’t like me?”

“We’ll be right back,”
Danielle said as she grabbed Lily’s wrist and dragged her into the hallway,
shutting the door behind her.

“Cheryl’s dead,”
Danielle said once they were alone in the hallway.

“What are you talking
about?” Lily looked back at the closed door.

“Cheryl is in the
bedroom. She can see Walt. But you can’t see her.”

“Are you sure, Dani?
You’ve been under a lot of stress lately.”

“Yes I’m sure. She’s
dead, but she doesn’t realize it yet. I can’t just blurt it out to her. I’m not
sure what she’ll do.”

Inside the bedroom
Cheryl looked at Walt and said, “What in the hell is going on around here?
What’s up with Lily and Dani? Did my cousin rent you my room, is that why
you’re still in here?”

“You don’t have any
idea, do you?”

“You look sort of
familiar.” Cheryl narrowed her eyes and studied Walt.

“Who do I look like?”
Walt took a puff off the cigar.

“Your clothes…are you
an actor? Did Dani hire you?”

“An actor? Why would
she hire me?” Walt wondered how she had jumped to that conclusion.

“You look a lot like
the guy in the portrait. The one who took the necklace.” After mentioning the
necklace Cheryl gasped and grabbed at her throat. “It’s gone. The necklace,
it’s gone.”

“Why do you think I’m
an actor?”

“She’s obviously hired
you to play as if you’re that guy who was murdered here. Another one of her
publicity stunts. But I can’t think about that now. I need to remember where I
put that damn necklace.”

“Why did you take the
necklace?” Walt asked.

“That really is none of
your business. And I want you to get out of my room. Dani will simply have to
put you somewhere else.”

“I’m not an actor,”
Walt said as he got from the bed and stood before Cheryl. “My name is Walt
Marlow.”

“Walt Marlow?” Cheryl
frowned. “That’s not funny. Walt Marlow was the guy who was murdered here. You
aren’t him. You’re just someone Dani hired that looks like him.”

“Want me to prove it?”
Walt asked with a grin.

“Sure, go ahead. And
when you’re done proving it you can get out of my room!”

Walt suddenly
disappeared. Startled by his unexpected departure she jumped back and frantically
looked around the room.

“Where did you go?”
Cheryl squeaked.

“Right here!” Walt
gleefully shouted as he reappeared in front of her.

Wide eyed and
speechless, Cheryl stared at Walt.

He leaned toward Cheryl
and whispered, “I’m a ghost….BOO!”

Cheryl let out a blood
chilling scream. Danielle rushed back into the room and found Cheryl huddled in
the far corner of the room. Walt sat on the side of the bed attempting to
contain his laughter.

“I’m sorry,” Walt
started laughing again and then managed to stop. “Really I am…” He began
laughing again. “It was just so easy,” he choked out before breaking into
another fit of laughter.

“What’s going on?” Lily
asked Danielle in a whisper as she glanced around the room, unable to see any
ghostly activity.

“What did you say to
her?” Danielle glared at Walt then looked back to Cheryl. “Cheryl, what
happened?”

“Damn him,” Cheryl said
angrily, no longer frightened. “What is he some sort of magician or something?
Tried to make me think he was a ghost. Even pulled some silly disappearing
trick. This isn’t funny, Dani!”

“No…no it isn’t…”
Danielle murmured, glancing over at Walt who hadn’t quite controlled his fit of
laughter.

“Hey, I’m sorry, but
you would’ve had to have been here,” Walt said guiltily.

“Cheryl, I don’t know
how else to do this without just coming out and saying it. This is Walt Marlow.
He is…well…our resident ghost.”

“Ha ha, Dani. You’re
just punishing me because I took off with that necklace. By the way, why
haven’t you asked me about the necklace yet?”

“I guess I feel there
are some things more important than million dollar necklaces.”

“Like what?”

“Like explaining to my
cousin that the reason she can see Walt Marlow is because she is just like
him.”

