The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds (8 page)

The front door to
Marlow House was unlocked when Cheryl returned later that afternoon. She found
Danielle in the parlor with Lily, Ian and a man she had never seen before. The
four stood in the middle of the room, laughing at something one of them had
just said, but stopped when she barged into the room.

“Where is it?” Cheryl
demanded, her eyes darting about the room.

“Well hello to you
too,” Lily muttered under her breath.

Walt suddenly appeared,
standing next to Cheryl. “Has the party already started?” he asked.

“Where is what?”
Danielle asked, trying to ignore Walt, who had just walked over to the sofa and
sat down.

Cheryl turned to the
man she didn’t know and asked, “Who are you?”

“I bet you’re the
cousin,” he answered with a grin.

“This is Joe Morelli,”
Danielle introduced. “Joe, this is Cheryl, the cousin I was telling you about.”

Joe started to put out
his hand in greeting and say hello, but Cheryl abruptly turned from him without
acknowledging the introduction and asked Danielle, “Where is the necklace? I
want to see it.”

“It’s already locked up
in the safe,” Danielle explained.

“What safe?” Cheryl
frowned.

“When did you leave
this morning?” Lily asked. “We never heard you leave.”

Cheryl looked over to
Lily and snapped, “I didn’t know I was supposed to inform you of my comings and
goings.” She turned back to Danielle and said, “I stopped at the bank. I wanted
to see our necklace, but they told me you took it out of the vault.”

“Not a vault exactly,
more like a safety deposit box. And what were they doing, telling you about my
business?” Danielle frowned.

“It’s my business too.”

“I’m going to have a
little talk with that bank manager,” Danielle grumbled.

Cheryl stomped her foot
impatiently and said, “So where is it? Go get it. I want to see it!”

“Is your cousin always
so demanding?” Walt asked. Of course, Danielle was the only one in the room who
could hear or see Walt.

“I told you, I already
put it in the safe. You can see it tomorrow when I wear it to the open house.”

Ian and Joe watched
silently from the sidelines, occasionally exchanging glances.

“You’re wearing it to
the open house, here? Are you crazy!? I forbid it!” Cheryl stomped her foot
again.

“Your cousin reminds me
of a horse when she does that,” Walt noted. “Pawing the ground with her hoof.”
Danielle glanced over to Walt, trying her best to suppress her giggles.

“You forbid it?” Lily
asked.

“This is none of your
business, Lily. It is between me and my cousin.” Cheryl said, again bringing
the heel of her shoe down hard against the wood floor.

“I swear, if you stomp
your foot one more time I will start stomping mine—on top of yours!” Danielle
warned. “You’re going to scratch the wood floor with your damn heels, if you
haven’t already.”

“You do know the front
door was unlocked. Anyone could just walk in here,” Cheryl said.

“Yes I know that,”
Danielle said dryly. “You just did.”

“I assume the safe
you’re talking about is somewhere in this house?” Cheryl glanced around. “It
isn’t in this room, is it? I don’t think it would be wise to have a safe in the
front of the house.”

“That’s none of your
business,” Danielle said.

“This house is half
mine!” Cheryl started to stomp her foot again but Danielle flashed a
threatening look and picked up her own foot, daring Cheryl to proceed.
Reluctantly, Cheryl set her foot back on the floor and forced her feet to stay
still.

“I rather wish she
would have attempted it,” Walt said with a chuckle. “Curious to see if you would
carry through with the threat.”

Ignoring Walt, Danielle
said, “That is still to be determined. But one thing I do know, I paid for the
safe with my own money, so keep your hands off it.”

Cheryl turned to Joe
again and asked angrily, “Who are you again?”

“I’m Sargent Morelli, a
friend of Danielle’s. I escorted her home from the bank—you know, to keep her
and the necklace safe.”

“Really?” Cheryl’s
expression softened. “Does that mean you’re staying here to guard it?”

“Joe isn’t an armed
guard. He works at the local police station. He was just doing me a favor,”
Danielle explained.

Joanne Johnson walked
into the parlor and announced, “I finished upstairs, all except the…”

“Who are you?” Cheryl
interrupted.

“Cheryl, please stop
blurting out
who are you
every time you run into someone you don’t know.
Tomorrow this house is going to be filled with people you don’t know, and if
you greet everyone with the same snotty question, you’re not going to make my
guests feel very welcome.”

“You know how I feel
about turning this house into a bed and breakfast! I don’t want strangers
constantly coming and going.”

