Haunted by the Past, page 11
part #11 of Ismael Jones Series
“I’m sure we can provide you with whatever personal items you might require,” he said.
“For a price,” Marion said quickly.
“Just work out what we’re going to need,” I said to Arthur. “And then send the bill to Lucas Carr’s company.”
Marion shot Arthur a look, and I could almost hear them planning on how best to pad the bill. Which was fine by me. Technically, I’m supposed to get my expenses paid every time I work for the Organisation, but they make such a fuss about receipts I don’t usually bother. Arthur came out from behind the reception desk, and gestured at Wendy’s suitcase.
“Would you like me to carry that up to your room?”
Wendy lifted the heavy case easily, her bicep bulging the tweed sleeve. “I have important historical texts in this case. And some very interesting documents.”
“But the Society meeting has been cancelled,” said Marion.
Wendy smiled coldly. “There are still things I plan to check out for myself, while I’m here.” She glowered fiercely at Arthur. “And I am perfectly capable of looking after myself!”
She did look like she could punch her weight. I pitied anyone who tried to abduct Wendy on the way to her room.
Arthur just nodded, and led the way up the stairs.
Once we’d all reached the top floor, Arthur indicated which room went to whom, and then stood back. It was obvious he had something on his mind and was working on how best to say it. I’d just got the key in the lock when he cleared his throat awkwardly, and kept on doing it until we’d all turned to look at him.
“Before any of you go into your rooms, I feel I should point out that due to circumstances completely beyond our control...none of the guest rooms are, technically, en suite.”
There was a long and slightly ominous pause, as we all stared at him.
“Does that mean what I think it means?” I said.
Arthur didn’t quite squirm, but looked like he wanted to.
“There are no...individual bathrooms.”
“You mean, no toilets?” said Penny.
“For what you’re charging?” said Wendy.
“I’m afraid not,” said Arthur. He drew himself up, and did his best to sound managerial. “There is a communal bathroom, further down the hall. The blue door, on your left. Bath, shower, and toilet.”
“It’s very comfortable,” Catherine said brightly. “Though the flush chain was a bit stubborn. I had to be very firm with it.”
Arthur winced. “Please. Treat the chain with respect. I don’t want to have to reattach it again.”
Wendy shook her head. “This was definitely not mentioned when the Society booked these rooms.”
“We were planning to make all the guest rooms en suite,” said Arthur, “but we couldn’t get a plumber to come in from town. We’ve been trying to find someone from further afield...”
“So there’s just the one toilet, between four of us?” said Penny.
“Actually, between seven people,” said Arthur. “Including my family. But there are chamber-pots under the beds! For emergencies.”
Wendy glared at Arthur with such venom that he actually fell back a step.
“Do I look like the kind of person who squats on chamber-pots?”
Arthur started to say something, and then quickly decided not to.
“Is there anything else you feel you should be telling us?” I said.
“No, no; that’s it,” said Arthur. “Just call down to reception if you need anything. There’s a phone in every room.”
He seemed to realise how sad it was that he had to point this out, and turned quickly away to hurry back down the stairs. Wendy shouldered her door open, stormed into the room, and slammed the door behind her. Catherine nodded cheerfully to Penny and me, went into her room, and closed the door quietly behind her. I led the way into our room, and once we were both inside, I locked the door behind us. Penny raised an elegant eyebrow.
“We don’t want anyone barging in while we’re busy discussing the case,” I said.
“You think that’s likely?” said Penny.
“In this place?” I said. “For all I know, someone is already kneeling outside our door and peering through the keyhole.” I stopped, looked back at the door, and then shook my head. “No...I’d have heard something.”
“You and your senses,” said Penny.
We took our first good look around the room that should have been Lucas Carr’s. It seemed modern enough, even comfortable, but completely lacking in character. The walls had been painted instead of wallpapered, and the furniture looked like it might have been self-assembled. There was an old-fashioned fireplace that clearly hadn’t been used in ages, and a single wall radiator. The room smelled strongly of cleaning products, and when I ran a fingertip across a few surfaces, I was pleased to discover that at least someone had dusted recently.
Penny strode over to the large double bed in the middle of the room, knelt down, and thrust a hand underneath. She swept it back and forth, and finally pulled out an antique china chamber-pot. She studied it for a moment, and then showed it to me. A large open eye had been painted on the inside of the bowl, with the words Eye see you! inscribed above it. I nodded solemnly.
“Yes. That’s definitely a chamber-pot.”
Penny thrust the china bowl back under the bed, got to her feet, and gave me a hard look.
“Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t just drive back into town, and spend the night at The Smugglers Retreat?”
“Because you can’t solve a case like this from a distance,” I said. “We need to be here, on the spot, so we can observe our suspects interacting. And, so we can go sneaking about at night and see things we’re not supposed to.”
Penny scowled around the room, looking for things to find fault with, and only gave up because there were too many of them.
“I can’t believe Arthur and Marion really thought they could squeeze two people into a room this size. There is such a thing as too much togetherness.”
