The Ghost Who Wanted Revenge (Haunting Danielle Book 4) (14 page)

“
W
here’s Will
?” Ian asked Danielle and Lily when he arrived at Marlow House on Wednesday morning. He and Sadie had come through the side gate and entered the house through the kitchen door. He found Danielle and Lily sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Sadie raced through the kitchen, into the hallway, and up the stairs to find Walt.

“He told us he was driving into Portland for the afternoon, would be back later this evening,” Lily told Ian as he kissed her cheek on his way over to the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee.

“I saw your nurse leaving. Figured it was safe to come over with this.” Ian waved a large envelope in the air.

Danielle hadn’t noticed he was carrying anything when he first walked into the house. “What is it?”

“Copies of Isabella’s two wills. Very interesting.” Ian tossed the envelope on the table and sat down.

Danielle picked up the envelope. “Where did you get them?”

“The magic of the Internet.” Ian sipped his coffee. “So why did Will go to Portland?”

“He didn’t say, and we didn’t ask,” Lily said.

“He seems like a nice guy, even though I’m not big on cowboy hats.” Ian grinned.

“That’s only because they don’t make Cubs cowboy hats,” Lily teased.

“They don’t?” Grabbing the bill of his Cubs baseball cap, Ian removed it from his head and tossed it on the empty chair next to him.

Danielle sat quietly thinking of Will. Hiring someone to look for a connection between Will and Stoddard no longer seemed critical. She was fairly certain Samantha was the one who had taken her cellphone. Will was a respected businessman who hadn’t been to Frederickport in years. She suspected MacDonald was correct; Stoddard was confused about Will. It was entirely possible; after all, Stoddard had been confused about her.

She had planned to hire the investigator she had used to look for Lily, yet changed her mind when she realized he was probably not the ideal choice for digging into Stoddard and Darlene’s past, considering his locale and expertise. She wondered if Ian might have a recommendation.

“What did you find that was interesting?” Danielle asked as she removed the documents from the envelope.

“By just looking at them, one would assume they are both Isabella’s wills—with the Earthbound Spirits’ will being an older version and Stoddard’s the newer, revised one. By appearances, they were both prepared by Renton.”

Danielle shuffled through the pages. “You have three wills here.”

“Yes. I ran off a copy of Isabella’s two wills and Stoddard’s will, the one Darlene filed.”

“I assume Darlene gets everything,” Lily said.

“That one had an interesting provision,” Ian said as he took Stoddard’s will from the pile of papers in Danielle’s hands.

“How so?” Lily asked.

“Stoddard has a provision in his will that if Darlene ever cheated on him during their marriage, she is disinherited.”

Danielle looked up from the papers. “You’re kidding me?”

“Nope.” Ian found the section on the will with the infidelity clause and showed it to Danielle.

“That’s interesting, because Darlene cheated on Stoddard during their marriage,” Danielle said.

“How do you know?” Ian asked.

“Adam told me. I guess Isabella caught Darlene meeting some guy on the sly in Astoria. But she never told Stoddard or let Darlene know she knew.”

“Did you tell MacDonald this?” Ian asked.

“No. It happened over a year ago.”

“It gives Darlene a motive to kill her husband,” Lily suggested.

“Why, because she once had a lover? Like I said, it was over a year ago, and according to Adam, Isabella told him Darlene ended the affair and seemed even more committed to the relationship afterwards,” Danielle argued.

“Maybe it’s a flimsy motive for murder after all this time, but even if she ended the affair, she would lose her inheritance if it was proven to the courts she’d been unfaithful to Stoddard during their marriage,” Ian said.

“I doubt that will happen after all this time.” Danielle said.

“If she is disinherited, where would the money go?” Lily asked. “I understood Isabella was his only family, and with her gone, who’d inherit after Darlene?”

“Another thing I learned, Darlene isn’t Stoddard’s sole beneficiary. He leaves a portion of his estate to something called KS Trust. But if Darlene is disinherited due to infidelity, then his entire estate goes to KS Trust,” Ian told them.

“What is that?” Danielle asked.

“I don’t know. I need to do more digging,” Ian said.

