The Ghost from the Sea (3 page)

W
hoever was playing the xylophone
, Danielle wanted them to stop. They kept repeating the same tune, over and over and over again.

Finally opening her eyes, she blinked twice and yawned. She heard it again. Sitting up in her bed, Danielle sleepily reached for her phone, picking it up from the nightstand. Before answering, she looked to see who was calling. It was Adam Nichols. Reluctantly, she answered, letting her head drop back down to the pillow.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” She stared up at the ceiling.

“It's after eight. Don't tell me you're still asleep.”

“Well, not now.”

Adam laughed. “Sorry. But it's my grandmother. She insisted I call you.”

Still holding the cellphone to one ear, Danielle sat back up in the bed and rubbed sleep from her eyes. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah. But she insisted I call you this morning, before she goes to the police.”

Turning in the bed, Danielle sat up completely and put her feet on the floor. “What do you mean, before she goes to the police?”

“It's about that ship that washed up yesterday. I assume you know about it, since it was on your street. Grandma read about it in the paper.”

“Adam, I need more information. I still don't understand why your grandmother needs to talk to me, or the police for that matter. Why didn't she just call me?”

“She misplaced your phone number. Again.”

“So what about the ship?”

“She thinks she knows where it came from, and she wants you to know about it before she goes to the police.”

Danielle got out of the bed. “Why's that?”

“Because, according to Grandma, the Eva Aphrodite belonged to Walt Marlow.”

Danielle paused a moment and glanced up to the ceiling. “Eva Aphrodite?” she mumbled.

“Yeah, according to the article in the paper they have no idea where the boat came from. Called it a wreckage of a yacht, but one clue is its name. The Eva Aphrodite.”

“Eva Aphrodite,” Danielle repeated in a low whisper.

“According to Grandma, that was the name of Walt Marlow's yacht. Apparently, he named it after Eva Thorndike. I imagine you recall that name. By the way, you still have the Missing Thorndike, don't you?”

Instead of responding to Adam's question, Danielle stood silently by the side of the bed. Again, she glanced up at the ceiling, expecting Walt to pop in at any moment.

“Danielle, are you still there?”

“Umm…yeah Adam. I was just thinking.”

“Hey, I was just teasing about the Missing Thorndike. I know you still have it…you do still have it, don't you?”

“Umm…yeah. I haven't found a buyer for it yet. It's still at the bank,” she muttered, her gaze still on the ceiling. “When does your grandmother want to see me?”

“She's hoping you'll come over this morning.”

“Okay. Let me get dressed and then—”

“Hey, don't get dressed on my account. Want me to pick you up?” Adam snickered.

“Cute Adam,” Danielle said dryly. “Tell her I'll be there within an hour. Is that okay?”

“I'll see you then.”

“You're going to be there?” she asked.

“Stop making me feel unwanted,” Adam teased.

B
efore getting dressed
, Danielle slipped on her robe and went out into the hall to see if Lily was up. She found her in the bathroom, putting on her makeup.

“Morning Dani!” Lily greeted when Danielle looked into the open bathroom doorway. “You slept in this morning.” Lily leaned closer to the mirror as she penciled liner over her eyebrows.

“I'm going to Marie's house this morning. I was hoping you'd go with me.”

Lily turned from the mirror and faced Danielle. “Marie's? What for?”

“I'll explain in the car.” Danielle gestured to the attic.

“Hmm…” Lily glanced up at the ceiling. “Okay, sounds interesting. Umm…where is Walt, by the way?”

“The attic maybe. I haven't seen him this morning.”

“
A
nd Walt never said anything
?” Lily asked as she snapped on her seatbelt. She sat in the passenger seat of the red Ford Flex, as Danielle backed the vehicle down the driveway.

“Yesterday, when I told him about the wreckage, I mentioned its name. He said nothing.”

“Maybe he didn't make the connection? It has been almost a hundred years,” Lily suggested.

“Oh come on. Like Walt isn't going to remember the name of his yacht, one he named for the love of his life?”

Lily stared at Marlow House as Danielle pulled out onto the street. “I just can't figure out why he'd lie about something like this.”

“He was interested when I first told him what had washed up on the beach. In fact, when I got to the attic he was watching all the commotion through his spotting scope and was trying to get Max to go see what was going on. But the moment I mention the name of the boat, he loses all interest—or so it seemed. Even said something about it not necessary to dredge up old memories.”

“Well, there you have it. Something about Eva Aphrodite is too painful for him to think about. And didn't you tell me they found human remains on board?”

“According to Brian, they were skeletal remains which leads one to believe they've been on the boat since—since it obviously went missing.”

“Those were probably people Walt knew.”

