The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds (24 page)

“I know that. That’s
why you have to do something!”

• • • •

Slumped over the table,
her head resting on folded arms, Danielle closed her eyes. She felt as if she
had been in the interview room for hours. She wanted to call an attorney, but
she had no idea who to call, and the idea of using a public defender didn’t
appeal to her. They told her she could make one call. She wanted to call Lily.
Lily and Ian would help. The only problem was she didn’t know Lily’s number. It
was programed into her cellphone—her cellphone that was still sitting in the
kitchen at Marlow House. The fact was, she didn’t know anyone’s phone number by
heart; she could barely remember her own. When she got out of this mess—which
she hoped to God she would be able to do—she vowed to memorize a list of
important numbers.

The door to the interview
room opened. Danielle looked up and was surprised to find Adam Nichols standing
at the doorway. Brian stood behind him.

“Adam wanted to see
you. We thought it would be okay,” Brian said. Adam walked into the room. Brian
left and shut the door, leaving Adam alone with Danielle.

“Why are you here?”
Danielle asked, sitting up straight in the chair.

“My Grandmother wanted
me to come. She was worried about you.” Adam sat across the table from
Danielle.

“How did she know I was
here?”

“Small town.” Adam
shrugged.

“Gee, the last time we
were here, the situation was sort of reversed, huh?”

“I suppose you’re
right.” Adam grinned. “This place sucks.”

“I must say you’re much
more cheerful than the last time I saw you.”

“Finally caught up on
my sleep. Not so grumpy.”

“Are you here to
gloat?” Danielle asked.

“I know you didn’t kill
Cheryl.”

“I have to warn you,”
Danielle interrupted.

“What?”

“They’re probably
listening to us.” Danielle nodded toward the mirror.

“Oh that, yeah I know.”

“You know?”

“Why sure. Everyone in
Frederickport knows about the two way mirror.” Adam laughed. “Heck, don’t you
ever watch TV?”

“So why are you really
here?”

“I want to help. I
confess I would have come even if Grandma hadn’t called me. And I would have
come sooner, but I didn’t know you had been arrested. I’ve been sleeping. Felt
great by the way. Slept like a baby.” Adam glanced to the mirror and gave it a
little wave.

“Are you just here to
tell me you think I’m innocent?”

“If you killed your
cousin, that means you’re the one who left the necklace in my office. Whoever
killed Cheryl tried to frame me.”

“I didn’t leave that
necklace in your office.”

“Oh, I know that. You
see I have this nifty little hidden camera in my office. You know all about
hidden cameras, don’t you?” Adam gave Danielle a wink and pulled his keys from
his pocket. On his key chain was a USB memory disk. He unhooked the disk and
set it on the table between them.

• • • •

“What’s he doing?” the
chief asked as he stood with Brian and Joe in the office next to the interview
room, watching Danielle and Adam.

“I don’t know. Looks
like one of those portable memory disks,” Brian said.

• • • •

“What’s that?” Danielle
asked, looking down at the memory disk.

“It’s a little footage
captured from my security camera. Shows the killer with the Missing Thorndike.
At least the Missing Thorndike with the fake stones and poor Cheryl’s blood all
over it. Pretty good camera, I must say. I’ll have to leave it a five star
review over on Amazon. Great shot of the killer’s face and no mistaking the
necklace. Clear as day, Clarence Renton hiding the Missing Thorndike in my
office.”

Before Danielle could
respond Joe and Brian rushed into the room. Brian snatched up the memory disk.

Adam leaned over the
table and whispered to Danielle, “Don’t worry. If they screw it up and erase
the disk, I saved it to the Cloud.”

Inside the kitchen of
Marlow House, Ian and Lily prepared Sunday breakfast. Sitting alone on the back
patio with Sadie sleeping by her feet, Danielle felt pampered by her two
friends. Since she’d returned from the police department late Friday, Lily had
been her protective champion, clucking around like a fierce mother hen.

