Mystery of Eloise Smith

The Victorian no longer looked scary. Every light was on in the four-story house. Maybe the place never had a ghost walking its halls, and only her imagination on Halloween night saw shapes in the windows. But it didn’t keep Sarah from hugging her overnight bag as she walked up the steps. 

“Welcome to Smith Manor!” A woman dressed in Victorian clothing stood in the foyer. 

Sarah planted her feet in the doorway. Pumpkins and hay barrels covered the foyer. The mansion looked like a hallmark card than a haunted house. “I have a letter in my bag,” she fished for the invite in her purse. Sarah received it in the mail a week ago and kept it close at hand. She packed and repacked her bag several times over the last two days. Sarah smiled as she handed the invite to the hostess. 

“Ah,” she glanced over the letter. The hostess checked her book behind a counter and checked something off. “You will stay in the blue room. It belonged to Jeremiah Smith, the Uncle of Eloise. It was his testimony that put her murderer in prison. Follow me,” the hostess lead her up the stairs. 

Sarah walked slow looking at the pictures on the wall. Peter and Eloise Smith looked happy together. When she first heard about the story, she never imagined that her husband stabbed her. Peter had no reason to want his wife dead but made the story scarier. Sarah was the one that found all the pictures and donated them to the house. But she still studied them like she hadn’t seen them before. 

“You’re the one that found the pictures aren’t you?” She turned facing Sarah at the top of the stairs. 

“Yes, inside an old truck.” It was how she received the invite to stay on opening night. Sarah told the story a few hundred times. No one understood how it turned up in someone‘s attic. The small town used to be the home of Jeremiah Smith’s. After the trial, he moved into the mansion and died here ten years later. He’d hung himself in the parlor with a note, apologizing to his dead niece. 

“It’s a bit of a mystery,” she turned and walked down the hall. “But maybe someone moved it after he died. Someone could have bought the trunk.” 

“That’s what I thought,” Sarah said. 

Carol opened a door on the right. It was the blue room. She explained to Sarah; she was the first to arrive. It was only noon on Halloween. Twelve other guests would be at the hotel tonight. 

A bell rang downstairs, “Another guest has arrived. If you need anything, I’m downstairs.” 

Sarah closed the door and dropped her bag at the foot of the poster bed. The walls and bedspread were all a deep blue. By the fireplace was a wood chair painted gold and blue. Sarah sat on it and took her shoes off. As soon as she yanked off the first one, she coughed and gagged. She should have put clean socks on today. The smell will stink up the room. Sarah needed to find a place to store them. There was no closet. 

The bathroom was the best place. Even if there was no door. Sarah could wash the socks. But they won’t be dry by evening. As she stepped out of the bathroom, Sarah spotted a small door behind the chair. The space was large enough to hold a safe. It was the perfect size for her socks and shoes. The door won’t open, because someone slapped a heavy coat of paint over the door. She also needed a key. 

Sarah dragged her overnight bag over and pulled out her nail clippers. With them, she picked the lock. Opening the door was just like the chest containing photos of Eloise and Peter. Sarah shook her head, older locks were easy to open. 

 Sarah dropped her shoes inside, and a dagger fell into her hands. She jerked her hand back. The dagger gave her a small cut on her hand. They remodeled the home with every door opened, and junk removed. They checked every inch of the mansion. The little space should be empty. She was sure someone opened it hundreds of times. 

After cleaning the blood off, she returned and inspected the dagger. The glue on one side kept the weapon in one piece. It wasn’t in great shape, rust-covered the dagger. Eloise Smith was murdered with a double-bladed dagger just like this one. They never found the weapon used in her death. What was this dagger doing here? This was Jeremiah Smith’s room. He was injured trying to save Eloise. He almost died too. Did he hide it because he wanted to protect his brother? 

Sarah got up and started for the stairs, leaving the dagger where she found it. 

“Is there a problem with your room?” 

“I found something,” Sarah said as guests walked in. One, she recognized from the paper. Gary Anderson was the expert on the historical reconstruction of the mansion and Eloise’s murder in 1893. He would know if the dagger she found was the murder weapon. 

“Eloise’s ghost?” She turned. “You might see her walking into her bedchamber across the hall.” 

“No, it’s a dagger.” Sarah walked down the stairs stopping at the last step. “A double-bladed one. I found it in a space behind the chair in my room.” 

