The Pine Hill Inn Read online

  “At last, they’ve gone. Let’s go.” Livvy did an about-face and headed for the now open gardens at the side of the inn with Ella following after.

  “Right here,” Ella said staring down at the path. “This is where we found Leo Martin.”

  Not saying a word, Livvy knelt on one knee and ran her hand over the gravel. She shifted her gaze around the area, and then she stood brushing her hand against her jeans to remove the small pebbles.

  “Anything?” Ella asked.

  “I sense a short struggle. Someone approached Leo and took him by surprise. It was over quickly. There was a weapon. Maybe a knife?”

  “Lucy told me she overheard one of the officers say there were knife wounds,” Ella said. “Are you able to pick up on the killer? Male? Female? Young? Old?”

  “Not yet.”

  “How about motive? It wasn’t random, was it?” Ella asked.

  “No, it wasn’t random. I can feel the leftover rage. It was definitely a targeted attack.” Livvy kicked at the tiny stones on the path with the toe of her shoe, and looked up at the second floor window. “Shall we go pay our favorite ghost a visit and see how she’s doing?”

  When Ella followed her sister’s eyes to the upper window, she got the impression someone had been looking out at them. “Sure.”

  Once in room 11, Livvy and Ella walked slowly around. There was no sign of Rebekah … they didn’t hear her crying, they didn’t see any sparks or flickers of her form, they didn’t feel any empty places in the room, or any hot or cold patches. Ella had left her case in the car preferring to use her own senses to sense and communicate with the ghost.

  Ella sat down on the bed and ran her hand over the red and white patchwork quilt. “How do you think Liam’s interview with Aunt Jin went?”

  Livvy spun around and with a big smile, gave her sister the eye. “I see someone is thinking about Liam.”

  “I’m thinking about Jin and what she might have told him. I’m also thinking about Liam and what he’s going to write about us. You don’t think Jin told him anything about witches, do you?”

  Livvy teased, “Are you worried Liam will think less of you if he knows we’re all witches?”

  Ella blew out a breath. “Jin wouldn’t say anything. We all have reputations to keep intact. Can you imagine what the university administration would do if a news article reported I was a witch? My career would be over. It’s one thing to help ghosts. It’s another thing altogether to be a witch.”

  “Don’t worry.” Livvy looked out the window and down to the gardens. “Jin won’t slip up, and if by some chance she does, you can just tell people she’s suffering from early onset dementia.”

  Ella chuckled. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  Although a good number of citizens of the town knew that the family did some work with ghosts and owned a business related to ghostly investigations, most of them thought the Danielses were involved with calming the wild fears and imaginings of anxious or stressed out people who had worked themselves into a frenzy thinking there was a ghost in their home. The family was happy to let others think they really didn’t believe in ghosts and simply went through the motions pretending to remove a spirit from a building to placate the victim’s worries and return harmony to that person’s mental state.

  Ella felt the mattress depress next to her as if an invisible person had sat down beside her. “Rebekah?”

  Livvy and Ella heard someone let out a long breath.

  “Are you feeling a little better?” Livvy asked.

  The lamp on the left side of the dresser turned on by itself.

  “Yes, she does,” Ella interpreted the response of the left lamp turning on.

  “You’re probably feeling tired from being upset most of the day today,” Livvy said.

  The lamp turned off and back on again.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t figure out last night that you were trying to tell me something was wrong outside in the garden,” Ella told the ghost.

  The lamp flicked on and off.

  Livvy sat down in the easy chair by the window. “Are you tired of being on this side of the worlds?”

  Again, the lamp flickered on and off, and Ella’s eyes widened with surprise at Rebekah’s affirmative answer.

  “Are you ready to cross?” Ella asked. “Would you like to move on now?”

  The left side lamp’s light went out and the right side lamp turned on.

  “No.” Ella spoke the ghost’s answer aloud. “I wish you could tell us why you feel you have to stay. Can you speak to us?”

  The right side lamp flicked off and back on.

  Ella said, “Lucy wonders if you could stay quiet when you’re in here. There are some big events coming up this month at the inn. Some of the guests don’t understand. Some of them would be frightened by the sounds or sights of a spirit. Would you try to do that for Lucy? She doesn’t mind at all if you want to live here forever. She’s just hoping you might be careful so the guests don’t get frightened.”

  When no response came, Livvy took a quick look at her sister and as soon as they made eye contact, the left side lamp turned on. Yes.

  Ella smiled. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you. Lucy will be pleased and grateful.”

  “You know we’ll help you if you ever want to cross,” Livvy said to the ghost. “Sometimes you seem unhappy here. I think you’d be very happy on the other side. Some spirits have communicated a little bit to us about how wonderful and beautiful it is there. You don’t need to be afraid to do it.”

  The invisible person got up from the bed and Ella could see some of the ghost’s shimmering particles as she crossed the room. Suddenly, the window shade moved slowly down to the sill, and then it slowly rose again.

  Ella went to the window and looked out.

  The translucent form of Leo Martin stood in the garden staring up at Ella.

  Ella lifted her hand and pressed it against the glass. “Leo is outside,” she told her sister.