“In all fairness to
your cousin,” Walt said. “I did feel the same way at first.”

Joanne stood silently
at the doorway studying Cheryl. She knew Danielle’s cousin was visiting; in
fact she had come downstairs to ask about the room Cheryl was staying in. It
was the only room on the second floor she hadn’t touched.

“We can talk about that
later, Cheryl.” Danielle turned her attention to Joanne and asked, “What were
you saying?”

Cheryl flashed her
cousin a dirty look and then went to the sofa. She flopped down, not realizing
the seat was already taken. Walt let out a little shout and stood up abruptly,
his body moving through Cheryl’s. Grumbling, he scooted over and sat next to
her on the couch.

Silently Ian took a
seat on one of the leather chairs, pulling Lily with him. She sat on his lap.

“I finished the second
floor, but I haven’t done anything with the Red Room yet. Do you want me to put
the clothes in the closet? There’s also the stuff on the dresser…” Joanne
began.

“That’s my room!”
Cheryl jumped up. “What are you doing in my room?”

“Joanne is cleaning the
house for the party,” Danielle explained. “You promised to straighten the
room.”

“I told you I would do
that in the morning before the party,” Cheryl said.

“I’m sorry, but I
really can’t vacuum in there or dust with everything all over the floor,”
Joanne explained.

“I said I will take
care of it!” Cheryl snapped.

“There is no reason to
get rude with Joanne. She is just here to do her job,” Danielle said.

Cheryl looked from
Danielle to Joanne.  She guessed Joanne was in her fifties. Dressed in denims
and a button down, short sleeved cotton blouse, the cleaning woman fidgeted
nervously with a rag.

“I’m sorry. We have not
been introduced, you’re the cleaning woman? Joanne, is it?” Cheryl asked
sweetly.

“Yes, Joanne Johnson.
I’ve been cleaning Marlow House for years. I worked for Ms. Boatman’s aunt.”

Tired of standing, Joe
sat in the chair next to Ian and Lily. The three exchanged glances, yet
withheld comment.

“She was my aunt too.
I’m Cheryl Hartford, I was also Brianna’s great niece. I’m one of the owners of
Marlow House,” Cheryl explained.

“Cheryl, please stop
telling people that!” Danielle said impatiently.

“Well it’s true!”

“She is a bit of a
bulldog, isn’t she,” Walt observed. “Gets a hold of something and won’t let
go.”

“You don’t know that,”
Danielle told Cheryl.

“Excuse me, but what do
you want me to do with the room?” Joanne interrupted.

Danielle looked from
Joanne to Cheryl, and then back to Joanne. “I guess leave it. Cheryl can clean
it up in the morning.”

“Okay. That’s all I
wanted to know. I’m going to go up now and see what I need to do in the attic.”
Joanne made a hasty exit.

“I think you two scared
poor Joanne,” Ian said with a chuckle.

“I just wish she would
stop telling everyone she owns Marlow House!” Danielle said impatiently.

“Now you know how I
felt when you first arrived,” Walt told her.

“I’m sorry Dani, but it
is the truth, you know it,” Cheryl said.

“I think Danielle has a
point, Cheryl,” Ian interrupted. “At least until this gets straightened out in
court. For now the house legally belongs to your cousin, and she has been working
very hard on this open house. It’s really not fair to her for you to barge in
and disrupt everything, maybe even ruin the open house.”

“I don’t intend to ruin
anything,” Cheryl said defensively.

“Causing a
scene—stirring up controversy—you don’t think that could potentially ruin
Danielle’s promotion for the bed and breakfast?”

“It’s not my intent to
ruin anything, but I don’t think she should turn this place into a bed and
breakfast.”

“Let me ask you this,
Cheryl,” Ian said in a serious voice. “Let’s say the court decides you have no
claim on the estate, that Danielle is the rightful heir. She is an adult and
has the right to decide what she wants to do with her life—the same as all of
us. But if you, in your false belief that half of the estate is yours, disrupt
the opening for her business, even damage her reputation by implying she’s
trying to cheat you—you return to California to your own life, while Danielle
stays here and is left to clean up the mess you’ve created. Do you honestly
think that’s fair?”

“What I think is
unfair,” Cheryl said angrily, “is being cheated out of my inheritance!” She
turned to the doorway and marched from the parlor.

Those left in the room
stared mutely at the doorway and listened as Cheryl noisily made her way up the
stairs to the second floor of Marlow House.

