Something Old (Haunted Series) Read online

  “Pardon?” Barb asked sitting down.

  “I find the drawings interesting,” Mia repeated. “How old is this house?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Oh dear. I’m not that sure. It was built sometime between the two world wars. I could look it up for you.”

  “If you have time. Audrey is our researcher,” she explained, “I just needed a ballpark figure. I notice you’ve recently remodeled,” Mia said looking around the kitchen, spotting the new stainless steel appliances and the large exhaust fan over the stove top.

  “I inherited this house from my great aunt, and instead of selling it, I thought I would put a little love into it and make a home for me and Heather.”

  “What about your partner?”

  “She didn’t make the move away from the city. I think we both knew that we had reached an end to our relationship before Heather came along, but she stayed and saw me through the rough patches. When I wanted PTA meetings and carpools instead of lofts and lounges, she decided to terminate our…”

  “Marriage,” Mia filled in. “Even if the law doesn’t recognize it, it still was a marriage.”

  Barb seemed relieved. “Yes, just not a good one.”

  Ted’s shadow crossed the drawings. Mia watched as he leaned in and picked one up. “This is done by a boy. See here, Mia, remember me telling you about Tinkertoys?”

  Mia looked at the oddly-formed windmill. The drawing brought out the round spool with the green flags stuck in the sides.

  “Tinkertoys were made in Evanston, Illinois. My father had a set he passed down to me,” Ted said proudly. “His wasn’t an original, but not many of the 1914 sets made it through the generations of rough little boys.”

  “I had an Erector Set my great aunt gave me,” Barb said. “It started my mind building things. That’s what I do now, but instead of little machines, I design those walking bridges you see over the highways.”

  “You build bridges, cool beans,” Mia said impressed.

  “The trick is to make them stable but unobtrusive to the eye. You don’t want to distract a driver going seventy miles per hour with a bridge.”

  “I think those commuters are distracted enough with the cell phones,” Mia commented.

  “I’m with you there, sister. I only have to go into the city a few times a week, but when I do, I’m a white-knuckled defensive driver.”

  “Tell me about Heather,” Mia requested, sitting back and taking a sip of her coffee.

  Barb’s face lit up. Her no nonsense, short haircut set off brilliant cheekbones and a strong jaw. “She’s a girly girl. Pink is her primary color. That’s how I knew the drawings weren’t hers. Her drawings when she was young were of dolls, unicorns and dresses, lots of dresses, and shoes. If I were going to guess on her future, I would have to put designer on her résumé. She is into clothes. She watches Project Runway and has In Style magazine on her iPad. Heather has to wear a uniform to school, much to her disgust. But she has taken out the lining of her blazer and put in a pink paisley one. So far, I haven’t had to explain it to the principal, but I fear the day is coming.” Barb pursed her lips. “We don’t get along,” she admitted. “I don’t understand the need for glitz, and she thinks my looks fall under early lumberjack. We argue all the time, and many a time, one of us has slammed a door on our way to our rooms for a good cry.”

  “It’s the age. I’m no expert, but I have three sisters,” Ted qualified. “My mother fought with each of them at one time or the other. Mothers and daughters will always have problems. It doesn’t matter if you were both alike. In my family, Connie and Mom are the most alike, and they once had a fight so big that Dad took the rest of us to a hotel until they sorted it out.”

  “How are they now?” Barb asked.

  “Best friends. They lunch together sharing secrets. All my sisters band together. I call them the three…”

  “Ted,” Mia warned.

  “Sorry, forgot where I was. Your home is so warm and inviting, I forgot my company manners,” Ted explained.

  “Do you think that Heather caused this?” Barb blurted out.

  “Whoa, no, I don’t think so. Are you talking poltergeists?” Mia asked.

