Schuyler Square Day 92 A Clue

"I wish those two had stayed," Mindy remarked as soon as the door shut behind Tom and Veronica. "I have to think that the more people here, the better. Psychically speaking. Especially Veronica."

"Why especially Veronica?" Chelsea asked.

"Well," Mindy replied, her eyes glued to the Ouija board, "because of her connection to Ron Schuyler, of course. If Ron did have something to do with Mary's death then her presence would be a conduit to Mary Austin."

"How do you figure that?" Steve inquired.

"It makes sense, doesn't it? Veronica had a fling with Ron and supposedly Mary did too. Maybe she'd feel more comfortable telling Veronica who killed her."

Steve and DeeDee's caught each other's eyes and were clearly sharing the same thought: Mindy Cooper talked too much. "I don't think we should discuss Veronica's personal life," DeeDee told Mindy. "It's none of our business."

Mindy shrugged. "Whatever. Now let's all be quiet and try to concentrate again." She spoke so sternly that everyone else did as they were told and stopped talking. "Mary Austin? Are you there?"

Suddenly the flame on the candle in the middle of the table went out, plunging the room into darkness. "This is it," Mindy whispered. "Pay off time. Mary? Is that you?"

A faint hum seemed to fill the air. "What's that?" Chelsea asked nervously.

"Shhhh," Mindy ordered. "Mary? Are you here? Are you in this room?"

The room seemed colder than it had before. "I don't like this," DeeDee began but was interrupted by the sound of the back door opening.

"She's here," Mindy said.

"I never wanted to see her!" DeeDee protested. "I thought she'd give us an answer on the Ouija board!"

"DeeDee, I told you we shouldn't be messing with this," Steve said. "Now let's stop right now. I'm going to turn the lights on."

At that moment the planchette began spinning on the Ouija board, slipping out from underneath everyone's fingers. "Look at that!" Mindy breathed. "Quick! Somebody write down what it's spelling. S C H U Y L E R M A N O R!"

"We don't need to write it down," Steve said dryly. It spelled 'schuyler manor."

"That means whoever killed her lives at Schuyler Manor!" Chelsea said.

"Is that right, Mary? Is that what you're trying to tell us?"

But the planchette had stopped moving. For several long moments the room was silent as the chill left the air. "What should we do now?" DeeDee finally whispered.

"Have some dips and chip," Steve suggested. "I think the show's over for the night."

Schuyler Square Day 91 Mary Austin?

"So who here knows what they're doing?" Tom Hartman asked once everyone had arrived at Steve and DeeDee's house, the former home of the slain Mary Austin. Tom looked at Steve and DeeDee with appreciation. They were such a cute couple, they way they bickered with each other but in a nice kind of way. He wouldn't mind being part of a duo like the two of them. His eyes wandered over to where Veronica Chandler was sitting and wondered if maybe...

"I know exactly what I'm doing," Mindy Cooper announced, interrupting Tom's pleasant train of thought. "I rented a bunch of scary movies last night and stayed up until four this morning watching them. It's very easy. We just sit in a circle, put our fingers on the Oujia board thingie and ask Mary Austin what happened that night. We should have a response in a few minutes."

Veronica and Tom looked at each other and Tom could tell that Veronica was thinking the same thing he was: Ah, youth! So optimistic. So know-it-all. So occasionally obnoxious.

"I'll be glad when this is over," DeeDee said. "I'd much rather have people over for munchies and drinks than conjuring up spirits."

"You're all nuts," Steve told the group in a calm voice. "You can't honestly expect to get some kind of response from Mary Austin and if you do--are you sure that's really what you want?"

"Well," DeeDee told him, "I want to be able to get up in the middle of the night without being scared out of my mind and it would be nice if that poor woman could be at peace."

Tom had to agree with Steve: they all were nuts. Still, maybe there was a chance that they'd figure something out. The group sat around the dining room table after DeeDee had removed all of the appetizers she'd prepared. Steve opted not to participate but instead sat in a chair a few feet away from everyone else.

"Now hold hands," Mindy ordered and everyone obediently linked their hands together. Tom was sitting next to Veronica and enjoyed the touch of her smooth skin. Even if he didn't get anything else out of this evening, he liked this part. "All right, now put your fingers on the Oujia thingie," Mindy said. Again everyone did what she instructed. Mindy began speaking in a low voice. "We are here tonight to ask Mary Austin a question. Mary, if you're in this room, please let us know."

