Page 101 of The Lady on Esplanade
“And he hasn’t said anything else?”
I heard her heavy sigh.“No.I just told you.He hasn’t said anything in our hearing since he spoke while you were here.I’ll be happy to let you know if he does.”
“Thank you.What about the wig?”
“I’m afraid I don’t have anything to add, sadly.Sybil was quite proud of her silver hair, and she most definitely would never have worn a wig.And Jessica and Lynda certainly didn’t—Lynda because she was just a little girl, and Jessica just wasn’t the fussy type with her looks.All-natural and never wore makeup or heels.My guess is that the wig hair could be very old—perhaps dating back to my grandparents and my numerous aunts and uncles.I don’t know of any deaths in the house prior to Sybil’s murder, except for poor Uncle Patrick falling down the stairs.”
“Wait—I thought he died from influenza.”
“No.Although I suppose technically you could say that.He was sick when he fell down the stairs and died.I’m sure it played a part.”
“That’s horrible,” I said.
“It is.A child dying from anything is horrible.And that leads us to the bloodstains under the rug.They could be from an accident—you know how children are—and not anything nefarious at all.The police haven’t come up with anything?”
“No.Not yet.It’s a cold case, so it’s not a priority, but at least it’s brought their attention back to your stepbrother and his family’s disappearance.I hope you and your family can get some closure.”
There was a short pause.“I do agree, but I’ve also begun to think that maybe we should just let it go.Honey and I aren’t getting any younger, and this entire incident keeps us in the past.I want us to only be looking forward as we enter our golden years.I believe Sybil would understand.”
I frowned at my phone, wondering at her change of heart.Maybe it was all about growing older and moving on.Maybe.“Of course.Although, as representatives of the new owner of the house, we need to do our due diligence and make a full disclosure when we sell it.Which means I need to see if I can find anything else.”
“That’s perfectly reasonable,” Joan said.“Please let us know if you discover anything new.”
“Of course.And likewise.”I was about to hang up when I remembered something else Honey was supposed to ask her about.“One more thing.Do you know anyone who owns a gray Honda sedan with South Carolina plates?I think it’s a recent model.”
“I don’t.It’s most likely someone looking to buy the house on Esplanade.It’s off the market, but if they have an out-of-date listing, they wouldn’t know that, would they?”
“No,” I said slowly.“But that wouldn’t explain why the car was in front of your house.”
There was an extended pause.“Well, you know, with the Internetthese days you can find all sorts of personal information, such as who owns a particular house.”There was a brief silence, and I pictured her shrugging her thin shoulders.“Perhaps they were hoping to make a private offer but changed their minds.Or, you know, Nola, it could just be a coincidence.”
I looked up as she said that last word, my gaze immediately meeting Beau’s.
“Yes, well, I promise to keep looking.I am so very sorry I couldn’t be of more help.I’ll be in touch if Honey or I—or, for that matter, Zeus—comes up with anything to add.”
“Thank you.I’ll be in touch.”I ended the call, my eyes still locked on Beau.
“There’s no such thing—” he began.
I held up my hand.“I know.There’s something I’m not seeing here.And if I had to guess, I would say that Joan Wenzel would be more than happy to keep me in the dark.”
CHAPTER 31
It was still dark outside when I finally gave up on sleep and slid out of bed, careful to avoid stepping on Sarah and disturbing Mardi.I checked my phone again to see if Cooper had texted or if I had missed a call, but there was nothing.I’d texted twice, asking him to call me, so his silence meant that he was avoiding me.I might have tried to tell myself that he’d lost his phone, but the entire incident with Michael had at least taught me never to be that naïve again.
I sat on the edge of my bed for a long time, watching the gray light creeping around my window shades shift to blue and then yellow as the sun began its climb.I’d been going over all the unanswered questions about what had happened to Adele and Buddy Ryan, as well as about the odd disappearances of Mark, Jessica, and Lynda following the murder of Mark’s mother, Sybil.After the harrowing events at the Esplanade house, I was glad Sarah would be leaving and getting far away from whoever was lurking upstairs in the room where a rug had hidden a bloodstain for decades.They said that the dead kept their secrets, but a select few of us knew that wasn’t true.
For the first time since moving in with Jolene, I was up before her.Despite the noise I made trying to figure out the coffee maker, she remained in her room.Because I hadn’t ever actually seen her sleeping, and I thought that maybe she was a freak of nature and didn’t need any sleep, I cracked her door and verified that she was sound asleep in her bed.
I closed the door quietly, hoping she wasn’t coming down with something.Jolene lived for the Christmas season, and she’d be disappointed to miss even half a day of the preparations and hoopla that surrounded the holidays.Before we’d gone to bed the previous night, she’d suggested going tree shopping with Sarah today, with a promise to FaceTime me so I could be part of the excitement (her word) of choosing our first tree for the apartment.
Since today was Sarah’s last full day in New Orleans, I didn’t want to keep her cooped up inside with me, so I’d feigned enthusiasm and told Jolene it was a great idea.Fortunately, Jolene had then begun discussing our matching outfits (including Mardi’s) for our joint Christmas card and didn’t notice the lukewarmness of my response or Sarah’s hesitance.
Sarah entered the kitchen rubbing her eyes, with Mardi trotting in her wake, and took over the coffee maker without any resistance from me.As she scooped coffee grounds, she said, “I’m leaving tomorrow, and nothing’s been resolved.I didn’t help figure anything out.So much for my psychic abilities.That creepy baby doll has given you as much new information as I have.”
I squeezed her shoulders.“Sarah, as I know Melanie would tell you, you have very little control over your abilities.And, as I’m sure she will also tell you, sometimes you won’t know what you’ve learned right away.It’s like you’re only allowed a tiny scrap of the whole picture at a time.Whether or not the people in the spirit realm are sadistic jerks is not for me to say, but I can only hope that there’s a purpose behind their stingy doling out of information.”
Sarah’s blue eyes were serious as she carefully poured coffee into my mug.“Has Beau told you what Adele told him?”
