Madison Johns - Agnes Barton Paranormal 01 - Haunted Hijinks Page 5

  “Oh, I doubt that very much since Sara just flew in from Hollywood. She doesn’t strike me as the hands-on type of girl.”

  “That’s pretty obvious. All the more reason to dig in deep to solve this case.”

  I drove up US 23 and merged onto Tawas Beach Road as Eleanor directed me. I came to an abrupt halt when I came to the Tawas Beach Club gate. “Jack lives in a gated community?”

  “His son, Henry, does.”

  “I don’t think I’ve met him before.”

  “Nope, he lives downstate somewhere, but I heard tell that he bought a house here so that his old man had a place to live. Jack lost his house to one of his ex-wives.”

  That made me smile, since Jack was kind of a jerk. “How are we going to get in here?”

  “Call Martha. Didn’t she do realty at one time?”

  “Yes. She doesn’t any longer, but she might have some connections.” I called Martha and she promised to be right over.

  Eleanor read a few of the letters. “In these letters, Jack is asking Katherine to meet him, mentioning that it’s of great importance.”

  “Why didn’t he just call her?”

  “It also says that she keeps ignoring his calls. Why on earth would Jack not just drop by the mansion?”

  “Well, if Katherine was blowing him off, maybe he was afraid she might call the law on him.”

  “True. These letters were mailed to an address in Bay Port, Michigan,” Eleanor said.

  “So none of those letters were mailed to the Butler Mansion?”

  “Nope. Maybe they already connected here in Tawas.”

  “Perhaps, but I have a feeling that there’s more to this story if Jack’s involved. Katherine certainly doesn’t seem to fit his MO. She wasn’t blonde or twenty.”

  “How on earth do you know how old she was when we only saw her as a corpse?”

  “I’m thinking she looks at least thirty.”

  Eleanor rolled her eyes, but just then, Martha rolled up in her 1970s paneled station wagon. She pulled alongside my car with her windows rolled down. Accompanying her was a shirtless, blond, twenty-something young man who looked surfboard ready.

  “It’s about time. Do you have the key to get us in?”

  “Nope, but Brad here does.”

  Brad squeezed out of the car, his denim short shorts low on his hips and even my eyes about popped out at the sight. He leaned into my window. “My folks own a place out here.”

  Eleanor’s face split into the biggest grin ever. “We appreciate you helping us out.”

  “I’ll escort you to the Winston place. Jack is a riot.”

  He strode to the fence and opened the gate, then hopped into the back of my car, as did Martha after she parked her wagon on the edge of the road. The car rumbled forward and the gate was then re-locked behind us by a man who waved at Brad.

  We drove a few hundred yards and Brad pointed out the driveway that we needed to turn in. I drove up to a gray-sided house that wasn’t all that impressive too look at, in my opinion. “Your house looks nicer than this one,” I said to Eleanor.

  “I bet this one has a much bigger strip of beach than what I have, plus it is part of the Tawas Beach Club.”

  “Which means what, exactly?”

  “Just that not anyone can buy a home here. They have to approve you and check you out first. It’s about as high class as Tawas gets.”

  Most likely, most of them are not from the Tawas area, but I left my thoughts to myself, not wanting to offend Brad. I can’t say anything bad about anyone just because they have money. Anyone who works hard deserves whatever he or she can afford. It’s not that I think there is anything wrong with high-class people. I’m just a small town person and have always felt uncomfortable around people of means—not that any of them have ever been unkind to me.

  When I parked, we all got out and Brad led the way to the door. He explained that we would more likely be allowed in since I had informed him why we were here.

  After a few raps, the door was opened by an attractive man with dark hair and a thin mustache, dressed all in white with sandals on his feet. He looked to be about thirty-five. “Hey, Brad. What brings you by?”

  “This is Martha, Agnes Barton and Eleanor Mason. They’re here to speak with your dad, if he’s available.”

