Aurora Teagarden Mysteries

I could be safe and warm at home tonight,

but instead, I'm out here with you.

That's what makes you such a good friend.

No, that's what makes me a nervous wreck.

If I faint tonight, I'm totally blaming you, Roe.

You're not gonna faint, Sally.

I'm dizzy already.

I won't make it 15 minutes in that house.

Why did you have to make that bet with Jack?

I was trying to show Arthur

I had confidence he could make that kick.

...I'm class president.

It's my job to be a booster for the football team.

It wasn't your job to get me roped into a bad bet.

What's so bad about going in there

and being bored for 15 minutes?

Because we're not going to be bored!

This is Enshaw House. It's totally haunted!

It's not haunted.

There's no such thing as...

A ghost!

It's just fog.

Then why are you following it?

Did you see that?

That light?

Roe, don't you dare go down there.

Boo!

Feeling a little jumpy, Sally?

Why are you so mean, Jack?

I'm just making sure

you two aren't gonna squirm out of this bet.

We're not.

We're ready to go in the house.

I think Arthur should have to go in with us.

He missed that kick and cost us the game.

That's right, buddy. You did cost us our game.

I'll go in.

I've got no problem with the ghost of Old Man Enshaw.

Then let's get this over with.

I better not see you come out before 15 minutes is up.

So, Ezra Enshaw was a lumber baron,

and he built this house for his new wife,

but less than a year after they got married,

she died... of something.

Scarlet fever.

Whatever.

So she was dead, and old Ezra was never the same.

Locked himself in here till he died, too.

Poor Ezra.

Now he's a ghost, wandering this house...

...looking for his bride!

...Ignore him.

He's just trying to scare us.

- What was that? - Ezra's ghost!

That was Jack.

I know his voice.

"Get out"?

Roe, the ghost doesn't want us here.

We have to go.

That's from the Amityville Horror movie.

Not very original.

Who came up with that, Arthur, you or Jack?

You think we put that there?

I can smell the fresh paint. I'll show you, Sally.

I must have tripped something.

Looks like some secret passageway.

Whoa.

Like in the movies.

Shut it, Roe!

You don't know what could be back there.

It's stairs leading down.

Down to where?

I don't know.

But I'm gonna find out.

Roe, wait.

Okay, we've seen it.

Let's go.

Roe.

Dead body!

Sally. Don't be such a...

That wasn't me! That was...

...It was Arthur.

So, the guy who'd eventually become a homicide detective

screamed and ran away when he saw a dead body?

I'd never seen a body before.

It was pretty scary.

It was terrifying.

I know you've told me that story before,

about finding a body,

but I don't think you told me who it was.

His name was Frank Brunelli. He was a local ghost hunter.

A "ghost hunter"? Like on TV?

- Yep. - So, who killed him?

Oh, no. He wasn't murdered.

He took a fall down the stairs that led to the secret room,

hit his head hard.

Killed him instantly.

I think the ghost of Ezra Enshaw scared him so bad,

he fell.

I always wondered if it was truly an accident.

I remember there wasn't a lot of blood.

Could've been blunt-force trauma...

more internal bleeding.

True.

And there was something about

the way his body was lying there...

Lizzy! Your talk was great tonight.

Hearing about the Amityville murders,

it always reminds me of that night.

I thought you brought it up

because Aunt Aida just bought the house.

What?

My mother bought Enshaw House? Did... Did you know this?

It's the first I'm hearing of it.

Well, you were on your honeymoon.

She plans on finishing

the renovations the previous owner started,

and resell it.

I went with her to meet the inspector guy

before the sale closed, and I gotta say,

there's definitely something weird about that house.

So, Arthur, I'm guessing Halloween

isn't your favorite holiday?

It's probably a little too scary for ya.

Okay, go ahead and laugh.

I was a pretty gullible kid.

I probably did believe in ghosts back then.

Why does believing in ghosts mean you're gullible?

Sally, you know I adore you,

but "gullible" is your middle name.

I can see your wheels turning.

Frank Brunelli was the first mysterious death

I ever came across.

Well, if it was an accident, it's not really a mystery.

Well, it is to me...

a mystery I never solved.

Not a mystery...

an accident.

How can you be sure,

if you were just a kid yourself?

Does Lawrenceton PD still have files on a case that old?

Oh, there'd be no files

if there was no murder investigation,

which there wasn't... that's why I can be so sure.

You're just gonna have to let this one go, Roe.

There's no way she's gonna let this go.

Oh!

My mother's gonna be at Enshaw House tomorrow.

I can look around.

You want to go back there?

There's no way I'd ever go in that house again.

Oh, that's too bad.

You know, I was thinking,

with my mother refurbishing such a historic house,

it would make a great story for the paper.

It's cute, isn't it,

the way she's trying to trick me into going back there?

Bet Roe has her in that house in the next 24 hours.

No, I say 12.

I heard that! And believe me,

not even Aurora Teagarden can convince me

to go into that haunted house again.

Sally, it's broad daylight!

I don't care.

Look, I agreed to write a story.

I didn't agree to go inside the house.

What are you gonna do,

interview her right here in the driveway?

Yes! I would appreciate it very much

if you could go inside, ask her to come out...

You know what's gonna happen now, Aida?

I'm gonna file a complaint against you

with the Real Estate Association

for ethics violations!

Please do, Tom.

I'm sure they will agree that my ethics

are unimpeachable.

Yeah, we'll see about that!

I guess he doesn't know you're on the board

of the Real Estate Association.

Now do you see why I had to buy this house so quickly?

And I'm glad you're doing a story on the house, Sally.

We have to protect Lawrenceton's historical treasures

from developers like Tom Wilkie.

Oh, yes! Speaking of which,

I would love to hear more about that.

Well, good, come on in the house.

I'll tell you everything.

Um, Mother,

Sally's afraid she might see a ghost

if she goes inside.

That's ridiculous. Sally is a seasoned reporter.

She's not gonna be swayed from doing her job

by some silly superstition.

The last owner was a corporation

that meant to turn this place into a bed-and-breakfast,

but then they went bankrupt

before they could finish the renovations,

so, of course, they couldn't sell.

Maybe it didn't sell