1. At the Cliff House
"Okay, I'll go with you," said Quinn Puddingstone. "I guess San Francisco is probably the better option. Let me get some of my things."
Alan nodded, "Where are they? Upstairs?"
Quinn shook his head. "No, I've been sleeping downstairs. The view of the ocean is really impressive from that room. We don't have anything like that in Kentucky."
Alan and Melody followed Quinn to the top of the stairs that led down to the lower level of the house. There was just one room visible, a large open space with enormous floor to ceiling windows that went up two floors. Even from the stairs, the views of the Pacific Coast and Ocean were spectacular. Outside of the solarium room was a large balcony that cantilevered out over the cliff and ocean. As someone who loved everything about the sea, Alan could appreciate the splendor of this house, but the view still didn't replace the thrill he felt when he was out on his boat, the salt spray in his face as his boat bounded through rolling waves.
There was not much furniture down in the solarium. A mattress had been taken from an upstairs room and placed on the floor. A couple of the couch cushions had been propped up against the side of the stairs to create a seat. There were a few empty water bottles strewn around the room.
Quinn went down the stairs, picked up his jacket and a backpack that probably contained spare clothing. He searched around the room for other items he had taken out of his pack.
"You know," said Quinn, "I'm pretty sure that Trevor killed our aunt."
"You mean Marybeth Baker?" asked Melody. "What makes you think that?"
Quinn smiled knowingly at Melody. "Trevor told me she had a lottery ticket that was worth millions."
Alan looked over at Melody. "Did you know about that?" he asked.
Melody nodded. "She claimed that she had a winning ticket. I never saw it, though. I wasn't sure if it was true or not. You know how Marybeth was."
Alan nodded, his grim smile indicating that he and Melody were on the same page.
"Trevor insisted that she had the ticket," said Quinn. "He said it was worth five million dollars."
Alan was skeptical. "So you're saying that Trevor wanted this ticket? Did he really think he could cash it in and not have someone asking questions?"
Quinn frowned. "Maybe he didn't think of that," he said. "But it didn't matter. The ticket was torn."
"How do you know it was torn?" demanded Alan.
"Trevor told me," said Quinn.
Alan shook his head. "There's something I don't understand, Quinn. I thought you were looking for Trevor but couldn’t find him. So, when did you talk to him?"
Before Quinn could answer his question, Alan's phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the caller. It was Sally O'Brian.
"Alan, thank God you answered. Are you on your boat?"
Where was she? Melody had said that she was supposed to come here, but Alan was no longer sure that was a good idea. He wanted to continue his discussion with Quinn, and it would be better if she stayed away. He wasn't sure Quinn would be as forthcoming if Sally was present. "No, we're still in the house, Sally. Don't come here."
"I have to come. Trevor is heading in your direction."
That news made Alan wary. How had Trevor found out they were here in the Cliff House? This really was an out-of-the-way place. It was unlikely that this location would be on Trevor's radar. "Don't worry about it, Sally. Don't come here. Go back to your house. Do you understand?"
He was about to disconnect the call when he heard the front door of the house open. Was that Sally?
No.
It was Trevor.
As Trevor Puddingstone opened the front door and entered the Cliff House, Alan pressed the record button on his phone, then placed it on one of the steps of the stairs. He wasn't sure if his phone was still connected to Sally O'Brian's phone or if she had hung up. He hoped that she could hear the conversation. He also hoped that she would follow his advice...and have the commonsense to call the police. But maybe that was asking too much of her. After all, how could she both listen to the conversation and call the police?
"What are you doing here, Trevor?" asked Alan.
Trevor walked over to the top of the stairs. When he saw his brother Quinn, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handgun. Alan knew very little about guns, other than the fact that this particular gun looked quite dangerous. Especially in the hands of a person that Alan was becoming more convinced was off his rocker.
“Put the gun away,” said Alan, hopefully loud enough for Sally to hear.
"I know what you're doing," said Trevor. "You're all plotting against me! You're all trying to hurt me!"
"Nonsense," said Alan. "We’re not doing anything of the kind. In fact, we're actually trying to help you, Trevor."
"Bullpucky!"
Alan laughed. "It's true. We're here--" he indicated Melody and himself "--to take Quinn someplace where he can fly back to Kentucky. Sending Quinn back to Kentucky would be good, wouldn't it?"
