Ghost Wanted by Carolyn Hart

Author:Carolyn Hart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

I sat unseen on a stone bench at one side of the Administration Building and tried to picture an older woman hurrying down the steps on what was to be the last day of her life. Angry. Upset.

Harriet Beal recalled an untroubled Susannah except for a sad afternoon when she visited her Stephen-care recipient. But Harriet knew of nothing that might have made Susannah angry.

Yet Ann Curry saw a furious Susannah leave the Goddard Administration Building the day Susannah died. The expression on Susannah’s face was such that Ann made no attempt to speak with her.

Susannah did not have a close connection to the college. Why had she visited the Administration Building? Who did she see, if anyone?

Pam Wilson spoke to Susannah the afternoon of the day she died. Susannah told Pam she’d missed their tennis game because something came up.

Something led Susannah to visit the Administration Building on the day she was struck down in her garden.

If her killer was Goddard staff or a faculty member, everything about the series of crimes made sense. A person familiar with the campus was likely to read the Goddard Bugle and learn about Susannah’s diaries in the library, be aware of the old legend about lovers and roses, and be adept at entering and leaving the library undetected.

The fact that Michelle’s ID number was used the night the rare book was stolen indicated sophisticated knowledge of keypad locks on campus. The Bugle also likely reported on the sabbatical plans of Professor Wendell Hughes, whose home was used as a place to imprison Michelle.

I looked at the broad, shallow front steps leading from the sidewalk to the closed doors of the Administration Building. Ann Curry said the weather was lovely that day. I imagined it was much like this afternoon, a sunny fall day. The leaves then would have been tipped with red and gold; now they blazed with autumn color beneath a cloudless sky. The building had towers at the corners. Ivy clung to the walls. An idyllic setting in academia, but Susannah came out of that building with her face grim. I felt certain that Susannah had confronted someone there.

I didn’t know what an empty building could tell me, but I decided to look around. Inside, my eyes adjusted to dimness. It was an old building with well-worn wooden floors. The lobby had an aura of faded elegance with a French provincial sofa flanked by two large Elizabethan chairs. A tapestry on the back wall depicted an old-fashioned wooden oil derrick. The Goddard family had owned town lots, ranches, and banks, but much of their fortune came from the early oil field not far from Adelaide. To my left was a frosted door with the legend Office of the President. To my right were two doors with the legends Office of the Vice President and Office of the Treasurer.

Hallways ran to the left and right of the central stairway, and I imagined support staff had offices there. At the base of the stairs was a directory.

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