Odelia rounds the corner onto South Street, walking toward home as quickly as she can in her heeled slippers. It hadn’t been raining quite this hard when she’d left Calla’s.
‘Gammy, let me drive you,’ Calla had said. ‘It’ll take two minutes.’
Odelia wouldn’t hear of it. She’d told Calla to go back to preparing for her call with the prospective new agent.
‘What about Bella? We have to tell her—’
‘I’ll handle it. You just focus on what you have to do to land a new agent. And find out if he represents cookbooks,’ she’d added.
She really doesn’t mind walking in the rain – not at this time of year, anyway. It’s a bit of a drag on a bone-chilling March day, but today she hopes it might cool things off. So far, it seems to be ramping up the humidity and turning to steam on what little pavement the Dale has to offer. At least her garden will get a nice soaking.
Up ahead, she sees Roxy in the little gatehouse. Things are quiet this morning, though visitor traffic will likely pick up when the rain subsides.
Roxy has her nose in a book and doesn’t see Odelia until she knocks on the window.
She lets out a startled gasp, revealing a wad of pink bubblegum. ‘Odelia! What are you doing?’
‘Walking home from Calla’s.’
‘In the rain? And geez, what is up with people today? First Pandora comes along looking like a mummy, then some guy wants to play twenty questions with me, and now you show up looking like Alabama Beggs.’ She snaps her gum.
‘Wow, Roxy, that’s—’
‘No! Don’t say it.’
‘Don’t say what?’
‘Pandora told me that “chewing gum is a revolting habit for a dignified young lady”,’ she says in a near-perfect imitation of the woman.
‘Oh, well, you know … Pandora.’ Odelia rolls her eyes. ‘I figured you’re just making up for lost time now that you finally got your braces off.’
Roxy flashes a straight white grin. ‘Exactly.’
‘What I was going to say was, if you know Alabama Beggs, you must be reading Save Me the Waltz.’
Roxy holds up the Zelda Fitzgerald novel, using her finger as a bookmark. ‘How’d you know?’
‘Calla must have read it a dozen times when she was your age.’
‘This is her copy. She loaned it to me. Did you ever read it?’
‘No, but Zelda and F. Scott touch in at the Stump from time to time.’
‘I wish I could see them.’
‘How are your mediumship lessons going?’
‘Not great. My mom says that at my age, I’ve probably got too many other things on my mind to be able to focus on Spirit. But the next time Zelda touches in, tell her I’m a fan, will you?’ Roxy blows a bubble and snaps it between her teeth. ‘Oh! Speaking of fans, guess who showed up here this morning? All About Eve!’
‘Bette Davis?’
‘Huh?’
‘You said “All About Eve”,’ Odelia reminds her. ‘I assumed that was a clue, so I guessed Bette Davis. She played Margot Channing.’
‘She’s an actress?’
‘Was. She touches in at the Stump, too. But you weren’t talking about her, were you?’
‘No, it was Eve.’
‘Of Adam and Eve?’ No wonder. Biblical spirits aren’t her thing.
‘Of All About Eve! She’s an Influencer. Wait, I’ll show you.’ Roxy pulls out her phone, opens an app, and gasps. ‘Ooh! She’s posting from the Dale!’
Roxy holds up the phone, careful to keep it dry beneath the gatehouse overhang. Odelia leans in to see a silent video of a bored-looking young woman against a backdrop of familiar green frond-patterned wallpaper.
‘That’s the Jungle Room at Valley View! Roxy, was this Eve person driving a white Chevy with Massachusetts license plates?’
‘No, she was in a black SUV with a chauffeur.’
‘Ah – she was with Grant Everard?’
‘Yes, but I know the woman in the white Chevy. The one with the gold glitter manicure, right?’
‘I don’t know about that, but she got here yesterday?’
‘That’s her. Her nails were awesome. I asked her if she’d gotten them done around here, and she said no, and then we got to talking about her trip, and I said I’ve always wanted to do that.’
‘Do what?’
‘Drive across the whole country.’
Odelia frowns. ‘Is that what she told you she was doing?’
‘Uh-huh. She started in Boston and she’s on her way to LA.’
That woman isn’t on a cross-country road trip if she’d connected from Chicago to Calla’s flight from New York. Odelia has no idea why anyone would lie about something like that, but she’s now certain that Spirit’s warning had been about her.
‘What else did she say?’ she asks Roxy.
‘Nothing, really. She just asked me for directions to Valley View and that was it. Why?’
‘Just wondering.’
‘It’s so funny. You’re the second person to ask about her this morning,’ she adds, setting her book aside as a car turns from Dale Drive into the entrance.
