Haunting Danielle 27 The Ghost and the Mountain Man Bobbi Holmes (best pdf ebook reader for android .TXT) 📖

shrugged. “I was told he moved a few months before my parents died. I heard nothing about him off treasure hunting until Cory.”

“What happened to the carriage they found up in the mountains?” Ian asked. “Were they sure it was the same one stolen from the Frederickport livery?”

“The owner of the livery stable took a trip up to the mountains after someone reported finding the carriage. I assume they brought it back with them, but I don’t know for sure,” Walt said.

“Maybe,” Heather said with a conspiratorial whisper, “they brought the carriage back, and the pirates had accidentally dropped some treasure, leaving it behind in the carriage. They found it, didn’t tell anyone, but the story of the found treasure was passed down in their family, and then Bud heard about it from his sister, and he took off looking for it because his sister told him where they found the carriage.”

They all stared at Heather.

Finally, Chris said, “You shouldn’t have given up writing.”

“What do you mean?” Heather frowned.

“You should consider fiction,” Chris teased.

Heather laughed. “Yeah, well, my writing career was brief and not especially productive. I’d better stay where I am.”

Chris glanced at his watch. “If you’re going to do that, we need to finish breakfast and get to work. We have those people coming in, in about thirty minutes, remember?”

After Chris and Heather finished breakfast and said their goodbyes, Danielle said, “You know, Heather’s theory was not a bad one.”

“I thought that too,” Ian said.

“So what are you guys going to do now?” Lily asked.

Walt considered the question and then looked at Danielle. “I have some things I need to do today, but why don’t we take a drive to Astoria tomorrow and see if we can find out what happened to Teddy?”

“I’m game,” Danielle said. “And while you finish what you have to do today, I’ll see what I can find online.”

Twenty

Later Tuesday afternoon, Danielle came knocking on Lily’s front door. She had a question for Ian. Lily answered the door and then led Danielle towards Ian’s office, explaining Connor was in his room taking a nap.

“You haven’t seen Marie, have you?” Danielle asked while following Lily down the hallway. Lily flashed Danielle an eye roll, to which Danielle responded, “You know what I mean.”

“I’m fairly certain she hasn’t been here today,” Lily said as she opened the door to Ian’s office. He looked up from his desk and greeted Danielle as the two women walked into the room.

“I was wondering if you could ask your sister something,” Danielle said.

“What’s that?” Ian asked.

“I’m not sure if this is going to help us figure this thing out, but Walt and I started talking more about this treasure Bud was supposed to be after, and we wondered if it was linked to the ship that washed up on shore. According to Ginny, when Cory mentioned it, she claimed not to know anything about a treasure Bud was looking for.”

Ian arched his brow. “And?”

“But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know something about the ship washing up on shore and the stolen carriage. Some story passed down in her family. Maybe she just didn’t connect the two. Walt didn’t at first,” Danielle explained.

“What would you like me to do?” Ian asked.

“I know Kelly did an extensive interview with Ginny, and not everything made it to the podcast. I was wondering if you could ask if Ginny ever discussed the stolen carriage they found up in the mountains or the ghost ship. That all happened long before Bud’s time, so I understand why she didn’t connect the two,” Danielle explained.

“Sure, I would be happy to,” Ian said.

“Kelly’s coming over in a little while,” Lily said. “Ian can ask her then.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Danielle said.

“Did you do any online sleuthing?” Lily asked.

“Yes, I did. I was going to tell you about it.” Danielle paused a moment and looked at Ian. “If you have time. I know I interrupted your work.”

Ian laughed and pointed to the loveseat in his office. “Yeah, right, you imply you found something, and you think I’ll have you tell me later? Sit down.”

Danielle flashed Ian a grin and then took a seat on the small sofa with Lily. Ian pushed his chair away from the desk and, while still sitting in it, rolled himself closer to the sofa.

“I searched old newspapers online. While they don’t have back copies of the Frederickport Press, they have other Oregon papers. I found a wedding announcement for a Theodore Newsome and Josephine Piller of Astoria, in November 1904. Teddy’s last name was Newsome,” Danielle explained.

“Wow, his wife dies in August, and he remarries a couple of months later?” Lily scoffed.

“Consider the time. Marriage was typically a practical arrangement, not necessarily about romance. It wasn’t uncommon back then for someone to remarry fairly quickly,” Ian reminded her.

“Anything else?” Lily asked.

“There was an obituary for a Josephine Piller Newsome, in June of 1905.”

“They didn’t have a very long marriage, did they?” Lily said. “Any idea what happened to her?”

“It didn’t say in the obituary. I haven’t found any articles on her death.” Danielle glanced at her watch. “I need to get going. I want to do some more research before Walt and I go to Astoria.”

“Are you still going tomorrow?” Lily asked.

“That’s the plan,” Danielle said.

“I’ll call you tonight and tell you what Kelly says,” Ian promised.

Kelly arrived about a half an hour after Danielle returned to Marlow House. Lily opened the door for her sister-in-law but didn’t bother showing her to the office. She had just gotten Connor up from his nap, and he was in the living room, playing with blocks. Lily didn’t want to leave him alone.

When Kelly walked into her brother’s office, she found him sitting at his desk, typing on the computer. He looked up from his keyboard, stopped typing, and smiled.

“Working hard?” Kelly asked, meandering over to the desk.

Ian pointed to a stack of papers sitting on the