Danielle had slept most
of Saturday. When she finally woke up on Sunday she remembered what Adam had
said about sleeping all day after the charges against him had been dropped. She
had to admit, Adam Nichols was starting to grow on her. For a sleazy guy, he
could be sweet.

Enjoying her second cup
of morning coffee, Danielle closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. She
could hear the birds chirping in the trees overhead and in the distance the
waves washing up on the beach. When she heard the unmistakable sound of the
back door to the kitchen opening, she assumed Lily was about to call her in for
breakfast.

“I’m sorry Dani, he
insisted on seeing you.” Lily sounded annoyed.

Danielle opened her
eyes and looked to the kitchen door. Joe stood with Lily on the back porch.
“What, am I under arrest now?”

“I just wanted you to
know Clarence Renton confessed.” Joe stepped off the porch onto the lawn.
Danielle noticed Ian standing in the doorway, listening,

Danielle sat up
straight in the chair and set her coffee on the table. “Really? What did he
confess to? I know Sam confessed, but just to the theft.”

“He confessed to
everything. You were right about O’Malley Trust, it was a scam. He set it up
after your aunt got sick. Apparently your aunt always intended to leave you her
entire estate. She never mentioned Cheryl, even before she got sick. So I don’t
think she ever intended to leave her anything in the will. Until Cheryl showed
up, Clarence had no idea there was another niece. He killed your cousin; we
found the flashlight he used, it was in his trunk. It still had Cheryl’s blood
on it, and was covered with Clarence’s finger prints.”

“I guess for an
attorney he wasn’t terrific about covering his tracks,” Danielle said dryly.

“I don’t think he ever
thought he’d be a suspect. And when we started questioning him and showed him
Adam’s video, he remembered he never got rid of the flashlight. He just broke.
Told us everything.”

“How did he know Cheryl
was in that shed?” Danielle asked.

“Apparently he was with
Sam when Adam mentioned where they were going after the party. When she took
off with the necklace Clarence thought that was his opportunity to get rid of
Cheryl. People would think she was killed for the necklace. He didn’t know
exactly where the beach house was, and by the time he found it, Cheryl was with
Sam, walking back to Marlow House.”

“He found her in the
shed after Clarence left her?”

“Yes. There were also
some teenagers at the beach. Clarence stayed in the shadows watching. After Sam
and the teenagers took off, Clarence went into the hut and found Cheryl
unconscious. He killed her and took the necklace.”

“Someone said a woman
called in the tip about the necklace in Adam’s office.” Danielle said.

“Sounded like a woman,”
Joe said. “But it was Clarence, disguising his voice.”

“Well, thank you for
telling me,” Danielle said politely.

Joe glanced back at Ian
and Lily, who continued to stand behind him. “Do you think I could talk to
Danielle alone, just for a minute?”

Lily looked over to
Danielle who gave a little nod. With a grunt, Lily grabbed Ian by the hand and
went back into the house, slamming the door behind her.

“I wanted to tell you
how sorry I am,” Joe said taking another step closer.

“I suppose you were
just doing your job,” Danielle said with no emotion.

“I never wanted to hurt
you, Danielle.”

“I believe you.”
Danielle smiled sadly. “I really do.”

“Do you think…well
maybe we could start over?”

Danielle looked at Joe
a moment, studying his hopeful expression.

“No…I don’t think so,”
Danielle said at last.

“You said you believed
me.” Joe frowned.

“There is no point,”
Danielle said sadly. “You had absolutely no faith in me—not a shred.”

“That’s not true,” Joe
insisted. “I care about you.”

“You believed Sam when
he said he didn’t murder Cheryl, and he had the stolen diamond and emeralds.”

“And I was right, Sam
didn’t kill her,” Joe said weakly.

“And neither did I. Yet
you were convinced I murdered my cousin.”

“I was just trying to
do my job. I am sorry. You need to understand.”

