Chapter Three
Venice… the city of the romance and ghost apparitions. I only knew a few places in it from what I've seen in some movies. I never imagined it would be like that. But truth be told, whenever I see golden buildings rising from the waters I imagine how many people died in there, how many ghosts can't find peace and still haunts those places for centuries.
Once Venice had been the main port from where trade from the orient came into Europe, the Queen of the Adriatic Sea. There had been merchants, kings, doges, slaves, thieves, pirates and common people sharing the same thing: the gold from the Byzantine Empire. It was that gold that built Venice and supported it's extravagances for hundreds of years, building up the churches that looked like a work of the orient, inspired by Islamic' stunning architecture. That is, until Venice completely became independent and repulsed everything from the same Empire that had once had supported it. It was like a prosperous son repelling the father.
Venice pretty much suited Sam's personality. She had turned her back on those who had helped her grow up, too. She had turned her back on us and left.
Of course, I learned all that about Venice from the book I read on the plane. I tried to prepare myself for the dream city and not act like an idiot ignorant in front of Sam, but my efforts weren't paid off. I controlled my reactions when we crossed The Grand Canal, when I saw San Marco's Church when our boat passed by it and I didn't mutter a sound at the Doge's Palace, but I completely lost my pose when the boat turned in a small island quite near San Marco's Square and I saw the Castle, or better, the Palace Sam had been living in.
The entrance of the Palace was a dock, naturally, since there isn't much land in Venice's island. The streets are so thin that a bicycle can barely cross by so there are no cars going around, unless they are cabs leaving the city. So it was obvious that the entrance to the palace was a dock, with three gondolas that Sam owned, one yacht and two normal boats, small enough to make quick trip around the canal.
I barely noticed Tucker and Cole's reaction to all that greatness around us. I paid attention to the man who was sailing our boat. He was the only one in there to sail all the watercraft and as soon as he helped us get our luggage off the boat, he picked a small cheap boat and went away, promising Sam he would be close by and if she needed to go anywhere she would just give him a call.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to carry your own luggage to the guest rooms. Alexander's ghost scared all my employees away." It was the first time I heard her husband's name and I frowned when I heard it. I hated that name because it reminded me of Rome's Emperor and I didn't like to have an enemy with such a powerful name. Maybe I had never paid attention to my enemies' names before, but somehow I paid attention that time.
"Is there a basement where we can install our equipment?" I naively asked. I only realized I had made a fool out of myself when she giggled, covering her mouth in the process. I felt my face heat up.
"A basement? Oh please, this palace was built on water, it's impossible to have a basement. Okay, maybe there was one before the water completely submerged it thousands of years ago, but I suppose it won't fit your purpose the way it is now." She said, turning around to see Tucker and me sweating ourselves to death while carrying the heavy equipment begs. Even poor Cole was carrying more weight than he should. And she? Well, she was just carrying her shop bag, walking elegantly across the endless entrance hall with her heel echoing through the corridors of the palace. I must admit I got to like the sound of those heels.
"Maybe an attic, then?" Tucker asked breathlessly. The poor guy was about to pass out. It was the first time since we landed that he said something. He had been too overwhelmed by our surroundings to actually pay attention to our work.
"No. Maybe you'd like an extra room for that, but I think you'll find one of the towers more suiting." When she said that I cursed myself for not looking up when we approached the place with the boat. She had towers? In plural? I couldn't believe my eyes, my ears or anything else I could capture with my five senses. That was… too much.
We followed her through the stone corridors and up the stairs. I could swear we walked for about seven minutes before we reached the room's area. Along the way she quietly explained it was easy to get lost in the palace, so we should pay attention to were we were going. The west wing would lead to the rooms and resting areas while the east would take to library, kitchen and other working areas. The north wing was the entrance and the south wing would lead to the towers and dungeons.
"Dungeons? Cool!" Cole said, making Sam smile and pick him by his hand. "Can I go see it?"
"Of course, I'll go with you as soon as you're settled." Sam said, finally letting some of her warmth be revealed in front of us.
