The House of Secrets

by Terry Lynn Thomas

  ‘Ouch.’ I rubbed the place on my temple.

  Bethany stood before me, an inquiring look in her eyes. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you.’

  ‘My pen is out of ink,’ I said.

  ‘So you went looking for some in my satchel?’

  ‘It was an accident. I kicked it, and knocked the papers astray. I put them back.’ I stood up, resisting the urge to flee.

  ‘Forgive me. I didn’t mean to accuse you of snooping. Would you like me to have a look at your head? You banged the desk quite hard.’

  ‘I’ll be fine.’

  ‘The ink is behind you.’

  She set a Thermos on the desk, and after I had scooted out of her way, she picked up the satchel, rifled through its papers, and shut the latch with a resounding click. If she noticed the missing letter, she didn’t let on.

  ‘Are you going to the hospital?’

  ‘I am.’

  ‘Thanks for the ink,’ I said.

  I sat down at my desk and waited for my heart to stop hammering in my chest. What a liar I had become. How easily I had stolen. The letter burned in my pocket. I thought of going back into the office, handing it to Bethany, and saying … what? Soon I heard the no-nonsense clip of Bethany’s heels as she set off to the hospital to minister to her husband. The moment to return the stolen letter had passed. After locking my office door, I set the letter on my desk. How could I open the envelope without anyone knowing? In the detective novels that I read so regularly, a steaming kettle was used to loosen the seal, but I had no kettle.

  I thought of the stack of opened correspondence in Dr Geisler’s desk drawer. What if I just opened this letter, read it, and put it there? Bethany was overworked. She was tired and had so much on her mind. Would she see this letter from the bank in the pile and assume that she had seen it before, had tucked it out of sight? I took the brass letter opener from my drawer, opened the letter, and without any guilt, read it.

  Much to my disappointment, the letter did not contain anything earth-shattering. It was a bank statement with five or six cancelled cheques, mostly made out to cash, and all signed by Dr Geisler. There was nothing strange about this, as I knew that Dr Geisler managed Minna’s affairs. Why had Alysse wanted me to take this letter?

  ‘I’ll give it to Zeke.’ My words echoed in the empty room. I stuffed the envelope in my pocket, and spent the rest of the day working.

  * * *

  By five, my body needed a good walk and fresh air, but my brain was too exhausted to manage it. At five-thirty, I trudged up the stairs, ready for my bath. After a good soak I would take the letter I had stolen from Bethany’s satchel to Zeke. He could do with it as he pleased. Alysse wanted me to see it. Maybe Zeke could figure out why.

  I had just put my key in the lock, when I heard a moan coming from Minna’s room. Without thinking, I pushed open the door just a crack. Minna sat at the writing table. A leather kit holding a glass syringe and four needles lay open in front of her. I recognized the vial of laudanum that I had knocked out of Bethany’s satchel earlier that day. Minna held a pen in her hand She had started to write a note.

  Bethany stood behind her, holding a gun to the back of Minna’s head.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ‘You couldn’t leave him alone, could you? It’s your fault he got interested in the occult. A brilliant doctor throws it all away, and you are to blame. My God, why couldn’t you have died the first time? I gave you enough phenobarbital. Never mind. You’ve ruined my plans for the last time, Minna.’

  Bethany had no idea I watched the scene as it played out before me. When Minna saw me, her eyes widened. She gasped, causing Bethany to turn around and see me standing in the doorway.

  ‘Run!’ Minna screamed.

  I turned and headed away from the door and down the hallway. Bethany was faster and stronger. She grabbed me and pulled me back into Minna’s room with the quick ferocious strength born of desperation. Once we were in the room, Bethany shut the door and locked it. She trained the gun on me, her hand sure and steady.

  ‘Not so quick, Sarah.’ She grabbed me by the collar and hauled me over to Minna’s bed. ‘Sit down and don’t move. A lot of this is your fault. If you hadn’t found Minna the first time, she would have died and none of this would be necessary. Sit there. Do not move. I won’t mind shooting you.’

