Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

I woke at a little after two in the morning, finding myself in a house I didn’t recognize. I sat up and looked around, my eyes coming to rest on a silver lamp on the nightstand. It was switched on. I was still wearing my 1930s vintage, floor-length, black negligee I’d put on right after the bath I’d taken, but I was in someone else’s house, which meant … I was in a dream.

Where was I, and whose house was I in?

A framed wedding photo hanging on the wall gave me my answer.

I was in Owen and Claire’s house.

I pushed the blanket to the side, stood, and entered the hallway, following the sound of music to the den. When I walked in, I noticed the source of the sound was coming from a record player. The tune playing was “Christmas Time Again My Friend,” by Mac Powell.

As I glanced around the room, I saw a bare Christmas tree, real pine. There were open boxes resting beside it, filled with various ornaments, tinsel, and ribbons, all waiting to adorn the tree. But no one had found the time to do it yet.

Sitting next to the tree was a woman surrounded by bottles of cologne. She picked up one of the bottles, held it to her nose, and breathed it in, humming along to the song.

I approached her, and she looked up.

“Hello, Claire,” I said.

“Hello.”

“I’m Georgiana, a private investigator.”

The song ended, and the record player went quiet. I offered to put another record on, and she said, “No thanks, I think I’ve heard enough Christmas music for one day.”

“Mind if I sit down?”

“You can if you like.”

I took a seat next to her and pointed at one of the bottles of cologne. “You bought a lot of these.”

“Yeah, I guess I did. Funny, I only remember buying one.”

“Is it for your husband?”

She stared at me for a time and then said, “Of course, who else?”

Now for a harder question. “Do you remember what happened the night you wrapped these presents?”

“Not all of it. This moment, here and now, has been playing over and over in a loop, except this is the first time you’ve been here. I’m dead. I know that much. I’m not surprised, you know. I thought it might happen.”

“Why?”

“I just did.”

We were going in circles.

“Did Owen murder you?” I asked.

She tipped her head back and laughed. “Heavens, no. He’s never laid a hand on me.”

The laughing continued, escalating like she couldn’t bring herself to stop.

“Oh, man,” she said. “It’s good to laugh. Seems like I haven’t laughed in ages.”

“If Owen didn’t murder you, do you know who did?”

She turned, staring at the tree. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“They all tried so hard to help me, you know, but I … I just couldn’t be helped. I’m broken. Have been since my mom died. It’s hard, sharing a burden, letting someone in. It’s like your pain becomes their pain, and you feel bad for involving someone else in your mess.”

“I’m sorry about what happened to your mother, and to you.”

“Yeah, well, nothing can change the past. What’s done is done. I thought I would see her, though. I thought since we’re both dead, we’d be reunited. I figured that’s how it worked in the afterlife. I’ve been trying to find her, to leave this place, but when I call out to her, she doesn’t come.”

“Maybe you can’t leave yet, not until … you know …”

“My murder is solved. Is that why you’re here—to solve it?”

“I believe so, yes.”

She lifted a finger. “It cannot be done too soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“What is right. People find ways to justify their actions sometimes. They’re not to be trusted.”

“Are you saying you believe the person who murdered you felt justified in doing it?”

“It’s hard to make people understand why we do the things we do.”

“Tell me , make me understand.”

She reached out, looking me in the eye as she grabbed my hands. “Promise me you’ll do what you need to do so I can get away from this tortuous place. Please. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“I promise.”

She released my hands and began to fade, her solid form dissipating until I could see right through her.

“Don’t go yet,” I said. “Stay, tell me who did this to?—”

Before I could finish, she was gone.