On Saturday evening, Heather stood in Marlow House’s living room, a glass of wine in her hand, as she gazed out the front window, reflecting on how her life had changed since moving to Frederickport a little over four years ago. Yesterday afternoon, after being led out of her office in handcuffs, she’d felt overwhelmed and terrified. But then her friends had come to her rescue, reminding her she was not alone. They believed in her innocence, even before Marie had offered her an alibi.
She and Brian had arrived at Marlow House before the other guests. Walt stood at the bar with Brian, talking. Danielle had left the room a few minutes earlier—Heather assumed to use the bathroom. Danielle seemed to do that a lot these days.
When Chris’s car pulled up to the front of the house a moment later, Heather turned from the window, set her glass of wine on the table, and rushed out of the room. Just as Chris opened the front door, Heather threw herself into his arms.
“Whoa!” Chris laughed, accepting Heather’s hug. “I’m glad to see you, too.” He stood in the still open doorway. Danielle stepped out of the downstairs powder room just as Heather released her hold on Chris.
With tear-filled eyes, Heather looked into Chris’s face. “I want to thank you.”
Chris frowned. “What did I do?”
Curious, Danielle walked to the pair instead of returning to the living room.
“Mel told that Bowman jerk you were covering my bail. No matter the cost.”
Chris grinned. “Hey, I would not let them lock you up until your trial. I felt sorry for those poor inmates who might be locked up with you. Don’t they have enough problems? It would be inhumane for them. Torture.”
“Oh, you brat!” Heather laughed and gave Chris a playful swat.
Chris wrapped his arm around Heather, pulling her close before kissing the top of her head. “Thankfully, it didn’t go as far as bail.”
When Chris entered the living room a few minutes later, he had Heather on his right and Danielle on his left, with an arm draped around the shoulder of each woman. Walt and Brian looked up when they saw the three enter the room.
Walt arched his brow and lifted his glass of brandy as if preparing to toast, and Brian asked, “Do you think we need to be jealous?”
Walt shrugged. “Well, he is pretty cute. Can you blame them?”
* * *
The rest of the guests started showing up five minutes later. Lily and Ian arrived with Connor, followed by Olivia, who lived in the house between Marlow House and Heather’s. Joe and Kelly showed up next, and to Heather’s pleasant surprise, both showed Heather tremendous support, with Kelly making disparaging comments about Clay Bowman. The last to arrive were Mel and Adam.
“How is Eddy doing?” Melony asked Danielle as she and Adam stood at the bar while Walt made them each a cocktail. Melony was the only one in their group to call the chief Eddy, as she had been the best friend of his late wife and had known him before he had moved to Frederickport to take the job as police chief.
“He’s doing okay, considering the stress this is putting on him,” Danielle said. “He wanted to come tonight, but there was no way. He needs his rest. Last night, he slept in his recliner. He said that’s the only way he can get comfortable. I imagine he’s going to be sleeping there tonight.”
“That poor guy.” Melony accepted the cocktail Walt had just handed her.
“Tomorrow, Walt and I are taking Evan to the Easter egg hunt at the beach park. Eddy Junior didn’t want to go, said he would rather stay home and take care of his dad.”
They talked about MacDonald a few more minutes, but the conversation shifted when Adam said, “Guess who came into my office right before closing yesterday.”
“Who?” Danielle asked.
“Camilla’s brother, Ted. He wanted to talk to me about listing his uncle’s house.”
“I understood they weren’t selling the house,” Danielle said.
“That’s only because Camilla wanted to move in. But now, with her gone, they’re selling,” Adam explained.
Joe, who had just stepped up to the group, overheard the conversation and said, “That’s quick. He just found out his sister was killed.”
Adam shrugged. “I know they always wanted to sell the house. I ran into Camilla the other day at Lucy’s Diner and met her brother. He was trying to convince her to sell the house then. He was insistent on listing it, but she wasn’t having it. Apparently, he’s now the trustee on the estate, with Camilla gone.”
While Joe and Adam discussed the recent change involving Homer Carter’s estate, Heather sat on the sofa with Brian, while Chris and Olivia sat on the chairs across from them, chatting. Lily and Ian stood by the window, talking to Kelly while Connor played on the floor nearby.
* * *
Minutes after Camilla walked through Heather’s door, a voice demanded to know why she was there. Yet it wasn’t exactly a voice. Adding to Camilla’s confusion, the voice, not-quite-a-voice, seemed to come from a perturbed calico cat sitting on the living room sofa’s right arm.
“I have something to tell Heather Donovan.” Camilla wasn’t sure if she thought the words or said them, but the next thing she heard was something about Heather being at Marlow House.
Camilla turned from the cat and walked back through Heather’s door. A few minutes later, she stood in front of Marlow House’s living room window. She looked inside and saw a group of people, including her ex-husband and Heather Donovan. Without thought, she stepped inside the house.
Pockets of conversations drifted to Camilla from various parts of the room. Three adults next to her continued talking and ignored her, but a young child playing with toy trucks on the floor nearby looked up at her. Across the room on the sofa sat Brian and Heather, engaged in a discussion with the people sitting across from them. And next to what looked like a makeshift bar stood another group, also talking, their incoherent words drifting her way.
Camilla focused her attention on Heather and shouted, “Heather Donovan!”
Faces turned in Camilla’s direction. Brian obviously hadn’t heard her, but Heather and the man sitting across from her looked her way, as did several people at the bar, while others kept talking as if she weren’t there.
“Heather Donovan,” Camilla repeated. “I’m dead. And I know you can see me! I also know you killed me!”
* * *
Hunny and Sadie had been curled up by the fireplace when Camilla entered through the front wall of Marlow House’s living room. But it wasn’t until she yelled at Heather that the dogs started barking. They immediately quieted when Walt silently gave them the command to stop. While no longer making noise, the two dogs sat down and stared at Camilla.
The non-mediums in the room looked at the dogs. “What was that all about?” Joe asked.
Kelly, Lily, and Ian, who stood next to Camilla, looked to Hunny and Sadie. “Why are they staring at us like that?” Kelly asked, not knowing the dogs were looking at the nearby ghost.
Ian glanced down at his son playing on the floor. The boy, like the dogs, stared curiously at the space next to them. Unsettled by the behavior of the dogs and his son, Ian promptly walked to the boy and swooped him up in his arms and, in doing so, stepped through Camilla.
“I can’t believe you just did that!” Camilla shouted at Ian. While Ian failed to react to her words, Connor peeked over his father’s shoulder at the ranting spirit. About to say more, Camilla suddenly froze when two women walked through the same wall she had moved through minutes earlier.
“Marie Nichols?” Camilla gasped.
“Hello, Camilla,” Marie greeted. “We stopped by Heather’s, and Bella told us you stopped by.”
The non-mediums in the room started talking again, some returning to their prior conversations, while others speculated on the dogs’ odd behavior. The mediums attempted to behave normally while paying attention to what the spirits were saying.
Marie motioned for Camilla to follow her. “Come, we can talk in the parlor.” Marie led Camilla and Eva out of the living room.