“What are you talking
about?” Cheryl frowned.

“I’m sorry to have to
tell you this, but you’re a ghost, just like Walt. You’re dead.”

Cheryl stood there a
moment staring at Dani. Finally she broke into laughter.

“Right, Dani Boo.
Seeing ghosts again.” Cheryl continued to laugh.

“I can prove it,”
Danielle said.

“Oh yeah? What are you
going to do have your actor do his disappearing act again? Nice trick but I’ve
seen it before in Vegas.”

“Pick up that vase,”
Danielle said, pointing to an empty flower vase sitting on the dresser.

“What will that prove?”
Cheryl asked.

“Just go ahead and do
it. Pick up the vase and you’ll see.”

Cheryl let out a sigh
and walked to the dresser a bored expression on her face. With a disinterested
shrug she reached for the vase. Instead of picking it up, her fingers moved
through it as if it were air. Startled, Cheryl jumped back and stared at the
vase. She reached for it again with the same result.

“This is some trick,”
Cheryl muttered.

“Try something else,”
Danielle suggested.

“What do you mean?”

“Try picking up
something else.”

Flashing Danielle a
dirty look she reached for the handle of the dresser. Once again her hand moved
through the piece. A look of confusion on her face, she snatched at the lamp—the
door knob—the light switch—a pillow from the bed. After numerous unsuccessful
tries she let out a high pitched scream and crumbled into a ball on the floor,
sobbing inconsolably.

Danielle sat on the
third step leading from the first to the second floor of Marlow House. She
seriously considered running down to the drug store and purchasing a pair of
ear plugs to block out Cheryl’s insistent wailing. Leaning to one side she
reached back and tugged her cell phone from the back pocket of her shorts and
looked at the time. It had been over three hours since she gave her cousin the
bad news. Cheryl hadn’t stopped carrying on since that time.

The front door opened.
Danielle looked up as she tucked her cell phone back into her pocket. Lily was
back from Ian’s.

“How was dinner?”
Danielle asked.

“Good. Wish you would
have come with us. Did you get something to eat?”

“I ate one of the
sandwiches you made.”

“Oh yeah, we didn’t
quite make it to the beach, did we?” Lily sat on the step next to Danielle.

“So where’s Ian?”
Danielle asked

“I told him I was
getting a headache.”

“Are you?”

“Nah, but I wanted to
see how you and Cheryl were doing, and I didn’t think I could do it with Ian
hanging around. Anyway, I couldn’t stop thinking of Cheryl—wondering what
happened to her. So how’s it going?”

“I think I got your
headache.” Danielle rubbed her temples and cringed. “She hasn’t stopped crying
and carrying on since I told her.”

Lily cocked her head
and listened for any unusual sounds. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Be grateful. Grateful
you don’t have this damn gift.”

Walt suddenly appeared
before Lily and Danielle. Standing on the first floor landing he faced the two
women. “You have to make her stop!”

“Maybe I could have
handled the situation differently if you hadn’t decided to play haunt the
ghost,” Danielle snapped.

“Ah, Walt is here. Hi
Walt,” Lily said cheerfully.

“I’m sorry but she’s
the first one I’ve seen—apart from you—who could actually see or hear me.”

“I’ve gone up there a
half a dozen times already. I can only take her howling for a few minutes
before I have to leave. She is so damn loud,” Danielle said.

“Hi Walt,” Lily said
again.

“Tell Lily I say
hello.”

“Walt says hello. Seems
my cousin’s racket is getting on his nerves too.”

“Walt, would you do me
a favor?” Lily asked.

Upstairs Cheryl’s sobs
and screams continued yet they didn’t seem as loud as they had moments before.
Danielle wondered if she was finally winding down.

“Ask her what she
wants,” Walt said.

“He wants to know what
you want.”

