Free Blackvine Manor Mystery by Wendy Meadows

his still dark apartment.
    His carry-on suitcase is still in the doorway and just beyond it is chaos. Drawers are open, clothing strewn everywhere, papers scattered, and everything else is upended.
    “You’ve been robbed.” Alexis turns to grab her phone and call the police.
    “That is not a robber,” Doug whispers hoarsely.
    She squints at where he is pointing, freezing when she sees the shadow move. No one is there, no noise is made, but the shadow of a man moves through the wreckage. It bends to look through drawers and reaches up into open cupboards.
    Her neighbor starts pushing her back down the hallway and Alexis doesn’t want to go until an eruption of voices comes from the stairwell. Two police officers clatter down the hardwood staircase from the penthouse apartment and try to comfort another distraught neighbor.
    “There is no one there, ma’am. There’s no sign anyone has been up there tonight.”
    Mrs. DuBois reaches for Alexis’ hand to steady herself. “But it was such a horrible argument. He was yelling horrible things at her.”
    “I’m sorry, ma’am, but there is no one there and there is nothing else we can do.”
    “Is everything alright?” The second officer notices the look on Doug’s face.
    He looks helplessly at Alexis who tells the officer, “Late nights can be a little rough.”
    The police officers tip their hats and head down the stairs to their waiting squad car.
    Doug helps Mrs. DuBois onto the antique settee on the stairwell landing. She is shaken but there is no other reason to disbelieve her story. It sounds very familiar to Alexis. Hearing an argument was the first encounter she had with the ghosts of Blackvine Manor and the first experience she had of her extrasensory abilities.
    “Mrs. DuBois, I think maybe Doug should sleep on your couch tonight. Would that make you comfortable?” Alexis glances at Doug who gives her a relieved nod.
    Mrs. DuBois doesn’t let go of Alexis’ hand. “A wonderful idea; thank you. I was coming to find you, dear. I don’t want to upset you but I think you should know. I heard a name; the man was yelling a name.”
    “Was it Delia?”
    “No, dear, he was yelling about your mother, Amelia.”

Chapter Seventeen
    M AXWELL LEANS BACK FURTHER IN his desk chair. “Two more residents just gave their notice. I think that supports my plan to sell this place.”
    Alexis shifts uncomfortably in one of the straight-backed chairs that furnish his small superintendent’s office. She sips at the tall coffee he brought her and thinks aloud.
    “The anniversary of Delia’s death is coming up. Maybe that’s why the activity around here is getting stronger.”
    “You mean worse. Whatever is happening around here is getting worse and I’m out.”
    “Then why are you here at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday?” Alexis teases him.
    Maxwell smiles. “Someone needed to bring you coffee.”
    “Besides”—his smile fades—“I thought you might be following up on this and I want to go with you.”
    He produces the envelope Otto gave them yesterday. Maxwell has his suspicions about his hard grandfather but he trusts the evidence the retired police chief passed along to them. If Alexis wants to find her mother, then he wants to help her follow real leads instead of unraveling ghost stories.
    Alexis snaps the envelope out of his hand and slides out the police report. “Amelia was arrested for trespassing at the Lakeview Cemetery. Did you notice the date?”
    Maxwell comes around to lean on the corner of his desk. “Same date as today, just about 50 years ago.”
    “One week before Delia’s murder. Don’t you think it’s a sign?”
    He sneers. “A sign we should check out Lakeview.”
    His sneer is still firmly in place when they get out of his car at Lakeview Cemetery. “How about we start by finding the lake?”
    Alexis nods, looking around nervously. “What if I can’t sense anything here? What if my abilities only work at Blackvine Manor?”
    Maxwell