The Curse Оf Hollister House

“So you are telling me that this man with the truck was seen lurking around the middle school twenty years ago when Stella disappeared and then again recently when Tracy went missing, but Cass is sure that he is not the killer?” Gracie asked later in the day as we walked around the pumpkin patch. Paisley was walking ahead of us with Tom, who was pulling a wagon to carry the pumpkins she picked out.

“That’s what he said. He spoke to the man, who admitted that he likes to watch kids. That in and of itself seems creepy to me, but Cass said there is absolutely nothing to suggest that the man has ever harmed any of the kids he watches sexually or otherwise, and a perusal of the police reports surrounding Hillary’s death in Rivers Bend did not mention a white truck with a brown camper or a creepy man hanging around the school.”

“Can’t Cass arrest him for hanging around the school? It doesn’t seem right.”

“He can’t arrest him because he hasn’t actually done anything wrong, but Cass talked to him again today about finding another place to hang out. According to Cass, the man was in a car accident when he was in middle school. I guess he was pretty banged up and not only did he lose a hand, but he suffered injury to his brain as well. Cass seems to think the man’s fascination with kids in this age group is due to that brain injury. He is going to keep an eye on him and is going to keep strongly encouraging him to hang out somewhere else, but not a single student that Cass has talked to has reported any wrongdoing on the man’s part. He hangs back and watches, and some of the kids go over to talk to him, but that seems to be the extent of it.”

“I take it he doesn’t work?”

“Cass said he is on disability.”

“And when Naomi saw him in the woods?” Gracie asked.

“Cass suspects the guy was just lurking then too and didn’t mean to scare her or mean her any harm.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“None of us do. Still, it really doesn’t look like the guy is the killer, so Cass is basically back to square one. At least with Stella and Tracy’s cases. He said he is making progress with Patricia Long’s death, but he declined to fill me in at this point.”

“How about this one?” Paisley held up a large pumpkin.

“I like it,” I called back. “It’s round and big enough to carve. Now we just need to find three more like it.”

“I see one over there.” Paisley put the pumpkin in the wagon and took off running.

I couldn’t help but smile. It had been a long time since I’d felt that much enthusiasm for anything, but there had been a time when I too could barely contain my happiness. As I watched Paisley run from one pumpkin to another, I had to wonder what had happened to that girl. I guess there comes a time when we leave the wonder of childhood behind, only to replace it with the responsibility of adulthood, but what I wouldn’t give to feel that happy again if only for a day.

“Should we carve them when we get home?” Paisley asked when the wagon was full.

“I think that would be a wonderful idea,” I said. I looked at Aunt Gracie. “As long as it is okay with you.”

“Fine by me. I’ll heat up the chili and make some corn bread, and we can carve straight through the dinner hour.”

“Be sure to call your grandmother to let her know what we are doing,” I counseled. “We wouldn’t want her to worry.”

“I’ll call her. She won’t worry as long as I am with you and I have a ride home.”

“I can drive you home when we’re done,” I offered.

During the next few hours, I remembered what it was like to be a kid again. I remembered what it was like to find pure joy in the simple things. I remembered what it was like to laugh without inhibition. I remembered the magic I’d somehow lost along the way. There would be those who would say my friendship with Paisley had been beneficial to her, and I hoped that was true. But the truth of the matter was our friendship was helping me more than I could ever say.

“Cass just pulled up,” Gracie called out to me just as I was getting ready to take Paisley home.

I hesitated.

“I’ll take her,” Gracie offered. “There is leftover chili in the refrigerator if Cass is hungry.”

“Thanks, Aunt Gracie.” I hugged Paisley. “I’ll see you tomorrow for your piano lesson.”

“I’ll be here.” She hugged me back.

Cass came in through the back door just as Gracie and Paisley were leaving. Tom went with them as well.

“Hungry?” I asked.

“Starving.”

“There is leftover chili and corn bread.”

“Sounds perfect.”

I grabbed a beer and popped the top before passing it to Cass. “So, how’d it go?” I asked. “Did your lead pay off?”

“It did.”

“And?”

“And Patricia’s killer is behind bars.”

I frowned as I sliced the corn bread. “That seems like it would be a good thing, but you don’t seem happy.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not. The case was a rough one.”

I scooped the chili into a bowl and put it in the microwave. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It isn’t pretty,” he warned.

I set the plate with the corn bread and honey butter on the table. “I’m a big girl. I’m sure I can take whatever it is.”

Cass took a sip of his beer. “It turns out that Patricia had an older step brother who lived with the family.”

Oh, God. I already hated where this was going.

“The brother, who just turned twenty, had been molesting her for years. Patricia never told a soul until recently, when, after a few beers they’d snuck from her dad’s stash, she’d come clean with a friend. The friend persuaded her to tell her mom, which she planned to do as soon as her mom returned from visiting her aunt. Somehow, the brother found out. When she arrived home early from the party after arguing with her boyfriend, the brother just happened to be the only one at home. He confronted her, she fought back, and he killed her.”

“Oh, God.”

Cass continued. “He’d read the details of Tracy’s death in the newspaper and decided to make it look like the person who killed Tracy also killed Patricia.”

“The scratch marks?”

“He scratched her with his nails after she was dead, which, as it turns out, was a good thing, because we found skin under his nails that we will use to send the guy to prison for a very long time.”

“So who put you on to the brother?” I wondered.

“The friend Patricia told her secret to. After Patricia turned up dead, she wondered if it hadn’t been the brother. It took her a few days to work up the courage to tell me what she knew, but eventually, she did the right thing.”

“I hate that Patricia was killed by a family member.”

“Yeah.” Cass sighed. “Me too. He wasn’t blood, but still. It was not the sort of ending anyone wants to see.”

I poured myself a glass of wine and sat down across from Cass. “So it looks like Patricia’s death is definitely not linked to Tracy’s.”

“I guess not.”

“Where does that leave Buck? I mean, the whole reason the sheriff released him was because Buck couldn’t have killed Patricia. Now that you know the two deaths were not carried out by the same person, will you rearrest him for Tracy’s murder?”

Cass frowned. “I still don’t think that Buck killed Tracy, but I do think he might be able to help us figure out who did.”

“How is that?”

“It seemed as if Buck was covering for someone. I’m not sure if he was being bribed or threatened to do so, but if we find out who Buck was protecting, it seems like we should be able to identify the killer.”