“Any more surprises with Stoddard’s will?” Lily asked.

“Not really. Basically he leaves everything to Darlene and the trust, with the lion’s share going to Darlene.”

“I imagine whoever is behind KS Trust would be interested in learning about Darlene’s indiscretion,” Lily said. “And considering what she tried to do to me, I’d be happy to tell them.”

“Telling them about the affair wouldn’t get her disinherited,” Ian said. “You’d have to have some sort of proof.” He looked at Danielle. “Do you know who she had an affair with?”

“No. Adam didn’t know either. Isabella never told him.”

“So what about Isabella’s wills? Learn anything interesting there?” Lily asked.

“In the will, where she leaves everything to her uncle, she named a second beneficiary, should Stoddard predecease her.”

“Who did she name?” Lily asked.

“Her father.”

“Her father? Didn’t you once tell me he skipped out on her mother before she was ever born?” Danielle asked.

“Yes. I always assumed he was dead, since he never came forward after Isabella’s mother died. Figured he might try and get his hands on some of the Gusarov money, through Isabella. It’s interesting; it doesn’t actually give his name. In the will it simply refers to the alternate beneficiary as Isabella’s biological father.”

“Isn’t that a little odd to state it that way?” Lily asked.

“What I find odd, if that will is forged, as Darlene claims, why would Stoddard stick something in the will like that? Obviously there was no love between Isabella’s father and the Gusarov family, so what was the point of putting that in the will?”

“I told you, I don’t believe the will is fake,” Danielle said.

“Maybe Isabella’s father is the one who killed Stoddard,” Lily suggested.

“And the motive?” Ian asked.

“Let’s assume the will isn’t a fake. If he knew Isabella named him as a beneficiary in the will after Stoddard, maybe he bumped off Stoddard so he could inherit Isabella’s estate,” Lily suggested.

“It doesn’t work that way,” Danielle said.

“What do you mean?” Lily frowned.

“Danielle’s right. Assuming the will Stoddard filed isn’t fake, then the only way Isabella’s father would have inherited her estate would be if Stoddard died before Isabella—not after.”

“Ahh…that’s right,” Lily said with a sigh. “Because it hadn’t gone through probate yet, my brain was looking at it as if Stoddard died after Isabella. That was stupid of me.”

“Maybe it doesn’t give us an extra suspect, but it does give me more reason to question Darlene’s story that the will was fake,” Ian said.

“I imagine the only one who can straighten this out would be Clarence Renton. But I sure don’t want to talk to him, considering the man killed my cousin and tried to kill me.” Danielle downed the rest of her coffee.

“I’ll talk to him. They sent him to Oregon State Penitentiary, didn’t they?” Ian asked.

“If that’s the one in Salem, yes,” Danielle said.

“That’s about two hours from here. I could drive down there and talk to him. See what he has to say,” Ian said.

Lily picked up her iPhone and began surfing the web.

“What are you looking for?” Ian asked.

“Visiting hours.” Lily glanced up at Ian, and then looked back at her phone. “According to this site, you can visit inmates daily, from 7:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. and then again from 12:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.”

“If I left now, I could get there in time to make the afternoon visiting hours. I’d have to leave Sadie here.”

“You should probably call first, just to make sure. Who knows, maybe Clarence got into some mischief, and they threw him into the hole,” Danielle suggested.

“Do they still do that?” Lily asked.

“In his case, I hope so,” Danielle grumbled.

“I wish I could go with you,” Lily said.

“Sorry babe. By the time I get in to see Renton you’ll probably be hooked up to the IV again.”

“I lead an exciting life,” Lily sighed.

“I hope you understand why I don’t want to go,” Danielle asked.

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t even suggest it.”

“Do you think Renton will even talk to you?” Lily asked.

“All I can do is try.”

I
an arrived
in Salem a few minutes past two in the afternoon. By the time he was brought to the waiting area, it was almost three.

It had been almost two months since he had seen Danielle’s ex-attorney, Clarence Renton—the man who embezzled from Brianna Boatman’s estate, murdered Danielle’s cousin Cheryl, and tried to murder Danielle. When they brought Renton into the visiting area, Ian’s first thought was that the man had lost weight, something he could afford to do.

