Dying for the Past (2 page)

two

The stout, muscular Latino
waiter—Jorge, according to his name tag—set his tray of hors d'oeuvres—escargot and oysters—atop the piano in the corner of the room. The sheriff's men were still kneeling beside the dead man in the middle of the ballroom dance floor where they'd been since he'd fallen there, dead. The crowd was crushing in on the deputies and the room vibrated with angst and shock. Jorge glanced around, poured three oysters from their shells into his mouth, and slipped away into the outer hall. There, he made his way to the kitchen in the rear of the house and up the servant's stairwell.

So far so good. No one noticed him. He reached the second
floor and started down the hall. Someone ran down the second floor
hall and he ducked into a bathroom. When the footsteps passed, he emerged and crept to the end of the hall, down to the last room on the left.

The door was locked, but he used an old skeleton key—relocking the door once inside. More footsteps in the hall made him press his hip against the door should anyone try to enter. When he was sure the danger had passed, he moved across the room without turning on the lights and disappeared into the walk-in closet.

A few moments later, two floors above, Jorge emerged behind piles of old furniture and three steamer trunks stacked in the darkness. He slipped a penlight from his waiter's jacket and used it to maneuver around a labyrinth of boxes and decades of piled-up attic clutter. Three dress mannequins nearly stopped his heart. His reflection in a cobwebbed, dusty mirror made him cry out.

God, what next?

In the far corner of the attic was a narrow doorway leading to the southwest attic wing and on to the mansion's southern tower. At what seemed to be the attic's end, he searched with his light and found the correct wall beam—he released the hidden latch.

A narrow section of the attic wall popped open.

Jorge was inside only a moment and returned tucking a short-barreled revolver into his waistband. He checked a small package
with his light and slipped it into a pocket. After relocking the panel,
he retraced his steps past the junk, mirrors, and mannequins. His breath eased with his hand resting on the curved butt of the .38 special.

On his climb back down, he stopped at the second floor and listened to the sound of the crowd rumbling through the walls as sheriff's deputies barked orders and herded guests out of the ballroom.

When the sounds faded, he continued down a dark, too-tight passage until he smelled the rich scent of coffee. From there, he used the rickety stairs to the wine cellar long ago concealed in the basement. He sat against the stone wall and waited.

It was going to be a long night.

three

Somewhere between your last
breath and death is a strange, awkward place that defies definition. For me, it was an elevator stuck between floors. The trouble is, I don't know whether I was heading up or down when the doors closed behind me. But when the doors reopened, I was still here—ladies' lingerie, sporting goods
…
dead guys. Perhaps my life's work will decide what floor I'll end up on.

Perhaps not.

For now, though, I'm content to be back home in Winchester—the wonderful historic Virginia town ninety minutes west of DC. The alternatives to being here, both of them, aren't for me.

My life was stolen a few months ago by a madman: Professor Ernie Stuart. Ernie was Angel's surrogate father. Angel, of course, is Doctor Angela Hill-Tucker, Professor of History and my widow. Ernie was her mentor and university boss, and a member of our family. But Ernie had a secret. Ernie was insane. He had killed when he was a young man. He had killed when he was old. He had tried to kill Angel.

And then he made a very big mistake.

He killed me. And it cost him his life, too. Murder keeps me in
the here-and-now—catching killers and fixing old wrongs. It started
with old Ernie and I knew not where it would take me.

And now Mr. Carnation was dead—I watched him die. Coincidence?

No. Coincidences are like politicians—they say they're one thing but they're always something else. The “something else” is often very, very bad.

“Stephanos Grecco,” Bear said, standing up from Mr. Carnation's body sprawled on the dance floor. Bear was talking to no one, unless to me, which he never did. He made some notes on the back of a cocktail napkin—his tuxedo didn't come with his detective ensemble. “Poor bastard. All this money and for what?”

“Bear?” It was Spence. “You better come outside. We got something weird.”

Saying “weird” around me was an oxymoron. Even if Spence didn't know I was standing there.

“Weird how?” Bear asked. “Weird like Sasquatch or flying saucers, or—”

“Ghosts?” Spence still gets the jitters when he thinks of me. When Ernie died, everyone, including Spence, saw things they never talked about—me, two dead girls, and more. “Not that weird. Looks like someone broke into the basement after we did our sweep this evening. And I'm thinking they might still be here, too.”

Before Bear answered, Angel walked up and stood opposite Grecco's body. She was pale—murder can do that. “Bear, the guests want to leave.”

“Not until we've taken their statements. It'll be a few hours.”