“Wow, Ian,” Danielle
said at last, turning from the open doorway to where Ian sat in the chair with
Lily. “Thanks. I really appreciate your support.”

“I meant it,” Ian told
her.

Lily turned in Ian’s
lap, wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him close, kissing his cheek.
“Well said, Ian.”

“All I can say,” Joe
said as he stood up to leave, “I haven’t seen that much drama since Millie
Samson accused Joyce Pruitt of stealing her strawberry preserve recipe after
Joyce won first place for it at the county fair.”

• • • •

Upstairs Cheryl found
Joanne in the attic preparing to clean the windows.

“I wanted to apologize
for being so abrupt with you down there,” Cheryl said after she walked into the
attic.

Joanne turned and faced
her. “I got the impression you were angry at your cousin, not at me. I think I
stepped into the crossfire.”

“It’s just that Dani so
infuriates me! She knows Aunt Brianna left this house to both of us.”

Joanne didn’t know how
to respond, so she said nothing.

“Did you know my aunt?”
Cheryl asked.

“I worked for her for
years, but we never met in person. We did speak on the phone.”

“Did she ever mention
me?” Cheryl asked.

“She mentioned a niece.
I always assumed she was talking about Danielle.”

“Did she say Danielle?”
Cheryl asked. “When she was talking about her niece, did she say her name was
Danielle?”

“Honestly, I don’t
remember.”

“Do you know where the
safe is?” Cheryl asked.

“The safe?” Joanne
frowned.

“Danielle had a safe
installed for the Missing Thorndike. I want to make sure it’s in a secure
place, after all it belongs to me too.”

“You’ll have to ask
your cousin about that,” Joanne said. “If you’ll excuse me, I really need to
finish up in here.” Joanne turned to the window, her back now facing Cheryl.

Cheryl sighed
impatiently and then turned back to the doorway and headed downstairs to search
for the safe.

Early Friday morning
Ian helped Lily drape red, white and blue fabric bunting along the top of the
fencing surrounding Marlow House. Clusters of white stars filled the navy blue
top portion of the bunting’s half circles, while red and white stripes trimmed
the bunting’s lower edge. Before Ian arrived to help, Lily had inserted the
flagpole Danielle had purchased at the local hardware store into its holder on
the porch wall, next to the front door.

The grounds surrounding
Marlow House no longer resembled an unruly jungle. The gardener had transformed
the yards into an impressive park-like setting, with freshly mowed green lawns
and manicured flowering shrubbery. None of the shade trees had been removed,
yet those too had been meticulously groomed. Lily planned to unlock and open
the wrought iron double gate, leading to the side and back yards of Marlow
House, to provide easier access for the guests to come and go.

Inside Danielle
organized food for the festivities. Cheryl was still in bed. Lily and Danielle
had decided to let her sleep as long as possible, to keep her out of their way.
The delivery van with the rental lawn furniture Danielle had ordered was
arriving at 10 a.m. It would be Lily’s job to arrange the white plastic lawn
furniture in the back and side yards, to provide outdoor seating for the
guests.

Overhead the sun was
shining with only a smattering of white puffy clouds in the blue sky. According
to the weather report it was going to be a sunny day with temperatures in the
low eighties. That was a little warmer than recent weather, which suited
Danielle. The slight morning breeze gently rustled the patriotic bunting and
brought life to the new American flag hanging by the front porch.

Before attending to her
kitchen duties, Danielle had opened all the windows on the lower floor, filling
Marlow House with fresh beach air. Walt stood silently at the open parlor
window, drinking in the bracing scent. Why he was unable to smell the fresh air
prior to Danielle’s arrival, he was unsure. But, the why and how did not
concern him. He was simply appreciative that he could now enjoy the gift.

 Walt could hear the
sounds of Ian and Lily’s laughter and playful banter drifting in from outside
as they decorated the grounds. At one time he had been suspicious of Ian, but
he had come to accept his presence and no longer believed he held some dark
secret. Walt reminded himself that perhaps he should have listened to Sadie.
After all, Sadie trusted the man in spite of the fact Ian had lied to Danielle
and Lily about what he did for a living.

Glancing down, Walt
looked at Sadie, who slept soundly in the space occupied by his feet, which
wore—as they did every day—polished dress shoes. These days the dog seemed to
spend more time at Marlow House than at the rental across the street, where she
lived with Ian. Walt would miss Sadie when she left at the end of the summer to
return to California with Ian. He wondered if he should convince Danielle to
get a dog.

