Page 37 of Ghost
Mason took a closer look.Whoever did this brick work didn’t know what they were doing.The mortar had been too dry.Too much sand had been used and the bricks weren’t exactly level.Wonder why I hadn’t noticed it before now.It wasn’t done by a mason, that’s for sure!
Mitch had been correct.It was only one brick thick and so old that the mortar just crumbled.When the dust settled, there wasn’t much of a wall left.Many of the old bricks had crumbled as well, leaving the remaining brick on either side of what little there was left of the wall.Definitely done by someone who had no idea what they were doing.
Paul stepped forward intending to start cleaning out the debris when he stopped.“Oh shit!”
Mitch came running down the stairs and stopped when he saw Paul stepping backwards away from the mess.“What’s up?”
Paul pointed.“There’s...a....”
“There’s a what?”Mitch strode over towards what was left of the wall.“Oh, fuck.”
Mason inched his way forward.In his gut he knew what he was going to find.When he stepped in front of Paul and looked down, he said, “Francis.”
He knelt down, reached out and brushed away some of the dust from the skeleton’s chest.He immediately recognized the vest and the tie.It was what he’d seen Francis’ ghost wear every time he’d seen him.
“Hello?”
It was Nick.The three friends were so stunned they didn’t answer back.
“Hello?Anyone here?”Nick stepped just inside the doorway.“I was going to see what you guys might want for lunch today.I have a fresh batch of potato salad.”
Mason stood up and turned towards Nick.“Can you go and call the police?”
Nick frowned.“Why do you need the police?”
Mitch pointed towards the remains.“We just found a body.”
* * * * *
There were two patrolofficers and a Detective Stafford standing looking at the remains.After the first patrolman arrived, assessed the situation, he called for backup and the detective.
“You,” he said to the skinny, black patrolman who had been the first one to show up, “I need you go to call the ME and forensics.”
The patrolman all but ran up the steps.When he’d first seen the skeleton, his eyes widened, and he looked as if he’d rather be anywhere but where he was.
Detective Stafford rolled his eyes and shook his head.“Rookies,” he grumbled.He then turned back to Mason.“So, you said you have an idea of whose remains these are?”
“Um...yes, sir.”Mason could feel his face turn red.“Francis Watson.”
The detective looked a little closer at what was left of the body, which wasn’t much.“It looks like he’s been in there for a long time.Care to tell me how you came to that conclusion?”
“Well, Nick, the owner of the small store and deli down the street told me who the original owners were,” Mason answered.He sure as hell didn’t want to tell the man that he’d been seeing ghosts.
“Oh, Nick Davies.”Detective Stafford wrote the name and something else down in his notebook.“Nick does a great potato salad.If you’ve not tried it, you should.Best I ever had, but don’t you dare tell my wife.”
“I won’t,” Mason replied, knowing the chance of his ever meeting the wife of the detective was marginal at best.
“So...the original owner, huh?”Stafford seemed to scrutinize Mason closely.
“It’s just a guess.”Mason shrugged his shoulders.
Stafford shook his head, putting his notebook away.“You never know what you’ll find in some of these old houses.I doubt we’ll be able to identify this poor guy, but someone sure did have it in for him.”
Poor Francis had been bound in rope, his mouth gagged with a piece of cloth of some sort, which had mostly rotted away.Mason could only imagine what it would have been like to lie there and slowly die.
Suddenly, there was a gurgling noise coming from the bathroom.They all could hear water running through the pipes.There was a hissing sound behind the noise indicating that the toilet tank was filling up.
“Damn,” Paul said, rushing over to where the plumbing for the sink was going to go in.There was a steady stream of water leaking from the cut off valve.
