Schuyler Square Day 121 A Long Way Down

Frozen at the window, Veronica stared down at Jim Waterston's lifeless body. Behind her, Peter seemed to be coming out of whatever otherworldly state he was in. Veronica watched as the people in the living room rushed outside. In the distance came the sound of sirens and she knew that in another moment or two the Schuyler Square police department would arrive. Wearily, she turned and looked at Peter. "Are you all right?"

Peter shook his head sharply as if he was shaking away cobwebs. "I saw Mary Austin after Jim left. I saw her body lying in front of the fireplace. Jim Waterston killed her and I knew about it all these years but I couldn't remember. Why couldn't I remember?"

Veronica sat down shakily on an old rocking chair and wished that she was any other place in the world. "I don't know, Peter. The mind is a funny thing."

"But I liked Mary. She was always nice to me. I should have remembered what happened to her."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Veronica assured him. "It's all over now."

Peter sat down too. "I feel like I've been asleep for the past twenty years."

Veronica couldn't help but laugh. "Believe me, you haven't been asleep. You have a pregnant wife and an irate mistress. Do you remember that?"

Slowly nodding his head, the mist that had been in his eyes for months began to lift. "I guess I should do something about both of those situations."

They could hear the sound of someone climbing the attic steps, breathing harder with each stair. A moment later Chelsea hurried into the room, her rounded body still moving for a second after she'd come to a halt. "Peter! Oh, thank God you're all right! For a moment I thought that was you who fell out the window." She walked as quickly as she could over to her husband and wrapped her arms around him.

Peter hesitated for a split second before embracing Chelsea tightly. "I'm fine," he told her. "Everything's fine."

Feeling like she was intruding, Veronica got to her feet and began to sidle toward the door. Everything was going to be all right for Peter and Chelsea. She had the feeling that the person Peter Van Husen had been for the past few months had been some kind of imposter and now the real Peter, the decent police officer Peter, was going to return and just in time for his wife.

Veronica was suddenly exhausted. Ever since she'd returned to Schuyler Square she felt like it had been one drama after another. Ron, Chelsea, Mavis, Peter, Tiffany, Tom.

Maybe things will settle down now. Maybe no one will get murdered and there won't be any rumors about ghosts breaking things in the middle of the night. Maybe we can all get down to the business of normal, everyday life.

But in Schuyler Square, Veronica wasn't sure if normal, everyday life was possible.

Schuyler Square Day 111 Really?

Could it ever be just about Tiffany? Did her relatives and relatives hangers-ons always have to drag the conversation back to their lives and their problems? Tiffany stared at Peter Van Husen with disgust. Peter's strange announcement had pretty much dragged the dinner conversation to a dead halt with the other guests exchanging is he out of his mind? looks that pretty much summed up what everyone at the table thought about Peter.

Tiffany began artfully rearranging the food that was still on her plate. Her father was never going to want to come over for dinner again after this meal. Maybe she should move in with him. Even living with a brand new daddy had to beat living with the lunatics who lived in Schuyler Manor.

"What do you mean?" Mindy Cooper asked, her eyes alive and curious. "What do you mean you're 'pretty sure' you were there when Mary Austin died?"

"Well, it was a long time ago," Peter began. "I was fifteen and I had a paper route and Ms. Austin was one of my customers."

"Fifteen is old enough to remember if you happened to be someplace where a murder happened," Tyler pointed out.

Tiffany silently groaned. This was going to take forever. Peter was so dumb to have even brought up that murder. Mindy Cooper was going to grill him until he was raw and Aunt Mavis was finally going to show him the door and slam it shut behind him. Tiffany considered that possibility. Maybe it was a good thing Peter decided to bring them all along on his jaunt down memory lane.

"So what do you remember?" Tiffany asked. "Because if this is going to take a long time, I'm going to excuse myself. There's something I want to watch on t.v. in about an hour."

"You'll have to excuse me to," Tom Hartman said. "Tiffany, why don't you walk me to the door?" After thanking Mavis for the meal, Tom led the way out of the dining room and into the foyer. Tiffany followed, grateful for the opportunity to leave.

"Thanks," she said to her father. "Just about the last thing I felt like doing was listen to some ancient history. Why can't my family be more normal?"

Her dad looked sympathetic. "It can't be easy living here," he remarked.

"It isn't," Tiffany agreed. To her surprise, her eyes filled with tears. "It's mainly because I always feel like a guest, you know? I'm related to these people but I feel like I should always have my suitcase packed."

"I know we don't know each other very well yet but do you think you might ever consider what Mindy suggested--the two of us living together? I don't know too much about being a dad but I'm would like to learn."

Tiffany considered Tom's offer. If she moved in with him, she'd be giving up living in the lap of luxury with everything she wanted at her fingertips into what she was sure would be a smaller, possibly even cramped space. On the other hand, if she moved in with her dad that would mean she'd be moving away from all of her loony tunes relatives. That alone would be worth giving up a walk-in closet. She could hear Peter Van Husen still talking in the dining room. Moving away would also mean moving away from Aunt Mavis and her annoying boyfriend. "I guess we could give it a try," she agreed.

Her father looked surprised and happy. "All right," he said. "Give me a week and we'll get you moved in."