Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 06 - Magnolia Mansion Mysteries Read online

  She stepped over to the door and kneeled down. The door wasn’t very big. Just large enough to wiggle through if someone really wanted to.

  Her gaze zeroed in on the metal handle and a round lock that hung on the front. It reminded Gloria of a combination lock. This one was red and rusty, and instead of a combination, there was a key hole in the center.

  Gloria grabbed hold of the lock. It was heavy in her hand - like solid lead. She pulled down but the lock refused to budge.

  Andrea peeked over her shoulder. “I wonder what’s in there.”

  Gloria dropped the lock. “You still have your phone? I want to take a picture of this.”

  Andrea pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and turned it on. She handed it to Gloria. “Just press the screen.”

  Gloria leaned in and snapped a couple pictures of the front of the lock. She turned the lock over and rubbed her finger across the back. There was something etched on the back but she didn’t have her glasses on and the print was too small. She snapped a picture and handed the phone to Andrea. “Can you send those to me?”

  Andrea nodded as she reached for the camera. She pressed the screen a few times and looked up. “Okay, you should have them.”

  Gloria gazed one final time at the lock before she stood up and brushed the dirt from her knees. “Did the workers come down here?”

  Andrea nodded. “A couple times to, you know, to work on the mechanical stuff.”

  Gloria stuck her hands on her hips. She was dying to know what was inside. She made a mental note to look for something that might pick that lock.

  Andrea’s father hollered down the steps. “Are you done down there?”

  Andrea glanced up to the top. “We’re on our way.”

  Andrea led the way up the steps, followed by Gloria. Pierce brought up the rear.

  Her mother peered at Andrea. “Your father and I were just wondering...what was going outside in that – that dumpster-thingy?” she asked.

  Andrea and Pierce exchanged uneasy glances. They knew Andrea’s parents well enough to know they would not like what they were about to hear.

  Andrea took a deep breath and blurted out. “There was a human skeleton in the dumpster.” She squeezed her eyes shut; waiting for what she knew was coming next.

  Her father exploded. “A human skeleton! Good heavens above!”

  Andrea raised her hands, as if to calm her parents. “We’re not sure where it came from or how it got there.” She hoped the explanation would help. Maybe just a little.

  Without saying a word, her mother turned on her heel and headed down the hallway. Her high heels clicked sharply on the marble floor. Moments later, they could hear the creak of the steps as she headed to the second floor.

  Gloria tried to help. “The fact that the remains were skeletal means the person wasn’t recently deceased,” she theorized.

  Andrea’s father peered at Gloria through his dark-framed glasses. “I am fully aware of that.”

  Andrea’s mother returned moments later, wearing a surgical mask and a pair of white surgical gloves.

  Andrea lifted her hand to her lips. “Mother!”

  Even Andrea’s father seemed surprised. “Now Libby, don’t you think you’re carrying this germaphobe thing a little too far?”

  Libby’s eyes narrowed over the rim of the mask. She ignored her husband’s comments as she faced her daughter. “Lord only knows what’s hidden inside these old walls. For all we know, there could be more bodies!”

  Gloria frowned. She couldn’t argue with that. The woman had a point. She remembered watching the show, “If Walls Could Talk” and grinned in spite of herself, certain that if these walls could talk, they’d have a lot to say!

  Gloria glanced at her watch. “I better get going.”

  Andrea walked her to the door. “The skeleton in the dumpster has me freaked out. This is the second body we found now,” she pointed out. “Maybe this place is haunted and I should sell it and move somewhere else.” She glanced back at her parents. “They’re convinced I should move back to New York.”

  Gloria gave Andrea a quick hug. “That’s up to you, dear. No one should make that decision but you.”

  On the way to the car, she whispered a small prayer for Andrea and for her safety. And patience with her parents. The poor thing had her hands full!

  Chapter 3

  Mally was waiting at the kitchen door when she got back to the farm. Gloria absentmindedly patted her head.