"I don't trust you," snarled Trevor. He seemed to focus his glare on Melody. He waved the gun menacingly. "I don't trust any of you!"
Matt somehow miraculously floated up behind Sally, just as Marybeth popped out of Sally's body.
"I thought you were my friend, Marybeth Baker," said Sally. "Friends don't take over and attack the bodies of their friends. Now, get the hell out of my way!"
Marybeth zipped through the front door of the Cliff House.
"What was that all about?" asked Matt. "Was she possessing you? I think that's violating the rules."
"Ghosts have rules?"
Matt didn't respond, but quickly followed Marybeth into the house.
Sally shook her head, then stopped as Matt rebounded back outside the house.
"Don't go in there, Sally," warned Matt. "Oh, it's a good thing help is on the way!"
"What do you mean help is on the way?"
"The police. I contacted them," said Matt.
"How did you contact the police?" asked Sally. "And why can't I go in there?"
"Because Trevor has a gun. I don't want you getting killed."
Sally's eyes widened. She pulled the phone out of her pocket, annoyed that she hadn’t been listening to what Alan was saying. "He brought a gun with him? Is Melody and Alan in there? Are they safe? What about Quinn?"
"I didn't see Quinn. I think he might be downstairs. But Alan is on the stairs. I should go back and look to see where Melody is."
"I have to go in there," said Sally. "I have to stop Trevor."
"You have to do it smart and carefully, Sally," said Matt. "Don't rush in. Do you have the bat? I wish you had brought my gun."
"Your gun? Matt, where are these police you called? When will they be here?"
Matt looked nervous. "I didn't actually call them, Sally. You know I can't touch anything. I had Kiera do it for me."
"Kiera! Move out of the way, Matt. I have to save the kids!"
Alan was dismayed when he saw the door open once more. This time, Sally O'Brian entered the house, tip-toeing to be quiet. He did his best to keep his face expressionless. He didn't want Trevor to realize that Sally was creeping up behind him with a bat.
A bat.
Why couldn't she have just listened to him and stayed away? A bat was no use against a man with a gun. He had to do something to make sure that Trevor didn't notice Sally.
Fortunately, Quinn seemed determined to ensure that all of Trevor's attention was centered on him.
"Is that the gun you used to kill my wife, you miserable piece of shit? Is that the weapon you used on our parents and your brother? Where did you hide it when the police were searching for it?"
Trevor was clearly agitated by Quinn's words, and he kept wavering, first pointing the gun in Alan's direction, then down at the bottom of the stairs where Quinn was taunting him. Melody was halfway up the stairs. Hopefully she couldn't see Sally O'Brian. Alan wished there was some way he could warn her to not give away Sally's location as Sally stepped closer and closer to Trevor.
Quinn seemed to enjoy mocking his brother. "What about Aunt Marybeth? Were you afraid to shoot her? Or was it easier for you to push her down the stairs because she was just a little old lady?"
"I didn't kill Aunt Marybeth!" shouted Trevor. "I don't kill people who don't deserve to die! She was nice to me. She was the only one who was nice to me. I would never kill her! I wish she wasn't dead. I don't care about the others. Yes, they did deserve to die, and I'm not sorry about what I did. But not Aunt Marybeth. She didn't deserve to die. And you killed her!"
Trevor seemed close to tears, and for the first time, he was no longer aiming his gun at any of the three people on the stairs. Alan wondered if he could get up the last couple of stairs and close the space between him and Trevor before the young man regained his composure. The moment of opportunity passed, and Trevor wagged the gun barrel in Alan's direction.
"Don't even think about it, Ripple!"
"Really, Trevor? Do you think we deserve to die? Melody? Me? Your own brother?"
Trevor's eyes narrowed. He turned the gun towards Quinn. "Maybe not you two, but he sure as hell does!"
2. At the Cliff House - On the Stairs
Melody was halfway up the stairway when Trevor Puddingstone barged into the house and stood menacingly at the top of the stairs. She considered retreating down into the solarium, but instead remained frozen in place. When he pulled out a gun and started waving it around, she regretted her decision not to retreat downstairs. But once she was there, where would she go? There was no escape once she was down at the lower level. The only door led out onto a balcony that extended over the ocean.
"You’re asking me who deserves to die?" yelled Trevor, his voice becoming more strident and desperate. "I’ll tell you who. Quinn, you do! I know what you are trying to do, Quinn. You have both of them, don't you? You're trying to cheat me, aren't you? I knew you would! You don't deserve to live! And do you know why you deserve to die?"