Danielle pointed to the
house and said, “Lily in there, she’s my best friend. I know that no matter
what, she’ll always be there for me. And if I was to tell her some insane
story—oh, I don’t know—maybe like Walt Marlow’s ghost haunts this house—she
wouldn’t think I was crazy, or she wouldn’t pretend to believe. She just would,
because she has faith in me. Even Ian didn’t doubt me, and I’ve known him for
about as long as I’ve known you. I’m sorry, but I don’t have room in my life
any more for people who don’t have faith in me. Caring is simply not enough.”

• • • •

“Are you okay?” Lily
asked from the doorway after Joe left.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Danielle smiled at Lily.

“Breakfast is almost
ready.”

“Okay, I’ll be right
in.”

Lily gave a little nod
and went back into the house, closing the door behind her.

“I guess I was wrong
about Aunt Brianna,” Cheryl said as she appeared on the patio.

“How long have you been
listening?” Danielle asked.

“I heard what Joe
said.” Cheryl paced back and forth in front of Danielle. “I guess she really
didn’t love me.”

“She didn’t know you.”

“I suppose.” Cheryl
stopped pacing and faced Danielle. “I’m sorry I made such a mess of
everything.”

“I’m sorry how things
turned out. You being—well…”

“Dead, you mean?”
Cheryl asked.

“Yeah…” Danielle smiled
sadly.

“I guess it was going
to happen eventually. Would have been nice to have more time, but I have to
admit I’m curious about what’s around the corner.”

“Are you leaving?”
Danielle asked.

“Yeah, I think so. I’m
done here. Time to move on, I suppose.”

“I have a funeral to
plan. Thought you might stick around for that, give you a chance to see all
your friends before you move on.”

“Nah,” Cheryl said with
a sigh. “At one time I would have probably have been all over that—a party
where I’m the focus of everyone’s attention. All those tears, just for me.” 
Cheryl flashed Danielle a smile and said, “But no. I think I really am ready to
move on.”

“I’m sorry we weren’t
closer,” Danielle said.

“Me too. I’m sorry I
was such a brat. I shouldn’t have hit on Lucas. And look, I did it again!”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve obviously messed
up another one of your relationships!” Cheryl sounded sincerely remorseful.

“Are you talking about
Joe?”

“Yeah, I mean he was a
good looking guy and I think he really liked you.”

“Maybe you were right
all along,” Danielle said.

“Right about what?”

“You said if a guy
could be swayed so easily, he probably wasn’t worth it.”

“I never hit on him. I
promise, not once,” Cheryl insisted.

“Oh I know, I don’t
mean that. But it was easier for him to imagine I might do something so
horrible as to kill you, than to try and find someway to prove I was innocent.”

“In fairness to Joe,
you guys really did not know each other that long. Maybe you should give him
another chance.”

“No, I don’t think so.”
Danielle shook her head. “I suppose I have this fanciful notion than when I
someday meet the right guy he will inherently have faith in me—or at least give
me a chance before he’s ready to have me committed or imprisoned.”

“You’ll find someone,
Dani,” Cheryl promised. “Someone who is worthy, someone who won’t let you
down.”

• • • •

From inside the kitchen
Walt watched Danielle and Cheryl through the window. He couldn’t hear what they
were saying, but he had a good idea they were saying goodbye. Unlike him,
Cheryl was ready to move on and there was really no reason for her to stay.

In the background he
could hear Ian and Lily talking as Lily set the table for breakfast. They
discussed Joe Morelli, who’d left just minutes earlier. From what they were
saying, Joe wouldn’t be seeing Danielle again, at least not socially. Walt felt
partly relieved to know Danielle was no longer interested in the handsome
police officer—which made him feel guilty.

Walt noticed Cheryl was
no longer wearing the pink dress she had worn to the open house. Instead she
had on a long, pale blue dress. Its full skirt fluttered around her ankles. He
watched as Cheryl raised her right hand in a wave—and then her image gradually
faded into the landscape until she was no longer visible. Cheryl had moved on.