she laughed and said , please , every single woman in town has been dropping pies and casseroles on his doorstep since his wife left . the secret would stay locked away forever . yes , they are scared , but their parents do n't believe in ghosts , so the family lives here for a long time and that makes me happy . he eyed me in a way that made my skin crawl . certainly he had not been the first person she had asked for once she had recovered from her faint . 