Melody glanced in Quinn's direction. He also realized that trying to run away was only a short-term solution. There was simply nowhere to go.
"No, Trevor, why don't you tell me? Tell all of us, Trevor. We'd really like to hear your sob-story!" Quinn taunted.
"There, there you go again, just like you did with Dad. Always trying to make me feel inferior, stupid, like I'm just a child. Why do you keep putting me down?"
Melody was alarmed that Quinn was just trying to rile his brother up. To what purpose? Did Quinn think that by getting Trevor angry, the situation was going to de-escalate? No way!
"No one's trying to put you down, Trevor,” she said soothingly. “We all want to help you."
"Don't you talk to me, you bitch! I know that Quinn deserves to die, but so do you!"
"What have I ever done to you? We only met a couple of weeks ago."
"How can you play innocent? You led me on from the first day we met. You were always flirting with me, then playing hard to get with this fake boyfriend here--" Trevor waved the gun in Alan's direction. Alan didn't flinch or retreat a step. "You think I couldn't see through your little game? I know it was all for my benefit."
"It wasn't for your benefit, you horrible creep!" yelled Melody. "Alan really is my boyfriend, don't you dare hurt him!"
Trevor's expression froze, a look of hurt and hate all combined into one horrible scowl. Slowly, he raised the gun and pointed it at Melody. "Then die, bitch!"
For Sally, everything appeared to be happening in slow motion. Each step closer to Trevor seemed to take hours. She was now close enough to see that Alan was near the top of the stairs. Melody was about six steps further down. And Quinn was all the way down, still in the downstairs solarium.
Suddenly, Marybeth started flitting around the room. Not just flitting, but flying in circles around the room so quickly that she became a blur. Sally wasn't even sure how the incorporeal spirit could even maintain its appearance of integrity, but it did. Then, in a surprise move, as Trevor was raising his arm and aiming his gun, Marybeth's essence plunged into his body.
At the same time, the apparition let out the most terrifying scream Sally had ever heard.
"NOOOOOO TREVOOORRRR!"
The scream was terminated by the explosion of the gun going off. Sally had never been that close to a gun being shot. The sound drowned out Marybeth's scream.
Sally had never heard a banshee scream before, but if she had, she would swear that Marybeth's screech was exactly that. It was so loud, so overwhelming, that everyone in the house could hear it. Melody covered her ears to keep out the sound. Quinn fell to his knees, his hands and arms wrapped around his head. Even Trevor quaked in response to the sound.
The only person who didn't try to evade the overwhelming torment of the scream was Alan.
Instead of evading the noise, Alan threw himself in front of Melody, just as the gun went off.
Melody heard the scream, words that sounded other-worldly, a sound not made by anything human or living. She covered her ears to keep the sound out, but it was no use. The screech reverberated inside her head, churning her stomach, and constricting her heart. At first, that was all she noticed in the world, was the pain and torment that the sound had unleashed.
Then, almost simultaneously, she saw Alan leap in front of her. At the same time, she heard the explosion of a gun being fired.
She watched in horror as Alan's expression twisted into one of shock and pain, as he fell onto the steps just in front of her.
And then she saw Alan's blood spreading over his shirt.
Melody wasn't even aware that Trevor was still shooting his gun. She dropped to her knees and hugged Alan's body close to her, sobbing, "Why, Alan? Why?"
3. At the Cliff House - At the Top of the Stairs
Sally hurried the last couple of steps to reach Trevor. She hefted the bat and swung it with all the strength she could muster. Trevor squeezed off another three shots just as the bat crashed into Trevor's upper back.
Trevor was knocked forward and his body catapulted over the top of the stairs. He plunged down, crashing on the stairs, then rolling to the bottom of the steps.
Sally recovered her balance from swinging the bat, then watched in terror as Trevor slowly started pulling himself onto his arms and knees, attempting to get up.
"Quinn, stop him!" yelled Sally, but Quinn didn't move.
That's when Sally saw the dark stain of blood flowing from under Quinn's body.
She also saw something else that she had never seen before.
Trevor's last three shots had been at his brother, and it was apparent that at least one of those bullets had hit Quinn.