“If you have to get up in the middle of the night, I promise I’ll look the other way.”
Penny smiled suddenly. “I might need you to hold my hand, to help me balance.”
I smiled back at her. “You know I’m always there for you.”
I picked up the landline phone on the bedside table, and listened carefully.
“What are you doing?” said Penny.
“Making sure it is connected,” I said.
She shook her head admiringly. “You don’t trust anything, do you?”
“The world has given me cause,” I said. “I think we need to treat everything in the Hall as our enemy, until proven otherwise.”
“Because the house is alive, and eats people?”
“Because it might have been booby-trapped, against anyone who came looking for Lucas,” I said. “I don’t believe we have any friends here.”
“Situation entirely normal,” said Penny.
I took another look around the room. “No television, or even a radio, and no sign of an Internet connection. It’s all a bit spartan, isn’t it?”
“Maybe the Glenburys thought modern toys would clash with their old-timey mood,” said Penny. “Why were you so determined to stay in this particular room?”
“Because it’s set between the Glenburys’ rooms, and the other guest rooms,” I said. “I thought that might be significant. Particularly when Marion chose not to give it to Wendy. Now we know Lucas was supposed to stay here, we need to search this whole room thoroughly for clues.”
“But Lucas never got this far,” said Penny. “He disappeared on his way here.”
“Maybe there was something in this room, that Lucas was expecting to find,” I said. “Something he couldn’t be allowed to have. And that’s why he had to disappear before he got here.”
“I love the way you can think ’round corners,” said Penny.
“Comes with the job,” I said.
“And not being entirely human.”
“Well, naturally.”
“All right; let’s see what there is to see,” said Penny, looking around the room and metaphorically rolling up her sleeves.
I pulled out every drawer in the chest of drawers, checking each one in turn to make sure nothing had been taped underneath or on the back. Penny searched inside the wardrobe, and even pushed it away from the wall to make sure there was nothing hidden behind it. We carefully examined every piece of furniture, took a really good look under the bed, and peered into every nook and cranny...but didn’t find anything. In the end, we stood together in the middle of the room, looking around us.
“If there was anything here, I think someone has beaten us to it,” said Penny.
“It could still be somewhere in the Hall,” I said.
“So could Lucas,” said Penny. “And you can bet someone is watching us, to see if we’re getting too close to the truth.”
A thought struck her. She strode over to the window, pulled back the curtains, and looked out at the grounds.
“Are you checking to see if the statues are creeping up on the house?” I said.
“You honestly didn’t get a bad feeling from those awful-looking things?” said Penny, not taking her eyes off the grounds.
“No,” I said firmly.
“Then I didn’t either,” said Penny.
She closed the curtains, turned her back on the window, removed her big black hat and sailed it across the room. It landed neatly on one of the bed-posts, and Penny shot me a triumphant I meant to do that look. I applauded politely. Penny strode over to the bed, threw herself onto the thick mattress, and bounced up and down for a while.
“Now this is more like it!”
“Make yourself comfortable,” I said. “We won’t be getting much sleep later on. Glenbury Hall strikes me as the kind of place that only really comes alive once night falls.”
“Are we talking about furtive people scurrying up and down the corridor on their way to secret assignations?” said Penny. “Or ghosts and ghoulies strutting their supernatural stuff?”
“A lot of that has to be misdirection,” I said. “Somebody trying to hide something from us.”
“They don’t have a ghost of a chance,” Penny said cheerfully.
The phone rang. I picked it up, and Arthur started talking without even introducing himself.
“Dinner will be served shortly, in the dining hall.”
“I remember it, from our prowl ’round the ground floor,” I said.
“You’ll have to settle for a cold collation,” said Arthur.
And then he put the phone down, before I could even raise the matter of desserts. He was going to have to learn some management skills, if he wanted to make a success of his new venture. I replaced the phone, and brought Penny up to speed.
“Don’t expect anything special,” she said. “Not if they could slap it together that quickly.”
“A shared meal will give us a chance to get to know everyone,” I said. “People reveal more of themselves, in a social setting.”
“Do you see everyone in the Hall as suspects?” said Penny.
“Of course. Don’t you?”
Penny sighed. “Just once, it would be nice to have someone around we could trust.”
“Unfortunately, we’re not in that kind of business.”
“Do you think I could wear my big hat to dinner?” said Penny.
“I don’t see why not,” I said.
“I love my big hat.”
“It suits you.”
“I’m wearing it,” Penny decided.
“Good for you,” I said. “But there’s no need for us to rush down. Let the others wait; we need to handicap the suspects.”
Penny sat up on the bed, and smiled at me sweetly. “Are you going to rank them in order of general untrustworthiness, or by how much they’ve annoyed you?”
“I should start with the house,” I said. “Glenbury Hall has so much character it’s practically a suspect in its own right.”
“A house that eats people,” said Penny. “I keep expecting to open a door and find it full of teeth.”
“Don’t even go there.”
Penny looked at me soberly. “Do you think Lucas could still be alive?”