"Can I sleep in the same room as you, auntie?" Cole said and I was ready to see Sam's smile turn into a grimace for the 'auntie' part, but instead she just smiled even more and agreed to have him in the same room as her. Tucker seemed much more relaxed after that and I certainly wouldn't worry about Cole safety in that palace anymore. Sam would obviously take care of him while we were busy.
The room I was going to sleep in was bigger than my whole apartment. The heavy curtains blocked even the brightest day and the king size bed had the most comforting mattress I had ever laid on. The silk sheets and the Japanese futons could warm an army. My room was right across Tucker's and while I unpacked I saw him through the open door. He was sniffing all the perfumes and colognes that were placed on the dresser inside his room.
I shivered and closed the window, but it was already night so there would be no sunlight to warm that place up a little. Naturally a palace built in stone and marble and gold would be very cold and the fact that it was in the middle of the fall only made me worry if I had brought enough clothes to stand it. The cold and the freezing breezes that seemed to go around the corridors also made me wonder if they were natural or if it was caused by an invisible ghost.
I heard an angry groaning echoing through the cold breeze. I put on a jacket and decided to prepare the ghost portal as soon as I could. That situation seemed typically from a horror movie, but of course a ghost couldn't hurt me. I feared for Tucker, Cole and Sam. They didn't have ghost powers and couldn't fight him in the regular way. The best I could do was to load the weapons I had brought and give them enough ammunition to protect themselves.
"Is everything all right? Is the room of your liking?" Sam suddenly showed up at the door. I saw she had changed to more comfortable clothes, but still very elegant ones. She was wearing pants of some material that wasn't jeans, but seemed much warmer than any other fabric I had ever seen and she was also wearing a white turtle-neck sweater. And the high heels. Always the high heels.
"Yes, Sam…" I finally called her by her nickname. I sighed when I realized I was slowly losing my strong façade in front of her. "I like the room, I like the palace. I like everything in here and I'm very comfortable."
"I'm sorry; I didn't want to bother you." She said quietly, turning around. Just when she was about to leave the room I realized I had once again pushed her away when she was only trying to be a good hostess. I rushed to her side and held her by her elbow, turning her to face me. She quickly pushed my hands off her and jumped at least two feet away from me. She looked scared and surprised by my touch and I saw her looking around the room as if we were being spied. When she found nothing there she turned to look at me in the eyes once more, waiting for me to speak.
"I'm sorry, Sam. Really. I just don't know how to act around you anymore." I finally confessed and before I could stop myself I scratched the back of my head. It's just a nervous thing I do when I less expect. I can't control it.
"It's all right. It's my fault you don't know how to act." I saw her looking around nervously and taking one step back. "I just wanted to tell you that dinner will be served in thirty minutes. I cooked it myself so I'm not sure it will taste very good."
"I'm sure it will be wonderful." I smiled and she smiled back at me, shyly, looking down to the floor an instant later. My heart was beating faster at her reaction. It was beating for finally recognizing my best friend under that well behaved heiress. I wanted to touch her again, but I was afraid she'd shrug me off again.
"I'm going downstairs then. Finish unpacking. You can take the equipment to the south tower if you want." And she turned around and this time she really left. I watched her as she disappeared through the dark corridors with only her shadows following her.
It was the first time I realized how lonely she had been. She had that palace to herself; all that space, those empty guest rooms and the ballroom that had never been used. She had at least fifty telephones around the palace and neither of them had ever ringed. In the library, she had already read thousands of books, but she had nobody to tell their stories.
I had part of my answer of what had happened to my Sam. She had become a lonely princess in a cold castle, with no servants in her court and no friend to escort her through a walk in the gardens.
Sam's cooking skills were wonderful I never liked vegetarian lasagna before I tried hers and even Tucker, always the meat-addicted, said that had been the best lasagna he had ever eaten. I really thought that mission was going to bring the three of us closer again so we could catch up with the friendship. I was soothed by my own thoughts and hopes for the next days.