As she stared at Quinn's dead body, she saw something...a wisp, a cloud, an amorphous shape...float out of the body and disappear. Was that what happened when people died? Some ephemeral essence of them escaped into the universe? Why had she never seen this before?
Sally, frozen by the shock of her own vision, stared at Trevor as he started moving. At first, she wasn't sure what he was doing, then she saw the gun, lying on the floor of the solarium, about a dozen feet from where Trevor had landed. Trevor was trying to get to his gun, clearly intending to continue with his reign of carnage.
Sally raced down the steps, the bat still clutched in her left hand. She had to get to Trevor before he reached the gun.
"Hurry, Sally, he's going to get the gun!" urged Matt, floating down in the solarium. The bright sunlight made it difficult for Sally to see exactly where he was, but she knew he was doing his best to try to "possess" Trevor. Unfortunately, Matt was not nearly as capable of such a feat as Marybeth had been.
As Sally reached the bottom of the stairs, someone behind her grabbed the bat from her hands, then swung it at Trevor's head. The bat crashed against the side of Trevor's skull with a resounding crack.
"Don't kill him!" yelled Sally, turning to see Alan awkwardly clutching the bat, ready to smash it against Trevor a second time. Alan hesitated, then lowered the bat.
Melody hurried over to Alan's side and wrapped her arm around his waist, trying to support him. It was only then that Sally noticed the blood flowing from a wound in Alan's shoulder.
"You were shot!" exclaimed Sally.
"I'll live," muttered Alan gruffly. Even as he put on a show of bravado, he winced in pain.
"Check on Quinn," Sally said to Melody. "I think he was shot, too."
Blood was spreading out from the body, more blood than Sally had ever seen. How could anyone survive with that much blood loss?
Melody knelt down to check him, checking for a pulse. She looked up at Sally and Alan. "He's gone," she said.
There was loud commotion on the main level. Men stormed into the house, shouting that they were the police.
Sally looked up, as Detective Joshua Reyes and Chief Harvey Morris appeared at the top of the stairs, their guns drawn and pointed down at Sally and the others at the bottom of the stairs.
"Put your guns away, Chief," yelled Sally. "The shooting is over, , but we need an ambulance. Alan's been shot."
Morris and Reyes raced down the stairs, looking around. Slowly, taking in the situation, Morris, then Reyes, holstered their weapons.
"What the hell is going on here?" demanded Chief Morris.
4. At the Cliff House - In the Solarium
Everyone was shouting at once.
"Alan, you're hurt! Stop trying to move around," cried Melody.
"It's not that bad," said Alan. "See? Yeow! Damn, that does hurt!"
"First off, Chief, this man here is the shooter," announced Sally, gesturing at Trevor Puddingstone and trying to speak above all the shouting and talking in the room. "He shot Alan Ripple and killed Quinn Puddingstone."
"Just hold your horses, Sally," said Chief Morris. He continued calling for more back-up and two ambulances. "And send the coroner," he added. He turned back to face Sally. "First things first." He helped Trevor Puddingstone to his feet, then put handcuffs on him.
Fortunately, first things first also included Detective Reyes checking on Alan's wound.
"You're lucky, Mr. Ripple. The bullet merely grazed you. Keep that cloth pressed down on the wound and the bleeding should slow down. The ambulance will be here soon."
Sally tried to get the Chief's attention, but he seemed determined to ignore her until after he had assessed the scene. He was busy taking pictures of everything with his phone.
Frustrated, Sally turned towards Matt, hovering over in a corner. "How did the police get here?" she asked him.
"I tried to call on the phone, but I couldn't push the buttons. Kiera was watching me and she asked what I was doing. I told her that you were in danger, so she said that she should call the police. I wasn't sure the police would listen to a kid, so I told her to get her mommy to call them. I had to leave, so I don't know how she did it, but they're here, aren't they?"
"We got a call from your daughter, Jennifer," said Chief Morris, thinking Sally was talking to him. "She said that you were in danger." He looked around the room. "I didn't expect this. What is it about this house and people dying? At least this time we have a body."
Sally wasn't sure what Chief Morris was talking about. "There was a body in Crystal Manor," she said.
Morris shook his head. "Different time, different murder, Sally." He started to push Trevor towards the stairs. Trevor did his best to impede the Chief's progress.
"What are you doing? You should arrest her," shouted Trevor. "Look at that bat! She assaulted me with that bat. I want her arrested. She tried to kill me!"