  “Well, yes. I mean with all the yelling…”

  Mia got up from her chair and motioned for Barb and Ted to follow her. “Whatever honored you with all this splendid artwork wasn’t attracted to you because of tween angst.” Mia had reached the back door and bent down and breathed on the window. Her warm breath combined with the cooling afternoon breeze, fogged the large pane of the storm door. Dozens of hearts and little lip marks appeared. “They were attracted here because of your love for each other.”

  “Are those kisses?” Ted asked. Because of his height he had to get on his knees. He took out a camera and took a few pictures.

  “Yes, kisses and hearts. Very girly,” Mia said, putting a reassuring arm around Barb’s waist. “You’re family, and these spirits applaud you for it.”

  “So you’re saying that these pictures are nothing to be afraid of?” Barb asked.

  “Right now, I don’t get a feeling of malice, just love. I don’t know why they are here or what they want. And judging by the evidence, there sure are a lot of them. They picked a bunch of flowers at Mrs. Alison’s and, I understand, created a hell of a mess with a cupcake volcano next door. Pranks, yes, but they don’t want to scare you. They just are sharing the happiness they have. I’d keep the pictures. Don’t toss them out. Look at each of them when you have time, and write down how you feel when you look at each picture. Maybe you’ll be telling me what’s going on before we can figure it out,” Mia said.

  “I see a nose print,” Ted said as he flipped through the pictures he had taken. “There are boys involved.”

  Barb asked to see the photos. It wasn’t long before she laughed. Mia watched the stress ease from her shoulders and marveled at how quickly she bounced back from her emotional turmoil.

  “I think we better be going,” she said. “We have yet to see the Seavers.”

  “They’re nice people. They’ve always been there for me and Heather,” Barb told them. “They come from very humble beginnings and aren’t afraid to share their past with you. Good people.”

  “Thank you, Barb, that’s comforting,” Mia said, putting her empty mug in the sink next to Ted’s. “We PEEPs are going to be here for a while. Feel free to stop by.”

  Ted dug out a business card. “Call us if anything further happens.”

  Barb let them out the back door and watched as the couple walked across the yard towards the Seavers. She saw them lean into each other as Ted put a loving arm around the petite Mia. “I miss that,” she said to herself and sighed.

  ~

  Nathan Bertram slowed his car as he pulled into his driveway. He waited patiently for the garage door to open. It was an old door and a new appliance. Sometimes the two fought for control. Once the door was safely up, he eased the Prius into the immaculate building. He walked out of the garage and down to the mailbox where he extracted the several days of mail sitting there. The last sales trip had left him tired but encouraged. Who would have thought selling crush-resistant bubble packaging would be so profitable? But the world now shopped via the internet. According to ecologists, Styrofoam peanuts were a blight in the landfills and a major irritation for the receiver of the packaging. As soon as the box was opened, the migration of the small nut-shaped static-attracting Styrofoam started. No one was immune from the beasts. They clung to everything. His company had had a better idea, and it involved recyclable plastic and air.

  Nathan stopped and looked over at the strange vehicles parked at the Seaver place and shook his head. Ghost hunters? The reality television craze had hit his neighborhood. But the Seavers? They seemed such a grounded couple. One never really knew everything about one’s neighbors, did they? He turned around and trudged up the driveway and let himself into his house.

  After punching in the code to the house alarm
, he headed for the kitchen. He would bring in his luggage after he had sated himself with a well-earned scotch and a few nibbles. He patted his stomach which still retained its firmness even after he had crossed the big four o. Sales was more than just the product; he too had to be enticing to the customer. He gathered his snacks and walked towards the living room. He passed his hobby room and noticed the door was ajar which stopped him in his tracks. He normally kept the door to the room shut to keep down the dust accumulation and the humidity level constant. Had he left the door open in his haste to leave earlier in the week?

  Nathan elbowed the door open and walked into the room. The light sensor acknowledged his presence and turned on the lights. The sight that greeted him chilled his blood, and he screamed.

  Ted had just left the Seaver home and was walking to the command vehicle when a man burst from his home across the court. He was dressed in a suit, and his tie was flapping behind him as he ran towards Ted.

