I told Emily what had happened to Gus while he was at her house. I tried to, anyway, but how was I supposed to explain that the ghost of Winifred Rawley had somehow entered and mingled with Gus’s physical body . . . or something like that? I still couldn’t explain it.
“Good heavens,” Emily whispered. “That sounds dangerous.”
“To tell you the truth, Gus claims he felt pretty good after it happened. But he did rush off quickly and I haven’t seen him since.”
“How . . . fascinating. And you witnessed the whole thing?”
“Yes. And there’s more.” I told Emily about Winifred’s diary and her secret shame, namely, the baby that resembled Giuseppe Peratti and not her husband.
By now, everyone in the room was engrossed in the story.
“Do you think that’s why she remains in the house?” Emily wondered.
“I do,” I said. “I think she’s been waiting for someone to discover the diary, and now that she’s got people working in the house, she’s not wasting any time. I think she pushed us to find the diary.”
“Spattering a can of paint onto the wall was probably a sign,” Mac said as he sprinkled red pepper flakes on his second piece of pizza.
“But why did Gus show up out of the blue?” Lizzie asked.
“We did have an appointment,” Emily said, as if that explained it.
“You were supposed to meet at the tea shop, not at your house.” Marigold met our gazes, her expression solemn. “I truly believe he was meant to come by the house.”
I shook my head, unsure how to respond to that. “Whether it’s true or not is a question for someone with much more knowledge of the spirit world than I have.”
“And who in the world would that be?” Jane asked dryly.
“Whoever it is that claims to be an expert,” Eric said, “you can bet they’re lying.”
Lizzie ignored Eric’s cynical stand in favor of Marigold’s statement. “Do you really think Gus was enticed there by the ghost?”
Marigold looked at me. “Don’t you, Shannon?”
I glanced around. “If I say yes, will you all think I’m crazy?”
“We already know you’re crazy,” Jane said, laughing.
I chuckled. “Maybe so. But I really do think our ghost is happier now that she’s seen Gus and knows that we found her diary.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for having happy ghosts,” Eric said, his voice only slightly mocking. “But I’m more concerned that the strange occurrences happening in the house might be the work of a human creature, not a spirit.”
Emily blinked. “You mean, somebody’s actually trying to scare me away?”
“I’m just offering an alternative theory.” He gave her a thoughtful look. “If you’d like, I’ll take a team and comb through the house to make sure there’s nothing illicit going on.”
“I would really appreciate that,” Emily said.
I applauded Eric’s offer, but I knew in my gut that he wouldn’t find anything suspicious—of the human variety. I’d seen our ghost in action and I’d read her journal. I turned to Emily. “I still believe the ghost of Mrs. Rawley is residing in your house. Maybe she would stop carrying on if you were to ask Gus to come by every so often, just to calm her down.”
“Would seeing Gus calm her down or rile her up?” Lizzie wondered.
Emily and I exchanged glances and she bit her lip. “It’s my opinion that Gus would rile any woman.”
My other friends giggled like little girls.
“I know the problem,” Hal confessed in a world-weary tone. “I have that same effect on women.”
Lizzie snorted and we all burst out laughing. I went to the kitchen to bring out another bottle of wine, and the men helped themselves to a third piece of pizza.
I was glad that Eric planned to search the house, just to give Emily some peace of mind on that front. As far as the ghost was concerned, though, I knew the issue of Winifred Rawley’s spectral presence wasn’t completely resolved. But after seeing her reaction to Gus and the discovery of the diary, I was almost certain Emily and my guys would be safe inside the house. Of course, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t continue to be vigilant for as long as we worked there.
A cell phone rang and Jane dashed to answer it. She spoke for only a minute and when she hung up, she looked around the table. “That was Stephen Darby. His dad called to say that Bob woke up out of his coma. The doctor thinks he’s on the road to recovery.”
I wanted to cry, I was so glad. “It’s the best news we’ve had out of this whole ugly experience.”
“I’m so relieved,” Jane said.
“Me, too,” Eric said with a firm nod. “Now he’ll be able to testify against Althea.”
*
Two days later, Jane called. “I tracked down Demetrius.”
I’d forgotten all about him. Jesse had mentioned a lawyer named Demetrius in his letter to Jane. “Where was he? And what did he tell you? Is the necklace yours?”
“He’s in Palo Alto,” she said. “And why Jesse drove all the way down there, I have no idea—except that the guy is the son of another old navy friend.”