  Henry smiled. “Great, I’ve been stuck entertaining him all day. At least I can get some work done now.”

  “Oh, do you work from home?”

  “Yes, I’m a writer.”

  Eleanor’s face lit up. “Oh, what kind of book do you write?”

  “Spy novels, mostly.”

  “Oh, how interesting,” Eleanor said as she hooked her arm though his. “I love to read. I should try one of your novels sometime.”

  Instead of yanking his arm away, he played along. “Sure.”

  Just then, a dark-skinned man joined them. “Quite the lady killer, aren’t you, Brad,” the man said with a wink.

  Henry laughed as Eleanor released his arm. “This is my partner, Tony.”

  “Oh … oh. How great,” I said.

  “It’s about time he claims me,” Tony said. “He’s a touch too much in the closet.”

  Henry’s hands went to his hips. “I am not. I just don’t want to be known as the gay author.”

  “I can understand that. Well, we won’t bother you further if you can point us in the direction of where we might find your father.”

  We were led outside and Henry waltzed to a lawn chair that was turned away from us, facing Lake Huron, and oh, what a view. The waves pounded the shore now, as the wind had picked us since we were at Eleanor’s house and was now quite brisk. There was a dock where a speedboat was moored and I could clearly see the lighthouse on the point that was in the state park.

  “It’s about time you got away from that confounded computer. You work too much.”

  “Actually, I haven’t been able to work much at all. There are too many distractions around here, lately.”

  “Perhaps there wouldn’t be as many distractions if Tony got a job.”

  “It has nothing to do with Tony. It’s you, Dad. Why don’t you call one of your lady friends over?”

  “I don’t have a steady flow of women since you’ve locked up nearly all of my assets.”

  “I had to or you’d be broke by now. You can’t stay in a spending frenzy your entire life.”

  “I’d rather spend my wad then leave it for you boys to fight over when I’m gone.”

  “Sorry,” Henry said to us. “Dad, you have company.”

  The ghost floated over to where we were, moving to a lawn chair next to Jack. We walked around to where Jack could see us. “Hiya, Jack.”

  He rolled his eyes and pounded the arms of his chair with a thump. “Oh, great. What do you people want?”

  Martha’s wild hair blew in the wind as she clung to Brad’s arm. “Maybe we better leave you investigators to your questioning,” she said as Brad led her away.

  He sat upright. “Questioning? What in tarnation do you have to question me about?”

  “Can I have a seat? Eleanor asked. I’m about ready to fall over in this heat.”

  “Suit yourself, fish lady.”

  I waved my arms frantically. “Not that chair, Eleanor!”

  Just before Eleanor completely sat on the ghost, she flew up and away.

  “What are you carrying on about? I have sat next to Jack before without incident.”

  “Oh, never mind. There was a bee in the chair but it flew away,” I grumbled, feeling like a complete fool now. I plopped down in a chair opposite Jack, and then said, “Do you know Katherine Clark?”

  His eyes widened. “Katherine?”

  “Yes, the woman who met a premature death at the Butler Mansion yesterday.”

  He began breathing hard, his eyes filling with tears and he swiped at them with his hands. “Katherine—dead?”

  Oh, no. “I’m sorry. I thought you already knew.”

  “N
o, I didn’t. They said on the news that they found a body at the Butler Mansion, but didn’t release any names yet.”

  I felt so bad. “I’m sorry, Jack. How did you know her?”

  He swiped at his large nose with a hand. “I’d rather not say, especially to the two of you.”

  Can’t say I blame him for that. “We really want to find out who might have murdered Katherine, and if you’re gonna react like this, then I’d think you’d want that, too.”

  Jack clamped his jaw tightly closed, his lower lip protruding. His brown eyes shifted from me to a shadow behind me. I whirled as Henry now stood behind me, holding a tray of lemonade. “I brought you some refreshments.” He set the tray down and asked, “What’s the matter, Dad?”

  “Nothing, son. Run along and work on your book. They brought me bad news and it’s nothing for you to concern yourself with.”