"Shut up, you jerk," said Morris. He looked over at Sally. "Did you really hit him with that bat?"
Sally nodded. "He was the one trying to kill someone. He was shooting at Alan, Melody, and Quinn. I had to do something. I couldn't just let him kill everyone."
"He shot Alan, Chief," cried Melody. "He's crazy! He was trying to murder us."
"I was just protecting myself," yelled Trevor. "They're all against me. They want to blame me for everything."
Detective Reyes stared around the room at all the occupants, a look of concern on his face. "Chief, we really should get everyone downtown and separated. It's not good procedure to interview them in a group."
"Shut up, Detective. You think I don't know how to do my job? Wong and Underwood are on their way here. And the damn ambulance? Where's the ambulance? Make yourself useful, Reyes, I've photographed the gun. How about bagging it? Or isn't that procedural enough for you?"
"Yes sir," said Reyes, going over to retrieve the gun.
Chief Morris turned to Alan and Melody. "Okay, let's start with you two. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I asked them to come here, Harvey," said Sally hurriedly. She feared that Alan and Melody could get into a lot of trouble if the police knew Quinn was hiding out in the Cliff House. "I discovered Quinn was hiding here, so I called them to take Quinn to San Francisco. Alan, you have your boat, right?"
Alan nodded, wincing in pain, then smiling when Melody tried to hold him tighter.
Chief Morris looked annoyed. "You do know that we've been trying to locate Mr. Puddingstone, don't you Sally?"
"Oh, really, Chief? I don't think I realized that he was charged with anything."
"He wasn't charged with anything, Sally. That's not how the police operate. We wanted to question him."
"About what, Chief?" asked Sally.
Morris scowled. "Actually, we were trying to locate his brother Trevor here." He glared in Trevor's direction. "We have reason to believe that Trevor is eluding the Louisville, Kentucky police in connection with a series of homicides back there."
"I didn't kill anyone," shouted Trevor. He tried to gesture in Quinn's direction. "He's the one who killed people. He killed Marybeth. I had to stop him. He was going to get away." He lunged towards Alan, but Reyes pulled him back. "He was going to get away on his boat. Don't you see? I was just doing your job! I was stopping him from getting away."
Reyes pulled Trevor away from Alan and Melody. "We're pretty sure that you're the one who killed Marybeth Baker. We've got several witnesses who testified that they heard you arguing with your aunt. She wanted you out of her apartment, and you didn't want to go, isn't that right, mister?"
Marybeth, absent from the house quite a while, sailed in through one of the glass windows, and then fluttered near Trevor. When she heard the detective's accusation, she shook her head. "Trevor didn't kill me," she said to Sally.
"Actually, Detective," said Sally privately so Trevor wouldn’t hear her word. "I think you might have it backwards. I don't think Trevor killed his aunt Marybeth."
Marybeth's essence appeared more substantial as she tried to hug onto Trevor. Sally shook her head sadly.
"So we're back to square one?" said Chief Morris. "With no suspects?"
Sally took a deep breath. "No, Chief. Actually, we do have a suspect."
"Who?" demanded Morris.
Sally pointed at the corpse of Quinn Puddingstone. "This would have come out sooner or later. It might as well be now. Check his pockets, Chief."
"What am I looking for?" But it didn’t take the Chief long to find what Sally suspected he would discover. He held up a piece of paper. "It's a lottery ticket," he announced. "Well, half of one."
Marybeth stared at the lottery ticket in surprise. "That's my lottery ticket," she exclaimed.
"I know," said Sally. "That's the lottery ticket the man who pushed Marybeth Baker down the stairs took from her." She reached into a pocket on her jacket and pulled out the part of the lottery ticket Marybeth had given her. "Here is the other half of the ticket. He killed her to get what he thought was the winning ticket, but then he discovered he only had half of it. Quinn Puddingstone is the man who murdered Marybeth, Chief."
5. At the Cliff House
"I'm sorry, Sally, but simply finding half a lottery ticket in his pocket isn't proof of anything." Harvey Morris adopted his most stern expression.
Matt tried to flutter right in front of the Chief of Police, hoping that he could somehow intimidate his former friend. Matt's efforts didn't have much of an impact.
"I realize it's circumstantial, Harvey," said Sally calmly. "But this is why I think my scenario holds water. First, Trevor told Quinn about the lottery ticket. Didn't you Trevor?"