“A dagger? That’s interesting.” Gary said. “Can you show me?” 

“Yes,” Sarah turned and lead him back to her room. Four sets of footsteps went up the stairs and to her room. Carol and another guest followed Sarah and Gary in the room. 

Sarah took the dagger out of the space and handed it to Gary. Behind him stood the woman he’d come in with, and Carol. “Is this the dagger used to murder Eloise Smith?” 

Gary turned the dagger in his hand, leaving the thin layer of glue on it. “In eighteen ninety-three I was sure Jeremiah Smith occupied this room. But I could be wrong. I would have to check my papers. Or unless someone left this dagger here for other reasons. I have the sheriff’s number. I’ll call him.” He fished his cell out of his pocket and dialed the number. As he waited for someone to answer, he handed the dagger to the hostess. “Can you put this in a baggy?” 

“I can put it in a candy bag we have leftover for the trick-or-treaters.” Carol took the dagger with two fingers. She walked out of the room holding the weapon away from her body. 

“How did you find it?” The blond woman who’d followed them into the room set her hand on Gary’s shoulder. “I renovated this room and painted it. I even dusted that little hole in the wall. Nothing was there.” 

“It just fell.” Sarah glanced at Gary who was talking to the sheriff. “It cut my hand when I did.” Sarah held her hand up. 

“Hmm,” she sat on the floor with Sarah. She leaned forward looking at the top of the space. “Odd that I saw nothing. Or anyone else since eighteen ninety-three.” 

“Perhaps they’re searching skills were poor.” Sarah crossed her arms. She didn’t like the woman’s accusing tone. “It fell right into my hands.” 

The woman stood as Gary ended the call with the sheriff. “It will be a while for someone to pick up the dagger. It’s Halloween and a busy night for the cops. We might have to wait until tomorrow.” 

“The seance will start soon, and I want to get to our room before they arrive.” The woman stepped toward the door. “Gary, can you help me into my costume?” 

Gary followed her out. Sarah closed the door after them. She went to the curtain and closed it. The room darkened, leaving almost no light. But by the door, a figure stood. 

She jerked the curtain open, and the figure disappeared. It must have been Eloise’s ghost. Except she was never in this room. Peter or Jeremiah murdered her in the parlor. Her ghost only appeared there and her bedroom, across the hall. Eloise was the only one that haunted the mansion, or unless Sarah was wrong. 

“Eloise, are you here?” Sarah whispered. 

No answer came, and the figure didn’t return. It could be her imagination playing tricks on her. It was half an hour to six, the time Eloise died in the parlor. Her ghost appeared every Halloween at that hour. As part of their stay, Carol would set an Ouija board up in the parlor. Sarah could talk to Eloise and get some answers. If Eloise’s ghost appeared here, she would tell Sarah why. 

In the parlor, candles were lit around a table. The hostess was setting the Ouija board out, her back to Sarah. “I think I saw a ghost in my room.” 

“It must have been your imagination. This mansion is famous for its ghosts,” she straightened. “And it’s Halloween.” 

Gary came into the parlor holding his wife’s hand. They wore late-nineteenth-century clothing, like the hostess. Sarah was the only one in street clothing. She didn’t have the cash to buy or make anything, so it didn’t matter. But she still felt awkward and out of place. 

“Have you found any more treasures? Perhaps a confession written by Jeremiah.” Ellie stepped around the table and sat across from Sarah. 

“No, why would I?” Sarah crossed her arms. “I found the dagger in his room. I’m not saying Jeremiah murdered Eloise and hid the dagger in his room.” 

“But she might have seen Eloise’s ghost in the room.” Carol sat at the head of the table. Sarah and Gary joined them. 

“When will the other guests arrive?” Ellie asked. “Will any of them be joining us?” 

“No,” the hostess said. “The rest are checking in close to midnight. Should we start? It’s a minute to six.” Carol held the pointer to the board up. 

“Can I ask the first question?” Sarah asked. “Eloise might know something about the dagger.” 

“She can’t answer that for you. He glued the dagger in the vault after she died. Peter most likely glued it there to frame his brother.” 

“Only one way to know for sure.” Sarah set her fingers on the pointer. The hostess followed then Gary. They waited a few seconds for Ellie to set her fingers on the pointer. She gave out a loud sigh and joined them. 