  She wondered about the painting they had found. Gloria knew as much about art as she did the stock market, which was nothing. Nada. Zip. The fact that the painting had been hidden behind the wall – and that it hadn’t been damaged when the crew took the wall down – was interesting.

  She tried to think back on the history of the old place. What she’d heard over the years. It wasn’t much. The old couple that had lived there for years had died long ago. Whoever inherited the house had never bothered to come to Belhaven. Not even once. The fact that the owners sold the place without ever checking it out always struck Gloria as odd.

  The previous owners had left behind a house full of antiques, some worth a pretty penny. The mystery of the mansion was growing by the day. And what was behind that small, locked door in the basement?

  She pulled her glasses from her purse and headed to the dining room and her computer desk in the corner. Andrea had forwarded the pictures to Gloria’s home email and texted them to her phone.

  She plopped down in the chair and turned her computer on. She opened her mail and pulled the pictures up on the screen. With a couple quick clicks of the keyboard, she had a full screen shot of the painting.

  As she studied the picture, a thought occurred to her. If Andrea never bothered to go down to the basement, she wondered if she had ever gone into the attic. Gloria decided to ask her about it the next time she talked to Andrea.

  Things had been a bit slow around the small town of Belhaven lately. The last big excitement they’d had was when Ruth had been under investigation for a county-wide drug ring operation.

  Thankfully, investigators had cleared Ruth of any wrongdoing and she was now happily back to work down at the post office. During the investigation, Ruth had been staying at Gloria’s house, so solving that mystery had been a double blessing. Ruth was back to work and Gloria had her house to herself again.

  Which reminded her that she needed to call her boyfriend, Paul. Officer Paul Kennedy. He had his own houseguests at the moment. His son, Jeff, and daughter-in-law, Tina.

  Gloria fingers flew over the keyboard as she typed in a description of the woman with the solemn expression and mischievous eyes. She did several different searches but nothing even remotely close to the painting popped up.

  Her stomach grumbled loudly. She glanced at the clock on the screen. It was past lunchtime!

  She eased out of the chair and headed back to the kitchen. Mally, and her cat, Puddles, knew what time it was and they were patiently waiting by the kitchen pantry for Gloria to feed them.

  After she filled their food dishes, she wandered over to the fridge and peered inside. It had been several days since she’d gone to the grocery store and it was slim pickings inside the fridge. There wasn’t even a pack of lunch meat.

  Gloria made a spur-of-the-moment decision to head down to Dot’s Restaurant. There was no way her stomach would make it to the grocery store and back before eating.

  Dot’s Restaurant was the only restaurant in the small town of Belhaven and Gloria’s friend, Dot Jenkins, and Dot’s husband, Ray, owned it.

  Gloria grabbed her keys off the hook, her purse off the chair and headed out the door.

  The drive into town took just a few short minutes. She passed by the Palmer’s farm on her way into town. Gloria wondered how they were doing these days. Their son, Seth, had gotten in serious trouble with the law recently.

  Gloria eased into the open parking spot facing the front of the restaurant. The place was busy and she coul
d see her friend Dot’s head dart back and forth between tables. Dot caught her eye as she walked in the door and wandered over to an empty table for two in the corner. She pulled out a chair and started to sit down when she spotted her best friend, Lucy, who waved her over.

  Gloria zigzagged around several tables and plopped down in the seat across from her. She eyed the two items on her Lucy’s lunch plate: a hamburger and a piece of chocolate pie.

  She glanced at the coffee mug nearby. Gloria pointed to the cup. “You still on that hot-chocolate-only kick?”

  Lucy’s red head bobbed up and down. “Yeah! Believe it or not, I’ve lost ten pounds since I switched over.”

  Gloria dropped her purse on the floor and shook her head. How could a person add more sweets and chocolate to their diet and still lose weight?

  Dot made her way over with a fresh pot of coffee and a cup. She set the cup on the table and poured. “So what’s going on over at Andrea’s place? Margaret said Officer Joe and a crime scene van were parked in the drive.”

  Gloria sipped the coffee and glanced at Dot over the rim of the cup. “You’re not going to believe this.”