  Henry’s brow arched. “Are you sure? Because you really look upset.”

  “I’m sure, son.”

  Henry reluctantly left and I had the strangest urge to take ahold of Jack’s hand and couldn’t stop myself, but when I did, he slapped my hand away. “What in tarnation are you trying to do? You’re so not my type.”

  I sighed. “Sorry, I just felt bad and I wanted to … oh, I don’t know what I was trying to do.”

  “You were taking leave of your senses,” Eleanor added. “You know Jack only is interested in barely-eighteen-year-old girls.”

  “Hogwash,” Jack sputtered. “I’m not who you think I am,” he blubbered. “All those women who were with me, I paid them to accompany me around town.”

  “Like… in … hookers?” Eleanor asked.

  “No, I never touched any of them. I have had eyes only for Elsie Bradford all these years, but trying to get close to that woman is like pulling whatever teeth I have left in my mouth.”

  I had to agree with that, and frankly, I was shocked by this revelation. “You never know unless you try.”

  “Believe me, that ship has passed.”

  “So what about Katherine? How long were you sending her letters?”

  “I-I wasn’t.”

  Eleanor produced the letters and Jack’s face reddened to a deep purple. “How did you get these? They’re private.”

  “We found them in Katherine’s belongings. Why was it so important that you speak with her?”

  “I’m not saying a word.”

  I stood. “Okay, I’ll have to make sure Sheriff Peterson gets these letters, then. It would think you would rather tell us than be questioned by the sheriff.”

  “And if I tell you what you want to know, do you promise not to turn those letters over to the fuzz?”

  I couldn’t promise, but I didn’t want to let him know that. “Eleanor and I plan to investigate this case out of the eye of law enforcement, if that makes you happy.”

  He held out his hand. “How about you just give me the letters to assure that the sheriff never sees them? He might just get the wrong idea.”

  “What kind of idea is that? I must admit that these letters sure put you on the hot seat. You seemed desperate to see Katherine in person.”

  His arm dropped and the ghost hovered by in encouragement.

  “Yes, I was quite desperate, but not how you might think. I wasn’t dating her or even trying to.”

  “So why was it so important to see her?” Eleanor asked.

  “You probably overheard Henry and me talking. He’s taken nearly all of my money for safekeeping and only gives me a few hundred a week for spending money.”

  “What gives him the right to do that?”

  “Well, I’m a spender, but those women don’t accompany me for free. They cost me like a five hundred a week.”

  “Then there are the winters in Florida,” I said. “I bet that cost you a bundle, too.”

  “Yup, but that gold-digger I married last year really took me to the cleaners.”

  “I didn’t even know you were married.”

  “Yes, well, anyway, after that fiasco, I agreed to hand over my bank account to my son and I had no idea at the time that he’d keep me on such a short leash financially. That’s when I met Katherine. She told me about this financial opportunity, but after I managed to sneak away twenty thousand from Henry and handed over the cash to Katherine, she quit answering my phone calls and didn’t return any of my messages.”

  “And she was living in Bay Port?”

  “Yes, I didn’t even know she had come to the Tawas area until a few weeks ago when I ran into her at Walmart.”

  “What happened? Did she tell you why she hadn’t called you back?”

  “No, she threatened to call the law on me if I ever set foot near her again.”

  I plopped down in my chair and the ghost crossed her arms, obviously as irritated as I was. “So she swindled you out of twenty thousand?”

  “Yup. It’s no wonder my son keeps my funds locked up. I really never thought she’d do that to me. I had thought that if I allowed her some time, then I’d ask her if she actually invested the money, or outright stole it from me in some kind of scheme.”

  “Why did you trust her anyway?”

  “I don’t know. I overheard her talking to a customer at the Bay Port Inn about an investment tip she got from her stockbroker brother.”

  “What was the investment in?”

  “Solar technology, an outfit called International Energy. It sounded like green technology that would be all the rage these days. I expected to get in on the ground floor and she told me I had bought fifty percent of the stock.”