Hearing who he thought
was Danielle walking down the entry hall to the parlor, Walt moved from the
window to the open doorway. It wasn’t Danielle, but her cousin, and by the way
she carried her shoes and kept looking back to the door leading to the kitchen,
it was obvious to him she did not want her cousin to know she was up.

Unaware of Walt’s
presence, Cheryl walked through his body and into the parlor and then gently
closed the door behind her, leaving half of Walt’s body still in the room.
Annoyed, he let out a grunt, which she could not hear. He stepped back into the
parlor.

“What are you doing in
here?” Cheryl let out a cry of surprise when she saw Sadie.

Instead of greeting the
new arrival, Sadie lifted her head briefly and looked at Cheryl then glanced
over at Walt before laying her chin back down on her front paws.

“Yes Sadie, she is
annoying.” Walt agreed.

“I suppose I can’t
stick you out in the hallway. I really don’t need to get Danielle’s attention.
Damn dogs.”

Walt watched as Cheryl
stepped over Sadie, walked to the window and looked outside, eavesdropping for
a moment on Ian and Lily.

“I don’t understand
what he sees in her,” Cheryl muttered under her breath. “But I sure as hell am
not going outside and get roped into some silly job or let my cousin put me to
work in the kitchen.”

Moving from the window,
Cheryl grabbed a magazine, sat down on the sofa and began flipping through its
pages. Walt walked to the sofa and looked down at the unaware young woman, who
now had her bare feet propped up on the far arm of the small sofa as she leaned
against the opposing arm. She’d tossed her pink high heel shoes on the side table
and he assumed she intended to slip them on when the guests started arriving. 
The careless manner in which she dumped her hard spiky shoes on the cherry wood
table top annoyed him. She obviously was not concerned about scratching the
furniture.

She reminded him of a
flapper, the way the pink fabric of her short summer dress revealed a generous
portion of thigh. If her hem hiked up another inch he would have a clear view
of her underpants.

• • • •

Fidgeting with the
radio in the kitchen, Danielle searched for a music station. Preoccupied with
the task, she didn’t notice Joanne coming through the kitchen door.

“Good morning,” Joanne
greeted as she entered the kitchen, closing the door behind her.

Danielle looked up from
the radio and turned to Joanne. “Morning.”

Joanne set her purse on
the kitchen counter and said, “Lily and Ian are doing a wonderful job
decorating. It looks very patriotic out there.”

“One thing you can say
about second grade teachers, they know how to decorate for the holidays,”
Danielle laughed.

“What would you like me
to do first?” Joanne asked.

Danielle considered the
question for a moment then said guiltily, “This morning I was moving one of the
plants in the library and I tripped and got potting soil everywhere. I salvaged
the plant, but I’m afraid I didn’t finish cleaning the mess, I got sidetracked.
Sorry about that. Think you can finish cleaning it up?”

“Certainly.” Joanne
smiled.

“Also, go up in my room
and get the brochures, I left them on my dresser. They go on the table in the
library, where I have the business cards. After that, I guess just help Lily
and Ian. I’m going to head upstairs in a few minutes and take my shower.”

“Okay, I’m on it.”

“Thanks Joanne.”

“No problem.”

On route to Danielle’s
bedroom to pick up the brochures, Joanne passed the door to Cheryl’s room. It
was closed with a note attached. Taking a closer look, Joanne read the note:
Private
Residence, do not enter.

Remembering how the
room had looked yesterday, and Cheryl’s promise to clean it, Joanne hesitantly
knocked on the door. There was no answer. Ignoring the note, Joanne opened the
door and peeked inside the room. Articles of clothing and towels littered the
unmade bed and floor. Strewn atop the dresser were makeup and toiletry items.
Propped against the far wall was Cheryl’s open suitcase, half filled with
clothing.

There was no sign of
Cheryl. Joanne walked into the room and looked around. Reaching down she picked
up one of the towels. It was still wet. Shaking her head, Joanne tossed the
towel to the bed.

“I better ask Danielle
if she wants me to clean this up,” Joanne said aloud.

She left Cheryl’s room,
shutting the door behind her. After picking up the brochures from Danielle’s
room and a broom from the storage closet in the hallway, Joanne headed to the
library.

• • • •

Silently watching
Cheryl, Walt wondered if Cheryl had done the one thing Danielle requested—clean
the bedroom she was using. That morning when Walt had peeked in the room while
Cheryl slept, it actually looked worse than it had the day before. He couldn’t
imagine it was possible for her to have straightened it since that time. It was
obvious she had spent a good portion of the morning applying her makeup and
fixing her hair.