After Grecco's shooting, Bear's men secured the ballroom, closed
all the mansion's doors, and refused to allow the guests to leave. Deputies guarded the outside of the house while Bear, Spence, and Clemens searched the guests, trying to find the killer among them. No one saw the killer and none of the guests seemed suspicious. Bear called for reinforcements. That was thirty minutes ago.

“A few hours?”

Bear nodded. “Sorry, Angela. But we have to get statements first.
And I have to check something Spence found. Can you help our deputies corral everyone into a couple rooms so we can interview? This mansion is big enough that we should be able to handle them all elsewhere without disrupting the crime scene.”

“Yes, of course.” She stole a glance at the corpse who used to be Stephanos Grecco. “He just donated a hundred thousand to my foundation.”

A hundred thousand? “Holy crap, Angel. I hope it was cash.”

“No, it wasn't.” The words slipped out before she realized Spence
was still there. “I mean, how awful. I'll see to the guests.”

“Yeah, okay. Let me know if you have problems with them.” Bear leaned close and whispered, “And take
him
with you.”

I whispered back. “Fat chance, Bear.” Even ghosts have feelings.
“It's a homicide. You and me. Just like the old days. I'll do the thinking
and you do the doing.”

My voice was often just a buzz in his ear—he told Angel it was, anyway. But, buzz or not, the words got through. He wasn't fooling me at all.

Outside, the May evening thunderstorm was no more than a fine mist. The sky was overcast but a few stars poked through, giving Bear and Spence a little natural light to see by.

Spence led us around the side of the house. We were west of Old
Town Winchester where money and antebellum history were guarded
by giant oak trees and antique iron fences. The Vincent House was named—I just recalled—for an old gangland hood who hid out here when the atmosphere in New York and Washington DC got too warm. The Vincent House was a three-story brick and stone mansion consuming a half-block. The Vincent House reminded me of a castle, with two four-story towers on each side and a brooding, stalwart façade suggesting an impregnable fortress to any passersby. Two other homes on the estate—mansions in their own right—consumed the other half-block. Together, the compound sat far back from the surrounding streets and was protected by a tall stone wall and wrought-iron gates.

Stephanos Grecco wouldn't think it was so impregnable. Obviously, the way to penetrate the Vincent House's armor was to be on the guest list of a highbrow party. No stealth required—just your checkbook.

Spence stopped at the rear corner of the Vincent House where the grand oaks and walnut trees blocked the moonlight. He flipped on a flashlight and shined the beam at a secluded basement door made of tin and wood.

“Someone forced the lock. The one down on the inner door, too.” He toed the hasp. It was bent back and open; its metal frame was gouged and scraped. “We checked this place two hours before Angela's bash. Everything was okay.”

“Then we missed something.” Bear yanked open the bulkhead doors and took Spence's light. Then he pulled his handgun from beneath his dinner jacket and stared down the timber stairs into the darkness. “Wait here.”

“Bear,” Spence said. “Wait. I wanna ask you something.”

“What? You afraid of the dark, Spence?”

“Listen, this is the first murder we've worked since, well, since—”

“Yeah, I know. Since Tuck's. What of it?”

Spence looked around, uneasy. “I gotta ask. The day, you know, when we got Ernie Stuart at the farm. After he killed Tuck and all those folks. Ah, you know what I mean.”

I did. Spence wanted the answer to the question plaguing Bear. Was I back?

Yep. Ernie thought he got rid of me. But like gum on his shoe, I wouldn't let go. I came back and stopped him. Oh, I had help, of course—Angel and Bear. They did the tough stuff; the breathing stuff like running and chasing and shooting and fighting. And there were a couple spirits of murders past and an old coot named Doc. They all helped, too. Even Spence and Clemens played a role.

But without me, Ernie would still be killing.

I couldn't let him, so I called his elevator, and it dropped him off in hell.

“Get to the point, Spence, or you can search the basement alone.”

“Come on, Bear, you know what I want to know. Did you see him? I mean, did you see them all? When Clemens and I caught up to Ernie, he was going nuts. Shooting at nothing and screaming he'd already killed
them
. After, and I hate saying this, but after, didn't you see them all—the two girls and … the others?”

“Them all” haunted Spence these past few months. Old Ernie
had been on a rampage for decades. He'd killed five people we knew
of, and we guessed there were more. When we caught up to him—we being me, Amy, and Caroline, who were two of Ernie's earlier victims—he died. No bullet took Ernie; guilt and terror did. He had a heart attack right in front of Spence and Clemens. In the moments afterward—how, I don't pretend to understand—Angel, Bear, Spence, and Clemens saw us—me, Amy, and Caroline. There were others there, too, but I don't know if anyone noticed. Since then, it was the one fact of my case that no one—not even Bear Braddock—ever talked about.