“This whole
thing…well…it is a little overwhelming. Especially now with Cheryl. I need to
be reminded this is all for real, that I’m not just being sucked into someone’s
delusion.” Lily looked to Danielle and said apologetically, “I’m sorry Dani. I
hope you understand.”

“Believe me, I do.
Trust me. I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to call in the men in white
coats,” Danielle said.

“Walt, the other day
you picked the croquet ball up off the kitchen floor and put it back in the bag
for me. I need to know that I didn’t imagine that. That you are real. Is there
anything you can do to convince me I haven’t been making things up in my mind?”

Danielle glanced at
Walt. “How about it?”

Lily turned to
Danielle, hoping she really did understand. Danielle wasn’t looking at Lily.
Instead she was looking down the entry hall toward the front door. The corners
of her mouth curled into a slow smile.

“Nice touch, Walt.”
Danielle said.

Lily looked to where
Danielle was staring. She appeared to be looking at the floral arrangement
Marie had sent over before the open house. Lily had faithfully watered the
arrangement since its arrival. Most of the roses had since wilted and been
discarded, yet a few remained.

Something caught Lily’s
eye—something floating between the table and where they sat on the steps. Her
eyes widened at the sight. A single rose floated slowly in her direction.

Danielle couldn’t help
but grin as she watched Walt carry the red rose from the arrangement to where
they sat. When he reached the steps he knelt down on one knee and offered the
flower to Lily.

Lily couldn’t see Walt,
only the red rose floating several inches from her. Grinning, she reached out
and accepted the flower. “Thanks Walt. This is really sweet.”

From upstairs Cheryl
began wailing again in earnest.

Walt’s smile faded. He
looked up the staircase and said, “Now can we please do something about that?”

“Damn,” Danielle
cursed, glancing behind her up the stairs.

“What is it?” Lily
twirled the rose in her hand. Bringing the blossom to her nose, she took a
sniff.

“It’s Cheryl again. I
thought she was winding down, but apparently she got a fresh burst. I need to
talk to her, but it kills my ears being in the same room with her,” Danielle
explained.

“Let me do it.” Lily
stood up.

“You? You can’t see
her,” Danielle said.

“I know. I can’t hear
her either. But she can hear me, right?”

“Lily has a point.
Cheryl will be able to hear her, so Lily can say whatever she wants without
having to listen to her racket,” Walt said.

“I guess it is worth a
try,” Danielle said, cringing again from the caterwauling.

“There is one problem,”
Walt said with hesitation.

“What?” Danielle asked.

“Cheryl is unstable; I
don’t want her to throw something at Lily and hurt her. Maybe I should just go
in.”

“I suppose that is a
possibility,” Danielle murmured.

“Sure it’s possible, I
can talk to her!” Lily declared.

“Although, I’m pretty
sure she’s hasn’t figured it out yet. Remember, I told her to pick up the vase
in the bedroom and she wasn’t able to harness any of her energy.”

“Umm…what are you
talking about?” Lily asked.

“I don’t think Cheryl
could do anything to hurt you—at least not yet,” Danielle explained.

“Hurt me? Oh, you mean
like when Walt threw the croquet set at Bill and Adam?”

“Yes. She hasn’t
figured any of that out yet. Heck, she just learned she’s dead.”

“Dead…yeah…” Lily
shuddered. “Just where is her body? What happened to her? Did someone kill her
or what?”

“I’ve been wondering
all those things myself,” Danielle said. “But Cheryl won’t calm down long
enough for me to talk to her, so we can figure all this out. I’m sure she’s
here because she needs to come to terms with what happened to her and I
certainly want to know where…where…”

“Where her body is?”
Lily asked.

“Yes. You know, it is
one thing to see her up there, but quite another for me to come to the
realization that she is really gone—I mean gone from this world. I don’t think
I’ve quite wrapped my head around that.”

“Let me talk to her.
Okay?” Lily said.

“Tell Lily if Cheryl
starts throwing things to get out of that room and call for me, immediately.”