  “Which would net you quite a sum if it went global.”

  “Yes. Katherine told me that they were expanding business in the South that would really put them on the map financially. You know, everyone these days is all about green. If they had only planned to do business in the North I would never have handed off the money, but the South has far more sunlight than we get up here so I figured it was a sweet deal.”

  “Why would you even trust someone you didn’t know like that?”

  “She was so convincing and I had to do something to increase my cash flow.”

  “How did you get the money from your son?”

  “I took it without his knowledge. I still don’t think he knows it’s gone, but when he does, it’s gonna be World War III around here. He might seem calm enough now, but don’t be fooled. There is plenty of Jack Winston in him.”

  “And you never planned to harm Katherine after she swindled you?”

  “Of course I did. That’s a pretty normal reaction. Now that she’s dead, I’ll for sure never get my money back.”

  Jack’s eyes widened, but I didn’t pay any attention to what that was all about as I suggested, “It might be better if you told your son the truth about the money before he finds out.”

  “What money?” Henry asked from behind me.

  I whirled and said, “Geez, don’t you know you shouldn’t be sneaking up on old folks like that. You gave me a near heart attack.”

  Henry pursed his lips. “How else do you think I find out about what the old man is up to?” He crossed his arms.

  “Confound it. You’re sneakier than a snake, Henry. Okay, I might as well up and tell you that I found your checkbook and wrote myself a check for twenty thousand a few months back,” Jack admitted.

  Henry’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Why on earth did you need that kind of money?”

  “I ran into what I thought was a great investment, but it looks like I got swindled, and now as it turns out, that woman, Katherine Clark was found dead at the Butler Mansion,” Jack said somberly. “She was the one I gave the money to.”

  “What kind of investment, exactly?”

  “A solar technology company, International Energy. Katherine told me I was getting in on the ground floor and would be getting a fifty percent interest in the company. They were planning to expand into the South, even. Sounded like a good deal at the time.”

  “Why on earth did
you do that, Dad?”

  “You’re barely giving me enough money to get by with.”

  “Two hundred a week isn’t much for Jack. He’s used to living the highlife,” Eleanor said.

  “Well, I just didn’t want to see him throwing all of his cash at those bimbos.” Henry’s shoulders drooped a bit now. “Is there any way we can get the money back?”

  “That’s where we come in,” I began. “We need to find out if Katherine still had the money, or if someone else was also involved in her scheme.”

  “I just don’t understand why she came to town or took a job at the Butler Mansion,” Eleanor said. “Why turn up in the same town where the man lived that you swindled?”

  “Unless she was sure that Jack wouldn’t call the cops,” I said. “At what point did you realize that she took your money Jack, or did you?”

  “I still believed I could at least get my money back if she’d only speak to me.”

  “You still thought that after she threatened you?”

  Jack took a drink of his lemonade, and then said, “Well, I guess I just didn’t want to believe it. Agnes, maybe if you and Eleanor dig into Katherine’s death, you might just find the money.”

  “If it’s in her bank accounts there might be a money trail. Did you write the check to her for the twenty thousand?”

  “No, I wrote it to myself. Katherine insisted she get the money in cash. That way she’d be able to buy the stock right away. With a sizable check you’d have to wait ten days for it to clear the bank.”

  Eleanor bobbed her head. “He’s right, Agnes. You’d have to wait with a check.”

  “I’d sure like to know if this International Energy is a real company or a dummy corporation set up to look authentic for an elaborate scheme.”

  “If that’s the case, Aggie, that Katherine might have swindled more folks in town.”

  “Exactly, and I can’t help but think that she targeted senior citizens, which really makes me sick to my stomach.”

  “Sounds like you ladies have a case to unravel,” Henry said. “Come inside, Dad, and we’ll go over your finances. The last thing I want you to think is that I’m trying to take your money. I just don’t want to see you go broke.”