"The sheriff had to be polite and deferential to Mrs. Grady" Beverly continued "Oh, I love how in the show they have softened her character, making her nicer than she is… or was, because now she had to learn a few truths about herself. They have no problem with the velvet glove she used. But they forgot about the iron fist inside. Or maybe it was not wanting to make their Hollywood star into an unsympathetic character. Or being trapped in cliches of what women were like…which is why Dinah, Wendy, and me ended up being just ingenues instead of the characters we were.."

"Yes, we understand. But what did the sheriff say?"

"That Louis was the prime suspect. Mrs. Grady tried to shift the blame to Flynn, but the sheriff looked at her sideways, letting her know that he had pierced the whole story about how Albert Pruitt could buy his home – no proof, alas, but he knew the truth.' "There is a limit to how much you can protect your brother, Mrs. Grady."

"Then he turned to me, and asked me if I knew anything. Well, I didn't and told him that. If I knew, I wouldn't withhold evidence, of course, but I did not know anything. He also told me that Green's wallet was missing, which included a characteristic key chain with a pendant that had his initials KG. If I ran across it, I should contact him "Do not pick it up with your hands, not even through a handkerchief. It should be picked up with tweezers and held in a plastic bag. Or better, give us a call:" I promised him that I would do it."

Later, after I had finished the morning lessons, I accepted Flynn's invitation to lunch. I had intrigued him so he wanted to continue the discussion"

"And what Mrs. Grady said?" Danny asked.

"That I should pump him for information, and if possible see if he incriminated himself."

'Play Mata Hari"

"Yes. She did believe that Flynn was guilty. And Green's death hurt her more than she thought it would…In a way she too liked to live in those memories of her youth."

"I take that your date with Flynn did not lead to any confession."

"No, of course not. But it led to a goodbye kiss. He had been thinking about what I said to enjoy what he had and not linger on what might have been."

"With his money it would be easy to do.. I wish that my sentence had had wealth at the end… well, not everyone can be lucky"

It was a nice lunch. And then I left. … I did not give it any importance then, but as we left the restaurant, I saw him stiffen and turn around. Then he turned back...

-0-.

"I would have sworn…" he said. "But no, it canot be her."

"Her?"

"Someone who might have cleared my name…" he shrugged, "Well, she is far away, though she looked familiar enough"

-0-

"Of course, it was her Ann Rathbone Benchley, Louis' estranged wife, and one time Flynn's lover. She was back, and was ready to make trouble. What kind of trouble we had no idea – not even Flynn who did not have the sense to keep away from her… Clear his name… if only that was all he wanted... In any case I went back to Benchley manor, and there, in plain daylight I saw this woman in a period costume, glide over the grass. I hailed her but she disappeared…

"The first time you saw a ghost."

"Yes. I said that to Dinah, I asked her if she had seen the woman."

-0-

"Oh, you saw Genevieve Benchley. Jacob Benchley's young wife. Jacob was brutally murdered and his wife, fell off the cliff as she was running away from the killer. Ever since she haunts the place. She is supposed to be a guardian spirit, but considering what happened to the family, the job may be too much for her."

-0-

"She mentioned that Danny was out of town, looking for some supplies at this hardware center a couple of miles away…. Of course, Danny was buying clothes for Amos, using this shopping trip as an excuse. I saw my opportunity and decided to investigate the Old Mansion."

-0-

The Old Mansion was a wreck, no two words about it. A lot of it was unusable, of course. But there were other things that could be real finds There were enough metallic glints to tantalize her. She began to dig and found an old key, and a couple of spoons… some broken pottery with rather distinctive decoration…She doubted that Danny could appreciate these things enough to give them to her.

She saw Chester Simms digging through the mess. Was he a fellow history buff? Or maybe he was looking for something he could sell.. She saw him straighten up, and something fell off his pocket

"Let me get it for you"

Beverly picked it up. A key chain with the initials KG

'Where did you fid this? The Sheriff would like to .."

Simms turned violently towards hear. "You never saw it! Why did you have to find out?"

"You!? You killed Green"

"He made Mrs. Grady cry. He hurt her and was going to hurt her more. And now you know."

He grabbed her and pushed her to the floor. Beverly kicked and screamed but could not keep him from tying her arms. She turned and bit him hard, until he shoved a stone into her mouth. He then tied her legs.

"You should not have asked questions…. You know too much I will have to… I will have to… I am sorry, you are a nice girl, but you know… you know… I cannot allow you to tell."

He backed away. He would have to kill her, of course. But not now… It was ugly. It was bad,, Green was one thing, but Miss Hoover who had always been nice to him…

Beverly cursed herself as he struggled with her bonds. There might be something there with an edge that she could use to free herself. If she had the time for it.

She should have seen it… She should not have called attention to it.. She should...

Simms came back. It had to be done…

A white figure rose in front of him. Something like a light, or a mist… And taking the shape of a woman.

"Genevieve Benchley" Beverly thought "is she here to help me?"

Genevieve touched Simms, who fell down, dead. Then Genevieve hovered over Beverly..

-0-

"I fell asleep then"

"And you were still asleep when Amos found you." Danny continued. "He had fed off wildlife and was coming back. He found you as well as Simms's corpse He released you, taking care when he took the stone off your mouth. Then he decided that it was time to learn if he could feed safely. He bit you and was pleased to find out that he knew when to stop, and that you were still sleeping soundly."

"I did not see him:

"No, he saw Genevieve and followed her."

"You know, I could not recall when I had cut the ropes, nor taken the stone out, but I figure out that I had done it at some time, In any case, I ran out and told the whole story, and Louis was cleared."

"Poor Simms" Danny sighed. "That feudal adoration for Leonore Grady was his downfall, and I do not know if she ever noticed him."