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money.”
    “If it’s in her bank accounts there might be a money trail. Did you write the check to her for the twenty thousand?”
    “No, I wrote it to myself. Katherine insisted she get the money in cash. That way she’d be able to buy the stock right away. With a sizable check you’d have to wait ten days for it to clear the bank.”
    Eleanor bobbed her head. “He’s right, Agnes. You’d have to wait with a check.”
    “I’d sure like to know if this International Energy is a real company or a dummy corporation set up to look authentic for an elaborate scheme.”
    “If that’s the case, Aggie, that Katherine might have swindled more folks in town.”
    “Exactly, and I can’t help but think that she targeted senior citizens, which really makes me sick to my stomach.”
    “Sounds like you ladies have a case to unravel,” Henry said. “Come inside, Dad, and we’ll go over your finances. The last thing I want you to think is that I’m trying to take your money. I just don’t want to see you go broke.”
     

Chapter Six
    We walked through the house to where Martha sat next to Brad, who was in an in-depth conversation about the best surfing beaches with Tony. When Martha spotted us, she said, “Oh, Mother. Give me a ride back to my car.”
    Brad barely looked up, and when she wasn’t able to even get him to look up at her when she announced she was leaving, she stomped off toward the door with us in tow.
    When we were back in the car and I was backing up, Eleanor turned to look at Martha in the backseat. “Brad seems nice, but is he—”
    Martha sighed. “Probably. I sure know how to pick them.”
    Eleanor faced the front again. “Oh, don’t be too hard on yourself. I’m sure you’ll find a new one on the beach later.”
    That was classic Martha. She liked young men and had a healthy supply. Even though she was forty, she was quite shapely and dressed provocatively most days. Cat suits were her favorite piece of apparel. She did have a gig at the local realty office once, but she’s not a conformist. She instead prefers to live for free in my Winnebago that has been parked at the Tawas campground next to the pier.
    “How about after we drop you at your car, we follow you back to the campground?”
    “Sure, I can throw something on the grill.”
    “But shouldn’t we get back to the mansion soon?” Eleanor asked.
    “We will, but I’m sure Bernice is overseeing things just fine.”
    The man who had closed it behind us earlier opened the gate, and Martha hopped out on the other side and followed us to the campground. I glanced in the back seat to assure myself that my ghost partner was still with me and she was, but staring out the window.
    “Why do you keep looking back there, Agnes?” Eleanor wanted to know. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
    I gripped the steering wheel and laughed nervously. “Whatever do you mean by that?”
    “Ever since the accident, you seem a bit off-kilter, is all.”
    “Well, I did rattle my head.”
    “People change sometimes after an accident. How have you been feeling, really?”
    “I’ve had some headaches. That’s why I had a CT scan yesterday.”
    “Did you get the results?”
    “You know, I never did. I’m sure if there were any problems, Dr. Thomas would have told me.”
    I made the turn into the campground and parked alongside my Winnebago where a group of young men were sitting on the picnic table, all of them wearing cutoff shorts.
    “I’ve never seen so many bare-chested men in my life,” Eleanor said. “It looks like it won’t be long before Martha has herself a new beau.”
    “Nothing new there, but just why are these men here when Martha isn’t?”
    “Not sure, but looks like she’s not too upset about it,” Eleanor pointed out as Martha raced from her car that she parked in a hurry to greet the men.
    Eleanor and I struggled out of the car, which made me believe that Eleanor was