At first Trevor refused to respond. But then he appeared to have a change of heart. "Yeah, I told him about it. I thought if he thought that we might be able to split the winnings, then we could put everything behind us. What did my crazy old aunt need the money for? She was just a damn old lady."
"What?" screeched Marybeth. "How can he say that? After I took him in when his whole family was turning their backs on him. The ungrateful dog!"
Sally didn't appreciate the ageist bias either, since Marybeth was only a couple of years older than she was. "She probably would have shared the money with you," she said. "There was no reason to conspire to kill her."
"Hey, don't lay that at my doorstep! I never told Quinn to kill her. I just said we should find the ticket and cash it in ourselves."
Reyes shook his head. "No, that's not how it went down. You knew that if you just took the ticket, she would contest you for it. You had to kill her, didn't you?"
"I said I didn't kill Aunt Marybeth. She's the only one in the family who has ever been nice to me."
"I tried to be nice to him," said Marybeth. "But he made it hard."
Trevor anxiously looked around the room, and for a moment, Sally wondered if he had somehow heard Marybeth's voice. But he quickly resumed his sullen demeanor and stared at the ground.
"I also know that Quinn searched Marybeth's apartment. At first, I wasn't sure what he was looking for, but when at a different time, I found him searching my apartment, I realized that he was searching for the lottery ticket. He must have figured out that Marybeth had ripped the ticket into two parts, because she wanted to share the winnings with me, if there were any."
"He didn't figure that out," barked Trevor. "I figured that out. I should have realized my stupid aunt would want to split the money with someone like you. That was the only way she could make friends, you know. She had to buy them. I told Quinn that you probably had the other half of the ticket. He didn't think of that. But I knew how my aunt thought. I knew that's the dumb kind of thing she would do. I told him to search your apartment too."
Sally couldn't believe how stupid Trevor was. She had heard of people confessing to crimes on TV shows, but she had always thought that was just unimaginative writing on the part of the people who came up with the crime stories. She couldn't believe that anyone would just blurt out statements that would incriminate themselves in a possible homicide.
Marybeth stopped fluttering around Trevor. Her apparition receded several feet and rose higher off the floor. "Now I remember," she said. "Quinn came to my apartment. He said he was looking for Trevor, but he wasn't. He wanted that ticket. When I realized that, I told him I was going to go claim the prize and he'd never see a penny of it. He said he deserved it more than I did. That's when I ran. I was going to your apartment, Sally, but Quinn chased me into the stairwell. He grabbed the ticket from me. I tried to get away from him. But then--"
"Quinn took the ticket from Marybeth," explained Sally. "And as she tried to get away from him, he hit her on the back of her head. She fell down the stairs, and the fall killed her. When he found out that he only had half the ticket, he knew he couldn't claim it. He had to find the other half."
"He thought he could get the whole amount just for himself," laughed Trevor. "But I already knew that Aunt Marybeth had ripped the ticket in half. I just wasn't sure where the other half was. I had to send Quinn back to search for it. But now he would. Because we were brothers again. We both had blood on our hands, so I owned him."
"Whose blood did you have on your hands, Trevor?" asked Sally. "Did you and Quinn plan to kill Marybeth? Is it her blood on your hands too?"
"No! I didn't want her dead. That was all on Quinn."
Chief Morris pulled Sally to the side of the room, then spoke in a quiet whisper. "This is all very nice, Sally, but we don't have any evidence, other than this ticket. And that doesn't really prove anything. He could have found it on the ground for all we know. It may be true that Quinn Puddingstone caused the death of his aunt, but we'll never be able to prove it in a court of law. I need something that would actually tie one or both of them to her murder."
Sally nodded, herself uncertain. While she was discovering there were two sets of evidence in the universe--the physical, tangible evidence of this world, and the intangible evidence of the ghostly realm--she had the sudden realization that Marybeth was still floating in the solarium. If finding out who had killed her was the trigger that would allow her to move on, why hadn't she moved on yet? What was still binding her to this plane of existence?
Was it possible that Quinn's crime wasn't the only cord that bound Marybeth's ghost?
6. At the Cliff House
There was a commotion upstairs as several people attempted to enter the Cliff House. Sally could hear the voices of her daughter Jennifer and her son-in-law Jack, demanding to know what had happened to Sally.
"I'm down here," yelled Sally.