The sheer curtains hanging at the windows began to blow, sending a stiff breeze into the room and giving everyone at the table a sudden case of goosebumps.

"She's hear!" Mindy whispered excitedly. "This is easier than I thought it would be!"

"I don't like this," Veronica muttered to Tom. "This is creepier than I thought it would be."

Tom silently agreed. Not only was it creepy, it also seemed plain wrong and he wished that he hadn't agreed to join in but at the moment couldn't see a way to leave graciously.

"Mary, thank you for joining us tonight," Mindy said somewhat formally. "Now will you please tell us who murdered you?"

A tremor seemed to run through Tom's body and for a split second he thought he was having a heart attack. But then he realized it was his cell phone that he'd set on vibrate. It vibrated again. "Excuse me," he said as he pulled the phone out of his pocket. Rude, undoubtedly, but he was happy to have been interrupted. "I should take this," he said with an apologetic nod to Mindy.

"Can't it wait?" Mindy demanded.

Truthfully, it could. But also truthfully, Tom couldn't wait to get out of that room. Looking at Veronica, he saw that she felt the same way. "Actually, it can't wait and I believe I'm going to need Veronica too. Would you excuse us?"

Veronica jumped to her feet gratefully and followed Tom into the kitchen. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's a wrong number," Tom replied, "but let's get out of here just the same. I don't like any of this."

Schuyler Square Day 89 Things That Go Bump in the Night

"Thank you for inviting me to the seance," Chelsea told Veronica. "I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

"I don't! I think it's going to be awful but I want to help Steve and DeeDee if I can," Veronica responded. "I know how scary it was living in that house after I found out about Mary. If this works and Mary stops hanging around making things go bump in the night, then it will be worth it."

"Did she make things go bump in the night when you lived there?"

Veronica nodded. "Often enough to make me not mind at all when Steve and DeeDee showed up to claim the house for themselves. I think I might have gotten the better deal. I love my new apartment and when I hang a picture on the wall or set something down on a table, I know it's going to stay there."

"I wonder if it's true," Chelsea said thoughtfully, "about Mary and Ron Schuyler. You know, that they were having an affair when she died."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Veronica said with a sigh. "I know from first hand experience how persuasive Ron could be."

"Then it's possible that Ron killed her." Chelsea frowned. "But if Ron did kill her and Ron's dead now, wouldn't that make Mary back off? There's nothing that can be done to catch him now."

"Ron was an adulterer and a first class jerk but I don't think he was a murderer," Veronica replied. "Murder would be too...messy for him."

"But if it wasn't Ron, then who killed Mary Austin?"

Goosebumps formed on Veronica's arms. "I suppose that's what we'll find out tonight."

"Mindy said that Tom Hartman will be joining us," Chelsea said. "Did she invite him or did you?"

"Actually, she did. Tom told me they ran into each other and Mindy told him what we're up to and asked him if he wanted to join us."

"And he said yes as soon as he heard that you'd be there," Chelsea guessed. "Am I right? How are things going between the two of you?"

"Slowly." Veronica didn't share with Chelsea that she'd just learned that Tom had a daughter. That was strictly Tom's news to share. "I suppose I'm a little gun shy."

"Join the club. I know that Peter will be coming back to me one of these days but I don't know that I'll ever be able to trust him again." Chelsea patted her slightly rounded stomach. "I suppose I'll have to for our baby's sake."

"Maybe he got whatever was making him act stupid out of his system," Veronica encouraged.

"I sure hope so because I don't think I could take it if he ran around on me again. Well, shall we head over to   Steve and DeeDee's and get this seance rolling?"

"All right," Veronica agreed but the goosebumps came back and she found herself almost unable to lift her feet off the floor. This whole seance thing was scaring her. Suppose Mary Austin appeared? Or worse, suppose they conjured up some other spirit? Veronica's mother had always warned her not to fool around with Ouija boards. Just like she'd warned her not to fool around with Ron Schuyler and look how right she'd been on that one. Leaving Chelsea's house, Veronica couldn't help but feel that her mother really did know best...

Schuyler Square Day 88 Who's Spooking Who?

"I don't really know how to have a seance," DeeDee told Mindy Cooper. "I mean, I've seen them on t.v. but I've never actually been to one. Have you?"

Mindy shook her head. "No, but how hard can it be? We get a Ouija board, light a couple of candles and voom! We have Mary Austin front and center, spilling the beans on who offed her."