  “Sir?” Ted barely got out when the man started sobbing and tugging at the startled investigator.

  “Please, come,” Nathan begged.

  Ted touched his ear com. “Cid, I’m going across the cud-de-sac. A gentleman seems in dire straits…”

  “Wait for Burt,” Cid cautioned.

  Burt climbed out of the truck and followed Ted and the business man across the street.

  “How did they get in? The alarm was on. No one knows the code,” Nathan babbled. “I keep the room sealed.”

  The men entered the house. The ghost hunters took in the Spartan elegance of the front room. Ted pulled out a meter and began scanning the room.

  “The problem’s in here,” Nathan insisted, tugging at Ted’s arm.

  Burt looked at the state the man was in and suggested, “Ted, let’s forgo the readings for now.

  Cid put Burt’s and Ted’s coms on speaker when Mia climbed in the truck. Audrey smiled at her from the seat beside him. The researcher was leafing through her notes, copying the information into her laptop. “Ted and Burt are investigating 1314,” she said, angling her head in the direction of the house.

  They listened to the men moving through the house.

  “I keep the door shut. I found it open. Careful, I dropped…”

  “What the hell?” Ted exclaimed.

  “It’s horrible!” Burt exclaimed.

  Mia launched herself out of the truck after grabbing Ted’s emergency backpack. She ran as fast as she could to 1314 and burst through the door. “Ted, Burt!” she called as she moved through the house.

  “In here, careful the glass,” Burt warned as he backed out of the room, pale and nauseous. He accepted Mia’s hand as she led him down the hall and sat the stunned man on the couch. “I’ll be right back. I have to check on Ted,” she said softly and took off running down the hall. She entered the room, tiptoeing around the broken crystal tumbler, trying to avoid crushing too many baked Cheetos under her boots. Ted was bent over a man dressed in an expensive suit. They both were clearly distraught. As they moved away from what they were examining on the floor, Mia prepared herself for a horrific shock.

  “Comic books?” she asked. “All this fuss over… comic books?”

  “First editions, Mia, collector editions. Someone has torn them out of their plastic protective covers and…” Ted lost his voice as shock set in.

  Mia pushed past the men and took in the rest of the room. There were hundreds of Marvel, DC and a few other brands scattered on the floor. It looked as if a few were open and left where someone had lost interest and moved on to another book. Several action figure boxes were piled in the corner and the figurines set in battle poses on the wood floor. Reels of film were pulled out of their canisters and hung like ribbons from the shelves that used to contain them. “It looks like kids have been playing…” Mia said, reaching for a crumpled Spiderman issue.

  Her hand was smacked away by the homeowner.

  Mia didn’t take offence. Clearly the man was on his last tether to this world. She knelt down and turned his face towards hers.

  “Sir, why don’t you let me take you into the kitchen and get you cleaned up? Ted will photograph this mess, and we’ll get this sorted for you.”

  “I first thought that vandals had broken in, but the alarm says no one entered the house after I left on Monday.”

  “Are they insured?” Mia asked.

  “Yes, under my homeowners policy,” Nathan replied, getting to his feet.

  “Maybe you should call the police and get a report…” she suggested.

  “And tell them what?” Nathan asked.

  “We don’t know what caused this, so let them write up a report. That should satisfy the insurance company, and then we’ll help you to move on past this,” she said as she guided him around the glass and into the hall. She walked him into the kitchen and ran the faucet until the water was cold and then wetted several paper towels and began cleaning the snot off the distraught man’s face.

  Audrey, who had been listening in on the activity with Cid, came in the front door. She looked at Burt staring blankly into space and opted to enter the kitchen to help Mia with the homeowner.

  “You help Ted, I’ll get mister…”

  “Bertram, Nathan Bertram,” the man supplied.

  “I’ll sit here with Nathan until the police arrive,” she offered.

