How Soon Is Never?
October 26
“Yo! Whoa!” Trixie spun around and walked quickly toward her brother and Dan. “This one’s yours,” she said with a shudder. “We have done some weird stuff and some gross stuff and some highly questionable stuff and even some blatantly illegal stuff this month, but this is where I draw the line.”
Dan wasn’t sure whether to be alarmed or amused by her words. “Freckles?”
She waved a hand over her shoulder. “He’s back there. On the other side of that SUV. You can go see what he wants and I’ll wait right here.”
“All right,” Mart muttered. “You both can stay here. I’ll go see what he needs.”
“So?” Dan murmured after a moment, as Mart made his way down the row of parked vehicles. “What’s the deal?”
“Is brain bleach a thing? A real thing? Can we get some somewhere?”
“Oh!”
They heard Mart’s exclamation and Dan frowned. “Should I go help him?”
“Dude! Where are your clothes?”
Trixie looked over at Dan. “I’m telling you. There are some things that just… there’s gotta be a line. Honestly? At this point? I don’t even care if Caitlyn is lurking about somewhere ready to go full-on Psycho Poltergeist from Hell. I say we leave and come back another time. I mean, so far, wherever she is and whatever she’s been up to, it can’t have been that bad, right? We woulda heard something, like this apartment building was the site of another ‘freakish windstorm’ or something. I really think we should just go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Is this really necessary?”
“Yes, Claude. This is totally necessary. You stand on that side of the bushes, and we’ll stand over here.” Mart crossed his arms and fixed the man with a narrow-eyed glare. “You can start by telling us why you’re naked.”
Claude lifted his bare shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “It was an accident.”
“You… accidentally forgot to get dressed one morning?”
“I was with some friends. And beer. And skinny dipping. A knock on the head. Eh. What can you do? One moment you’re hoping that Karen Schultz is gonna take it all off and join you in the lake. The next, you’re dead.”
“Thereby sparing Karen Schultz the trauma of taking it all off and joining you in the lake,” Trixie muttered under her breath. “Lucky girl.”
“All right,” Mart said. “So you got drunk, decided to go swimming, hit your head-“
“On a large rock,” Claude supplied helpfully. “When I dove in head first.”
“Hit your head and presumably drowned. So how’d you end up here, nowhere near a lake, and what do you need?”
“Need?”
“Yeah. Why are you still here? What do you need so you can move on?”
“Oh. I… huh. Wonder what he wants.”
Mart blinked and shook his head. “What?”
Claude lifted his hand and pointed. “The cop,” he said simply.
They turned around to see a patrol car pull up. Spider Webster climbed out of the driver’s seat. “So, what do you know,” he drawled, a faint smile on his lips. “We get a call from a concerned citizen about ‘suspicious teenage delinquents’ loitering in the Avery Arms parking lot, possibly looking to break into some of the vehicles or cause some other kinda trouble… and it’s you three.”
Dan’s expression darkened, while Mart’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Seriously?” Trixie rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath. “Because we’re the worst ‘suspicious teenage delinquents ever’? We aren’t wearing dark clothing. We haven’t been careful to stay out of the light, and we parked our own van in full view of the building’s security camera. And despite having been here long enough to attract attention and have you show up, we haven’t stolen a single stereo or mugged any unsuspecting residents.”
“Hey. Most criminals are pretty stupid.”
Trixie arched one brow and said nothing.
Spider’s stance relaxed. His smile broadened and he hooked his thumb toward his vehicle. “I gotta go call this in. What are you kids doing here? Looking for a lost pet? Planning to help little old ladies carry their groceries inside? Please tell me you aren’t actually ‘investigating’ something. Sarge will not be happy to hear you’re up to your old tricks.”
“We’re looking for a ghost,” Trixie told him. “We think she might be here haunting her boyfriend, because she’s convinced he cheated on her with her own cousin. At his brother’s wedding.”
“Right,” Spider said with a snort. “So, I guess I have to assume you are investigating… something?”
“Yep. The Mystery of the Lost Cat. You must’ve seen the signs posted all up and down the street. Lost gray, black, and white tabby. Male. Two-years-old. Known to his owner by the name of ‘Boo Boo.’ Most likely not the name he calls himself, if he has any self-respect whatsoever.”