  Somehow Minna managed to stay calm. She sat at the writing table, sideways in the chair, watching Bethany with a bemused expression, free of anger or worry. The room smelled musty from lack of fresh air. Minna’s shoes and clothes still lay scattered about.

  The open curtains revealed an afternoon grown grey from the sweeping fog. I started to shake and had no idea how to make it stop.

  ‘You think you can kill all of us and get away with it? I know you’re desperate, Bethany, but you are not thinking clearly. I’m willing to let the forgery go. I’m sure we can convince Matthew that the best thing to do is to put this all behind us.’

  Bethany moved to Minna and struck her across the face with the butt of her gun. Blood spurted out Minna’s nose.

  ‘There will be no discussing this with Matthew.’ Bethany handed Minna a handkerchief. ‘Clean yourself up. When you’ve finished you can start writing your suicide note.’

  Minna used her left hand to staunch her bloody nose.

  ‘Are you ready?’

  Minna nodded.

  ‘I’m sorry for all I’ve done. Sarah found out, so I had to kill her. By the time you find this letter, you will have discovered that the soup Bethany brought to Matthew was laced with digoxin. Got that?’ With a glance at me, Bethany moved towards Minna and stood watching as she wrote.

  The pen stopped moving, but Minna didn’t look at Bethany.

  ‘You pushed Matthew in front of that bus,’ Minna said.

  ‘Of course I did. He discovered that I’ve been stealing from you, forging his signature on cheques drawn from your bank account. This hospital can help a lot of people. Do you know how many soldiers are going to return from this war with shell shock and other troubles of the mind? People dismiss those injuries. They don’t bleed, and they are not as dramatic as missing arms and legs. Matthew and I were committed to helping, until he got waylaid by you and your stupid ideas about contacting Alysse. I refuse to stand by and watch you ruin everything that Matthew and I have worked for. If Matthew’s interest in the supernatural got out to the medical community, he would be finished, and me along with him. I blame you for all of this.’

  ‘You’re not going to get away with this,’ I said.

  ‘Of course I am. Minna is crazy, and Matthew gave me the chance of a lifetime. I’d say that yes, I can get away with it. Digitalis is a wonderful poison. Given Matthew’s medical condition, I doubt the doctors will be surprised when they discover him dead in his hospital bed. Brain surgery is a difficult procedure. The doctors won’t look for anything suspicious.’ She turned to Minna. ‘Keep writing.’

  Minna didn’t pick up the pen. I thought for a moment that she was going to fight Bethany, and sacrifice herself – for Bethany would surely shoot her – so that I could run to safety. But she didn’t get the chance. Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Startled, Bethany glanced at the door, taking her focus away from Minna. I didn’t think. I jumped up, and using both hands I pushed Bethany as hard as I could. Caught off balance, she flung her hands in the air as she tottered on her feet. The gun fell to the floor.

  ‘Get the gun!’ I screamed at Minna.

  She grabbed it, but fumbled with it, and it fell to the floor once again. Bethany moved towards it, but Minna kicked it under the bed.

  ‘Open up,’ Detective Morrisey bellowed as he banged on the door. Neither Minna nor Bethany heard him.

  Minna grabbed the porcelain lamp from the writing table. She swung it at Bethany’s head. Bethany ducked out of the way. She grabbed the lamp from Minna and tossed it aside. It shattered against the wall. Bethany, red-faced and snorting like an angry beast, punched Minna in the eye, just
like a man would have done.

  Minna cried out, but she righted herself somehow and tried, without success, to fend off Bethany’s blows. I jumped on Bethany’s back, and not sure what else to do, I wrapped my arms around her neck and squeezed.

  Bethany shook me off as though I were a piece of lint and continued to pummel Minna. When Minna collapsed, defeated, in a heap on the floor, Bethany turned on me, her face a mask of fury. She stepped towards me and, by some crazy stroke of luck and timing, she tripped over one of Minna’s shoes and hit the ground hard. Minna tried to run past her, but Bethany grabbed Minna’s ankle, and Minna fell next to Bethany.

  ‘Open the door!’ Minna screamed.

  I fumbled with the doorknob, threw the door open, and ran right into Detective Morrisey.

