Chapter 297

After Victor left for work, I looked through the photos and videos I had taken the previous night.

Victor was right about the amateurish appearance of the ghost in the hallway. Instead of floating freely in the middle of the hall, it looked projected onto the wall.

The groans were probably a recording. As I played the video over, I noticed the sounds seemed to be on a loop. It was five different eerie groans that played over and over.

I decided to discreetly examine the areas of the Manor where the supposed ghostly events happened.

Saying nothing to anyone and avoiding the others, I visited each spot where paranormal activity occurred.

Starting in the room where Amy saw the melting ghost in the closet. I looked for evidence of trickery and recorded my findings with my phone.

By the time I examined the far end of the second floor and the room on the third floor where we all heard the noises, I had my answer.

I took more photos of the ceiling and pocketed an object I found on the floor before I went looking for my friend.

She was in the foyer saying goodbye to Justin. He saw me and called me to them.

“Amy’s a little freaked out after last night,” he told me. “I’d stay with her, but I promised my dad I’d help him get ready for my grandmother’s visit, and then I must pick up my textbook for my new class.”

“Amy will be fine,” I promised. “I’m taking her out for breakfast and a little shopping this morning.”

“That sounds great,” Amy said. She gave Justin a brilliant smile that inspired him to kiss the tip of her nose. “I’ll see you later, sweetheart,” she giggled. “Have a good day.”

Justin went out the door, and Amy turned to me.

“I’d love an omelet,” she said. “Let’s go to the diner near the high school for breakfast.”

“Sure,” I agreed as Heather joined us in the foyer. “Want to go out for breakfast with us?” I asked.

She nodded. “I could eat.”

I let Amy drive us to the diner so I could tell them what I discovered with no fear of being overheard.

“There is no ghost,” I stated as soon as she pulled into the diner parking lot. “But somebody is trying to make us think that there is.”

“Are you sure?” Amy asked. “The ghost going through the closet door seemed real to me.”

“I’m sure it did,” I said. “I’ll show you how I know when we get inside the diner.”

“Then let’s go inside,” Amy said. “I'm curious as heck, and I’m starving.”

We went into the diner, and Amy and Heather sat across from me at a corner booth. I waited until after the waitress brought our coffee before getting out my phone.

“Look at what I recorded last night,” I said. “This is a video of the ghost in the hall. It’s obviously not real. The audio is very amateurish, too.”

Heather smiled. “It’s on a loop.”

“That’s the ghost that chased me up the hall the other day,” Amy admitted. “It’s not as scary on your phone. But what about the ghost coming through the closet door?”

I showed her a photo that I took that morning.

“What is that?” Amy asked.

“It’s a small projector,” I told her. “Watch this video that I recorded this morning.”

Amy cringed when a gray-haired ghost seemed to stick his head through the closet door before his face melted away.

“That’s what I saw,” she confirmed. “It’s just gruesome.”

“I pushed a button on that tiny projector that was under the bed, and that happened. It wasn’t real,” I assured her.

Amy looked horrified but for a different reason. “Was somebody under the bed?”

“Probably not. Our ghost wouldn’t want to take a chance of getting caught. It can be controlled remotely,” I explained.

“How close do you have to be to operate it?” Heather asked.

“I’m not sure,” I replied. “But I think they were hiding somewhere in the house, and I think I know where.”

Amy and Heather stared at me while I sipped my coffee.

“Where?” Amy asked.

“In the attic,” I said and showed them another photo I took this morning. “I found two tiny speakers in the ceiling of the room on the third floor.”

“Wow,” Amy said. “We must check out the attic.”

“I think so too,” I agreed. “But we can’t let anyone know what we’re doing.”

“Could the ghost be Aaron or Alfred?” Heather asked. “They live there.”

“I’m not sure who is faking the ghost,” I said. “But they must be on the suspect list.”

“Who else?” Amy asked.

“The nurse who took care of Martha,” I replied. “Maybe she feels she should have been paid more. Martha was a difficult patient.”

Heather nodded. “Maybe she wants other expensive things that she saw and needs everyone out of the house to steal them.”

“We need her name and contact info,” I said. “Then we can check her out.”

“I’ll ask Aaron,” Amy said. “But I can’t tell him why we need it if he’s a suspect, too.”

“Tell him you want to send her a thank you card for taking good care of Martha,” Heather suggested.

Amy nodded at Heather’s suggestion before turning back to me. “Daisy, did you find anything that could tell us who is the culprit?”

“I found this under the bed next to the mini projector.” I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out an antique gold chain and locket.

Placing the locket on the table in front of Amy and Heather, I opened it. “We need to know who the handsome young man is in the picture.”

“We could stop by Andrew’s office and ask him,” Amy said.

“Okay. After that, I want to stop by the electronics store,” I said. “There are some things I want to pick up that will help us catch the ghost and prove to the authorities what they were doing.”

After eating our omelets, we drove to Andrew’s building and went upstairs to his office. He was glad to see Amy.

“Amy, my dear, it’s good to see you.” He stood to give her a hug. “How are things at the manor?”

“Not so good,” she admitted. “But we’re working on it.” She held out the locker. “Do you know who this belongs to?”

Andrew took the locker and held it in front of his face. “This locket belonged to my grandmother. Her mother gave it to her, and I believe she gave it to my mother.”

“Who is the young man in the photo inside the locket?” I asked. He wasn’t from an era where he could have been Aaron or a romantic interest of hers.

Andrew pried the locket open with his thumbnail. “He looks familiar, and I remember seeing someone in the house wearing this locket. Let me think for a moment.”

“From his clothes and hairstyle, I’d say the photo was taken about two decades ago,” I said.

Recognition lit up Andrew’s eyes. “My mother must have given the locket to Amelia. That is the young Beta that she had a crush on.”

I was disappointed. Amelia and Pat were in prison. Neither could be the ghost. Amelia must have left it behind and forgotten about it.

But it was odd that it was under the bed near the mini-projector. The rug under the bed had been swept recently. The locket was lying as if it fell off the neck of whoever placed the projector under the bed.

Amy and Andrew exchanged small talk while Heather and I went to the bathroom. When we returned to Andrew’s office, Amy was ready to go.

“Andrew is stopping in at the Manor for dinner tonight,” Amy said as soon as we were inside the elevator. “Aaron was going to his club for lunch, and I’ll send Alfred to the store for something for dinner.”

“Good,” I said. “We’ll have the place to ourselves to get everything ready.”

Our next stop was the electronics store. The tiny cameras would also come in useful here to uncover the identity of this culprit. I wanted one in each upstairs hallway, one on the first floor, and one in the attic.

If the ghost returned to the manor tonight, we would know who they really were.