  “Is he?” Livvy hurried to Ella’s side and looked out. “Well, so he is. Shall we go down and say hello?”

  Leo was still standing by the row of yellow mums when the sisters arrived in the garden.

  “Do you need help crossing, Leo?” Ella asked gently.

  The ghost shook his head.

  “Do you know who took your life?”

  The ghost gave a little nod.

  “Can you tell us who it was?”

  Leo turned his gaze to the ground before shifting it to the walkway that went past the door to the kitchen and around to the back of the inn. Tears glistened at the corners of his eyes and he blinked them away.

  “Do you want us to figure out who did this to you?” Ella questioned.

  The ghost made eye contact with the young woman, and she didn’t need to hear an answer to understand that was what he wanted.

  “We’ll do our best,” Ella told him. “We’ll talk to your brother. We’ll talk to the staff and to some of the guests. But you don’t need to stay here for us to work on it.”

  The expression on Leo’s face told Ella he wasn’t going anywhere.

  On the other side of the garden, the sunlight sparkled brightly, and within five seconds, Rebekah appeared, translucent and shimmering. She wore a long dark dress with a high collar and her hair was pulled up in a loose bun with a few soft tendrils framing her face.

  Ella smiled at the spirit. “We’ll help him,” she whispered.

  Rebekah nodded and her atoms flared with a golden glow, and she was gone. When Ella glanced to where Leo had been standing, the spot was empty. He had disappeared, too.

  “Everyone’s always showing up and leaving so fast around here,” Livvy said. “And can you tell me why these spirits can’t speak to us? Just come out with it. Tell us what you know and what you want. If you have the smarts to appear and wail and fuss, why can’t you say a few helpful words?”

  Ella couldn’t help but smile. “If you find the answers to your que
stions about ghosts, it will probably mean that you’re dead.”

  “Good point,” Livvy nodded. “My intention is to stick around on this side of things for a while longer so I guess we’ll just have to use our powers of analysis and deduction to find the killer.”

  “Did you say use our powers?” Ella asked.

  “I guess I might have slipped that into the sentence.” Livvy smiled, and then her face changed to a serious expression. “Who’s that going into the inn? I don’t recognize him as a staff member.”

  Ella looked to the door that led into the kitchen just as the man stepped inside. “I didn’t get a good look at him, but I don’t think I’ve seen him before either. He must be a new hire.”

  “Let’s go talk to Lucy again,” Livvy suggested. “And then maybe we should have a chat with a few of the kitchen workers … including that mystery man.”

  7

  When Ella and Livvy went into the inn to speak with Lucy, the innkeeper told them that the new employee, Brian Milton, was a kitchen assistant and had been hired about two months ago. The young man could be antagonistic and some of the workers didn’t like his attitude.

  Lucy begged Ella and Livvy not to interview the kitchen staff since they’d been questioned repeatedly by the police over the past two days. “Come back in a couple of days. I’m afraid they’re all worn out and upset right now. You might get more information from them if you wait until they have some time to recover.”

  The sisters left the inn and headed to Livvy’s store, Sit a Spell, on the main street of town. The shop sold books, coffees, teas, some baked goods, soups, and all kinds of gift items. There was a popular section of the store with “holistic” or “magical” things for sale which the customers enjoyed such as stones and crystals, herbs, books, tarot cards, fairy and unicorn jewelry, tea blends, aromatherapy items, candles, and essential oils.

  Painted in soft, muted colors, the place had a fireplace on one wall surrounded by plush chairs and two sofas, café tables set near the windows, soft lighting, and crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. The shop’s welcoming and cozy atmosphere encouraged customers to stay as long as they wanted to browse, read, or sit and chat with friends and acquaintances.

  While Raisin snoozed in a comfy chair, Livvy, Ella, and Aunt Jin sat together in a corner of the store discussing the sisters’ latest visit to the inn.

  “Perhaps, Rebekah is becoming more open to crossing over.” Jin sipped from her cup of herbal tea.

  “I hope she is.” Ella picked at an apple-spice muffin. “She’s been dead since 1785. I need to find out more about her.” Ella had been researching the Cooper family off and on for a few years trying to figure out why Rebekah had such a need to remain at the inn, hoping if she found the reason, she might be able to convince the ghost to leave the earthly plane. “Something has kept her stuck here for over two centuries.”

  “Keep looking,” Jin encouraged. “You’ll find some information that will help.”

  “We’re going to speak with the dead man’s brother later today,” Livvy said. “He lives on Poet’s Hill and works as an artist. Maybe he’ll have some insight about what happened to Leo.”

  “And you’re speaking with the inn staff tomorrow?” Jin asked.

  “We are,” Ella told her.

  “That detective is a snooty pain in the butt.” Livvy took a piece of her sister’s muffin and popped it in her mouth. “I really had to hold back from doing something to him.”

  Jin narrowed her eyes at her niece.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t, but I would have loved to. He’s very arrogant. He seems to think a lot of himself.”

  “He was abrupt,” Ella said, “but he was really just doing his job.”

  “I don’t have your patience with people like him.” Livvy gave her sister a cheeky grin. “Is it your patience that has you defending him or is it his handsome face?”

