Walt and Danielle only stayed at the museum for a couple of hours on Thursday. But before they said goodbye to Adam, Danielle asked him if he would let her go over to the house the next day so she could take pictures of the property and send them to Madeline. She felt a little guilty telling the white lie, and so as to not find herself caught in it at some future date, she decided she would send the photos off to Madeline and write something like: you once mentioned you might be interested in Frederickport property, so I thought I’d give you a sample of what’s currently on the market. She wanted to cover her bases, because if Madeline ever visited her in the future, and she saw Adam, he would mention the property.
“I wish you could come with us,” Walt told Danielle Thursday evening as he and Ian prepared to take Connor to the firework show along the beach. They had finished dinner twenty minutes earlier, and together Walt and Ian—with the help of Walt’s telekinetic gift—cleaned up the dinner dishes.
Danielle and Lily sat together on the sofa, each holding their daughters, while Jack napped between them. Danielle looked at Walt and smiled. “Next year. I really have no desire to go to the firework show tonight.”
“Neither do I,” Lily agreed.
“You boys go, have fun. Take Connor for ice cream afterwards,” Danielle suggested.
Connor perked up. “Ice keem?”
Ian laughed. “Now we’ll have to take him.”
Danielle flashed Ian a mischievous grin. “I imagine Walt wants to go for ice cream, anyway.”
“She’s right.” Walt winked at his wife. They chatted a few more minutes while Ian changed Connor’s diaper and gathered up what they needed to take. When they were ready to leave, Walt walked over to the sofa, gave Danielle a kiss, and dropped a kiss on the foreheads of his son and daughter. For good measure, he ruffled Lily’s hair, as if she were an obedient dog, and ran a gentle finger over Emily Ann’s forehead.
Lily laughed at Walt and absently brushed her fingers through her hair. “Gee, thanks, Walt,” she said, still laughing.
“You know I love you.” Walt gave her a wink and started for the door.
With Connor now in his arms, Ian walked to the sofa and gave his wife a kiss, but spared Danielle the same attention Walt had given Lily, considering both his hands were occupied. Sadie followed them all to the front door.
A few minutes later, after Danielle and Lily heard the front door open and close, Sadie returned to the living room and lay down in front of the sofa.
“This will be good for Connor, spending guy time with Walt and his dad. Plus, I really didn’t want to go tonight,” Lily said.
“Me either.”
“When Ian was changing Connor, it reminded me I need to start potty training that boy,” Lily said.
“They always say you shouldn’t start potting training a boy until he’s two and a half.”
“Yeah, that’s what my mother always told me. But I recently read an article that claimed the study advocating later potty training was funded by companies that made diapers.”
Danielle arched her brows. “Really? So it would be a financial incentive for those companies to keep toddlers in diapers longer. Sort of like how they marketed baby formula, and many women stopped breastfeeding.”
“Exactly. But to be honest, I’m not really sure the story about the diaper companies funding the studies is true. After all, I saw it on social media.”
They both laughed.
“But I’m considering giving potty training a shot with Connor after he turns two. If it becomes a major deal with him, and he’s not mature enough, I’ll back off.”
“Look at us, Lily, all this baby and mommy talk,” Danielle teased.
They both laughed again.
“Okay, enough about diapers and breastfeeding. So that player Adrian has actually asked Bonnie to marry him? All the while, he’s planning to hook up with another woman?”
Danielle shrugged. “It looks that way. I feel sorry for Bonnie. She seems totally over the moon for this guy. I hate breaking her heart.”
“It’s better than letting her marry that jerk. And if Wesley is right, we might be saving Bonnie’s life.”
“True. Wish we could come up with something else. But aside from catching him cheating, Eva and Marie haven’t come across anything that might substantiate Wesley’s claim about his brother.”
“Are you really going back to that house tomorrow?” Lily asked.
“Oh! I almost forgot; I need to call Heather.”
“Why?”
“Remember, I need to take either her or Chris with me so I can talk to the ghost. I was going to call Heather tonight and ask her.” Danielle reached over to the side table and picked up her cellphone. Lily sat quietly and listened to Danielle’s side of the conversation. When Danielle hung up, she said, “Heather’s going to go, but she’s calling Chris to see if he wants to go too.”
Chris and Heather showed up midmorning on Friday to drive Danielle to Cordelia’s house. Chris had Hunny with him, but he left the dog at Marlow House. After Danielle climbed into the backseat of Chris’s car and slammed the door shut, Chris asked, “How’s it going with having a second family living with you?”
Putting on her seatbelt, Danielle looked to the driver’s seat. “It’s been going great, actually. It’s nice having Lily’s company. And what’s one more baby and a toddler?”
“Plus, Walt and Ian are waiting on Lily and Danielle like princesses,” Heather snarked but added, “As they should.”
Chris laughed and put his car in drive. He pulled out into the street and asked, “Did you tell Adam we’re coming with you?”
“No. He offered to pick me up, but I told him I was going to be out running errands, so it wasn’t necessary. I figure I can tell him you stopped by, and I mentioned I was going over to take some pictures of the house, and you wanted to come.”
