"I don't know about this Steve." DeeDee Robertson stared up at the ceiling. "Maybe we shouldn't move here." She was lying next to her husband Steve at a rundown motel in the dinky town of Schuyler Square, Illinois, and she had the feeling that the two of them had just made one of the bigger mistakes of their marriage. Bigger than the time early in their marriage they had decided to Z brick a wall in the living room only to find their math was off and they ran out of fake bricks two-thirds through the project and couldn't afford any more. Steve had made up for that goof by strategically placing the remaining bricks in a staggered pattern that looked fine when you were drunk but a lot like a gap toothed beggar the rest of the time. Bigger than when DeeDee planned a camping vacation and then accidentally gave them food poisoning ten miles from the nearest indoor bathroom. Bigger even than when they allowed their daughter's then-boyfriend to move in with them only to find out he was wanted by every branch of the law in the tr-state area. Still, this mistake made the other ones look incredibly minor. Were they really going to be happy living in a small town in a haunted house?
"Honey, relax," Steve said. "The house was left to us, free and clear. We both agreed that if we move to Schuyler Square we'll be able to enjoy our retirement with a lot more freedom. You know the rent back in the city was killing us. And think about the grandkids. Austin and Kayla are going to love visiting us here."
"But the house is haunted," DeeDee reminded him. "I don't want to live in a haunted house and I don't want my grandchildren visiting a haunted house."
"We don't know for sure that it's haunted. We heard it from two women who were probably tossing back Long Island Iced Teas when we interrupted them. Plus we're practically evicting one of them. Maybe they're tweaking the ghost story a little just to scare us off."
"They wouldn't do that. They looked like nice women. I think they were telling the truth. We're giving up restaurants, shopping and museums to move into an old house with a ghost in it."
"A free old house with a ghost in it."
"I don't want to live there."
"DeeDee, you're going to make yourself crazy and take me along for the ride. What can we do so this ghost business doesn't bother you so much?"
DeeDee considered their options and was dismayed to realize that they really didn't have many at all. Steve was right; the cost of living in the city was ridiculous and their retirement dollars would definitely go a lot farther out in the sticks. Plus they'd never had a house before and she knew it was going to be wonderful to finally have a garden and a garage and a yard. "I suppose that if we got to the bottom of what happened in the house, maybe it wouldn't be so scary. Chelsea said they never found out who murdered the woman living in our house. Maybe if we find out her soul will be at peace and she'll leave us alone. At least that's the way it always works in movies."
"Great idea. You get to the bottom of it. You love to read mysteries so maybe you can solve this one." Steve sounded like he was almost asleep.
"Will you help me?"
"You know I will," Steve agreed.
DeeDee felt better. "The first thing I need to do is find out just what happened. Who was she? Why would anyone want to kill her? How was she killed?'
"That's right, honey," Steve said, his voice barely a mumble. "You figure it out. You can do it."
DeeDee nodded in the dark. She could do it and she would. Starting first thing in the morning.
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