Danielle had once described Renton as a clean-shaven Santa Claus. Later, she retracted her description, insisting that comparing a man of Clarence Renton’s caliber to Saint Nick was blasphemy. Ian thought he looked like a short, stout, defeated man.

“When they said you were here to see me, I was surprised. What would the famous Jon Altar want with me? To write a story on me perhaps?”

“I just want to ask you a few questions. About one of your clients.”

“You know I can’t talk to you about my clients. Client confidentiality and all.” Clarence smiled.

“It’s Isabella Strickland. She’s dead, so I don’t think it will be an issue.”

“Ahh…Isabella. I heard about her death.” Clarence leaned back in the chair. “All that money, and she never appreciated what she had.”

“I wanted to ask you about her will. I know you prepared it for her.”

“I prepared several wills for Isabella. She kept changing her mind.” Clarence laughed. Ian wondered what Clarence thought was so funny.

“I need to know, which is her most current will?”

“The wills are dated. The one with the most current date, of course.”

“That’s not what I mean. Stoddard put a will into probate and so did Earthbound Spirits. I wanted to know if you prepared the will Stoddard put into probate.”

“I prepared hundreds of wills for various clients. You can’t expect me to remember them all.”

Ian removed a document from an envelope and handed it to Clarence. “This is the will Stoddard put into probate.”

Clarence took the document and flipped through its pages. “Looks like one of mine.” He handed it back to Ian.

“Stoddard’s widow is saying her husband forged the will. That it’s fake. I need you to verify it isn’t forged. That you wrote it for Isabella.”

“Well, if she says Stoddard forged the will, he must have. I can’t really remember every will I prepared. And this is only a photocopy.”

“Please try and remember. In one will, Isabella left her estate to Earthbound Spirits. But about six months ago, she went to you and had you prepare a new will, leaving everything to her uncle.”

Clarence smiled. “Earthbound Spirits gives me a lot comfort.”

“Excuse me?” Ian frowned.

“They’ve showed me I’m on this earth to learn, improve my soul. I’ve made mistakes, but I no longer have to return and continue making the same ones.”

“What are you talking about?”

Clarence stood up. “I’m glad Isabella left her estate to Earthbound Spirits.”

“
S
o what does this mean
? Is Renton lying for Earthbound Spirits?” Lily asked when Ian returned to Marlow House that evening. He shared a pizza with Danielle and Lily, while Walt sat with them at the kitchen table, and Sadie napped nearby.

“If you’re positive the will Stoddard put into probate wasn’t a fake, then yeah, it appears that way.” Ian took a swig of his beer.

“I really don’t care who gets Isabella’s money,” Danielle said as she picked up a slice of pizza. “All the possible beneficiaries are sleazy in my book—Darlene and Earthbound Spirits. I’d just like to know if any of this has something to do with Stoddard’s murder. It must mean something, but what?”

“You think Renton is a true follower of Earthbound Spirits?” Lily asked.

“More than likely he’s getting some sort of payoff,” Ian suggested. “We already know he’s not exactly ethical.”

“That’s a major understatement,” Danielle scoffed.

“That pizza looks good,” Walt said as he watched them eat. Danielle, the only one who could hear him, glanced briefly in his direction.

“I’m sorry you had to go all the way to Salem for nothing,” Lily said.

“It was interesting,” Ian told her.

“When was the last time I ate something? What has it been, almost 90 years? I remember hearing about pizza when I was alive. A friend of mine from New York told me about it. I always meant to try some. Apparently he was right, it must be good, considering the commercials I’ve seen on television promoting it and the amount of times you seem to eat it.”

“It’s just an easy meal,” Danielle said.

Ian looked over at her. “What?”

Suspecting Danielle’s comment was directed to Walt, Lily began to giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Ian asked, looking from Lily to Danielle.

“Don’t mind Danielle,” Lily said. “Sometimes she thinks aloud.”

“Yes, I was just thinking about how pizza is an easy meal,” Danielle lied.

“You mean it doesn’t taste that good?” Walt asked.

“Sure it tastes good,” Danielle replied.

