Ding Dong Dead

51

Gretchen unlocked the museum door, disappointed that the police weren’t there to greet them. “I’m going to wait outside,” she said, watching Julie pull a large tote out of the backseat and walk up the sidewalk toward her. The woman carried a ton of stuff. Not that Gretchen should talk. She usually had Nimrod and all his supplies with her.

She felt a pang of loneliness, missing her lovable creatures. Wobbles and Nimrod. What a pair.

“The police told us to wait inside,” Julie said.

“I need fresh air. Don’t worry about me. I’ll stay close by the door.”

“Call me when the police arrive,” Julie said. “I’ve been so busy with the play, I haven’t had time to go through the museum.”

“Sure. Take your time, but watch out for the ghost.” Gretchen tried to make light.

“Ghost?” Julie stopped. “I forgot that the house is supposed to be haunted.”

Gretchen grinned. “That’s what Nina thinks. Remember? She insists that Flora’s spirit is trapped between two worlds, that she has unfinished business on earth and that her spirit needs to be reconnected somehow.”

Reconnected to her head, Gretchen thought, but that’s morbid and Julie seems nervous as it is.

Gretchen didn’t tell Julie that she believed right along with Nina that the house was haunted. Hadn’t strange noises alerted them to the contents of the armoire? And later hadn’t chimes warned of Jerome’s presence? If not for the intervention of the ghost, they may have been killed.

She wasn’t ready, though, to announce it to the world.

“Maybe I won’t go inside after all.”

“No, really, it’s nothing to be afraid of,” Gretchen said. “If the house has a ghost, I’m sure it’s a benevolent ghost. I’ll come inside, turn on lights for you, and we’ll prove that the building is safe.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

Julie stepped over the threshold.

So did Gretchen.