Chapter 31

I thanked Nora for coming and closed the door behind her, then told Wilson to bring me my bag. I needed to call Detective Romero right away.

“Not so fast.” Wilson took my hand and led me back to the couch. “You should sit down. There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait. I need to talk with Detective Romero. He needs to know Crystal had AJ’s original notes and release papers from the DOC all along, and she’s hidden them from Zoey. And I need to tell him about Kesley. I can’t imagine how Romero missed it. This writing partnership between Chad and Kelsey...it goes to motive. And—”

“Stop! Misty. Sit down.” Wilson grabbed my bag off the coffee table, held it above his head, then gently shoved me back onto the chair. “Sorry, Old Gal, but you’re not calling anyone until you’ve heard me out.”

“Why? What’s going on?” I leaned forward, but Wilson put his hand on my shoulder and refused to let me up.

“I wasn’t quite sure how to tell you, but while you were talking to Zoey and searching Crystal’s room, I made a discovery of my own.”

I expected the next words out of his mouth to be that he had stumbled across some long-lost artifact from the Chamberlain’s movie history, but the gray look of concern on Wilson’s face told me this was much more serious than a newly found souvenir. I braced myself. Perhaps he had learned the universe was about to call him back, and he was going to bid me farewell. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that, but Wilson wouldn’t be the first shade I’d be forced to say goodbye to unexpectedly. “Okay,” I said. “What exactly did you find?”

“A portal.”

“A what?” I fell back into the chair. Of all the things Wilson might have told me, news of a portal was the last thing I expected, and it was a shocker. Portals aren’t exactly commonplace, and I hadn’t had a lot of experience with them.

“It’s some type of passageway.”

“I know what a portal is, Wilson. My question is, exactly where did you find it? And when?”

“Inside the playhouse. Alicia found it. She said she’s known about it for a while, and when she showed it to me, I thought perhaps it was the beginnings of a small sinkhole. You know how sinkholes are, particularly with all the rain and the recent construction Zoey’s done on the property. Alicia’s afraid her playhouse and her world are about to collapse into the abyss. She’s frightened, Misty.”

“I imagine she would be. What made you think it’s a portal and not a sinkhole?”

“Alicia said she had seen a spirit come through. That whoever she was—”

“She?” I asked.

“Yes, Alicia was quite adamant the ghost was a she, and that she had come and gone several times. That’s when I knew it wasn’t just a sinkhole, but a portal.”

“And I assume you explained the difference and assured Alicia she had nothing to worry about?”

“I did, but unfortunately I’m afraid I wasn’t much help. You see when I told her how ghosts use portals to come and go between the worlds, she wanted to know why her mother hadn’t come through.”

“Augh,” I sighed. Of course, Alicia would think that. She had been waiting for so long. The surprise of seeing a spirit come through and the disappointment it wasn’t her mother, must have been overwhelming. “I assume you told her there could be any number of reasons why she hasn’t.”

“Yes, but she says the other ghost is Zoey’s mother and—”

“Of course!” I slapped my thighs. “Cora Chamberlain. I knew it. She’s here. Zoey’s willed it, and it’s happened. I felt her presence in the great room this afternoon. I could feel her standing behind me at the piano. So strong in fact, that when I brushed my fingers across the keys, they picked out the tune ‘Clair de Lune.’ The tune she used to play for Zoey.”

Wilson sat down on the chair opposite me. “Alicia thinks Cora’s been here before. But that something new is happening. Something unfamiliar and it’s making Alicia very nervous.”

“She shouldn’t be. It’s all as the universe intends it to be. Cora’s here because Zoey’s willed it to be. That’s the way energy works.”

“Yes, but I’m beginning to wonder. If Alicia’s right and Cora’s been here before, maybe we’ve got Lacey’s death all wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if Zoey’s mother killed Lacey? If she knew about the affair, she might have wanted to protect her daughter.”

“Nonsense. Ghosts don’t kill people. Mortals do. Ghosts may haunt people and cause them to do crazy things out of fear. But they don’t kill people.”

“You’re sure?”

“About Zoey mother’s killing Lacey? A hundred percent. If Cora was going to kill anyone, she wouldn’t have killed Lacey. She would have killed Chad.”

“Umm...” Wilson got up and paced the room. “I’m sorry to hear that. Personally, I was rather looking forward to settling a few old scores once I officially crossed over.”

“Wilson!” Had all my efforts to rehabilitate the man gone for naught?

“Is that wrong?” Wilson winked then handed me my cell phone from within my bag. “Here, call your Detective Romero. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to know you’ve eliminated all possibilities it was a ghost who killed Lacey, and that we’re in hot pursuit of Kelsey or is it Crystal? I just don’t know.”

I snapped the phone from Wilson’s hand. I didn’t need any smart-aleck remarks concerning our investigation. What I needed was time to think. With everything Wilson had just told me about the portal beneath the playhouse, and from what I had discovered in Crystal’s notebook and Lacey’s poems, my head felt like a pinball machine. One idea ricocheting off the other, and a scoreboard that kept coming up zero.

I held the phone in my hand. I had been channeling the detective since the moment I found Crystal’s notebook beneath the bed in the guest bedroom. But I hadn’t called him. I sensed he was about to reach out to me and considered that the better of the two scenarios. Particularly since Romero and I had parted ways after Zoey’s arrest.

I waited for the phone to ring. While I did, I considered the purpose of the portal beneath Alicia’s playhouse.

Was the portal a sign? Was it really Zoey’s mother who had come through? Was Alicia’s mother next? If so, would Cora Chamberlain, Margaret Mann, and Alicia Mae all walk back through the portal together and leave Zoey and the Pink Mansion alone? Or would Zoey’s mother stay behind? And what about Wilson? What would become of him? Limbo is a temporary state. Was the portal there for him as well? Would Wilson walk through the portal with them, and once he did, would the portal and the playhouse disappear forever?

I was lost in my thoughts when my phone rang. I looked at the screen and smiled.

“Detective, I had a feeling you were about to call.”

“Why, your ears burning?” Romero chuckled.

“Should they be?”

“Maybe. Our case against Zoey’s falling apart. Forensics can’t pinpoint when the cigarette butt we found out by the pool was tossed on the grass. Could have been that morning, maybe that night. No way to prove it. Which means we can’t put Zoey in the backyard the night Lacey drowned. Plus, we got hold of the sides, the pages from the script Zoey was working on. It’s just like Zoey said. She and Lacey were rehearsing an argument. And now Lacey’s cousin Joel’s not so sure Lacey would have confronted Zoey about the affair. Not without Chad by her side, and we know Chad wasn’t there.”

“I won’t tell you I told you so,” I said.

“Don’t get too excited. The DA’s not willing to drop the charges. Not yet. But I do have some good news.”

If there was good news, I knew it had to be Denise. She hadn’t been around as much as usual, which in my mind could only mean one thing: she had captured the detective’s attention and he was keeping her busy.

“You’re good, Misty. I won’t ask how you knew. But yes, it is Denise. She wants you to know I’ve set up a ride-along for her with my brother-in-law. He’s driving Hugh Jackman and his wife to the airport as we speak. She thought you’d be pleased.”

“Pleased,” I said. “But not surprised. However, there is another matter concerning Lacey’s murder I want to talk with you about. Something’s come up. It’s important, and I’d like to discuss it with you. In person.”

“One condition,” Romero said. “This thing you want to talk to me about, it’s something I can use. None of your ghost stuff, right?”

“Yes, Detective. Meet me at my place. Soon as possible. I’ll explain everything when you get here.”