That same night Sam allowed Cole to sleep in her bed, but as soon as the clock indicated five minutes to midnight she picked him up and carried him to his own room, tucking him in and placing a teddy bear by his side. I watched her through the keyhole. She returned to her room and locked the door and as soon as she did I looked at my wrist watch. It was exactly midnight.
Sam's room's door started shaking, as if being forced. Then it stopped and I heard voices inside the room. I also heard the mattress moving and flashes of light from under the door. It had obviously been ghost activity, but I didn't want to go inside and catch him just now. I had to see what kind of ghost he was and what he was capable of. The years of ghost hunting taught me to not fully trust my instincts.
But I wanted badly to go inside her room and put an end to that, but she could end up hurt and it made me hold myself back. I thought about the way she had put Cole in his room and as if in grief she returned to hers, locking the door. I realized she expected the ghost to show up to her like that and at that exact time. So it all had been a routine. She was used to have that ghost inside her room every night. She didn't run or scream like the night before when she was attacked and fell into the water. It was like she had just accepted having that ghost there.
I quickly wrote down everything I had seen. I sighed and put the notebook on the night table beside my bed and got under the blankets. I was very tired from the plane ride and then from unpacking and loading the weapons. If only I had the ghost portal ready I could have faced that ghost without fear, but I couldn't risk it. I still hadn't done any research about his death. Usually the way someone dies influences his ghost obsessions and it also may become his weakness. More than once I captured a ghost by trapping him the same way he had died. The memories would weaken him down, making him vulnerable enough so I could suck him inside the Fenton Thermos.
Over the years and after much beating by 'playing the hero' I realized that firing a ghost ray as soon as I see a ghost isn't the best way to get rid of it.
When I woke up the next morning I saw Sam helping Cole to have his breakfast. He seemed to enjoy the colorful Italian cereal, but was making a mess at the table, splashing milk everywhere. Sam was teaching him to hold the spoon properly in a polite manner. I also noticed she was dressed to go out. She was wearing a white lacy dress; the skirt would end just below her knees. She was also wearing white lacy gloves. That was a huge contrast to the Goth look she used to have.
"Are you going out?" I asked politely while sitting at the table, serving myself cheese and bread and a cup of coffee. Sam smiled at me and nodded. When she looked back to Cole her hair flipped to the side, giving me a clear view of her neck. I saw a bite mark there, obviously made in the night before. It didn't look like a result of aggression, but a mark of a lover. I wondered if she had someone else staying in that house beside us. Was it possible that after the recent death of her husband she already had a new lover? "Can I go with you? I need to buy some filters for the portal. I expect to get it working tonight."
"Of course you can go. Just hurry up because the gondola will be here shortly." Then she once again turned her attention to Cole who grinned and showed his tongue to me, happy that he was getting attention and I wasn't. "Cole will go with us; do you think Tucker would like to go, too?"
"No. He's up since seven working on the weapons. He didn't even want to come down to have breakfast." I answered and Sam raised her eyebrows realizing how unlike Tucker it was to reject food.
When Cole was done Sam stood up and grabbed a white lacy umbrella. She reached her hand for him and he rushed to her side clumsily like every three year old child. The same man that sailed us to the palace the day before was standing in the gondola, waiting for us to sit down.
"Good morning, Mrs. Schwarz." So that was her last name now… He took Sam's hand and helped her sit down, then he helped Cole who sat on Sam's lap, but I refused his hand and sat down in the seat next to her.
We all got off at San Marco's Square. The gondola man just waited for us among the others at the marine. Sam opened her umbrella and rested the cane on her shoulder. I kept myself at least ten feet away from her so I could watch everything from distance. I can't describe how beautiful she looked just walking around the square like that. Even the tourists stopped looking at the cathedral to glace at her as she passed by them.
I smiled to myself. She'd bring peace to whoever watched her. The pigeons around the square flew around her and one landed on her hand to eat a piece of bread she had saved from breakfast just to feed the birds. Cole's eyes shone when he saw that many birds around him and he started chasing them around, giggling and screaming in happiness. I caught one or two tourists taking pictures of her.
"Excuse me, miss." A young man with a heavy French accent approached her, taking her hand before she could pull away from him.
