“And she spent her days here? Happily?” Aidan asked.
“She did, and so did her children. And her children’s children. But after that, they moved away. Our Lizzie had at least twenty great-grandchildren that she knew about. Then, around the time of the Civil War, they all scattered to various cities.”
“I’m glad she got to see her family grow,” Aidan said.
“That’s always both good and bad,” Mo said after a moment. “You see the triumphs, and you see the sadness. Children dying young of disease. Accidents striking down others. The pain of unrequited love. Just as you see the joy at the birth of a child or at a wedding.”
Aidan excused himself to call Logan Raintree on his hands-free phone. “Anything on that end?” he asked.
“Jillian and Taylor Branch left the hotel to go to a movie and have dinner. She was wearing a wig. I suppose she doesn’t want to be recognized in the area. The security guys went to a sports bar for lunch and to a gym. They’re back now,” Logan told him. “We’ve been pulling records on everyone. Haven’t found anything yet. Will re-interviewed the men who were working with the sound system. Jane interviewed the receiving clerk and is doing thorough investigations on each of the food and delivery companies as we speak. Van Camp and Voorhaven have been out at Tommy Jensen’s place, hoping they’ll catch a customer or passerby who might’ve seen something. Moving along—but so far, getting nowhere. You?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Aidan said. “We’re heading back in. I’ll let you know as soon as we have anything solid.”
He ended the call and turned to Mo. “We’re going to the Haunted Mausoleum, then?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied. They parked on the street. It was still early, so it was easy to do. During the major visitor season—this time of year—the mortuary didn’t open for tours. It only opened at night for the “haunted” experience.
“We just walk in?”
“No, there are gates. I’ll have to ask one of the bosses to let us in.”
He followed Mo, Rollo and the wisp that was the ghost of Elizabeth Hampton to the mortuary door. It was opened by a pleasant older woman in a sweater and slacks who was happy to greet Mo and Rollo—and to meet him. She was Sondra Burke, vice president of the historic tour company that owned and operated many of the historic buildings and tours, including the Haunted Mausoleum.
“Terrible things have been happening, Agent Mahoney,” she said, shaking his hand and patting Rollo. She was oblivious to the aura that followed them in. “It’s good that everyone out there is trying to decipher the truth. How ghastly—and how well planned, or so it seems. But I imagine Mo has you here for a bit of a breather and a few minutes of fun.”
“Aidan is an aficionado of old churchyards and cemeteries,” Mo told her. “I thought I’d take him through the house and for a walk out back.”
“Of course,” Sondra said. Her eyes twinkled. “But don’t be too late, if you don’t mind, Mo. We’ll need you back here fairly soon. You’ve become a real hit with our visitors.”
“Sure,” Mo promised.
She led the way through the mortuary with its now web-covered chandeliers and decorated hallways. The old viewing rooms had been staged in different ways for Halloween. In one, an animatronic mad doctor worked to reattach limbs to the wrong parts of a body. In another, a funeral was supposedly going on; the viewing was for an old Vaudeville star, who would be played by an actor. When people entered the room, he came back to life, jumped out of his coffin and began singing an Al Jolson tune.
“Down below, there’s the murderers’ gallery. You have to go through the streets of London and pass by Jack the Ripper and other infamous murderers. All are live actors, too. They’re good.”
“And where are you?” Aidan asked.
“Outside,” she told him. “Follow me. We go through the rear basement door.”
They exited to the graveyard that took up the rear and both sides of the immediate property. As they headed out, she explained which historical character or legend waited where.
The graveyard was fitted out with skeletons that looked around the corners of mausoleums. Rats and spiders lurked and lingered. Bits and pieces of bones were cast about here and there. The graveyard itself provided the rest—creepy old mausoleums and crooked stones—and there were three empty coffins that appeared to have fallen out of broken sarcophagi. When opening time rolled around and the actors were all in their places, it was truly creepy.
“Real actors will get into the coffins—and they’ll sit up groaning or jump out.”
“Nice.”
“It’s definitely spooky at night,” Mo said.
She came to a small mausoleum off the side of a path. “This is, er, my haunting ground. And where I saw Andre.”
He wasn’t sure if she was speaking to him or the ghost of Lizzie, but suddenly he heard something like a whoosh of air.
He thought maybe the spirit gasped.
Rollo barked.