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"Oh."

"How did he die?" Rose asked.

"All I know is what is rumored," Howard replied.

"Really?" Cinnamon asked, her eyes narrow with skepticism and a small twist in her lips. "And what exactly is rumored. Howard Rockwell? Tell us. What else do you just happen to know?"

Howard shrugged, strutted across to my dresser, looked at Chandler's picture, and then turned to the rest of us.

"Supposedly, he committed suicide in this very house years ago. That might be another reason why Madame Senetsky has shut up a portion of the mansion, the parts that remind her of him, his office. whatever."

"Why would he commit suicide?" Rose asked, She looked close to tears, worried about the answer,

"I don't know. Business failures. maybe. As I said, it's just a rumor "

"How can suicide be just a rumor?" Rose practically demanded. "The story was it was a gun accident."

Rose looked like she was about to faint, her face drained so quickly. We all stared at her. She suddenly looked like she couldn't move, couldn't speak. Tears made her eyes glisten like glass after a rain.

"Rose?" I said. "Are you all right?"

"What? Oh, I just... wondered."

"Well, you're right to be concerned," Howard said, moving toward her. "We should all be concerned."

"Why?" Ice asked. She had been so quiet, her eyes down, listening.

"Well, I hesitate to tell you this."

"Howard, you are so full of--" Cinnamon began.

"No." he interrupted, "It might be bad for some of you."

"What?" I demanded, impatient.

"There's a story that his ghost wanders the house, back there in the locked-up places."

"Howard!' Rose cried. Howard started to smile.

"I wouldn't laugh at it," Cinnamon suddenly said. The skepticism and anger left her face as she sat on the edge of my bed. Her reaction took Howard by surprise.

"Oh?" he said.

"We have a very old house and often I have felt the presence of spirits."

"Ooh."' Steven said jumping up. "maybe we should call Ghostbusters."

"Maybe we should call Idiotbusters instead," Ice piped up and stepped beside Cinnamon. Rose and I did the same.

The two boys looked at all of us.

"I've still got some unpacking to do," Howard said. "See you all at dinner."

Steven widened his smile and then pumped the air with his fingers and hummed the theme from The Twilight Zone.

He laughed and followed Howard out.

"Do you think any of that was true?" Rose asked us.