If you don't admit it, it ain't real. Right?

“Okay.” Bear shined his light into Spence's face. “What do you want to know?”

“Bear, none of us talk about it, ever—” Spence turned away. “Did you see him? Tuck, I mean. And those two girls? You did, right?
You saw them standing over Stuart's body. Didn't you?”

“I don't have time for this, Spence.” Bear started down the basement stairs, and a second before he disappeared into the dark, he said, “Did you see them, Spence?”

“Ah, heck, I don't know. But if you didn't, I didn't. I just figured after Ernie died, Tuck would go. But sometimes—a lot of times—I think he's still here. Not that I see anything, you know.”

“Spence, you sure remember pretty well what you never saw. Just keep your eyes open and don't miss what you should be seeing.” Bear disappeared into the basement darkness.

Spence is right. After Ernie died, no light came for me. I don't even know if there is a light, or maybe I haven't paid the bill yet. I didn't leave and there was one reason—one much bigger than my own unfinished business, if you believe in that sort of thing. I do. You see, while trying to solve my murder, other spirits sought me to solve theirs. Because I can do what the other victims can't—I can work with the living and be their detective.

I'm back to work for the dead and stop the living from creating more unfinished business.

I waited with Spence in the pitch black. Just for fun, I whispered in his ear a couple times. Nothing important, just a few silly
hi theres
and
boos
. Each time he swatted at the buzzing. Each time he cursed and asked me to stop—
me
.

Deep down, Spence knew I was here. He just refused to admit it.

Ignorance is bliss.

Three loud, heavy bangs on the lower basement door startled both of us. Spence stumbled down the stairs and opened the door. Bear stood inside. “It locked behind me.”

“I should have warned you,” Spence said, “It locks automatically. You need a key to open it from the inside.”

“You think the killer wasn't a guest?” Bear found a switch on the
wall and flipped on the basement light. “Maybe he came in this way
and got locked inside?”

“Yeah, maybe—that means he's still here.” Spence was thoughtful. “When Grecco was shot, I radioed the deputies outside to lock the house down—it took a few seconds at best. They were posted all around the perimeter. No one came out—some of the guests tried. So, if—”

“If the killer did get in this way,” Bear said, “he's still locked inside.”

Spence nodded. “I got four deputies on the outside. And a patrol cruising the area.”

“Bear,” I said as a hot, sharp fingernail etched my spine. “You gotta move fast—the killer's upstairs.”

His eyes darted around, listening.

“Angel and the guests, Bear.” I touched his arm. “You gotta get back upstairs.”

He grabbed Spence's shoulder. “Yeah, okay. Spence, brief Clemens. Put two deputies in each room of guests. No one leaves. The four of us will search the house again from the top down.”

“We did that already, but—” Spence started for the inside cellar stairs but stopped and turned around. “Which four of us?”

“You, me, and Clemens. Three—I meant three.”

“Sure you did, Bear.”

“Just go,” Bear snapped. “Clemens takes the second floor. You take the first. I'll take the third. Move.”

Spence relayed the orders on his radio and led Bear to the inside cellar stairs and up into the mansion. The hall between the kitchen and the mansion's smaller rear dining room led to a nar
row servant's stairwell to the upper floors. At the first landing, Spence
nodded to Bear and headed down the hall. We continued up to the third floor.

Three steps from the top landing, Bear jolted to a stop.

“Shush. Did you hear something?”

Shush? Did he shush me?

Overhead, attic floorboards creaked under unseen weight. Bear
wasn't carrying a radio, and he cursed about it as we headed farther down the hall searching for the attic entrance. We'd passed three closed doors—he checked each and found bedrooms—before we found the right one.

He reached for the knob.

I said, “Be careful, Bear. You don't know—”

A shot cracked from behind us. Wood splintered the doorframe just beside Bear's head. He dove for the floor and rolled up behind an antique grandfather clock. I followed him down, but for the death of me I didn't know why.

Bullets can't hurt the dead.

Two more cracks split the air—one whistled past and the other smacked the grandfather clock and started
Westminster Quarters
chiming. Footsteps ran from one of the rooms we'd passed and down the servant stairs behind us. Bear jumped up and started back, adrenaline pushing him faster—experience slowing his progress.

One floor down—stomping feet.

Clemens shouted, “Freeze!”

Another shot followed by a louder, deeper retort. Another.

Someone cried out. A heavy thump.

Man down.