Wilmington, NC 03 - Murder On The Ghost Walk

that a neighbor, Ellen Burns, remembered seeing a man and woman leave Campbell House on a night in October six years ago. She thought the couple were Reggie and Shelby Campbell. That's what the killers wanted her to think and it worked."
    "She told me," I said.
    "She told you?"
    "Yes, she came running over that morning before we found the skeletons, and told me about how she was friends with Jean Campbell, and then after Jean's death, Reggie and Shelby kept her company, and how she was miffed that they took off without saying goodbye."
    Nick scooted his chair in closer and leaned toward me . "So none of this is news to you."
    "Well, maybe not. Tell me what she said."
    "That's she's an insomniac so she's up most nights. She roams around her garden in mild weather. On the night in question she was sitting in her front porch swing. She saw the lights in Campbell House go out. Then she saw a man and a woman leave the house, each carrying luggage which they deposited in the trunk of the Campbell car."
    "But we know they were not the Campbells," I said.
    "She admits she didn't see their faces, but she had no reason to suspect they were not the Campbells. When the trunk light went on, she caught glimpses of clothing Reggie and Shelby had been wearing earlier in the day. They both had on hats, which at the time she thought was odd because it was the middle of the night. Just as she was thinking she ought to cross the street and ask i f they were leaving, they drove off."
    "Hmmmm. Someone was very clever, Nick. I think they were people who knew the Campbells well. People who knew that Ellen Burns was an insomniac. They staged that departure for her sake, so she'd spread the story."
    Nick explained, "So when she gets a postcard from London, signed 'Shelby,' and saying they had flown to London 'on a whim,' she spreads the story. She saved those postcards, and the first one said that the Campbells were visiting friends in England, then they planned to spend Christmas in Paris. They might return after the first of the year, or they might not. In the meantime, Mrs. Burns would see a caretaker on the property tending the garden and she should not be concerned."
    I was about to blurt out that I'd met the caretaker but caught myself. "Have you questioned him?" I asked.
    "We know who he is, and we're running him down. We'll find him."
    "Teddy Lambston told me his mother got postcards too."
    "Most of the neighbors said they received postcards. Funny, there were no emails. That in itself is suspicious. Mrs. Burns gave us her postcard s. We're having a hand-writing expert look at them. Of course, they're forgeries, but if we get a suspect we can make a hand-writing comparison. Later, Mrs. Burns heard that the Campbells had decided to live in Europe permanently."
    "Does she remember who told her that?"
    "She said it was common knowledge."
    "From what I hear they were eccentric." I thought about the wild parties Jon had told me about. "Well, that solves one mystery."
    "What's that?"
    "Why the front door key is missing."
    Nick blinked, then gave me a sharp, penetrating stare. Well, that sure got hi m sipping my Kool Aid. "The front door key? Go on. Tell me about the front door key."
    "The murderers used it to lock the door behind them when they left, then they took it with them."
    Nick's cell phone chirped again. He grunted impatiently into it a few times before disconnecting. His face was closed up, guarded. "You never found the key?" His tone seemed indifferent, conversational. This must be the way he is when he interrogates suspects, I thought.
    "No. We looked everywhere. All the other keys were there in the house. The killers took the front door key with them. Find that key and you'll find the killers."
    The transformation was swift. Nick was back with me, beaming. "You'd make a good detective, Ashley."
    I felt myself beam. Why did his opinion of me matter so much? "We're fitting the pieces together, Nick. But what about cause of death? Were they shot as you suspected?"
    His hand inched toward mine on the table, then stopped. "Are you sure you want to hear this?"
    "Yes. I'm involved in this case whether I want to be or not."
    "That's true," he acknowledged. "But I never want you to do anything risky. Hearing the details from me, is one thing. Poking around on your own . . . well, just don't do it. ”
    “Oh, no, I’d never do that,” I said, with fingers crossed under the table.
    " OK , here's what we know. Reggie was shot. The