“And you decided to see if you could find it.”
“Didn’t have any other particular plans tonight. And there is a fifty dollar reward being offered.”
“All right, kids. I’ll call the station and let ‘em know it was a false alarm, but you might want to consider moving on and searching elsewhere. Some of the residents here are elderly widows and widowers who get easily spooked.”
“Yeah. Sounds like good advice. Have a good evening, Officer.”
“You, too, Trixie. Mart. Dan. Tell Brian I said ‘hello’ next time you talk to him.”
“Will do.”
They waited and watched as the policeman radioed his call in and then, with a last wave, put the patrol car in reverse and backed out of the lot.
“Not that this is in any way a surprise, but our exhibitionist seems to have taken off,” Dan said. “I guess that means we really should go. We can’t keep waiting around for Caitlyn to show up after we already told Spider we’d leave.”
“I can’t believe you told him what we’re really doing here,” Mart muttered to his sister. “That was a huge risk.”
“How was it a risk? He was never going to believe it. And even if he had, which would have been seriously odd, then it’s not like he would’ve stopped us. He might’ve even offered to help in that case.”
“Or he might’ve already been in a bad mood and taken your response to be just wise-ass enough to warrant hauling us downtown for trespassing or something.”
“Nah. C’mon. He’s known us since we were in preschool and he was coaching Brian’s little league team. He knew as soon as he saw us that we weren’t here to steal anything or rob anybody. Which? Considering our activities of late, it was entirely possible that’s exactly what we were planning, actually.”
“Good thing you saw those lost cat posters to provide our, uh, cover.”
“What posters? I made that up, Bro. He’s the one who suggested a lost pet. I just ran with it.”
“Should I be worried about how much your lying skills have improved of late? I totally bought every word you said.”
“Practice makes perfect.” Trixie winced as she spoke. “I don’t actually like lying to people, you know.”
Dan grabbed her hand and pulled her into a quick hug. “We know. And it bites that we’ve been sucked into a position that requires so much of it. Let’s call it a night. We have school in the morning and then office hours and the meeting the professor’s scheduled to plan out our next moves.”
“Did anyone ever get a hold of Di to find out if she can make it? Honey texted me a ‘yes’ late last night after we left the professor's place.”
“I’ll try her again when we get home,” Mart offered. “Otherwise, we can always ask her when we see her in the morning.”
“And Lester?”
“He’ll be there. The real question is, can we get Vernon? I really think he knows a lot more than he’s let on.”
“We could always swing by his cottage on the way home,” Dan suggested. “See if he’s there? And hopefully not scare the current occupants like we did here. I’d prefer not to have the police called on us twice in the same night.”
Mart considered this for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. All right,” he agreed. “Let’s give it a try.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ugh. Fog. Not a real fan of driving in fog.”
Trixie peered out the windshield, frowning at the heavy mist that obscured their surroundings. It was hard to make out anything more than looming, shadowy dark patches of forest on either side of the road, though she thought the headlights picked up the reflection of a mile marker ahead. “Yeah,” she murmured. “Maybe we should turn around? We could always try the cottage tomorrow right after school.”
“Works for me. Let me find a good place to make a – “
“Look out!” Trixie suddenly shouted as a hazy figure appeared on the road.
Startled, Dan yanked the wheel to the right and the van swung over onto the gravel shoulder. Though he hit the brakes, their momentum sent the vehicle straight down a sharp incline and into a narrow ditch. The abrupt stop caused them to jerk forward in their seats before being caught by their safety belts.
“Dang,” Mart mumbled after a long moment of shocked silence. “You guys okay?”
“Yeah,” Dan replied with small groan. “Don’t know about the van, though. Freckles?”
“I’m fine,” she told them, reaching over to release her belt. “And I think I’m actually glad the airbags didn’t go off.” She turned in her seat. “Well, I know we didn’t hit whoever that was. Is he still there?”
“We don’t even know if he was alive to begin with,” Mart pointed out. “At least I couldn’t tell in the brief glimpse I got. Could you?”
“I better call Uncle Bill. I think we’re gonna need someone to tow us out.” Dan fished his phone from his pocket.
“Okay, you do that, and Mart and I can-“
“Sit right here in the relatively safe van and wait. Sis, it’s late. It’s dark. I have no intention of stumbling around in this pea soup looking for someone who might not even be there.”