DeeDee didn't understand young people. They were always so casual about everything--even murder-- and Mindy Cooper was no exception. Mindy seemed to see everything that happened in Schuyler Square as either unimportant or fodder for that sensational newspaper she edited. "Don't you think we ought to invite a few more people?"

"I already invited Chelsea and Kirk and Tom Hartman," Mindy informed her. "Oh, and Veronica Chandler."

"Who is Tom Hartman?"

"He's dating Veronica Chandler. I ran into him at the bakery. Very cute for an older guy. I asked him if he wanted to join us and he said 'sure.'"

Mindy was making this seance sound more like a social event than a creepy, supernatural thing that they probably shouldn't be doing. "I'm starting to feel a little uneasy about this," she began.

"Don't be ridiculous," Mindy ordered. "It's going to be fine. Do you think your husband would like to join us?"

"I don't think so," DeeDee said, remembering Steve's reaction when she'd told him about the seance. He'd told her in no uncertain terms that she was nuts and that he wanted no part in anything that involved a Ouija board. "He said he'll be at the library while we're trying to contact Mary Austin."

Mindy shrugged. "Whatever. All right, I'll be back around eight and we'll get set up. We should have the seance in the living room, right where Mary died. I've heard that spirits are most active in the spot where they left this world."

DeeDee shivered. She was liking this whole thing less and less. "Maybe I'll just watch," she said.

"Whatever. We have plenty of people without you. Of course," Mindy added with a sly look, "I don't know that I'd want to sit off on the sidelines in the dark alone while the rest of us are sitting around a table holding hands. Who knows what might reach out and grab you?"

Mindy was right. Anything might reach out and grab her while she was sitting there in the dark. "Never mind. I'll sit with you guys."

"Suit yourself. And would you please get that scared look off your face? What the heck do you think can happen during a seance? Ghosts can't hurt anyone. I'm heading to Wal-mart for a Ouija board. I'll see you later." Mindy was out DeeDee's kitchen door before she had a chance to say good-bye. DeeDee headed for the front hall closet where she kept the vacuum cleaner. She wanted everything to look nice for the seance.

"Dear God, what am I saying? I'm getting ready for a seance! I've crossed the line into complete lunacy!"

A loud crash from the living room made her jump. With a sinking heart, DeeDee knew exactly what to expect. Something else broken in front of the fireplace, right where Mary Austin had died. Maybe this seance wasn't such a crazy idea after all since someone--or something--seemed to be trying to get their attention.

Schuyler Square Day 80 DeeDee Smells a Rat

"I'm telling you, Steve, there was something funny about all that produce that woman was buying."

Steve didn't look up from the model ship he was building on the kitchen table. All of his life he had wanted to do things like build models of ships and airplanes, have a garden, sleep late and drink beer every night of the week. Now that he was retired and now that they had their own house, those were the things he planned on doing immediately. He refused to let any of DeeDee's wild imagination rub off on him. "You were at a farmer's market, hon," he pointed out. "What did you expect her to buy? Horse blankets?"

"You had to have been there," DeeDee told him. "Rosanne--that's her name, Rosanne Olson, works for the Schuylers. I think everyone in this town works for the Schuylers. Anyway, she told me that she had to buy produce from Fred Somebody or other but she practically insisted that I buy it from the Henderson's. Then she wound up buying from the Henderson's anyway. Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

"Not really. Maybe she changed her mind. That's something you've been known to do a few times over the course of your life."

"It wasn't like that." DeeDee sat down at the kitchen table and watched Steve work. "It was like she was nervous or something. Do you suppose she was nervous because she knows we live in a haunted house?"

Steve shot her a tired glance from over the top of his bifocals. "Now how would she know that unless you told her?"

"I'm sure everyone in town knows who we are and that we live in a haunted house," DeeDee countered. "Speaking of which, Mindy Cooper and I are planning a seance next week."

Steve dropped his tube of model glue. "You're what?"

"We're going to have a seance. You know, cut to the chase. If we can get Mary Austin to tell us who killed her, it's going to save me a ton of leg work. Then once we get this ghost business straightened out, I can start redecorating. I'm telling you, Steve, you can tell this place was a rental and you can also tell that the Schuylers are cheapskates. The decorating in this house is enough to scare anyone away, ghost or no ghost."

"And what genius came up with that idea? The seance, not the redecorating."

DeeDee smiled and pecked her husband on the cheek. "Who do you think? Me, of course! You know me, Steve, I'm always thinking"