Wilmington, NC 03 - Murder On The Ghost Walk

as long as I can."
    "Oh, Mama, I'll move in here and help take care of you," I cried.
    She smiled sweetly. "No, Ashley dear. You're a grown woman now and need to live your own life."
    I couldn't stand this discussion another minute. I jumped up and ran for the door. Tears flooded my eyes. I turned back to see a blurry Melanie pawing through the jewels on the bed. She knew Mama loved her. She didn't have to watch fo r signs of reassurance.
    "Mama?" she cried. "Where's Aunt Lily's brooch? You know, that sweet little coral-colored cameo with the seed pearls around it?"
    "Why, honey, I haven't seen that thing in years. I gave it to you."

10

    Roy's Riverboat Landing Restaurant has private balconies on the second floor, accessed through French doors, and furnished with a cozy table for two. From our lofty height Jon and I overlooked Riverwalk, Riverfront Park, and the water beyond.
    I tapped a blue line on the blueprints he'd unrolled. "That's the wall where we found the skeletons."
    "As soon as the cops let us inside the house again, we'll finish tearing down the walls around the dumbwaiter shaft, then bridge it with a floor and ceiling. Let me show you the new drawings I've made for our meeting with Mirabelle tomorrow."
    I studied the details. "They're perfect, Jon, just what we discussed. But you know Mirabelle, she'll find something to criticize." I shook my head. "I wish we'd left that dumbwaiter shaft alone, just sealed up the doors."
    "Couldn't. It was in the way. You said yourself it was a fire hazard. And if we'd left it, those bodies would have been hidden in there forever."
    I sighed. "If only they had been! We'd be on schedule now, instead of locked out of the house while the police take their own sweet . . . "
    Shrill toots drowned out my words. The sternwheeler Henrietta III was paddling away from Riverboat Landing, setting sail for a dinner-dance cruise on the Cape Fear River. Music from the decks floated to our balcony, and laughing voices carried on river breezes.
    "I've never done that," I said wistfully.
    "Tell you what, as soon as this kitchen is finished, we'll celebrate with a cruise. Would you like that?"
    "I'd love it." Our eyes locked and we smiled. We were building a close friendship; I trusted Jon. "To our cruise." We clinked glasses.
    The waiter arrived with our plates. Jon rolled a rubber band around the blueprints and thrust them under his chair.
    "Men get to enjoy all the rich food. If I ate like you do I'd weigh three hundred pounds."
    " Have y ou ever tasted t his? Here , have a bite ." He dipped his fork into "Crowned Seafood Wilmington" and offered it to me. Shrimp and scallops on a crabmeat pate, with cream sauce and puff pastry points.
    "Yum, scrumptious." I sampled my chippano, a seafood bouillabaisse made of tuna, salmon, clams, and shrimp over linguine in a delicate clam sauce. "This is heavenly."
    As we ate, I filled Jon in on my conversation with Teddy Lambston. "Teddy said his mother got postcards from Reggie and Shelby from all over Europe. So did most of their neighbors on Orange Street : Sherman and Muffie Warner, in particular. Teddy says the Warners were Reggie and Shelby’s best friends."
    Jon broke off a chunk of dinner roll and popped it in his mouth. "The police will question them."
    "Tommy says Shelby seemed unhappy."
    "Tommy Comer? Your Tommy? He knew Shelby?"
    "Yes. He went over there one evening to give her an estimate on reupholstering some furniture, and Jon . . . .,” I giggled . . . “ I think he spent the night with her." The one-night stand between Tommy and Shelby made me uncomfortable. "Tommy let it slip. Then he seemed embarrassed that he had, so I pretended I hadn’t heard. He said she was sad. "
    Jon frowned. "Shelby came on to me once too. She didn't seem offended when I turned her down. It was like she didn't really care, like she was going through the motions."
    "Tommy said she was a good sport. That she was nice but unhappy . He really liked her."
    "Oh, she was very likeable. So was Reggie. But their style was too loose for me."
    "What do you mean?"
    "This is what happened. They invited me to one of their parties. After dinner, Shelby explained the game to me. The women would retire to the guest bedrooms upstairs. Each woman was to hang an article of clothing on the doorknob, something she'd been seen wearing earlier. The men were supposed to make their selections and join the women inside. It was an old country-house entertainment they'd picked