“Fine. But what if it wasn’t a ghost? What if it was just someone who needed help because-“
“No. It was a ghost,” Dan said with a sigh, looking in his mirror. “And here he comes.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You can see me! I knew it as soon as you drove off the road!”
“Yes. We can see you,” Mart told the young teen. “Which, as you so cheerfully noted, caused us to go off the road and into this ditch. So, maybe this will come as a surprise, but we’re not feeling entirely charitable towards you at the moment.”
Trixie folded her arms and leaned up against the side of the van. The cold, damp air left her uncomfortably chilled and she regretted not wearing a heavier coat when she’d left home earlier that afternoon. “Let’s just get this over with,” she said wearily. “What’s your name? How did you die? What do you need?”
“Well, my name is Bartholomew G. Macy. Most people call me Bart.”
“Macy?” Trixie traded a look with her brother. “Didn’t Lester say Philip and his mother were the only ones left in the area?”
“Yeah, but judging by his clothes, I’d say he’s been dead for awhile, don’t you think?”
“Philip?” Bart said. “I got a little nephew named Philip. My big sister’s kid. Cute little tyke. Bit of a rascal, but what two-year-old boy isn’t?”
“Yeah. He’s not so little anymore,” Trixie muttered. “And how’d you die?”
“I’m not really sure, to tell you the truth. I kinda think somebody might have killed me.”
Dan swung down out of the van. “Okay. Uncle Bill and Tom are on their way,” he announced. “They should be here in less than fifteen… something wrong?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Look,” Mart said in hushed tones. “We’re dealing with ghosts. Not all of them have died of natural causes, and when you think about it, it’s probably surprising we haven’t had more murder victims than we have. After all, if dead people have any reason to still hang around, that would be a good one.”
“How old do you think Philip Macy is?” Trixie asked abruptly.
Mart shrugged one shoulder. “I dunno. Mid-fifties maybe? Why? What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I don’t know… exactly. But this guy’s a Macy and his family was one of the founding families and our histories all seem to be tied together. Lester said something really bad happened around fifty or so years ago, and now we meet a kid who says he thinks someone killed him-“
“At about that time,” Dan murmured, finishing her sentence. “Yow.”
“Yeah. Yow. I think we need to find out what happened to Bart. I think it could be extremely important.”
“How are we gonna do that?” Mart demanded. “Bart doesn’t even know what happened to Bart.”
“True. But maybe we could find something in the Sun archives? Or maybe we could ask someone? Philip was only a toddler, but Philip’s mother may be able to answer some questions if we ask her. If you guys can do office hours tomorrow, I could ask Lester to go with me to see Mrs. Macy. She may not want to talk to us, but it’s worth a shot.”
“Okay,” Dan said slowly. “But only if Lester can go. Don’t go by yourself, Freckles.”
“I won’t. Which I knew at least one of you was gonna insist. Which is why I brought up Lester to begin with.”
“So what do we do about Bart right now?” Mart asked, nodding his head toward the spirit standing several yards away, waiting for them to finish their quiet discussion.
“Why not tell him the truth? We’re gonna go see his sister and see if we can learn anything about what happened to him. If he wants to hang around and wait for some answers, he can find us later, or… my recommendation is he just move on. His choice. So far, it seems to me that we've met three kinds of dead people. Those who die and depart right on schedule, those who die and hang around because they can’t decide between a chocolate or vanilla ice cream cone they will never eat anyway or maybe have a genuinely serious problem that needs solving, and those who apparently like being ghosts and have chosen ‘never gonna happen’ as their time to go. The Vernons and the Davies. I think Bart’s in the second group, so maybe we can convince him that he should shove off, since whatever we do find out, it’s not gonna change his personal situation in any way. He’s managed to tell someone he thinks he was killed. Maybe that’s all he needed.”
“All right, Freckles. Sounds like a plan.” Dan used his cell phone to check the time. “Let’s try to talk Bart into moving on. Preferably before Uncle Bill and Tom arrive. And then tomorrow, we’ll see what we can learn. I agree with you. I have a feeling whatever happened when the pact was made between your family and the Mundys, it was important enough that we should find out whatever we can about it. Especially if it involved a murder.”