Leaving Cheryl on the
sofa, Walt moved from the parlor to the entry hall. On route to the stairs, he
looked into the kitchen and saw Danielle, who cheerfully plated food for the
open house, while moving to the beat of the music playing from the radio.

Continuing down the
hall, he paused a moment at the open door of the library. There he saw Joanne,
who was busy arranging something on a table.

When Walt finally
arrived at the Red Room, the door was closed. He took a moment to read the
attached note, before walking through the wall into the room. Walt looked
around and shook his head in disgust.

He glanced at the
nightstand clock. Guests would start arriving in a couple hours. That was
assuming there would be no early bird arrivals, those who liked to show up
fashionably early for a party.  Danielle, Lily and Joanne had their hands full
with the final touches for the open house and it didn’t look like Cheryl
intended to clean the room. Apparently her solution to the mess was to shut the
door.

Walt focused his energy
on the items strewn across the bed and floor. Clothing and towels lifted into
the air and effortlessly made their way to the open suitcase. He then focused
on the dresser, sending Cheryl’s personal toiletry items—some of the jars still
open—floating across the room and landing in the pile of clothing and damp
towels inside the suitcase.  A clean, unworn blouse spilled from the suitcase,
not quite covered by the items added by Walt. Giving the blouse a nod, he
watched it rise from the suitcase and wipe down the dresser, removing any
evidence of spilled makeup and lotion. Before returning the crumpled and now
stained garment to the suitcase he used it as a dust rag to wipe down the rest
of the furniture in the room, careful to use its clean side.

Directing his energy to
the closet he willed the doors to fly open. Looking back to the suitcase he
watched as the lid closed and zipper secured the items inside. With minimal
effort, the suitcase lifted from its place on the floor and drifted to the
closet, then set itself on the top shelf before the closet doors closed.

All he had left to do
was make the bed, which he did quickly. Satisfied with the results, he opened
the bedroom door and removed the note and masking tape, making them into a
tight wad before sending the litter sailing across the hallway, through the
opened bathroom door and into the trash bin.

He was about to go
downstairs but paused when he heard someone coming up the staircase. If it was
Cheryl, he decided it would be amusing to stick around and see her reaction to
her room.

“There you are,”
Danielle greeted in a whisper when she reached the top of the landing. “Is
Cheryl still sleeping?”

“No, she’s downstairs
in the parlor with Sadie.”

“I didn’t know Sadie
was inside. But I did see the parlor door shut. I’m glad to hear Cheryl’s up. I
need to take a quick shower and I wanted to see if she ever cleaned up her room
like she promised. If I have to do it, I’d rather do it before I take my
shower.”

“Are you done in the
kitchen?”

“Yes. Oh, do you think
you can keep an eye on Sadie in case Cheryl lets her out of the parlor?  She’s
never been a food thief before, but I’d rather her not jump up on one of the
counters and help herself. Plus, chocolate is bad for dogs, and I think I
overdid the chocolate goodies,” Danielle said as she made her way to the Red
Room.

“I’ll have a little
talk with Sadie,” Walt said as he watched Danielle look in Cheryl’s room.

“Wow, she did it.”
Danielle couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Not exactly.” Walt
stepped to the doorway with Danielle and looked inside the room.

“What do you mean?”
Danielle glanced up at Walt.

“Your cousin is a slob.
I knew you and Lily had your hands full so I just wanted to help.”

“You cleaned Cheryl’s
mess?”

“It wasn’t hard. I
simply put everything in her suitcase, wiped down the furniture and made her
bed.”

“When you say you put
everything back in her suitcase, what does that mean exactly?”

“Just that. All of her
personal belongings she left laying around. Although the wet towels were
probably yours. You’ll want to get those out of her suitcase later.”

“Umm…when I glanced in
here last night I noticed her makeup on the dresser. You didn’t by any chance
put the lids back on her…well lipstick, lotion…whatever…before putting her
stuff in the suitcase?”

“No. Why should I? I
just gathered everything that wasn’t supposed to be here and put it in the
suitcase.”

“And where is the
suitcase?”

“In the closet.”

“Oh my…” Danielle
didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. “Well…thanks….but do you think you
could do me another favor?”

“Certainly, what?”

“After your little talk
with Sadie, could you try and convince Cheryl—without throwing a croquet set at
her—to stay downstairs. I would prefer she see how her room was cleaned up
after the guests leave tonight.”