Danielle looked at
Lily. “Try to talk to her, get her to understand we need to figure out what
happened to her. She needs to come to terms with all this. But if she figures
out how to start throwing furniture, get out of the room and call for Walt,
immediately. Deal?”

“Deal.” Lily took a
deep breath. “Will you make me one promise?”

“Sure, anything,”
Danielle said.

“If Cheryl leaves the
room, please tell me. I don’t want to be in there talking to an empty room. As
it is, I am going to feel silly enough.”

“Deal.”

Lily took another deep
breath. She handed Danielle the rose and then clutched the handrail and made
her way upstairs to the second floor. It seemed so quiet she found it hard to
believe Cheryl was in the Red Room screaming her head off.

“Is she still howling?”
Lily called down to Dani when she reached the second floor landing.

“Yes!” Danielle said.

“Umm….where was she the
last time you were in the room? I don’t want to sit on her or anything.”

“She was sitting in the
corner next to the nightstand.”

“Okay, I’m doing this!”
Lily sounded more confident than she felt.

Lily walked to the Red
Room’s door and clutched its doorknob. “Cheryl, this is Lily, I am coming in!”
Lily threw the door open and peeked inside. It didn’t look like anyone was
there. It was so quiet she could hear the antique clock in the hall ticking.

“Hello Cheryl, I’m
really sorry about all this. Honest.” Lily walked into the room and looked in
the corner where she believed Cheryl was huddled.

Cheryl stood on the
other side of the room looking into the mirror. There was no reflection. That’s
what had started her recent crying bout. She stopped sobbing and looked at
Lily. “I thought you couldn’t see or hear me?”

“I really wish you
would stop crying so we can help you. Danielle and Walt want to help you.” Lily
continued to look into the corner, away from where Cheryl stood by the mirror.

“I am over here!”
Cheryl stomped her foot in frustration. For a brief moment, when Lily had
entered the room and started talking, Cheryl thought perhaps it had all been
some joke. If Lily could see her then maybe she really wasn’t dead.

“Walt wasn’t thrilled
to find out he was dead either. But it eventually happens to all of us,” Lily
said, still looking into the empty corner.

Cheryl glared at Lily
and screamed at the top of her lungs—that was, had she actually had lungs.
Downstairs Walt and Danielle cringed and looked up the stairs.

The scream did not faze
Lily, who, oblivious to the high pitched howl, prattled on endlessly. Initially
Lily had been a little worried that she’d feel ridiculous talking to a
seemingly empty room, yet once she got rolling she couldn’t stop.

Cheryl continued to
wail about the injustice of it all, but after almost ten minutes of howling
while watching Lily calmly babbled away, Cheryl grew quiet.

“…after all eternity is
going to be a very long time and you really don’t want to spend it throwing a
tantrum, do you? Don’t you want to know what happened to you? I mean you
obviously don’t know because if you knew you would know you were dead and if
you knew you were dead you would not have been so surprised when Dani told you,
and then you wouldn’t be screaming and throwing a fit and if you would just
calm down and talk to Dani she could help you. Did you know she has been really
worried about you, and did you notice she never asked you about the necklace
because she doesn’t care about the necklace she cares about you and…”

Cheryl walked to the
doorway and into the hall, leaving Lily alone in the room, still prattling on,
yet now there was no one to hear her. She walked to the top of the stairs and
looked down. Walt and Danielle sat on the steps below her.

“Can you make her
stop?” Cheryl asked.

Danielle and Walt both
turned around and looked up the stairs. Cheryl was standing on the second floor
landing looking down at them. She seemed much calmer than before, and was no
longer crying.

“Make who stop?”
Danielle asked as she stood up and started walking up the stairs.

“Lily, of course. Lord,
that girl can talk!”

“Yes she can,” Walt
said with a chuckle as he followed Danielle up the stairs.

“Can we talk now?”
Danielle asked.

“Yes, I’d like that.
But first, please tell Lily to stop. Or I swear I just may start screaming
again.”