‘Who was the other person?’
‘Twenty Questions guy.’
‘Is he an influencer?’
‘No, just some random guy who wanted to know a lot of stuff.’
‘Like what?’ Odelia asks, well aware that she’s blocking the car’s path to Roxy’s window and holding up a finger to indicate that she won’t be long.
‘Like Valley View, mostly. He asked me if I know Bella and Max, and when I said I know them and I babysit Max, he asked what that’s like – if he’s a good kid, and if Bella’s nice … that kind of thing.’
The waiting driver, one in a carload of women, sticks her head out the window. ‘We’re trying to get to the Specter Inspectors’ paranormal equipment presentation!’
Odelia considers waiting so that she can ask Roxy to elaborate, but it’s raining harder now and she’s getting drenched. She can dry off and come back.
She hurries toward home, doing her best to camouflage her cleavage in bedraggled pink boa and hoping her nightie isn’t transparent when wet.
She’s on Cottage Row when a car splashes up behind her. She steps off to the side of the road so that she won’t be splashed when it passes, but it slows, and she hears a wolf whistle. Whirling, she sees a familiar SUV with Luther behind the wheel.
‘Hop in!’ he calls and leans over to open the passenger’s side door for her. ‘Where are you coming from?’
‘Calla’s,’ she says as she closes the umbrella and climbs in beside him. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Bella called me.’
‘What happened? Is she OK?’
‘She is, but she wanted me to look into something for her.’
‘The woman from Chicago?’
‘No, the robbery at Misty’s. What woman from Chicago?’
‘What robbery at Misty’s?’ she asks, simultaneously.
‘She told Bella a couple of things were stolen.’
‘Last night?’
‘No, sometime over the weekend, apparently. Why are you out and about so early? And why are you wearing a skimpy nightie?’
‘Because it’s too hot for flannel, of course. Why are you wearing a suit at this hour?’
‘I just came from an all-night security gig, remember? Tell me what’s going on.’
She gives him a capsulized version as they bump and splash along Cottage Row.
‘Maybe Calla got it wrong,’ he suggests. ‘Maybe this woman’s connecting flight was from Boston and not Chicago.’
‘Even if that was the case, she told Roxy she was driving cross-country, not flying. And who is this Twenty Questions guy, asking about her and Bella and Max?’
‘Maybe Roxy got it wrong.’
‘Luther! Why are you being so difficult?’
‘I’m just trying to be reasonable.’
‘Well, you’re being unreasonable, because nobody got anything wrong. Roxy and Calla and I – and Spirit – got it right. I’m going to give Bella a heads-up that that woman’s up to something, and I think you’d better figure out what it is. And if you don’t, I think I see someone who will,’ she says, spotting Lieutenant John Grange’s car parked in front of Misty’s.
‘That’s strange. Bella said she wasn’t going to report the robbery.’
‘Maybe she got it wrong.’
‘Why are you being so difficult?’ Grinning, he pulls up in front of Odelia’s cottage. ‘Want to come over to Misty’s with me?’
‘Dressed like this?’
‘You’re right. We don’t need Grange to see you in your sexy nightie and get any ideas.’
‘As if.’ She opens her door and steps out into the rain.
Luther also gets out, pulling on a belted raincoat and grabbing a big wooden-handled umbrella from the back seat.
Of course he’d been prepared for the weather; of course she hadn’t. On days like this, she wonders how they’ve made the relationship work for this long.
As he holds the open umbrella over her head and walks her up to the porch, she notices that the SUV that had been parked in front of Valley View is still there with the driver, Marty, inside. So is the white Chevy, which she points out to Luther. ‘That’s her car. You’ve got connections in law enforcement. Can you run the plate or something?’
‘I’ll see what I can find out after I go to Misty’s. Hey, don’t you think you should keep that locked, under the circumstances?’ he asks as Odelia opens the front door.
‘I should probably do a lot of things that I don’t do.’ She steps into the house. ‘For now, I think I’ll just make some coffee and get dressed.’
‘Oh, don’t do that.’ He flashes a sly grin.
‘No coffee? That’s right, you said you’ve had enough,’ she says, just as slyly, before closing the door.
She doesn’t lock it – mostly out of sheer obstinance, but also because the Dale is a safe place, all things considered.
Catching a glimpse of herself in the full-length hall mirror, she decides that she doesn’t look half bad – for her age, as her granddaughter might say.
Sensing disapproval from Miriam, whose spirit is hovering by the stairs, Odelia says, ‘Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to make a habit of parading around town in my nightie. But it’s fun to keep Luther on his toes, isn’t it?’