“Yo! Whoa!” Trixie spun around and walked quickly toward her brother and Dan. “This one’s yours,” she said with a shudder. “We have done some weird stuff and some gross stuff and some highly questionable stuff and even some blatantly illegal stuff this month, but this is where I draw the line.”
Dan wasn’t sure whether to be alarmed or amused by her words. “Freckles?”
She waved a hand over her shoulder. “He’s back there. On the other side of that SUV. You can go see what he wants and I’ll wait right here.”
“All right,” Mart muttered. “You both can stay here. I’ll go see what he needs.”
“So?” Dan murmured after a moment, as Mart made his way down the row of parked vehicles. “What’s the deal?”
“Is brain bleach a thing? A real thing? Can we get some somewhere?”
“Oh!”
They heard Mart’s exclamation and Dan frowned. “Should I go help him?”
“Dude! Where are your clothes?”
Trixie looked over at Dan. “I’m telling you. There are some things that just… there’s gotta be a line. Honestly? At this point? I don’t even care if Caitlyn is lurking about somewhere ready to go full-on Psycho Poltergeist from Hell. I say we leave and come back another time. I mean, so far, wherever she is and whatever she’s been up to, it can’t have been that bad, right? We woulda heard something, like this apartment building was the site of another ‘freakish windstorm’ or something. I really think we should just go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Is this really necessary?”
“Yes, Claude. This is totally necessary. You stand on that side of the bushes, and we’ll stand over here.” Mart crossed his arms and fixed the man with a narrow-eyed glare. “You can start by telling us why you’re naked.”
Claude lifted his bare shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “It was an accident.”
“You… accidentally forgot to get dressed one morning?”
“I was with some friends. And beer. And skinny dipping. A knock on the head. Eh. What can you do? One moment you’re hoping that Karen Schultz is gonna take it all off and join you in the lake. The next, you’re dead.”
“Thereby sparing Karen Schultz the trauma of taking it all off and joining you in the lake,” Trixie muttered under her breath. “Lucky girl.”
“All right,” Mart said. “So you got drunk, decided to go swimming, hit your head-“
“On a large rock,” Claude supplied helpfully. “When I dove in head first.”
“Hit your head and presumably drowned. So how’d you end up here, nowhere near a lake, and what do you need?”
“Need?”
“Yeah. Why are you still here? What do you need so you can move on?”
“Oh. I… huh. Wonder what he wants.”
Mart blinked and shook his head. “What?”
Claude lifted his hand and pointed. “The cop,” he said simply.
They turned around to see a patrol car pull up. Spider Webster climbed out of the driver’s seat. “So, what do you know,” he drawled, a faint smile on his lips. “We get a call from a concerned citizen about ‘suspicious teenage delinquents’ loitering in the Avery Arms parking lot, possibly looking to break into some of the vehicles or cause some other kinda trouble… and it’s you three.”
Dan’s expression darkened, while Mart’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Seriously?” Trixie rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath. “Because we’re the worst ‘suspicious teenage delinquents ever’? We aren’t wearing dark clothing. We haven’t been careful to stay out of the light, and we parked our own van in full view of the building’s security camera. And despite having been here long enough to attract attention and have you show up, we haven’t stolen a single stereo or mugged any unsuspecting residents.”
“Hey. Most criminals are pretty stupid.”
Trixie arched one brow and said nothing.
Spider’s stance relaxed. His smile broadened and he hooked his thumb toward his vehicle. “I gotta go call this in. What are you kids doing here? Looking for a lost pet? Planning to help little old ladies carry their groceries inside? Please tell me you aren’t actually ‘investigating’ something. Sarge will not be happy to hear you’re up to your old tricks.”
“We’re looking for a ghost,” Trixie told him. “We think she might be here haunting her boyfriend, because she’s convinced he cheated on her with her own cousin. At his brother’s wedding.”
“Right,” Spider said with a snort. “So, I guess I have to assume you are investigating… something?”
“Yep. The Mystery of the Lost Cat. You must’ve seen the signs posted all up and down the street. Lost gray, black, and white tabby. Male. Two-years-old. Known to his owner by the name of ‘Boo Boo.’ Most likely not the name he calls himself, if he has any self-respect whatsoever.”