"Yes?" For a second she looked frightened. She quickly looked around and then back to the guy who still was holding her hand. He placed a kiss on her glove and Sam paled. I think she actually started shaking for a brief moment.
"Could you give me the pleasure of escorting you and your little friend today?" The guy dared ask. I stepped forward to make him see that I was her escort that day. He looked at me, very surprised. He let go of her hand very embarrassed. "Oh excuse me; I didn't know you already had company. I apologize for the inconvenience, Miss." He muttered an apology to me and walked away.
I looked to Sam and saw her shivering. She nervously looked around for Cole.
"C-come here Cole. Do you want to see the golden walls inside the church?" She called and Cole immediately ran to her side, hugging her legs and nodding frantically. "Okay, so you'll have to be a good boy and not let go of my hand." Once more, Cole nodded and the three of us walked inside San Marco's cathedral, pretending that she wasn't nervous about that guy.
I watched her explaining to Cole the origin of and style of the architecture and the mosaics. She explained it all in a very enthusiastic manner even if it was completely pointless because he was just a child and didn't seem to get a single thing of what she was saying.
I heard voices around us and felt people staring at us. There were three old women that didn't look at Sam as if she was a great person as the tourists outside seemed to think, but they were making disgusted faces at her, speaking vile things as they shamelessly stared at her even after they noticed I had spotted them. I heard a few lines like 'Mrs. Schwarz was possessed then…', 'The cook saw everything,' 'I think she did it,' and 'they must arrest her at once.' I didn't understand what the main subject of their gossip was, but I stayed alert for whatever else they might mention.
Sam had noticed the gossip going on, too. She suddenly turned around and looked at the three old women with such hate in her eyes that I took a step back in fear. She looked scary, ready to jump on them and open their throats with her teeth. I also noticed that she was once more wearing the diamond necklace and that the stone started shining again and instinctively she reached up her gloved hand to cover it before someone saw it.
"Do you want to see the Prison's torture chambers, Cole?" She asked the little boy, not taking her icy cold eyes from the old ladies, who shivered and repeatedly made the Sign of the Cross, rushing away as if Sam was the devil himself.
Something was going on with Sam and with the whole Venice. I had no time to waste. I had to know what was going on and the only way I could think of finding was to look for Mr. Schwarz's history.
I was able to excuse myself when Sam walked inside the Doge's Palace with Cole and I wandered alone in those small streets around the square. I didn't know where I was going at first so I asked in a restaurant where the city's library was. Lucky for me it was very near where I was. I was torn between taking a tour around Venice with Sam and my obligation, but in the end I took the chance to research about Alexander Schwarz.
The librarian spied on me while I searched; after all I was the only tourist who had ever visited Venice to check out the library. I found the database of all the newspaper in Italy, but I focused on the ones from Venice. It took me more than an hour searching through the titles of the headlines until I finally found his family name in one of them. Unfortunately, before I could read the article the librarian decided to nose in once more.
"Oh, so you're looking for Mr. Schwarz murder. Are you from Interpol?" The old woman asked with a heavy accent. It was hard for me to understand what exactly she was saying at first, but I got the word 'murder' very well.
"Schwarz was murdered, you say?" I asked her and she looked very satisfied that she had gotten my attention. She pulled out a chair and sat down by my side.
"Oh yes, I thought you policemen had all that information already." She said and I didn't bother to explain to her that I wasn't a policeman at all. I didn't interrupt her so she continued, talking nonstop like a parrot. "You see the news says it was an accident, nobody could confirm that he was actually pushed down the stairs. The news had an article about the possibility that he had been murdered by his wife. I believe they had been married for about a year before he died. It makes sense to me if you ask me. A girl he meets out of nowhere and suddenly gets married. It was obvious she was just interested in his money. Their age difference was about ten years so it's obvious that he only wanted a pretty face on his bed while she just wanted his money. I mean… I have no idea about his bank account, but take a look at the palazzo they lived!"
She was a really nosy woman. She seemed to know everything about Sam and Alexander's life, as if she had read everything on celebrity magazines. She knew where Sam shopped, she knew where Sam went for her lonely afternoon teas and she also knew Sam had been often spotted around the city, discreetly crying.
