Page 62 of Air Of Mystery
Philippe sighed.
I tapped my pen against the note pad. “Have you considered that the reason this spirit is still tethered to the physical world is because he was forgotten? That’s haunting 101. Ghosts tend to hang around if they have unfinished business.”
“She’s right,” Gabriella said to her husband.
“I’ll tell you what we know,” Philippe said.
He then explained how his grandfather Henri, an amateur genealogist, had discovered—while searching through an oldfamily Bible from the family’s estate in France—that Claude and Pierre-Micheldidhave another sibling. A brother that died in 1828.
“And the boy died while living at the mansion?” I asked.
“It seems that was the case,” Philippe said. “We found it very odd as he wasn’t listed in the formal family tree. There was simply a hand-written entry of his birth and death in a Bible that had belonged to Pierre-Michel and Claude Senior’s mother.”
“We asked Amanda to see what she could find in the county records for us,” Gabriella explained. “She’s a wiz at research.”
“What’d she find?” I asked her.
“She confirmed that Jacques Marquette was born in 1824 and died here in Ames Crossing in 1828.”
“It was quite the revelation,” Philippe said. “No Marquette in my family had ever heard of him or known about his all too short life.”
“There’s an old private cemetery behind Notch Cliff,” Gabriella said. “Amanda discovered that he’s interred there.”
My eyebrows rose. “And not with the rest of the Marquette family in town?”
“No,” she said.
I sat back in my chair as it all began to sink in. “Which makes you wonder if he was legitimate.”
“Yes,” Philippe said.
I sighed. “And I imagine you’d like me not to mention any of this in my episode?”
“Actually,” Gabriella said, “Philippe and I have talked about it, and after the flower girl incident and discovering that passageway that runs through the mansion...we werewondering if it might be time to share what we know about Jacques.”
I nodded. “From a purely historical perspective itisfascinating. It’s a great story about how he led the lost flower girl to your kids. Plus, I doubt you’ll be able to keep it quiet that one of your guests accidentally found a hidden passageway.”
Philippe made a face. “Word is already out.”
“Then I say we use it to your advantage,” I told him. “We play into that withthisepisode, and you add the new story in with your ghost tours. I have money on the table that says your hotel guest bookings jump substantially.”
Philippe crossed his arms over his chest. “I suppose it will depend on how the information is presented.”
I smiled. “You leave that to me. I promise once I edit this and narrate it, we’ll do justice to Jacques, his memory, and how he—and your trio—heroically helped another child here at the mansion.”
“Heroic.” Gabriella laughed and shook her head. “Lady help us. There’ll be no living with the kids after this.”
***
After the meeting with the Marquettes, I gathered up my things and Gabriella escorted me back through the connecting hallway and into the hotel’s lobby.
“I’ll show you Archer’s interview before it airs,” I promised. “Make sure you are happy with it. Also, I’ll be sure and edit out any names he said.”
“Thank you,” she said. “But I trust you, Skye. I know you’ll be discreet when it comes to the children.”
My cell phone began to ring, and I tugged it from my pocket to glance at the read out. I had figured it was Charlie, but insteadI didn’t recognize the number. A second later, my stomach dropped.
A premonition—a warning of danger—hit me so hard that I stumbled.
