“Now you sound like your aunt.”
“If what I saw last night is all that remains of that woman, I want to help catch the person responsible.”
“That’s my job.”
“We can solve a cold case together.”
“Oh, wouldn’t that be fun.”
“I knew that’s what you’d say.”
They had reached the trailhead. Matt’s car was the only one in the parking area. They ducked into it just as the sky gave way. Rain beat on the windshield. Matt didn’t make any attempt to start the car.
“Are you keeping quiet about the words on the headstone?” Gretchen asked.
“Yes, didn’t Caroline tell you?”
“No, she must have forgotten.”
So her mother wouldn’t have told anyone. And Gretchen hadn’t, which meant that the note on her windshield hadn’t been left as a bad practical joke because no one knew about it.
“About the museum, Gretchen. You can’t go back to it,” Matt said.
“Of course I can.”
“Let me rephrase that. The house has been officially sealed until we go through every box in the place and I’m satisfied that there’s nothing left to find.”
“When will you be finished?”
“In a few days. We’re going to move quickly on this one. In the meantime, please be careful. Stay close to your family. Stay out of dark places. Make sure you’re locked in securely at night.”
There the warnings were again. All the rules that women were forced to live by. What must it be like to be a man, to be able to live without all the fear?
“I mean it, Gretchen,” Matt said. “Put the project on hold. Stay home and work on your business.”
He’d never leave her alone if he knew about the note. He’d only worry more. And what could he do about it? But she had to tell him.
Matt reached into the backseat. “I almost forgot. I fished this out of your mother’s car before it was towed. You’ll give it to her?”
Gretchen took the shopping bag and peeked inside. She withdrew a white plastic bag and started to open it.
“Whoa,” Matt said. “You aren’t going to open that, are you? What if it’s, you know?”
“Oh, right.” Gretchen put the plastic bag back inside. “Doll stuff.” He wouldn’t like that.
“So,” she said after a moment, “we aren’t going to be partners?”
Matt grinned and reached for her. “It depends on what kind of partners you’re suggesting.”
She had no intention of sitting on the sidelines like a good little cheerleader, but the man was irresistible!
A few minutes later, the car’s windows were completely steamed over. And the nasty note was the last thing on Gretchen’s mind.
22
Chatty Cathy was one of the most popular dolls of the sixties, coming in a close second after Barbie. Both were produced by Mattel. Chatty Cathy, who was twenty inches tall and composed of vinyl, was soon followed by Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Baby, and several other offshoots designed to be nurtured by eager children. Chatty Cathy’s innovation was that she could “speak.” Her early phrases included “Please play with me” and “Please brush my hair.” With her protruding little tummy and slightly bucked teeth, Chatty Cathy was the typical, lovable child of her time.
– From World of Dolls by Caroline Birch
Gretchen, Caroline, and Nina crowded around the computer in the doll repair studio. Doll parts were sorted neatly inside stacked white bins, each labeled with their contents. The “basket cases,” those dolls needing extra attention, were wrapped and placed carefully in bins near the worktable. Projects with approaching deadlines were also placed close to the workstations.
“See it!” Nina leaned toward the computer screen and pointed excitedly with a long, red fingernail. “It’s an orb!”
“It’s a smudge on the lens,” Caroline said.
“It’s our ghost,” Nina insisted, clicking her nail on the screen.
Gretchen leaned forward and squinted at the monitor. What had she expected to find? The smoky outline of a human body? All she saw was a spot.
“Ghosts can appear as mist or sparkles,” Nina said. “Orbs are most common. I’d stake my future on it: that glowing circular object is an orb.”
“You’re sure it isn’t dirt on the lens?” Gretchen was doubtful.
Nina picked up her camera and presented the lens side to her sister and to Gretchen. “Not a single speck. It’s as clean as Nimrod’s teeth.”
Gretchen laughed. “That clean?”
“I didn’t tell you I had all the pooches’ teeth cleaned. Nimrod, where are you?” Nina, decked out in black mourning as she decided was fitting after the discovery in the armoire, called out to the puppy.
Gretchen heard her tiny poodle running through the house. He barreled into the workshop, his little black ears flapping. Nimrod almost overran the spot where Nina wanted him to perform. He skidded to a stop and waited impatiently for the next command.
“Smile,” Nina said to him.
Nimrod pulled back his lips, exposing his teeth and producing more of a grimace than a grin.
“My,” Caroline said, laughing. “Those are clean teeth.”
“Take a bow, Nimrod,” Nina said using her training voice.
The poodle tipped his head in a perfect bow.
Gretchen saw a transaction between the trainer and the puppy, a treat passed so discreetly that a casual observer would have missed it.
Everyone clapped. Tutu watched aloofly from afar, miffed that she wasn’t the center of attention.
Caroline held the copy of the old sepia photograph. It was the first time she had seen it.
“I’m amazed,” she said, “that you found this picture.”
“It’s what started us on the path,” Nina said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have recognized the doll body.”
“Oh my gosh!” Caroline said. “I completely forgot. I found a metal doll head in one of the boxes and had it in my car when I crashed. Matt pulled out the things from my car.”
“Oh yes, he gave them to me to return. I didn’t know what was inside,” Gretchen said, digging under her workstation and handing the shopping bag to Caroline.
“It might be the metal head in the picture.” She pulled out the white plastic bag and showed the doll head to Gretchen and Nina.
“That’s it!” Gretchen said. The head wasn’t in its original condition, but she could tell that it was the same or at least an exact replica. In the photograph, only shades of brown were visible, but the actual doll head had yellow painted hair and faded red lips. “Now, Nina, you can reunite the head with the body. If the police ever release it to you.”
“Doubtful,” Caroline said. “They’ll want it for evidence.”
Nina took the head and concentrated. “I’m not getting anything useful from it,” she said. “Not one single message.”
“It’s been packed away for a long time,” Gretchen said to ease her aunt’s psychic growing pains.
“That must be it,” Nina said, brightening. “Originally, I thought we had to reconnect the doll with its owner, but…”
Nina let the sentence die. Gretchen knew the rest. Now Nina thought the ghost was waiting for its own head.
“She helped us, you know,” Nina said instead. “She made the noise that led you to the armoire. She wanted us to open it.”
“Or,” Caroline said, “it came from a mouse.”
“No one ever believes me.”
“I’d like to look through the rest of these digital images,” Gretchen said, ignoring Nina’s pout.
“Please do,” Nina said. “We’re off to plan the menu with the caterer, and I’m going to do a little window-shopping.”
After they left, Gretchen remained at the computer.
She had done her ghostly research throughout the night thanks to her inability to sleep after finding human bones in a wardrobe. There was a remarkable wealth of information available online. That was the beauty of the Internet. With the click of a mouse plus a little insomnia, anyone could become an instant expert on any subject.