The stairs were soon filled with a motley crowd consisting of Sally's family, two police officers, and Bramsby and Swathcombe, both of whom kept insisting that they had a right to be here also. Two EMTs stood at the top of the stairs, trying to determine where the body was.
Chief Morris yelled at the EMTs to come down and for everyone else to get the hell out of the way. The only ones who seemed to respond to Morris' commands were Jack and Jennifer. Both Swathcombe and Bramsby forced their way down to the solarium.
"Sorry, Chief," said Officer Barb Underwood. "We tried to keep them out, but, well, you know, they're--"
"I know, Officer," said Morris. "I'll deal with them later." He directed the medics to check on Alan Ripple's wound.
Morris turned to face the two Kentuckians. "Tell me why I shouldn't arrest both of you for interfering with a police action?"
"We're just here to help," said Swathcombe. "You know we've been looking for both these individuals. Damn, is Quinn dead?"
"Yes, you idiot," said Bramsby. "Who shot him?" He shot an angry, accusing glance in Alan Ripple's direction.
"We're trying to determine that," said Chief Morris.
"I told you who shot him," said Sally. "I saw Trevor shooting at Melody, Alan, and Quinn. I don't think it's a question for debate." She would have said more, but Sally was suddenly aware that more than the police, the Kentuckians, and the EMTs had entered the room.
The ghost of Quinn Puddingstone also floated down the stairs. The ghost looked around, bewildered, uncertain. It hovered over the body, now hidden by a covering provided by the EMTs. When the ghost saw Sally staring at it, the ghost seemed to freeze in place.
"You can see me?" asked Quinn's ghost.
"Yes," said Sally.
"Okay, I heard you, Sally," said Harvey Morris. "But we're still going to do this by the book."
Sally wasn't paying attention to what Morris was planning on doing, by the book or not. She was busy watching the raging interaction between Marybeth's ghost and Quinn's ghost. Marybeth was chasing Quinn's spirit around the solarium, screaming at him all the while, "You killed me! You killed me! What did I ever do to you, you ungrateful wretch?"
"It wasn't my idea," screamed Quinn. "Trevor told me to get the ticket from you. I didn't want you to die. It was an accident that I pushed you down the stairs. I told Trevor that. I called him and asked him what I should do. Believe me, seeing you lying there, all twisted, that was hard for me."
"Hard for you? It was me who was dead!"
Sally wasn't sure what would happen if the two ghosts actually connected with each other. The speed with which they circled the room was alarming. Surely, as incorporeal spirits, they couldn't actually damage anything. At least she thought that until they both smashed into the large upper window of the solarium.
With a loud popping sound, the glass cracked.
Everyone in the room froze in place, then each looked around, half expecting another California earthquake. The last place any of them wanted to be was in a room that hung above the pounding surf fifty feet below.
But there was no earthquake. Only two ghosts, splattered against the glass.
"Damn," said Matt. "You never expect to see that!"
"False alarm," said Melody, relief clearly expressed in her voice. She hugged Alan even more tightly. Alan hid any reaction to the pain in his shoulder by attempting to hug her back.
"As I said, Chief, I think Quinn killed Marybeth. Maybe he didn't intend to kill her, but his actions led to her death. But he's not the only killer in this room."
Morris glanced over at Alan Ripple.
"No, not him, Chief. Get real, will you? No, it's Trevor. Quinn was right all along. Trevor killed his family. Quinn came out here to get revenge, but Trevor was too cunning to let that happen. He told Quinn about the winning lottery ticket--"
"Wait a minute!" interrupted Chief Morris. "Are you saying this lottery ticket is a winning ticket?"
Sally nodded. "According to Marybeth, who announced to everyone in Crystal Manor that it was the winning ticket. But to continue. That was just a ploy to get Quinn to help Trevor."
"It would have worked, too," said Quinn. The ghost peeled himself off the surface of the window. "Except I knew that Trevor couldn't be trusted. The little bastard was always the world's biggest liar. Once I got the complete ticket, I would have turned him in to the cops."
Sally shook her head. Some families really needed counseling. "When Trevor found out that Quinn was staying here, he figured that Quinn must have both halves of the ticket and wanted to get away with it." She looked up at Quinn's ghost. "That's why he thought you were here. To get away."
Chief Morris followed Sally's gaze up at the window, then he shook his head. "Conjecture, Sally O'Brian. Brilliant theory, but where's the proof?"