“Get Adam all excited.” Heather chuckled. “He’ll figure, if Madeline doesn’t buy it, Chris might.”
“By the way, when I saw Mel at the museum yesterday, she told me some interesting things about Cordelia,” Danielle said.
Heather glanced to the backseat where Danielle sat. “Who’s Cordelia?”
“The ghost we’re going to see,” Danielle reminded her before recounting the conversation she had with Mel.
When they arrived at Cordelia’s house, Adam was waiting for them. He had already opened up the house, which included pulling back the blinds to let in the sunlight and opening the windows to let in the fresh air.
“Why don’t you and Heather take your pictures? I need to talk to Adam about something,” Chris suggested. “I’ll look at the house when we’re done.”
Danielle and Heather flashed Chris a smile, leaving Adam standing on the front porch with him.
“Your boss is slick,” Danielle whispered to Heather as they walked through the living room.
Heather chuckled before asking, “So where do you think we’re going to find Cordelia?”
“When I saw her, she was sitting in the parlor. That’s where her portrait’s hanging.”
“What is with these ghosts and portraits?” Heather asked. “I don’t have a portrait, so when I die, am I going to be considered a loser in the ghost world?”
Danielle chuckled. “Not sure, but I’ve noticed, when they’ve had a portrait done of them, they do seem drawn to it.”
“Ego?”
“It’s probably because they no longer see their reflection in the mirror. If they have something tangible, something of the living world that looks like them, it might be comforting.”
Danielle led Heather to the parlor. Its door still closed. She stopped in front of the door and looked at Heather. “This is where I saw her. Let’s see if she’s still here.” Danielle reached for the doorknob, turned it, and pushed open the door. She and Heather walked into the room.
“Hello. You’re back. Who’s your friend?”
Heather and Danielle looked at the elderly woman sitting in the wingback chair. Heather smiled at the woman and asked, “Are you Cordelia?”
Cordelia’s eyes widened, as if surprised Heather had actually answered her. “Are you a witch?”
Heather suppressed her urge to laugh. “Umm, no. Why do you ask?”
“No offense intended. But how you’re dressed, you look a little like what I’d expect a modern witch to dress like.”
“A modern witch?” Heather asked.
Cordelia grinned. “In my day, we had to be more discreet.”
Heather frowned. “We?”
Instead of answering Heather’s question, Cordelia smiled and asked her own. “Who are you? And why are you here?”
“I’m Danielle Marlow, and this is my friend Heather Donovan.”
“You can both see me?” the ghost asked in a quiet voice as she stared intently at the two women.
“Yes, we can. But you knew I could see you the other day, didn’t you?” Danielle asked.
Cordelia leaned back in the chair, her hands now folded on her lap. “I suspected you could. I don’t get many visitors, but the ones I do, well, none of them could see me. Or else they were ignoring me.”
“Cordelia, we’re here trying to unravel a mystery and possibly prevent a murder. We were hoping you might help.”
Cordelia smiled. “I did love reading a good mystery when I was alive. There were a few mysteries I enjoyed watching on television, but only the British ones. I didn’t care for the American ones. So tell me, whose life are you trying to save?”
“Your niece Bonnie,” Danielle told her.
Cordelia frowned. “Heavens, why on earth would anyone want to kill Bonnie? I can think of one who has the motive, but she’s not a murderer, so you don’t have to worry about her.”
“Who has a motive?” Danielle asked.
“Her cousin, Rylee, of course. After all, from what I’ve pieced together from the occasional visits I’ve gotten from the living world—none of whom could see or hear me—it appears that little brat Bonnie has forged my will and managed to steal Rylee’s inheritance.”
“Are you saying you didn’t leave your estate to Bonnie?” Danielle asked.
“Of course not. Why would I do that? I’m not daft. Rylee was always such a dear girl, and while I paid her to take care of me, I always knew she was not charging enough. She could have made far more working as a traveling nurse, and not have to put up with my stubborn ways. I can be quite stubborn. As for Bonnie, I was generous with her over the years, and unlike Rylee, she never hesitated to accept what I offered. A new car when she turned sixteen. I paid for her wedding, even though I couldn’t understand what she saw in that man. I don’t know how Bonnie changed my will.”
“According to the paralegal who handled your estate, you asked her to come see you the weekend Bonnie was staying with you. When the paralegal arrived, you visited with her privately and made the changes. Bonnie claims she had no idea you changed your will, and the paralegal collaborated that.”
“That’s absurd. Yes, she did come see me that weekend, but she’s the one who called me. I didn’t call her. She said there were some papers I needed to sign that had been overlooked. It’s true, I met with her privately in this room. Bonnie was in the living room. I read over the papers I signed. None were about changes to a will. And then she left. Someone needs to talk to the paralegal. If she said I changed the will, she is lying.”
“We will talk to her, I promise,” Danielle said.
“And you don’t need to worry about anyone murdering Bonnie. Like I said, Rylee would never kill her cousin.”
“Actually, it’s her brother-in-law, Adrian, who someone believes intends to kill her.”
“Adrian? I remember Bonnie used to have a crush on Adrian before she married Wesley. Of course, Adrian was not interested. But I can’t imagine why he’d want to kill her.”