Page 3 of Ghostly Dilemma (Ghostly #8)

"Sorry about that." Lance turned away from his computer and glanced toward the far wall where the ghosts were standing. "I've already given Angus the basic facts, but he needs a bit more from you."

Scott nodded. "That's fine. I'm willing to tell him whatever he needs to know."

Lance smiled, then turned to Angus. "Go ahead with your questions."

Angus nodded. "Do you remember the exact date your mother was murdered?"

Scott ran his fingers through his wispy hair. "It was July fifth, nineteen-fifty-four. He thought she'd been making eyes at some guy the night before when we went to watch fireworks."

Angus nodded. "Do you think your mother was having an affair?"

"Nah, she wouldn't have dared. She knew how angry Dad could get. He was always a demanding man. He knew where she was every minute of the day. She wouldn't have had time to see anyone. I was ten and at school during the day, but even then, Dad would come home sometimes just to check on her. If she hadn't been there, there would have been hell to pay."

"Your father was abusive?" Lance asked after repeating things for Angus.

"When I was younger. Not so much after he killed Mom. He'd still slap me around a bit, but nothing like he had when Mom was alive. I think he used hurting me to hurt her back then." Scott sighed. "I'm not going to make excuses for my dad. He was a horrible man. I didn't have a good relationship with him and moved out the moment I turned eighteen. He got cancer near the end of his life, and I tried to be there for him then, but even at that point, when he couldn't attack with his hands, he still did with his words."

"Why did your father think she was cheating on him?" Angus asked after hearing Lance tell him everything.

"Because she was pregnant. Dad said it had been ten years and for her to suddenly get pregnant again had to mean it wasn't his. He was convinced if he could still give her children, she'd have had five or six of us running around. Since there was only me, he was convinced he was sterile, and she had to have been with someone else. He was so angry about the baby. He'd sit and glare at her belly as it grew. They fought bad back then. I'd hide in my room a lot, trying not to get in the way, but sometimes it got so bad that I'd have to run out and stop him. I always worried he'd kill her." Scott shook his head as if he could shake the memories away.

Lance frowned as he repeated everything to Angus. He'd see too many domestic abuse cases come through the morgue to not react to what he was being told.

"Did you witness the murder?" Angus asked.

Scott nodded. "I did. It was a bad fight. He was beating her up. I thought she might go into labor or lose the baby it was so bad. I don't know for sure how far along she was, but now that I'm older, I'd guess she was in her eighth or ninth month. I was begging Dad to stop, and he just glared at me. He said I needed to learn that women had a place and there was punishment when a woman cheated on her man. When Mom said again that she never cheated, he grabbed her by the hair, wrapped his fingers around her neck, and started to squeeze. He told her she had to admit what she'd done. But at that point, Mom couldn't say anything. Dad just kept squeezing. I was crying and screaming for him to stop, but he just glared at Mom as he watched the life go out of her. He dropped her on the floor and said he was done with her lies."

Lance quickly filled Angus in. He couldn't imagine being ten and watching something like that. It had to have messed with Scott's mind over the years.

"Dad sent me to bed after that, but I heard him in the backyard and watched out the window as he dug a hole and tossed Mom into it. The next morning, he sat me down and told me if I ever told anyone, he'd do the same to me. I was scared. I didn't know what to do, but his anger had me staying quiet. I guess the longer I went without talking about it, the easier it got."

"Why didn't you say something after you moved out?" Angus asked.

"I was still scared of him, and a bit scared that because I'd waited so long to tell anyone that I might be held responsible too. I was just starting my life. I had a scholarship to college, and I honestly never looked back. Then at twenty-one, I got the inheritance my grandfather had left for any grandkids that had been born to split. I was the only one, so it all went to me. At that point I tried to forget everything that happened and just live my life."

"Did you continue to talk to him?" Lance asked.

"I'd call and check in with him, but I never went back. Not until he had a heart attack. That was also when they found the cancer, pancreatic cancer. The hospital contacted me, and I finally went to see him. He was half the man I remember. Thin and weak. I hardly recognized him. The cancer took him quickly. I put him in a nursing home, and I gave up my condo and moved back into his house. I was surprised to find he had a will and had left me everything. After all the years of only phone calls, I thought he'd write me off." Scott sighed. "I debated when he died on telling someone about Mom, but then there I was in my forties and even more scared because even more time had gone by, and I hadn't told our secrets. I was sure at that point I couldn't just claim fear and ignorance. I knew it was wrong. I was simply scared. So as I got older, I wrote everything down so that someday, once I passed on, someone would know that my mother hadn't run off with another man. She was buried in the backyard with my sister or brother."

Lance was overwhelmed with thoughts as he repeated things to Angus. What a horrible mess to be in. He understood Scott's fear, but having lost his own parents at a young age, he couldn't imagine not telling someone. That was a heavy secret to keep. He finished the retelling and reached for his coffee, almost wishing for something stronger.

"I was told you have no family and left your home to one of your neighbors?" Angus asked.