Carol closed her eyes and started the seance. She asked to speak with Eloise Smith. The pointer didn’t move, not until the grandfather clock in the foyer struck six. The pointer came to life, Eloise was here. 

“I found a dagger in Jeremiah’s room. Is it the one he stabbed you with?” Sarah asked. The pointer started moving. 

“Yes.” Everyone said together. 

“Were you murdered by your husband, Peter Smith?” Sarah asked next. 

Ellie took her fingers off the pointer. “Peter stabbed Eloise in the back coming out of the kitchen. How would she know who murdered her?” 

“You didn’t give her a chance to answer. Put your hand back on.” Sarah ordered her. “We know the dagger ended her life. She knows more than you think.” 

“Shh,” Carol whispered. “The pointer is moving.” 

They leaned forward as it moved. The pointer flew around the board. The three jerked their hands back. Carol wrote out what Eloise was spelling. After a minute, the pointer stopped. 

“I didn’t get the beginning of the message. She says he wanted it all. Jeremiah didn’t want me dead. He wanted Peter dead. He didn’t know it was me. The storm made everything black.” 

“We don’t know if this is Eloise’s ghost.” Ellie stood up with her hands flat on the table. “The ghost could be Peter, pretending to be his wife.” 

“You’re stubborn, why does it matter to you that Peter didn’t murder his wife. What Eloise said makes more sense. Peter had no reason to want Eloise dead. But Jeremiah had half a million reasons to want his brother gone.” Sarah said. 

“My wife is the great-great-granddaughter of Jeremiah Smith,” Gary spoke up. 

“Shh!” Ellie glared at her husband. “Keep quiet.” 

“Ellie’s very sensitive about Jeremiah Smith. She doesn’t want people to know he was a murderer.” 

“But he was,” Sarah said. “And I’m telling the sheriff tomorrow. The dagger found in Jeremiah’s room is proof he killed Eloise. Peter was an innocent man. People should know he’d done nothing wrong. Jeremiah’s suicide note should be proof too. He felt guilty for killing Eloise.” 

“You said you saw Eloise in Jeremiah’s room. Why would she be there?” Carol asked. 

Sarah shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe she wanted to tell me Jeremiah Smith killed her.” 

“It’s odd,” Carol picked up the pointer. “I think I will ask her. Maybe she’s not the only ghost in the house.” 

Everyone put their fingertips on the pointer and waited for it to move. But nothing happened. 

“Eloise is gone. It’s after six, she’s known for not staying long.” Gary took his hands off the pointer. “It’s not important to know who it was. It could have been Eloise or Jeremiah. Jeremiah died in his room. Next Halloween, we can ask Eloise.” 

“I thought he died in this room.” Sarah gasped. She would not stay in that room. “They found the note here.” 

“His son found him in the parlor and took Jeremiah upstairs. He was still alive when he left the parlor, but he died in his bed.” 

“It must have been his ghost I saw,” Sarah mumbled and turned to Carol. “Can I have a new room? One that isn’t haunted.” 

“The nursery, they never used it. I guarantee it’s not haunted.” 

In the morning, Sarah woke first and headed downstairs with her bag in hand. She took another look at the Smith family photos. Sarah was glad to be right, Jeremiah killed Eloise. But surprised by the reason. During Jeremiah’s life, he never enjoyed the wealth he inherited from his brother. Paul Smith died shortly after they sent him to jail for Eloise’s death. He’d hung himself with his shirt. 

Too much tragedy happened in this house, it wasn’t a place for fun on Halloween night. 

“I thought you left.” Carol came down the stairs. “Check out time is two, you can stay longer. I’m making pumpkin soup for lunch.” 

“I have to get to work.” Sarah shrugged. “Do you know what Jeremiah did with the money he got after his brother’s death?” 

“You’d have to ask Gary about that. He’s the expert.” 

“Or Ellie, she’s Jeremiah’s descendant.” 

“I found his journal in a chest at my grandparent’s house.” Ellie stepped into the foyer. “He spoke about how much he loved Eloise. I think that’s why he shut himself away for ten years. He mourned her. I never believed he killed Eloise. He didn’t write it in his journal.” 

Sarah took one last look at the pictures, picked up her bag and left the mansion.