I could never find him,” Ivan said. “They’ve been pitching him out windows and off roofs and covering him with leaves. I never thought to look under that huge pile of leaves.”
“This is disgusting. What kind of a person are we dealing with? Someone who throws bodies off roofs?”
There was the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Headlights briefly flashed on the carriage house that had been converted into a garage, then were extinguished. A battered pickup truck crept along in the dark and stopped. Stephanie caught her breath when Melody got out of the pickup, lowered the tail-gate, took a carton from the back of the truck, and carefully carried it into the house.
“This is really strange,” Stephanie said. “I haven’t any idea what’s going on. I can’t even begin to guess.”
“You think we should go in and find out?”
She shook her head. “Let’s stay here a while longer. See what happens next.”
Half an hour later, lights flashed on in all the upstairs rooms. Doors slammed, windows were thrown open. Lights appeared in the downstairs rooms, and people began pouring out. Stephanie and Ivan left their cover to investigate.
Mr. Billings reeled off the front porch. “Man, what a stench. I’ve been at lots of ghost sightings, but I’ve never smelled anything like this.”
“It’s a ghost from hell,” Melody said.
Mr. Billings buttoned his overcoat over his pajamas. “Nothing could get me to go back in there.”
“But Mr. Billings,” Melody said, “your clothes are in there. You’re paid up for the night.”
“I don’t care if I’m paid up for the year. Here’s my address. Send my clothes UPS.”
Two cars pulled out of the side yard parking area and disappeared down the street.
Melody smiled at the departing cars. “Gee, what a shame, everyone’s leaving.”
The heavyset woman in the shawl stood on the sidewalk and looked at the house. “This happen often?”
“Yeah,” Melody said. “Sometimes it smells like this all winter. You get used to it.”
The woman sniffed her shawl. “It’s in my clothes.”
“If you let them air out for a couple weeks, they should be okay,” Melody told her. “It’s the slime stains that don’t come out. You were lucky you weren’t slimed. Well, I think the worst of it’s over. We can all go back to sleep now.”
The woman pressed her lips together. “Are you crazy? I’m not going back in there.”
Melody put her arm around the woman. “Don’t worry about the slime. It almost always comes before the smell.”
“I don’t think this house is haunted. I think it’s possessed. And I think you’re one step away from the funny farm.”
Melody narrowed her eyes. “No need to get personal about this.”
The woman picked up her suitcase and turned on her heel. “I’m leaving. And I’m not paying for my room.”
“Fine,” Melody said. “You don’t like rude ghosts? That’s okay by me. I understand. Sorry this didn’t work out for you.”
Lucy was on the front lawn, fanning the air around her. “Ghost from hell?”
“I couldn’t stand those people a second longer,” Melody said. “They were so boring.”
Stephanie kept her distance from the house. “According to my calculations, we haven’t a single guest left.”
“With friends like Melody, you don’t need enemies,” Ivan whispered.
“So, you think Melody’s responsible for this?”
“Yup. Don’t you?”
“I think she’s responsible for the smell. I can’t believe she’s responsible for the dead man and all the things that have been going wrong with my house.” She tried not to smile. “I hate to admit it, and I’d never tell Melody, but I’m definitely relieved to be rid of those people. They were awful.” She backed farther down the sidewalk. “What is that smell?”
“Grade A Maine stink bomb,” Ivan said. “I used to make them all the time when I was a kid.”
“I bet you were really popular.”
“I could close a school down with one of those.”
“Is it going to last long?”
“Somewhere between a day and a week. I’d say closer to a week. This one is pretty powerful. Whoever made this was a master stink bomb maker.”
Lucy ambled over to them. “Smells like one of your stink bombs, Ivan.”
“Yup.”
“Clever,” she said.
“I didn’t do it.”
Lucy looked surprised. “You’re the only one I know who can build a stink bomb like that.” She looked at Stephanie. “He was great. He used to close down the school!”
They heard the motor catch on the pickup at the rear of the house and turned in time to see the truck peel out of the driveway. Even in the dark, it was easy to