Sally pointed to the evidence bag that Detective Reyes had collected. "The gun, Chief. I am pretty sure that if you examine the weapon and bullets you find here, that you'll be able to get the Louisville Police to match them up to the bullets found in the murder of the Puddingstone family."
Swathcombe stared at the evidence bag. "You have the murder weapon?"
"Yes," said Sally. "Or Detective Reyes has it. And I am pretty sure we all heard Trevor admit to killing his family."
"He confessed?" asked Bramsby.
Sally nodded. "Unfortunately, I don't have any way to prove that."
Alan pulled himself away from Melody and went up the stairs. "Not necessarily, Mrs. O. We might have what we need right here."
7. At the Cliff House
Alan retrieved his phone and brought it down to Chief Morris. He handed over the phone. "I recorded what was said when Trevor arrived here. I don't know how good the recording is, but it should have the conversation that Mrs. O'Brian was mentioning. It sure sounded like a confession to me, and I can swear in court that what Trevor said on this recording is accurate."
"As can I," added Melody, coming up to Alan's side and grasping hold of his good arm.
Chief Morris handed the phone to Detective Reyes. "You know more about how these things work than I do. See if you can play the recording."
Trevor suddenly broke away from the group, trying to escape up the stairs. Barb Underwood leaped after him, tackling him on the stairs. She pulled Trevor up to his feet and dragged him back to the others.
Chief Morris smiled. "No one gets away from Barb," he muttered. "The baddest cop in Northern California."
The coroner arrived, checked out Quinn Puddingstone, and then stood up.
"What's the verdict, doc?" asked Chief Morris.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not a doctor," said the coroner. "He's dead. Probably by gunshot to the chest."
"Gee, I could have told them that," said Quinn, floating above the body.
"I already told them that," said Sally.
Marybeth finally managed to removed herself from the glass window. She approached Quinn, a bit more cautiously and less aggressively this time. "Why are you here, Quinn?"
Quinn stared at her. "I'm sorry I killed you, Aunt Marybeth. I'm here to make sure the guy who killed my wife Gabby is brought to justice. She didn't deserve to die. I want justice."
"Justice isn't ours to get," said Marybeth. "Just answers. And I think the world will discover that Trevor did in fact kill your wife and your family. What kind of justice the world gets, though...that's beyond what we can do."
"Really?" said Quinn. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do? I did something bad, and I have to find a way to undo it."
"Sorry, Quinn, there are no do-overs in life or death." Marybeth pointed at Sally. "On the other hand, you can tell her what she needs to know. She's our only conduit to this realm."
Quinn looked uncertain.
"If you have something to say, Quinn, tell Sally," said Matt.
Quinn nodded, then slowly floated over to Sally. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, an entirely unnecessary precaution since no other living person could hear him.
Sally nodded. "Chief, one last thing. Check out Trevor's phone. I think you'll find a voice message from Quinn to Trevor. In that call, he admits to pushing Marybeth down the stairs."
Detective Reyes had already confiscated Trevor's phone. He held up the evidence bag. "Thank you, Mrs. O'Brian. We'll check it out."
Sally turned to face Quinn, muttering quietly, "That should do it."
But Quinn's ghost had disappeared.
"You jumped in front of that bullet to save me, didn't you?" said Melody as she helped Alan Ripple up the stairs.
Earlier he had bounded up the stairs to retrieve his phone, but this time, the climb required more effort.
One of the EMTs came over to Alan. "We need to get you to the hospital, sir. Make sure that wound is taken care of."
Alan nodded, then turned to face Melody.
"I realize that now that Trevor is arrested, the reason for our 'ruse' has come to an end. I just want you to know that it hardly seemed like a ruse to me, Melody. You are a wonderful person. And I hope you find the right guy to make you happy one of these days."
He looked as though he was going to lean in and kiss her, but instead, he allowed the EMT to lead him upstairs and out the front door.
Melody stared after him as he left. Then, worried that she might be too late, she rushed over to the ambulance into which they had put Alan.
"I'm a nurse," she said, climbing into the ambulance. "I should go with him and help make sure his wound is taken care of."
The EMT smiled, and closed the door with her inside. Melody settled down next to Alan, gazing lovingly at the man who had shown her how much he cared for her.
Now it was her turn to show him how she really felt about him.