“I see what you mean.” Ian chuckled. “I confess there have been a few times I thought Danielle was talking to herself. Not sure if I should be concerned or relieved to know Lily considers it’s the norm.”

“There is nothing normal around here,” Lily said.

Danielle’s startled gasp was not in response to Lily’s comment about there being nothing normal around Marlow House—yet it was fitting. Stoddard had taken that moment to show himself, appearing outside the kitchen window, pressing his face against the glass pane while howling silent screams.

“He’s back,” Walt said dryly.

Ian looked toward the window where Danielle stared. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“You okay?” Ian asked.

“I’m fine. Just thought I saw something. My imagination,” she lied.

A few minutes later, Danielle had a fairly good idea why Stoddard was back and making himself known. Will had returned from Portland. He walked into the kitchen with a cheerful hello, oblivious to the fact an angry spirit hovered just a few feet away, cursing his presence.

“How was your afternoon?” Lily asked.

Will walked to the table. “It was nice.”

“Want some pizza, a beer?” Ian offered.

“I already ate, thanks. But I will take a beer.”

“In the fridge, help yourself,” Danielle said.

Will grabbed a beer and started to sit down in the chair occupied by Walt.

“Damn, I hate when that happens!” Walt cursed, jumping up from the chair. Annoyed, he walked toward the window. Danielle and Lily exchange glances, both aware the spirit of Marlow House had just lost his seat at the table.

“What are you looking at?” Walt asked of Stoddard. They stood just a foot from each other—the glass window separating them.

Stoddard pointed to Will. Walt glanced to Will and then back to Stoddard.

“So what’s the deal? You don’t like cowboys?” Walt asked. Stoddard responded by shaking a fist at Walt.

“Idiot,” Walt muttered and then closed the blinds.

Ian jerked his head up and looked to the window. “That blind just closed.”

“It does that sometimes,” Lily said, taking a bite of her pizza, trying to suppress her giggles.

Ian stood up from the table and walked to the window.

“I guess I shouldn’t have done that,” Walt said with a sigh. He watched as Ian toyed with the window blind. Ian reopened the blinds and then fidgeted with the pull, to see if the blind would fall down again.

Sadie woke up and lifted her head. She spied Stoddard standing outside the window looking in the house, making contorted facial expressions, while pounding on the glass. She jumped up and raced to the window, barking.

“Sadie!” Ian shouted. She continued to bark.

“Sadie, enough,” Walt snapped. The dog stopped barking and sat down, still looking out the window. She began to growl.

“Maybe you did see something out there.” Ian scratched his head.

“Why don’t you shut the blind,” Lily suggested. “Something outside is bothering Sadie.”

“Maybe I should go out there and see what it is,” Ian said. “Considering what happened the other day.”

“I’ll go with you.” Will stood up.

“Guys, sit down,” Danielle said. “It’s nothing.”

“I’m going to check,” Ian said stubbornly. He and Will went out to the side yard, taking Sadie with them.

T
he sun was just starting
to set. Will and Ian stood in the side yard of Marlow House, with Sadie. They glanced around the yard, trying to determine what had upset the dog, yet Sadie no longer seemed agitated and sat quietly by their side.

“Go back to where you came from, Bobby!” Stoddard shouted at Will. Instead of barking or growling, Sadie stood up and walked to Stoddard, giving him a little sniff. Neither Will nor Ian paid attention to what Sadie was doing.

“Get away from me, you stupid dog,” Stoddard ordered. Sadie walked to where he stood. Stoddard looked down. The golden retriever appeared to be standing in his legs. “Get out of there!” Instead of abiding by Stoddard’s command, Sadie squatted and started to pee.

D
anielle stood
at the window and started to laugh.

“What is it?” Lily asked.

“Sadie just peed on Stoddard. Well, not on him exactly, but as close as possible considering he no longer has a body.”

Walt took a drag off his cigar and then exhaled. “Smart dog.”

Danielle continued to look outside. “Until Sadie peed on him, looked like Stoddard was still railing against Will.”

“Do you still think Stoddard is confusing Will with someone else?” Lily asked.