  She went on to tell the girls about the dumpster and the skeleton. She started to give them the lowdown on Andrea’s parents but stopped short. That would be a lot like gossiping and although sometimes it was hard, she tried her best not to gossip. They would meet Andrea’s parents soon enough and could form their own opinion, she decided.

  Lucy picked up the ceramic teapot and poured hot water into her empty mug. She tore the edge of the hot chocolate packet and dumped the powdery mixture inside. She grabbed a spoon and started to stir. “You have a picture of the painting?”

  Gloria nodded. She fumbled around inside her purse and then pulled out her phone. She turned on the screen and scrolled to the picture. She handed the phone to Lucy. Dot peered over her shoulder as they stared at the snapshot. “Wow! That’s just crazy!”

  Lucy looked up. “And this was stuck to the back of a sheet of paneling they took down inside Andrea’s house?”

  “In her kitchen.” Gloria took another sip of coffee. “There are a lot of secrets inside that old place.”

  She turned to Dot. “Who here in town might know something about the Johnsons?”

  Dot set the pot on the edge of the table and stared out the window thoughtfully. “Hmm. You know, Eleanor Whittaker might remember something about them.”

  Gloria snapped her fingers. “You’re right! Why didn’t I think of her?”

  Eleanor Whittaker had lived in Belhaven all her life. All 90+ years of it. She lived a block away from Lake Terrace, not far from Margaret and Don Hansen.

  Gloria wasn’t sure exactly how old Eleanor was, but remembered a few years back when the town had thrown a surprise 90th birthday party for her down at the VFW hall. Gloria hadn’t seen her in quite a while, but the last time she had, the woman was smart as a whip – her mind like a steel trap.

  Lucy dipped her finger in the swirl of whipped cream on top of her chocolate pie and stuck it in her mouth. “There is someone else.”

  Gloria was all-ears. “Who?”

  “Doc Decker.”

  “That’s right,” Dot agreed. “If anyone knows the history and residents of Belhaven, it would be Doc Decker.” Doc had owned the town’s pharmacy, Main Street Medicines, for decades. He and his wife, Martha, had retired years ago. The town had gone without a pharmacy until Brian Sellers came along and opened it back up.

  Gloria added the Deckers to her mental list. “You have an extra notepad back there I can borrow?”

  “I’ll bring one back with the food,” Dot told her. “By the way, I’m guessing you came here to eat…”

  Gloria had almost forgotten the reason she was there. “I’m starving,” she admitted.

  Gloria knew Dot’s menu by heart so she didn’t bother looking at it. “I’ll have a bowl of chili.” She eyed Lucy’s half-eaten burger. “And a cheeseburger.”

  Lucy and Gloria had almost finished their lunch when Andrea and her parents walked through the front door. Andrea’s mother was still wearing the surgical mask and gloves. Her father wore the same stony expression on his face - the old stogie still firmly clenched between his teeth.

  The diners smiled and nodded at Andrea. Andrea’s mother, Libby, got more than a few sideways glances. The looks didn’t seem to bother Andrea. Somehow, Gloria knew Andrea was accustomed to the odd stares. Her mother probably wore a mask out in public quite often. She wondered if perhaps the poor woman didn’t have some sort of serious phobia.

  Gloria carried her check to the cash register. Dot glanced over Gloria’s shoulder in Andrea’s direction. “Would you get a load of Andrea’s mom?”

  Gloria nodded. “She seems a bit – uh – overly-cautious about germs.”

  Dot shook her head as she took Gloria’s money. “No kidding.”

  Lucy wandered over to pay her bill. “So what’s up with the mask? Does she think we all have some sort of deadly virus or something?”

  Gloria shrugged. Poor Andrea. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. In between dead bodies and odd parents, Andrea seemed to have a black cloud hanging over her head. Of course, one would never know it. She was always so upbeat and happy. Most of the time.

  Gloria looked over at Andrea’s glum face. She sure didn’t look happy at the moment.