“Depends on why he was taken,” I said carefully. “And whether his abductor still sees him as valuable.”
“Then we need to find him before they run out of reasons to keep him alive,” said Penny.
“They can’t do anything while we’re here,” I said, “for fear of attracting attention. Just by staying in the Hall, we’re helping to keep Lucas safe.”
“Unless he’s already been killed.”
“We have to assume he’s still alive, until something proves he isn’t.” I sat down on the bed beside her. “Let’s run through the suspects. Starting with Arthur and Marion. It’s obvious they’re keeping some things to themselves. Though they could just be worried about their new business getting a bad reputation.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me if they were keeping things from each other,” said Penny. “Though it’s obvious who wears the trousers in that marriage.”
“People can always surprise you.”
Penny smiled. “You should know.”
I thought for a moment. “Ellen tried to tell us something, before Marion shut her down. But that was probably to do with what she saw on her laptop, rather than Lucas’ disappearance.”
“Catherine definitely has her own agenda,” said Penny. “And she was a close friend of Arthur’s parents, who, according to Marion, were truly awful people.”
“As long as Catherine keeps talking, we can’t get a word in to ask her questions,” I said.
“Like why she ended up living in a town so close to the Hall,” said Penny. “Is she guarding something in the Hall? Or protecting it?”
“And why did Arthur reach out to her, when he was in trouble?” I said. “Why not bring in a lawyer, or an accountant?”
Penny shrugged. “Sometimes a boy’s best friend is his auntie.”
“That leaves us with Wendy,” I said. “The unexpected arrival. Why would she make such a long journey, over someone she barely knew? I’m not buying all that righteous indignation about being cheated out of her weekend.”
“And why was she so determined to spend the night here?” said Penny.
“Perhaps she’s looking for something,” I said.
“Like what?” said Penny.
“Whatever Lucas had in his suitcases? Or, what he came here to find.”
Penny leaned against my shoulder, and we sat companionably together, staring at nothing.
“What if it turns out the house really has taken Lucas?” Penny said finally.
“Then we just keep hitting it until it gives him back,” I said. “But when you get right down to it...this whole mystery turns on Lucas going missing somewhere between the reception desk and his room. Because there’s only one staircase connecting the two floors, and Arthur insists he was watching it all the time. So really, there’s only a disappearance and a mystery because Arthur says there is.”
“Then he must be involved in Lucas going missing, mustn’t he?” said Penny.
“But what possible motive could he have for lying?” I said, frowning. “He didn’t know Lucas, never met him before he turned up at reception. I suppose it’s possible Arthur and Marion could be covering up something....Maybe Lucas had some kind of fatal accident, and they decided to make the body disappear rather than have it upset their grand opening.”
“Like the old story,” said Penny. “Where a young couple books into a foreign hotel and the wife goes for a walk, but when she comes back the hotel manager denies ever seeing her or her husband. I think it turns out the husband had the plague, and everyone was desperate to hush it up rather than ruin the hotel’s reputation.”
“But I haven’t found a trace of blood or violence anywhere in this house,” I said.
“Maybe Lucas saw a ghost!” Penny said brightly. “And died of shock.”
“Okay...” I said. “You are reaching now.”
“Catherine made Glenbury Hall sound like the most haunted house in England,” said Penny. “But if it was, I would have heard of it.”
I looked at her sternly. “Have you been watching that Mostly Haunted show again?”
“Only in a spirit of irony,” said Penny.
She bounced up off the bed, grabbed her black hat from the bedpost, and crammed it on the back of her head. She studied herself critically in the room’s one decent-sized mirror, and then spun away to smile brightly at me.
“Shall we go down to dinner? I could eat.”
The Glenbury dining hall was a huge room with a high ceiling, that had seemed dark and gloomy the first time I saw it. Now electric light from a chandelier gleamed richly on the wood-panelled walls. A long mahogany table stretched from one end of the hall to the other. It looked like it had been made to seat at least thirty people and still allow them plenty of elbow room.
A willow-pattern china service had been set out at the far end of the table, where everyone else was already seated. They’d been talking as we entered, but fell silent so Arthur and Marion, Ellen, Catherine, and Wendy could all present Penny and me with variations on the same look: We’ve been waiting for you to turn up, so we could get started. I smiled easily back, and Penny held her head high so everyone could admire her hat. I noticed Wendy wasn’t wearing her Panama, and that Marion no longer had her scarf. Her dark shaven head gleamed brightly under the chandelier’s light.
Interestingly, no one was seated at the head of the table. As current head of the Glenbury family, Arthur would have been entitled to take the place of honour, but instead he sat to one side, next to his wife. Marion rose from her seat the moment Penny and I sat down.
“I’ll get dinner,” she said shortly.
Arthur started to get up, only to sit right back down again when Marion gave him a look.
“I don’t need any help,” she said. “You’re the host; entertain our guests.”
She swept out of the dining hall through a nearby side door. Arthur smiled apologetically around the table.