“Stoddard thinks I’m the one who shot him, so he’s not exactly a reliable witness.”

Walt stood by Danielle and looked out the window. “He definitely thinks Will is someone he knows,” Walt said.

“But who?” Danielle asked.

“But who what?” Lily asked with a frown.

“We were wondering who Stoddard thinks Will is. It’s obviously not some old friend.”

“Looks like they’re coming in,” Walt said.

Danielle returned to the table with Lily and sat down. Will, Ian, and Sadie walked back into the kitchen. Before Ian shut the door, Danielle could hear Stoddard shouting at Will, telling him to leave Frederickport.

“I guess she just needed to go out,” Ian said when he sat back down. If Stoddard were looking in the window again, Sadie wouldn’t be able to see him, since Danielle had shut the blinds.

“So you guys didn’t find anything out there?” Lily asked, glancing over at Danielle with a grin.

“No. But I have to admit, something about your backyard is…well…makes me feel uneasy,” Will confessed.

“It’s probably just because of what happened in here the other day,” Ian suggested.

“Maybe.” Will glanced over at Danielle. “Has that man come out of his coma yet?”

“No. And he may not.” Danielle looked at Walt.

“What?” Walt asked, slightly offended at the scowl Danielle flashed his way. “The man was going to kill you. A thank you would be nice.”

“I can’t believe Samantha was involved in all that.” Will had been interviewed by the police earlier, since he was one of the last people to see Samantha before she disappeared. “She seemed like such a nice woman, offering to show me the sights.”

“It was her idea?” Lily asked, trying to sound casual.

“More or less.” Will shrugged.

“So when you lived here, you didn’t know Stoddard Gusarov, the man who was murdered.” Danielle said.

“I knew who he was.” Will sipped his beer. “His family was well known back then.”

“Did you know Stoddard’s niece, Isabella or Stoddard’s sister?” Lily asked.

Will set his beer can on the table and looked over at Lily. “I knew his sister. But I never met his niece.”

“Did you ever meet Isabella’s father? His last name was Strickland,” Lily asked.

Will shook his head. “I never met a Strickland. So why all this interest in what appears to be ancient history?”

“Someone killed Stoddard, tried to frame Danielle. And then tried to kill Danielle and Joe,” Ian said. “We’re just trying to figure out who in Stoddard’s life would want him dead.”

“I imagine anyone who ever met him,” Will said.

“Why do you say that?” Danielle asked.

Will shrugged. “I just remember from when I lived here. I didn’t know him well but when I talked to people who did, they all seemed to agree on one thing. He was a jerk.”

“Someone thought he was enough of a jerk that they wanted him dead,” Danielle said.

“Who runs the company now?” Will asked.

“Stoddard’s right hand man. Chuck Christiansen.”

“Christiansen is still with the company?” Will laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Lily asked.

“Christiansen was such a little weasel back then.”

“So you knew Christiansen?” Danielle asked.

“Sure. Not well, but enough to know he was always looking out for himself. He’s actually running the company now?”

“From what I understand,” Danielle said. “He has been for a long time.”

“While I really didn’t know Stoddard, I knew his parents. They started the company. Even back then, Christiansen was trying to worm his way into management. I guess he got everything he always wanted.” Will downed the last of his beer.

“Do you think Christiansen would have a motive to kill Stoddard?” Danielle asked. “If he’s as conniving as you say.”

Will set his beer can on the table and looked at Danielle. “Did he stand to inherit anything if Stoddard is out of the picture?”

“No,” Ian said. “We’ve looked at the wills, and Stoddard left his estate to his wife and a trust, with his wife getting the lion’s share.”

“Then no. I can’t see why he’d kill him if he weren’t in line to inherit anything. I’d assume he’d want to maintain his status quo,” Will said. “But then, I’ve been away for years. My money would be on the wife.”

“You mean for the killer?” Lily asked.

“Yes. If she’s the one who inherits Stoddard’s estate, sounds like she’s the one with the best motive.”

“I agree. Unfortunately, Darlene seems genuinely devastated over losing her husband.”

“Over losing Stoddard?” Will shook his head in disbelief. “This Darlene is either a very stupid woman or a very good actress.”