  He pulled me out of the way and all but threw me into the corridor. With swift skill, he slipped the gun from a holster hidden away under his jacket and pointed it at Minna, who now stood in the corner of the room. She held the chair from her writing desk in front of her, as though she were taming a tiger.

  Bethany stood in front of her, breathing heavy, ready to pounce.

  ‘It’s not Minna! It’s Bethany!’ I screamed.

  ‘Get her out of here,’ Detective Morrisey called over his shoulder.

  A uniformed officer – Detective Morrisey had brought reinforcements – took my elbow and led me to Zeke, who waited down the hall, pacing like a caged lion. He put his arm around my waist and drew me to him with surprising strength. I leaned on him, and he leaned on his cane. Together we hobbled away from the melee in Minna’s bedroom.

  ‘You’re in shock,’ he said gently.

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Give me the key to your room.’

  ‘Pocket,’ was all I could say. My teeth had started to chatter.

  * * *

  An hour later, the policemen had gone, having taken a subdued Bethany with them. A handful of detectives, along with Detective Morrisey, stayed behind. They busied themselves searching Bethany’s room, taking photographs, and dusting for fingerprints, while the rest of us sat together in the warm kitchen, reeling at the change of events. At first, Mrs McDougal couldn’t believe that Bethany had tried to murder Minna and intended to do the same to me and Dr Geisler. But she had to face facts when Detective Morrisey explained that she had been embezzling from Minna, and that Matthew had found out.

  ‘When Dr Geisler discovered what she had done, she had to act quickly. She pushed him under that bus to save her own skin.’

  ‘I don’t understand why,’ Mrs McDougal said.

  ‘To save her hospital,’ Detective Morrisey responded. ‘Her obsession with this place drove her to madness. She had her own domain here. She couldn’t let her husband destroy all she had worked for.’

  ‘She sent the flowers to Minna and set out to make us all think Minna had become unhinged,’ Zeke said. ‘Bethany wanted Minna out of the way, so she could have access to her money. Having her committed was the perfect scenario. She almost succeeded.’

  I sat at the kitchen table with a warm blanket around my shoulders. The shivering had stopped. Mrs McDougal placed a cup of cocoa laced with brandy before me.

  Detective Morrisey held up the envelope that I had stolen from Bethany’s satchel. Zeke had found it in my pocket, opened it, and quickly seen what I had missed.

  ‘But Bethany made a mistake,’ Detective Morrisey said. ‘She wrote a cheque and forged her husband’s signature after he had his accident. That cancelled cheque was in this envelope.

  ‘Bethany had grown tired of Matthew’s obsession with the occult. She wanted the hospital to be a success, but realized that her husband wasn’t as committed to it as she was. Then when he started to turn down paying clients to pursue his new passion, Bethany realized she stood to lose everything. I imagine that we’ll discover Dr Geisler wasn’t worried about the money, while Bethany was driven by the need for it. She stole from Minna and planned Matthew’s murder, using Minna as a scapegoat.’

  ‘And she confessed to all this?’ Mrs McDougal asked.

  ‘She confessed to everything. She sent Minna flowers and drugged her to make it look like a suicide attempt. There is no doubt that Bethany was going to inject Minna and Sarah with a fatal dose of laudanum and make it look like Minna committed a murder-suicide. The soup that she was going to take to her husband had enough digitalis in it to fell an elephant. And the doctors, in all likelihood, wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow at this man’s death, given his recent surgery and the status of his health.’

  ‘She was keeping him sedated by giving him small doses of luminal sodium,’ Zeke said. ‘She couldn’t risk him regaining full consciousness and remembering what had happened. She wanted Minna committed, Matthew dead, and the money for herself.’

  Eunice got a washcloth, soaked it with cold water, and held it to Minna’s nose. ‘You need to tip your head back.’

  Detective Morrisey had tried to get Minna to go upstairs to the hospital wing, but she refused.

  ‘The bleeding has stopped,’ Eunice said. ‘I wonder if we should call Dr Severton, just to make sure there isn’t any other damage.’