“Then Lily, wouldn't that make Walt more curious about the wreckage?”

“
A
dam brought the cinnamon rolls
. Wasn't that sweet of him?” Marie explained as she set a place of pastries on the center of the kitchen table and passed napkins to Lily and Danielle.

Danielle gazed longingly at the frosted rolls. “Not from Old Salts Bakery?”

“Where else?” Adam said with a grin as he snatched one from the plate and took a bite. He sat at the kitchen table with Lily, Danielle, and his grandmother.

Succumbing to temptation, Danielle took a roll. “My scale hates you,” she grumbled.

Adam laughed and took another bite. “I think you can afford a few extra calories.”

Chewing slowly, Danielle closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the treat. “They really do bake the best cinnamon rolls.”

“Yes they do,” Marie agreed.

“So what is this about that boat belonging to Walt Marlow?” Lily asked.

Marie took a sip of her coffee before answering. “He had it built before he sold his grandfather's shipping company, and they moved everything out of Frederickport. He named it for Eva Thorndike. Of course, she had already died by then.”

“Doesn't the Frederickport police department already know this?” Danielle asked. “Adam said you wanted to talk to me about it before you went to the police department.”

“Why would they? The Eva Aphrodite sank almost a hundred years ago; or at least, everyone assumed it sank, considering the storm.”

“It went down in a storm?” Lily asked.

“Oh yes.” Marie nodded. “According to my father it was one of the worst storms he could remember. Came out of nowhere. They never found any wreckage of the ship. At least, not until yesterday. Everyone always assumed it went down in the storm.”

“I suppose that explains the human remains they found on board,” Danielle said.

Marie picked up a roll and tore it in half. “Yes, I read that in the paper.”

“Why wasn't Walt Marlow on board?” Lily asked. “If it was his yacht.”

Marie chuckled. “It was all part of Marlow's moonshine enterprise.”

“Moonshine?” Lily asked curiously.

“I remember you mentioning that once,” Danielle said. “When we first met, you said something about Walt running moonshine.”

Marie leaned across the table and patted Danielle's hand. “That's so sweet how you call him Walt. As if you really know him.”

Adam eyed Danielle critically as he chewed another bite of his roll. “Yeah, you do act like you know him,” he mumbled under his breath.

Danielle shrugged. “It's just that I live in his house—where he lived—where he died.”

“I want to hear more about this moonshining,” Lily said.

“This was during prohibition,” Marie explained. “Actually, Oregon went dry before the 18
^th
Amendment became law.”

“I didn't realize that,” Danielle said.

“You can thank women for the passage of prohibition,” Adam grumbled. “That's what happens when you let women vote.”

Marie playfully batted her grandson's arm. “Oh hush, Adam.”

“It's true, you told me yourself. If women hadn't won the right to vote, prohibition would never have been passed,” Adam reminded.

“Technically speaking, the 18
^th
Amendment bringing prohibition was passed before women got the right to vote,” Lily said with a cheeky grin. “You know, 18 comes before 19.”

“You're only talking about nationally. Women could already vote in Oregon, and if it wasn't for them, prohibition probably wouldn't have been passed,” Adam reminded.

Lily tore a roll in half. “Pesky details.”

“I remember when I first heard that,” Danielle began. “I thought, gee, makes women look bad, pushing through something like prohibition that just created more problems and ended up getting repealed. But then I looked at the big picture.”

“What's that?” Adam asked.

“Back then, a married woman really had no rights—no protection from her husband. It was probably much worse for a poor woman saddled with a drunk. He could freely spend all their money tying one on, then come home, and beat the crap out of her. Divorce wasn't an easy option. I imagine suddenly having the power to close the saloons—by simply casting a ballot—was empowering for those women,” Danielle explained.

“So true,” Marie agreed. “Young women these days have no idea how lucky they now have it.”

“And it wasn't just women voters,” Lily spoke up. “From what I learned when Ian was researching the Emma Jackson story, the KKK was a big supporter of prohibition.”

“Why was that?” Adam asked.

“It was because of the Catholics, Irish, and Italians,” Marie told Adam. “The KKK didn't just target blacks, they went after other minorities.”

“True,” Danielle agreed. “It was a way to target certain groups.”

“I want to know how any of this has to do with the Eva Aphrodite,” Lily said.

“It's quite simple really,” Marie explained. “The Eva Aphrodite was often used to transport Walt's friends—and customers—out to the booze ships.”

“What's a booze ship?” Danielle asked.

“My father would call them party ships, mother called them booze ships. They would come down from Canada, park in international waters.”

“Ahh…and people could drink on them,” Danielle said. “I think I've heard about that.”