“And you decided to see if you could find it.”
“Didn’t have any other particular plans tonight. And there is a fifty dollar reward being offered.”
“All right, kids. I’ll call the station and let ‘em know it was a false alarm, but you might want to consider moving on and searching elsewhere. Some of the residents here are elderly widows and widowers who get easily spooked.”
“Yeah. Sounds like good advice. Have a good evening, Officer.”
“You, too, Trixie. Mart. Dan. Tell Brian I said ‘hello’ next time you talk to him.”
“Will do.”
They waited and watched as the policeman radioed his call in and then, with a last wave, put the patrol car in reverse and backed out of the lot.
“Not that this is in any way a surprise, but our exhibitionist seems to have taken off,” Dan said. “I guess that means we really should go. We can’t keep waiting around for Caitlyn to show up after we already told Spider we’d leave.”
“I can’t believe you told him what we’re really doing here,” Mart muttered to his sister. “That was a huge risk.”
“How was it a risk? He was never going to believe it. And even if he had, which would have been seriously odd, then it’s not like he would’ve stopped us. He might’ve even offered to help in that case.”
“Or he might’ve already been in a bad mood and taken your response to be just wise-ass enough to warrant hauling us downtown for trespassing or something.”
“Nah. C’mon. He’s known us since we were in preschool and he was coaching Brian’s little league team. He knew as soon as he saw us that we weren’t here to steal anything or rob anybody. Which? Considering our activities of late, it was entirely possible that’s exactly what we were planning, actually.”
“Good thing you saw those lost cat posters to provide our, uh, cover.”
“What posters? I made that up, Bro. He’s the one who suggested a lost pet. I just ran with it.”
“Should I be worried about how much your lying skills have improved of late? I totally bought every word you said.”
“Practice makes perfect.” Trixie winced as she spoke. “I don’t actually like lying to people, you know.”
Dan grabbed her hand and pulled her into a quick hug. “We know. And it bites that we’ve been sucked into a position that requires so much of it. Let’s call it a night. We have school in the morning and then office hours and the meeting the professor’s scheduled to plan out our next moves.”
“Did anyone ever get a hold of Di to find out if she can make it? Honey texted me a ‘yes’ late last night after we left the professor's place.”
“I’ll try her again when we get home,” Mart offered. “Otherwise, we can always ask her when we see her in the morning.”
“And Lester?”
“He’ll be there. The real question is, can we get Vernon? I really think he knows a lot more than he’s let on.”
“We could always swing by his cottage on the way home,” Dan suggested. “See if he’s there? And hopefully not scare the current occupants like we did here. I’d prefer not to have the police called on us twice in the same night.”
Mart considered this for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. All right,” he agreed. “Let’s give it a try.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ugh. Fog. Not a real fan of driving in fog.”
Trixie peered out the windshield, frowning at the heavy mist that obscured their surroundings. It was hard to make out anything more than looming, shadowy dark patches of forest on either side of the road, though she thought the headlights picked up the reflection of a mile marker ahead. “Yeah,” she murmured. “Maybe we should turn around? We could always try the cottage tomorrow right after school.”
“Works for me. Let me find a good place to make a – “
“Look out!” Trixie suddenly shouted as a hazy figure appeared on the road.
Startled, Dan yanked the wheel to the right and the van swung over onto the gravel shoulder. Though he hit the brakes, their momentum sent the vehicle straight down a sharp incline and into a narrow ditch. The abrupt stop caused them to jerk forward in their seats before being caught by their safety belts.
“Dang,” Mart mumbled after a long moment of shocked silence. “You guys okay?”
“Yeah,” Dan replied with small groan. “Don’t know about the van, though. Freckles?”
“I’m fine,” she told them, reaching over to release her belt. “And I think I’m actually glad the airbags didn’t go off.” She turned in her seat. “Well, I know we didn’t hit whoever that was. Is he still there?”
“We don’t even know if he was alive to begin with,” Mart pointed out. “At least I couldn’t tell in the brief glimpse I got. Could you?”
“I better call Uncle Bill. I think we’re gonna need someone to tow us out.” Dan fished his phone from his pocket.
“Okay, you do that, and Mart and I can-“
“Sit right here in the relatively safe van and wait. Sis, it’s late. It’s dark. I have no intention of stumbling around in this pea soup looking for someone who might not even be there.”