"Yes, a good boy. He started mowing my lawn and helping me around the house when he was maybe nine or ten. I'd try to pay him for his help, but he refused. In that time, we became friends. As he got older, he'd just come sit with me and visit. He didn't have a father, and his mother worked a lot, so I think I was maybe a substitute parent for him. His mother died from breast cancer a little over a year ago and he takes care of his little brother. I figured leaving my home to him made sense. He can move in or sell it. I don't care, but I know it will go a long way in helping him. He struggles, working hard to pay rent and take care of his brother. I know he put off college so he could be home more. There's some money in an account for him as well. I'm hoping he'll use that to go to college and get his degree, then save the rest so his brother can do the same when he's old enough." Scott shook his head. "He was the only one who cared about me."

"Does he have a key to your home?" Angus asked once Lance finished telling him everything.

"He does. I hate that he was the one to find me dead, but he was the only one who would. If it wasn't for him, I'd still my lying on that table. I never told him I was leaving him anything. So it will be a shock. If you can get hold of my attorney, he'll let Jared know he's inheriting everything. I've prepaid for my burial and don't want a funeral. The attorney fees are covered, so it shouldn't be a messy transaction. I just hate that he's going to be the one to have to deal with Mom's body in the yard. I've set aside money with my attorney to cover that as well, though it's listed as undisclosed costs because I didn't tell him about Mom. I gave him a sealed envelope to open upon my death, telling him about her murder. I figured if someone didn't find the papers in the house, at least my attorney would do something about it."

"Where in the house are the papers? I'm probably going to have to go look for them since we have no way of knowing who your attorney is or what you've done. We can't very well tell everyone you're a ghost and giving us information." Angus made a few more notes.

"There is a small lockbox in my closet. It's not locked. It has all my important papers. It's just there on the top shelf. You can't miss it," Scott told him.

"You're going to stick around, right? Not go into the light any time soon," Lance asked .

"I'll stay until everything is settled, then I want to go see my mother. I'm hoping she's in that light." Scott smiled. "Maybe my unborn sister or brother too."

"I hope you find them there." Lance smiled.

"I think that's all I need for now." Angus closed his notebook. "Check in with Lance from time to time. I'll let him know if I have any more questions for you. For now, I'm going to try and get into your home and see if we can find those papers. Once we get your attorney working on this, things should move quickly. After so long, I'm not sure what's going to be left to rebury." Angus glanced at Lance. "You'd know better than me."

"After seventy years, there should be some bone, teeth for sure, and maybe some grave wax. It will all depend on the dirt and temperatures where she was buried. We'll make sure we find what's there and get her reburied where you want her," Lance promised.

"I bought two plots. One for her, one for me. Paid for both grave markers as well. I tried to think of everything so Jared wouldn't have to," Scott told them.

"That will make everything easier once we get started. First, we need to get in that house and find your will and other papers, then we'll focus on seeing what we can find of your mother," Lance said.

"Where in the yard is she buried?" Angus asked.

"I drew a map. It's with the papers, but she's along the left side of the back of the house right near the corner, near a window well. I planted flowers over the spot once Dad died." Scott started to pace, floating back and forth across the small room. "Dad kept grass on it so it blended in with the rest of the yard, but I wanted to remember her."

Lance again told Angus everything, then slid his chair back. "That should be enough for now. I have to get to work, or I'll be behind all day. I'm sure the police are waiting for the findings of my next case."

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Angus said. "I'll get on this today and hopefully, we can get things moving."

"How will I know?" Scott asked.

"I'll keep you updated." Lance smiled at the ghost. "Angus will text me with what he finds out. Now out of my office so I can give him a proper goodbye."

Angus laughed as Lance stood and came around the desk. "I'm curious what a proper goodbye consists of."

"If we were home, it would be a lot more interesting. Here, you get a nice kiss." Lance sat down on Angus's lap and wrapped his arms around his neck. "Thank you for doing this today."

"Glad to. It's my job. Just because a murder is seventy years old doesn't mean it's not important." Angus brushed his mouth over Lance's, then opened to deepen the kiss.

A loud knock on the door had them jumping apart. Lance laughed and straightened his clothes. "Yes?"

"You about ready to get started? Detective Burns is here waiting for answers," Brayden called.

"On my way." Lance stepped into Angus's arms one more time. This time he kept it to a gentle kiss. When he pulled back, he smiled. "Go work your case. I'll go find out which bullet killed your other guy."

"Burgers tonight. I'll pick them up on the way home." Angus stood.

"Sounds good. Have a good day." Lance went to put his phone and other things in his desk drawer.

"You too." Angus headed out.

Lance took a minute alone to refocus. Hearing Scott's story had been heart wrenching. He didn't know how someone could live with that kind of secret for so long. At least now people knew and could do something to make it right.

Ready to get to work, he headed out, glad things were slow and he could take the time to teach Brayden how to retrieve bullets and get the police the information they needed to figure out who was their killer.