she said. âA pleasure to meet you.â
Her eyes sparkled with humor.
âMs. Kaminsky,â I said. âThe pleasure is mine.â
She exhaled softlyâapparently relieved that I hadnât given her up.
âCaroline is with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,â Alice said. âSheâs investigating the Lake Superior shoreline for ⦠what was it again?â
Heavenly paused at an empty spot at the dining room table. She looked at me with that beatific grin of hers. I stepped over and pulled out the chair. She answered as she sat.
âI was sent to conduct an inventory of aquatic invasive species in coastal wetlands,â she said.
âTo what purpose?â I asked.
Heavenly knew I was testing her.
âTo determine which of the regionâs canals and waterways are most susceptible to invasion by AIS such as Asian carp,â she said. âAnd to prioritize those areas for invasive species management and control.â
âWhat have you discovered so far?â
âMy research remains inconclusive. Iâll need to remain here for a few days more.â
âWeâre delighted to have you, Caroline,â Connor said.
I bet, my inner voice said.
âI donât know if you know it, but McKenzie, heâs also some kind of an investigator,â Alice said.
âIs that what he is?â Heavenly said.
âHeâs trying to recover the Stradivarius violin that was stolen last week, but he wonât let us help.â
âIâd be too frightened to get involved with something like that,â Heavenly said.
Yeah, right.
By then I was sitting comfortably at the table, a scone on my plate.
âMay I trouble you for the marmalade?â I said aloud.
The fifty-something woman whose name I had forgotten passed it to me without comment.
Conversation picked up after that, none of it about the Countess Borromeo, I was happy to hear. Mostly, it dealt with the adventures the vacationing couples had already enjoyed in Bayfield and the ones that they were hoping to embark on. Meanwhile, Connor deftly served our breakfast. It consisted of poached pear with yogurt sauce, raspberry-stuffed French toast, baked eggs with tomatoes and basil, red new potatoes with dill, hickory smoked bacon, lemon-iced buttermilk scones, and orange and cranberry-raspberry juice. What I enjoyed mostâthe bacon. You canât take me anywhere.
Connor had returned to the kitchen by the time I asked, âHave any of you seen a woman dressed in a black cloak and carrying a lantern and a long staff with a crystal on top?â
âOh, yes, yes,â said the fifty-something woman. âThe Ghost Lady.â
âGhost Lady?â
âShe conducts ghost tours of the city, pointing out those places that are supposed to be haunted. Tells storiesâsheâs wonderful.â
âSheâs a real flesh-and-blood woman, then.â
âOh, yes. What did you think?â
âI saw her walking late last night and I didnât know what to think.â
âDid she frighten you, McKenzie?â Heavenly asked. âWere you sure you were seeing a ghost?â
âI was just curious,â I said.
âShe claims that a man was murdered in the Queen Anne,â the fifty-something woman said.
âDonât say that, Cassie,â her husband said.
Cassie, my inner voice said. I remember now. Her nameâs Cassie. And her husbandâs name is ⦠arrrg.
Cassie leaned forward and lowered her voice.
âThe man who originally built this house was very rich,â she said. âHe owned a sawmill, fishing boats, a brownstone quarry, a hotelâa lot of things. Only he died without leaving a willâor at least no one found a willâso everything went to his eldest son, which started a family war that lasted over a hundred years.â
Cassie edged even closer to the table; we all leaned with her.
âPeople
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