“Fine. But what if it wasn’t a ghost? What if it was just someone who needed help because-“
“No. It was a ghost,” Dan said with a sigh, looking in his mirror. “And here he comes.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You can see me! I knew it as soon as you drove off the road!”
“Yes. We can see you,” Mart told the young teen. “Which, as you so cheerfully noted, caused us to go off the road and into this ditch. So, maybe this will come as a surprise, but we’re not feeling entirely charitable towards you at the moment.”
Trixie folded her arms and leaned up against the side of the van. The cold, damp air left her uncomfortably chilled and she regretted not wearing a heavier coat when she’d left home earlier that afternoon. “Let’s just get this over with,” she said wearily. “What’s your name? How did you die? What do you need?”
“Well, my name is Bartholomew G. Macy. Most people call me Bart.”
“Macy?” Trixie traded a look with her brother. “Didn’t Lester say Philip and his mother were the only ones left in the area?”
“Yeah, but judging by his clothes, I’d say he’s been dead for awhile, don’t you think?”
“Philip?” Bart said. “I got a little nephew named Philip. My big sister’s kid. Cute little tyke. Bit of a rascal, but what two-year-old boy isn’t?”
“Yeah. He’s not so little anymore,” Trixie muttered. “And how’d you die?”
“I’m not really sure, to tell you the truth. I kinda think somebody might have killed me.”
Dan swung down out of the van. “Okay. Uncle Bill and Tom are on their way,” he announced. “They should be here in less than fifteen… something wrong?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Look,” Mart said in hushed tones. “We’re dealing with ghosts. Not all of them have died of natural causes, and when you think about it, it’s probably surprising we haven’t had more murder victims than we have. After all, if dead people have any reason to still hang around, that would be a good one.”
“How old do you think Philip Macy is?” Trixie asked abruptly.
Mart shrugged one shoulder. “I dunno. Mid-fifties maybe? Why? What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I don’t know… exactly. But this guy’s a Macy and his family was one of the founding families and our histories all seem to be tied together. Lester said something really bad happened around fifty or so years ago, and now we meet a kid who says he thinks someone killed him-“
“At about that time,” Dan murmured, finishing her sentence. “Yow.”
“Yeah. Yow. I think we need to find out what happened to Bart. I think it could be extremely important.”
“How are we gonna do that?” Mart demanded. “Bart doesn’t even know what happened to Bart.”
“True. But maybe we could find something in the Sun archives? Or maybe we could ask someone? Philip was only a toddler, but Philip’s mother may be able to answer some questions if we ask her. If you guys can do office hours tomorrow, I could ask Lester to go with me to see Mrs. Macy. She may not want to talk to us, but it’s worth a shot.”
“Okay,” Dan said slowly. “But only if Lester can go. Don’t go by yourself, Freckles.”
“I won’t. Which I knew at least one of you was gonna insist. Which is why I brought up Lester to begin with.”
“So what do we do about Bart right now?” Mart asked, nodding his head toward the spirit standing several yards away, waiting for them to finish their quiet discussion.
“Why not tell him the truth? We’re gonna go see his sister and see if we can learn anything about what happened to him. If he wants to hang around and wait for some answers, he can find us later, or… my recommendation is he just move on. His choice. So far, it seems to me that we've met three kinds of dead people. Those who die and depart right on schedule, those who die and hang around because they can’t decide between a chocolate or vanilla ice cream cone they will never eat anyway or maybe have a genuinely serious problem that needs solving, and those who apparently like being ghosts and have chosen ‘never gonna happen’ as their time to go. The Vernons and the Davies. I think Bart’s in the second group, so maybe we can convince him that he should shove off, since whatever we do find out, it’s not gonna change his personal situation in any way. He’s managed to tell someone he thinks he was killed. Maybe that’s all he needed.”
“All right, Freckles. Sounds like a plan.” Dan used his cell phone to check the time. “Let’s try to talk Bart into moving on. Preferably before Uncle Bill and Tom arrive. And then tomorrow, we’ll see what we can learn. I agree with you. I have a feeling whatever happened when the pact was made between your family and the Mundys, it was important enough that we should find out whatever we can about it. Especially if it involved a murder.”