"Well, thank you for the information, ma'am." I said and I turned back to my work, now looking for the articles that explained the possibility of murder. The woman kept staring, but she didn't bother me anymore. I found everything I needed. The journalists and with the help of the investigators thought it was probable that Sam, Mrs. Schwarz, had pushed her husband down the stairs. They found a bruise on his back that looked like hand marks and her fingerprints were all over his body. She was never taken to jail because the marks and fingerprints weren't enough proof against her.
"I really think she did it. That angel face of hers hides her true nature. I'm sure she has a dark soul." The librarian started speaking again. "Beside the money she had a reason to do it as well." I looked at her she hit her palm flat on the computer table. "He wasn't a good man either, both were vicious and dominants. One wanted to control the other and lately he was the one putting her in her place. At the beginning she's go around the town and spend time with kids she didn't even know, leaving her husband in that castle. Then he made her start wearing more decent clothes; before she'd wear mostly black and purple, but he changed her habits and then he'd just allow her to leave home holding hands with him. She deserved to be put in her place if you ask me. That was a good reason for her to start hating him, the investigators said. He imprisoned her and that just made her snap, after all a divorce wasn't an option since she would have to leave without a single nickel on her pocket. Murder was her way out."
Indeed, that seemed like a solution and I knew Sam was capable of being violent when she was out in a situation she didn't want to be in. But murder? That's right, it explained a lot of things, the reason why she wasn't looking at me and Tucker in the eyes in the first place. Guilty do that to people. Also it would explain why she was acting so cold towards everyone. And Alexander's ghost too. If he really died in that palace and couldn't pass on it was because he had unsettled business there. He had to settle things with Sam so she became his obsession, the reason why he was still trapped among the living.
That had been a conclusion I didn't want to reach. It was impossible for me to see my Sam, the child I grew up with, suddenly committing a crime for money. It was true that she was broke after her parent's death; it was true she was used to have an extravagant life and destiny had taken it all from her. There was no way to deny it. I couldn't deny it after seeing her murdering look to those old ladies inside the church. And the fingerprints! Sam had killed her own husband.
I expressed my gratitude to the librarian and left. On my way to San Marco's Square, where Sam would probably be waiting for me, I found the streets completely deserted. People had gone inside their houses and the stores were closed. The sky that was so blue a few hours ago now was dark and threatened to punish the city with a heavy storm at any minute.
I hurried up and found my way back to the square. I found a crowd gathered there, all standing around a circle. People were shouting and kids were crying. Something terrible must have happened so I ran to the crowd to see with my own eyes.
The same French guy that had kissed Sam's hand was lying dead on the floor surrounded by pigeons. I stepped even closer to analyze the body better. He was strangled.
"Kid, do you know this man?" A policeman asked me and I shook my head. I quickly stood up and tried to get away from the crowd and look for Sam. "This is the sixth this month. I don't understand." I heard someone saying, but I was too worried about her and Cole to even pay attention.
I found her waiting for me at the boat, holding Cole in her arms while he cried. Both looked very frightened.
"Let's go home now please, Danny." She said in verge of tears and doubt struck me once more.
Had she really killed her husband?
Hi everyone. I'm sorry for the delay, but this time I have a reason to. My three months old puppy died in a terrible accident. My dad stepped on her head and broke her skull. Yeah, I know, horrible. I think I was in shock because I'm slowly forgetting the events of that day. I remember getting her in my arms and running barefoot and to the vet in the first hours of the morning wearing just my nightshirt that was soaked with her blood. I also remember CPR-ing the poor thing on the way, but I think she was already dead, I just wished too hard to get her back that I thought she could make it if I arrived fast to the vet. Anyway, I had a creative block for three weeks after that, I couldn't read, write, draw or take pictures because I'd see her everywhere. I'm better now. The shock and mourning are almost over and I can write again.
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and for those who asked my birthday was on June 6th. Once again, I'm sorry about the delay I should treat you readers better than I do. I'm really, really sorry.