I looked through
the frosted glass of the front door. The silhouettes of two people could be
plainly seen, thrown into sharp relief by the setting sun behind them.
One of them was
speaking. “We’ll get to the bottom of this real
quick, Inspector.”
I rolled my
eyes. Officer Saggot was back. And by the looks of it, had
brought reinforcements.
One of them
put a finger on the bell and left it there.
I jerked the
door open, startling the two men standing on the front step. “Officer?”
“Oh, erm . . .
Mrs. Sputterling, I mean Kayser,” the officer said. He hitched his uniform up
over his too, too solid midsection. “Yes . . . well . . . um . . . I'm back.”
I nodded. I
mean, he was standing right there. Hard to miss. I leaned against the edge of
the door. “Yes, Officer?”
He waggled a
finger at me. “And to make sure there are no more shenanigans, I’ve brought Inspector Wilson with me.”
The way the
title rolled off his tongue, I almost felt I should be bowing. I glanced at the
man beside him. About retirement age. Short. Lean. With a gleaming bald head and
thick, bushy eyebrows. “So?”
Now, I know
you know I’m really not a rude person. But I’d been accused of nasty things by
this officer and I wasn’t feeling charitable. Plus, I still hadn’t found my
sister. Okay, yes, I had spoken to her, but you also know that speaking to
Norma without benefit of visual aid is usually . . . unproductive. Or downright
confusing.
“Mrs. Kayser.”
The Inspector had decided to get into the conversation. “May we come in?”
I stood back
and swung the door wide. “Of course. But I don’t know what you are going to be
able to do.”
The two men
stepped into the front hall.
“My colleague
informs me that you have been uncooperative on this investigation.”
I frowned sharply. “I have not!” I snapped. “It’s just that he didn’t believe me!”
The inspector’s
eyebrows went up. They looked like two big, fat caterpillars perched above his eyes.
“Did you know
your eyebrows look like big, fuzzy caterpillars?” someone asked.
I suppressed a
smile.
“I . . . erm .
. . what?” The inspector looked around. “Who said that?”
“It’s her! The
sister. I told you!” The officer leaned toward his colleague, looking smug. “Still
up to their tricks!”
The inspector
narrowed his eyes and looked at me. “Would you be so kind as to explain this,
Ma’am?”
I shrugged. “I
will but you won’t believe me.”
He merely
waited.
I sighed. “This
house is haunted.”
The Inspector
sucked in a quick breath.
I paused, but
when he said nothing, went on. “My sister has been quite friendly with the
spirit or spirits who live here. Christmas, BBQ’s. Weekends at the lake. She
invites them to everything. Yesterday, she disappeared in the middle of a
conversation about going to the ‘other side’ for a visit.”
Officer Saggot snorted. “See? And she expects us to swallow this!”
But the Inspector
was looking . . . interested. “Go on,” he said.
I blinked. “Well
. . . there’s not much more to tell.” I scratched my head. “I’ve talked with
her. She says she having fun. Norma never really was much into details.”
“So she’s on
the other side right now?”
I nodded.
The eyebrows again as he tipped his head toward me. “Could
I talk to her?”
His colleague
looked at him, a sharp frown on his round face. “Sir, I . . .”
“If you aren’t
interested, go wait in the car, Saggot!”
“No. No, I’m
interested,” he said hurriedly.
“Well, we can
try,” I told him. I looked up. “Norma? Are you here?”
“Well where
else would I be!” Norma sounded a little testy. “I live here, don’t I?”
“The inspector
wants to talk to you.”
“I heard!”
There was a pause. “So? What do you want to talk about?”
“Well . . .
maybe you’d like to describe to me . . . erm . . . where you are?”
“I’m right
here!”
He looked
around. “I don’t see you.”
“Well, on the
other side of right here.”
“Could you
describe it?”
A sigh. “Foyer.
Stairway. Doors to the front room and the outside. Hallway to the back of the
house. My sister and two policemen standing looking around. I don’t know. What
do you want to hear?”
“That’ll do.”
The inspector was looking more and more . . . happy? Excited?
“Sir, I really
think we should be . . .”
“Quiet,
Saggot!”
The officer
pressed his lips together and took a step back.
“So you don’t
have to wait for night or the light of a full moon or anything like that to
talk to us?” the Inspector asked.
“Nope.” Norma was
sounding a little more cheerful. “The lines are always open.”
“Are there
other . . . people there?”
“Oh, yeah.
Lots of them.”
“Any . . .
young people?”
I looked at
him. His expression had just gotten very intense.
“Oh yeah!” I
could hear the smile in Norma’s voice. “They keep things hopping!” Her voice
lowered a bit in volume, almost as though she had turned away from us.” “Yeah.
Yeah. Okay.”
“What?” the
Inspector asked.
“Oh, I was
just talking to someone. I’m supposed to give you this.”
A hockey stick
appeared out of the air, narrowly missing Saggot as it clattered to the floor between the two officers.
Enjoying this episode of the Sputterling Sisters?
Catch up with them here:
From Over There
Enjoying this episode of the Sputterling Sisters?
Catch up with them here:
From Over There
Today’s post is a writing challenge. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.
My words for September: bell
~ moon ~ hockey stick ~ real ~ car
Now go and see what the others have done with the challenge!
A ghost hit him with a hockey sstick! Now who's going to believe that when he tells his friends at happy hour? ;-)))
ReplyDeleteYep. If you don't have a picture, who's going to believe it?!
DeleteGet on with it and tell us more. This dribs and drabs bit is driving me out of my pea picking mind.
ReplyDeleteOops. Sorry about your mind, D!
DeleteI was hoping to get more of this story today! Can't wait for the next installment!
ReplyDeleteMe, neither! ;)
DeleteMore please. Soon. Pretty please?
ReplyDeleteIt's coming, EC!
DeleteNow who's going to believe that when he tells his friends at happy hour? ;-)))
ReplyDeleteเย็ดสาว
Right?
DeleteI.need.more.now! Pretty pretty please!
ReplyDeleteMom always said: Leave your audience wanting more. My work here is done. Well, not really, but you get the point . . .
DeleteOoooohhhh I love this! You are a master storyteller, my friend.
ReplyDeleteHeehee! Thank you, Marcia. From a master story-teller, I consider that a real compliment!
DeleteA hockey stick? Huh. Was the Inspector a player or a coach I wonder? Or perhaps he knew someone personally who played and died young. It's nice that he is a believer. And I hope Norma is able to come home when she is ready.
ReplyDeleteYou're figuring it out, Jenny! :)
DeleteLooking forward to more!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good idea that you have going on. manufacturing
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