In the kitchen, she measures coffee grounds into a filter and adds a shake of cinnamon and a smidge of cayenne pepper. Not as much as usual, because Luther doesn’t appreciate the spicy kick in his caffeine fix as much as she does.
She stands at the sink filling the carafe with water, gazing out the window at the rain. Thunder grumbles as the wet wind stirs tree branches in her yard. Beyond, the gray sky hangs low over the choppy gray lake. Rarely does one need a watering cans or garden hose here in Lily Dale. Mother Nature usually keeps the grass and flowers sufficiently watered.
‘Always a silver lining,’ Odelia tells Miriam, though she seems to have faded away.
Too bad Li’l Chap isn’t still here. He’d perched on the windowsill whenever it stormed, as mesmerized by the raindrops as he is by birds and butterflies on nice days.
You need to get a new cat.
When Calla had made the comment, it had been lost on her. Now, she considers the idea. By the time she’s poured the water into the coffee maker and pressed Start, she’s decided it’s a good one. It would be nice to have someone other than Spirit hanging around the house on a daily basis.
Turning her attention to her cell phone, she googles ‘All About Eve Influencer’ and is instantly rewarded. The young woman seems to be very famous indeed, though Odelia has to install an app and create an account in order to see her posts.
She’s in the midst of doing just that when the front door opens, and Luther calls, ‘I’m back!’
‘That was fast.’ She meets him in the hall. ‘What’s going on over there?’
‘As far as I could tell before Grange kicked me out, she called him this morning when she realized that Jiffy’s video game console is missing.’
‘How did she not know that sooner? He plays with it constantly.’
‘It disappeared overnight, apparently. She seemed pretty agitated. Meanwhile, that white Chevy turns out to be a rental.’
‘You already ran the plates?’
‘I’ve got connections, but they’re not that efficient. I just walked over and checked it out.’
‘You can identify a rental car at a glance?’
‘You can if you’re in my line of work and know what to look for. While I was at it, I talked to a guy parked out in front of Valley View.’
‘Marty?’
‘You know him?’
‘He’s Grant’s driver.’
‘That’s what he said, but …’
‘You don’t believe him?’
‘He was pretty jumpy. When I asked him to roll down the window and tried to find out what he was doing there, he got all skittish.’
‘Well, some people get nervous around cops.’
‘I’m not a cop.’
She raises an eyebrow. ‘You were a cop, and you look like a cop, and you act like a cop.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re wearing a suit and a trench coat and you’re asking a lot of questions.’
‘Huh. Maybe that’s why Marty kept insisting that he hadn’t done anything wrong. Anyway, I have to get back to the dogs, but I’ll feel better if we go over to Valley View first and and … what was that?’ he asks, as Odelia’s phone chimes in her hand.
‘I was waiting for this app to load so that I can watch a video.’
‘What—?’
‘Shh!’
The video launches. Now she can hear what the bored-looking young woman is saying.
Luther leans in over her shoulder. ‘What is—?’
‘Shhh!’
‘ … and, yeah, this place is the worst dump ever,’ Eve is saying, ‘and the town is super-creepy and it’s full of looney losers who think they can talk to ghosts, and …’
‘Spirit, not ghost,’ Odelia mutters, glaring at her, ‘and don’t look now, but there’s one right behind you.’
Luther glances over his shoulder.
‘Not you. Eve.’ She skips the video back a few seconds and replays it for Luther, pointing at the screen. ‘See that, behind her?’
‘The wallpaper?’
‘The orb!’
‘Where?’
‘It’s right there!’
‘I don’t see it.’
‘Well, it’s Nadine. She hangs around the Jungle Room. And she won’t take kindly to this influencer calling her home a dump.’
‘I’m sure she won’t. Come on. Let’s go talk to Bella about this woman from Boston.’
‘Chicago.’
‘Chicago.’
‘All right. Just let me run upstairs and get dressed in something decent.’
‘On one condition – I want to be around the next time you decide to put on something indecent. Deal?’
‘Deal.’
She smiles. That man is most definitely on his toes.
Upstairs, she strips off the wet clothing. Wondering what to wear, she glances out of the window to see if it’s still raining.
It is, though over in the park, the spirit world carries on as if it’s a beautiful day. The phantom child swings from the invisible branch, the gentleman in the top hat reads about the Titanic, and the newsboys play catch.
Spotting another familiar figure, Odelia leans closer to the window, squinting, wishing she hadn’t left her glasses downstairs.
Ah, yes. That does appear to be Sam Jordan, walking along with an open umbrella in one hand and a cell phone in the other.