  “You need to stop trying to set me up with men,” Ella said evenly.

  “Well, you’re not doing such a great job on your own,” Livvy teased.

  Ella lifted her coffee mug. “Have you ever considered selling the shop and going into the matchmaking business?”

  “I have actually. I’m good at it, if you recall. I’ve matched up four of my friends and two friends of friends. I can do the same for you, sis.”

  “I’ll let you know when I’m ready.” Ella drank from her mug.

  “Let’s leave Ella’s love life alone for a few minutes,” Jin suggested, “and go back to discussing the murder since the victim has reached out to us for help. Tell me what you know about him.”

  Ella told her aunt the few facts they’d gathered about the man. “His name was Leo Martin. He was in his mid-twenties, slender and just under six feet tall. He wanted to attend culinary school one day, but was working to get experience and save money.”

  “Married?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “A partner?” Jin asked.

  “We aren’t sure about that.”

  “Something drew him back here, and it might not have been because he missed his boyhood home,” Jin speculated. “Keep that in mind as you investigate. Hopefully, you’ll know more after you speak with the brother and the kitchen staff.”

  “How was your interview with Liam?” Livvy asked Jin.

  “It went well. I was pleased with his thoughtful questions. He doesn’t seem to come with any preconceived notions,” their aunt told them. “He is respectful and thoughtful.”

  “We have to remember that the way someone seems and what he ends up writing about us can be two very different things.” Ella was still unsure about the journalist and worried about the attention his article would bring. “We have to keep in mind the incident from a few years ago.”

  Raisin lifted her head and hissed.

  Livvy said, “Raisin was the only one of us who saw through that guy.”

  Several years ago, a young man came to the family wanting to learn to help ghosts and they took him on as an apprentice, when in reality, his motivation was to gather information on the family in order to write hateful, twisted things on social media about what they were doing.

  For almost a year afterward, Ella, Livvy, and Jin had to hire bodyguards for protection against the nuts who came out of the woodwork to harass them. Despite the family’s ability to sense things about people, this man had been so convincing in displaying sincere interest in helping ghosts that he completely fooled all of them. The man had shown fake romantic interest in Ella, and she fell for him, only to be crushed when they learned the truth about him.

  The family was blind-sided by their inability to sense the man’s false intentions, and had discussed the situation at length without coming up with any good reasons for their failings. Ever since the incident, Ella was distrustful of entering into a new relationship with someone, worried that she’d be hoodwinked once again.

  “I hope you’re not spilling every detail about us,” Ella said.

  “I know better than that now.” Jin’s face turned stony recalling the deception. “I thought it might be time to put out some good press about what we do. I’m keeping many things about our abilities to myself. There’s plenty to talk about if we keep strictly to how our efforts bring peace to people.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t get twisted into something it isn’t,” Ella said.

  “And if it does, this guy won’t get off as easy as the last one.” Livvy’s face clouded.

  “I did not approve of what you did to him.” Jin’s voice was stern.

  “I did not approve of what he did to us,” Livvy countered. “I didn’t kill him, for Pete’s sake ... although I would have liked to.”

  “We do not do revenge,” Jin said.

  “I do when someone hurts my sister.”

  Ella sighed. “It’s in the past. Let’s move on and learn from it. We all need to be very careful about what we share with Liam.” She looked at Jin. “You haven’t told him anything about our pow
ers, have you?”

  “I have not, and I don’t intend to do so.”

  “Good.”

  As if on cue, Liam came into the shop, spotted the three women in the corner, waved, and after getting a coffee at the refreshment counter, he went over to see them. “Hi, all. Can I join you?”

  Jin gestured to a seat.

  Liam smiled and pulled his chair up to the table. “I’ve been out walking around town. What a great main street … restaurants, stores, a library, pubs, a movie theatre. You have everything here and it’s all within walking distance.”

  “It’s a beautiful place,” Jin said with a nod. “We’re lucky to live here.”

  Liam looked over at Ella. “Have you been back to the inn? How is Rebekah doing?”

  Ella liked that the man wanted to know about the ghost. “Livvy and I talked to her. She seems calmer. She’s agreed to be quieter so she doesn’t scare the guests.”

  “That’s really great.” Liam took a careful sip of the hot liquid in his mug. “Is there any news about the dead man from the garden?”

  “Not much,” Ella told him. “His name was Leo Martin. He worked in the kitchen. He grew up around here. His goal was to go to cooking school.”

  “That’s very sad.” Liam looked thoughtful, and then lowered his voice. “Have you seen him again?”

  “Briefly,” Livvy said. “We haven’t learned much more than we already knew.”

  “These past couple of days with all of you have been an incredible experience. My head is spinning. I really don’t understand any of it, but I hope you can help Leo. And Rebekah, too.”

  Raisin stood up on her chair, stretched, and jumped down to the floor. She padded over to Liam and leapt onto his lap where she circled, and then settled, purring.

  “Oh, hi, Raisin.” Liam chuckled as he patted the soft black fur.

  “I guess she likes you,” Ella smiled.

  “Raisin is a very good judge of character,” Livvy told the young man, and then she looked pointedly at her sister and raised an eyebrow.