  Gloria wound her way ‘round the tables and stopped in front of their booth. She gave Andrea’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze. Andrea smiled up at her but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. She looked like she was being tortured. Gloria leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Call me later, dear.”

  Libby turned her attention to Gloria. “This place does meet minimum health code standards, I assume.” The mask moved up and down as she talked.

  Gloria sighed. “Yes, Mrs. Thornton. It most certainly does.”

  Dot was at the table now. Gloria said her goodbyes and headed for the door. It was Dot’s turn to deal with them.

  Gloria climbed into her car and headed toward the lake. Her first stop: Eleanor Whittaker’s place.

  Chapter 4

  Gloria pulled into Eleanor’s circular drive. Before she could change her mind, she opened the driver’s side door and slid out. The drive was long and wound its way through the front yard. Gurgling nearby was a stack of wooden barrels. Water ran down the center of the basins and drained into a small pool surrounding it.

  Lining the sidewalk, leading to the front steps, was an array of pink hydrangeas and multi-colored begonias. Gloria climbed the steps to the front door. She reached out to ring the doorbell when the door swung open.

  Eleanor Whittaker appeared behind the screen door and gazed out. “Gloria Rutherford.”

  Gloria smiled at Eleanor’s floral housecoat. It was white and dotted with pink roses. Small, pearl buttons ran down the center. There was an embroidered pocket on each side. On one pocket was a bluebird. On the other, a bright, yellow sun.

  “I hope I’m not bothering you,” Gloria apologized.

  Eleanor fumbled with the handle, her hands shaking ever-so-slightly. “No. Come in. Come in.”

  Gloria squeezed through the opening and stepped into the living room.

  Eleanor grabbed her metal walker and started across the orange shag carpeting, in the direction of the kitchen. Gloria hadn’t been in Eleanor’s house for decades. She glanced around. It looked the same as it had all those years ago. Down to the arrangement of the furniture.

  She made a mental note to see if perhaps Eleanor wasn’t at a point where she could use a little handyman work around the house. The church had volunteers for that and Gloria was certain they wouldn’t mind adding Eleanor to their list.

  The walker shuffled across the carpet then scraped hard against the kitchen linoleum floor. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

  Gloria shook her head. “No thanks.”

  Eleanor pushed the walker off to the side and pulled out a kitchen chair. “Would you like
to sit down?”

  Gloria nodded and pulled out a chair. She settled in and watched as Eleanor eased into the seat beside her. “I hear you’re a bit of a celebrity these days.” Eleanor peered at her through her wire-rimmed glasses. “Sounds quite exciting.”

  Gloria smiled. “It is. In fact, that’s why I’m here.”

  Eleanor’s eyes lit up. She leaned in. “Really?”

  “What do you know about the last couple who lived in the old Johnson mansion?”

  Eleanor gazed past Gloria and out the rear window. “You mean the big house on the hill that someone just bought and fixed up?”

  “Yep.”

  Gloria had very vague memories of the couple. She remembered one time when she was young; she’d been walking by the house, on her way down to the lake to visit one of her friends.

  The old man had been out in his drive. She could feel a pair of eyes on her as she walked by the creepy place. She turned to glance towards the house when she noticed him standing there. He was watching her through the bars of the wrought iron gate. Glaring at her, really.

  It scared the dickens out of her. When he took a step in her direction, she took off running as fast as her little legs would take her. She didn’t stop running until she reached her friend’s house. She made her mother pick her up later that day, too terrified to walk back by the house.

  “Abe and Barbara Johnson. Those were the last ones to live there. Of course, before that it Abe’s parents had lived there.” Eleanor rubbed her thumb over a small speck on the table. Her eyes clouded. “I don’t recall their names, though.”

  Gloria grabbed her purse and pulled the pad of paper Dot had given her. She slipped on her reading glasses and started to jot down a few notes. She looked up. “Do you remember if they worked? If they had children?”

  Eleanor nodded. “Abe. He worked down at the grain mill for years. Right up until he had that accident and one of his thumbs was severed in a wheel.” She made a slicing motion across her thumb. “Cut it clean off.”