  Mia nodded and walked over and dumped the soiled towels in the trash can. She turned around and tried not to smile. She tried to think of something sad to keep her from laughing at the absurdity of the situation. She looked at Audrey who rolled her eyes and mouthed, boys.

  Chapter Four

  “Four out of the six houses in the cul-de-sac were hit by the unseen,” Burt reported to Mike who had driven in from Chicago, battling the rush hour traffic. “The levels of destruction escalating…”

  “Excuse me, destruction?” Mia questioned.

  “Mrs. Alison’s garden, Nathan Bertram’s collection…”

  “Whoa, the flowers were picked, not yanked out of the ground, and what I saw at Nathan’s place was the result of play. They simply read the books and played with the dolls…”

  “Action figures,” Ted corrected.

  “Action figures,” she repeated. “Nothing was broken or stolen from what Nathan could see. He’s inventorying the things with the local police right now. Aside from the collector value of opened toys and the distressed pages of the comics, there was nothing done to his collection to indicate malice.”

  “Thousands of dollars lost,” Cid said. “That’s why I kept my Superman comic collection in that lead-lined box.”

  “They were playing with the toys,” Mia said stubbornly. “Audrey, you’ve been to all the houses, what impression did you get?”

  Audrey looked a bit miffed to be put on the spot in front of all the comic loving males of the group. “Elementary-school-aged children playing together. The Seavers had a hard time not giggling talking about the cupcake volcano. Barb is looking at the pictures as a tribute of some kind. Mrs. Alison wished the children would have asked first before picking all the flowers, and Nathan, well, it looked like my cousin Eddie’s house after his son’s friends spend the night.”

  “Children, out of control, but children,” Mia insisted.

  “Did they go house to house?” Mike asked.

  “I haven’t seen them, but by the evidence, I’d say there are four groups of children of various ages. Ted, show him the windows.”

  “Mia noticed that the children had left their signatures on the windows of each house. I took these after she blew on them. Hot air on cold glass,” he explained. “This is the Seaver kitchen window.”

  The glass had hearts all over it. Each heart had its own distinct look.

  “Barb’s storm door,” Ted said bringing up the next picture.

  More hearts appeared in the condensation, lip prints and a few nose prints were spaced out in between the hearts.

  “The lip prints are so small, made by very young chi
ldren,” Mia said, pointing them out. The nose prints are left by boys, according to our resident noseologist.”

  “We had a hard time locating the messages at Mrs. Alison’s,” Ted explained. “The windows are high, but Mia spotted some scratching in the dirt under the back casement windows.” He enlarged the picture. “I had to put a filter on for it to show up on film.”

  Mike leaned in and angled his head. It took him a minute to sort out all the Ts and Ys, but he read, “Thank you.” Once he knew what he was looking at, he was able to see seven different sets. “What did the woman think when you pointed these out to her?” Mike asked.

  “She still thought they should have asked first but wasn’t as prickly. Barb mixed up some plaster of Paris she had on hand in her Girl Scout supplies. She is taking an impression of it for Mary. It will be reversed but still a nice keepsake,” Mia said.

  “That leaves Nathan Bertram’s house,” Mike said. “Where and what did you find there?”

  “Once we saw the pattern of the glass tributes, we started blowing on all the windows. I think if Nathan wasn’t in shock, he would have had Audrey and Mia tossed out of there,” Burt said. “It was Ted that found them. He walked into the master bath and noticed that Bertram had installed a new exhaust fan recently.”

  Ted turned around. “I kept the fan off and ran hot water in the sink and shower-tub. This is what appeared in the mirror.”

  Mike couldn’t help but laugh when the images were revealed. Bold as brass, centered in the mirror over the sink was painted boldly, Batman. Over the glass shower enclosure was: Aqua man rules the sea, Go Spiderman! and three finger-drawn depictions of Superman.

  “Wait, that’s not all,” Ted warned. He pulled up the next shot. The fogged window over the shower held dozens of question marks.