  ‘No, I’ve had enough of doctors and hospitals, if you don’t mind,’ Minna said.

  ‘Can’t say I blame you,’ Mrs McDougal said. She put a cup of cocoa in front of Minna. ‘Drink this, my dear. You’ll feel better. I misjudged you, didn’t I?’

  ‘Don’t worry about it, Mrs McDougal. What’s past is past.’

  Mrs McDougal nodded.

  ‘I’m going to give you some medication. Your face has taken a beating, and it’s going to hurt tomorrow.’ Eunice moved to the kitchen sink and rinsed the washcloth. ‘I’ve cleaned all the wounds. None of them require stitches, but you must rest and take it easy. Let the bruising heal and you won’t have scars.’

  Eunice came over to me. Zeke moved out of her way. She took my pulse and felt my forehead. ‘You’ve a nasty bump on the head. I’m betting she slammed you around while you were unconscious. You need to be in bed, Sarah. You’ve had a shock, but a good rest should put you right.’ She surveyed Minna and me. ‘You two have been through it. I’m ordering you both to bed. I’ll bring you each a sleeping draught. Tomorrow you’ll both be on the mend, but now you need rest.’

  Minna and I stood up at the same time. We hobbled out of the kitchen after Eunice, with Zeke trailing behind us. I looked over my shoulder, just as Mrs McDougal set a cup of coffee down before Detective Morrisey. He touched her hand, ran his finger over her arthritic knuckles. She saw me watching and blushed.

  As promised, Eunice came to check on me, with a cup of tea and sleeping pills. She set the mug and pills down on my night table.

  ‘See that she takes those pills. She needs to sleep.’

  Zeke gave Eunice a mock salute as she left the room.

  ‘I’m glad it wasn’t Minna,’ I said. ‘I know this is a tragic thing, and poor Dr Geisler, but I’m still glad it wasn’t Minna.’

  ‘Now maybe she can get some peace in her life,’ he said.

  The cocoa and brandy warmed my belly. I finished it and settled back down into my pillows.

  ‘We need to talk about our plans,’ Zeke said. ‘Have you given any thought to where you would like to go?’

  ‘Cynthia has arranged something for me,’ I said.

  My eyelids grew heavy.

  ‘Sarah, I’ve something that I need to say, before you fall asleep.’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, certain of the question that Zeke was going to ask. ‘I love you. A thousand times yes.’

  Zeke gave me a funny look. ‘Hendrik Shrader and ten of his associates were arrested this morning. It won’t be in the paper because of the security issues, but you’re safe now.’

  I shut my eyes and let the sleep come.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next morning, Zeke and Cynthia came into my room together. Cynthia carried a tray with a giant coffee pot, cups, eggs, potatoes, and toast, which she set over my
knees as Zeke whipped open the curtains, flooding my room with sunshine. Zeke carried a parcel under his arm, which he placed next to me on the bed.

  ‘Open it,’ Cynthia said.

  ‘What’s this?’

  ‘Just a get well gift, darling.’

  I untied the ribbons, lifted the lid, and opened the tissue to reveal a beautiful ivory cashmere cardigan.

  ‘Cynthia, it’s beautiful.’

  ‘It’s from both of us,’ Zeke said.

  Zeke came to my bedside. He kissed my cheek. ‘I’ll leave you two for now.’ He slipped out of the room, and closed the door behind him.

  ‘My God, he’s gorgeous,’ Cynthia said. She poured out coffee for both of us and helped herself to a piece of the buttered toast.

  I used the napkin on the tray to wipe the jelly from my hand, and fingered the beautiful sweater that Cynthia had brought for me. ‘Is this a bribe?’

  ‘Of course it is. I’m not stupid, Sarah. Without you and your farfetched antics, I would have no career whatsoever.’ She took the sweater from me and held it up before her. ‘What are your plans? Are you going to stay with Aunt Lillian? She’s dying to have you.’

  ‘Dr Geisler will be released from the hospital soon. I’ll go to Aunt Lillian’s after he’s back. I want to make sure he doesn’t need me.’

  ‘Surely you’re not going to stay a secretary? One mustn’t fight the natural order of things. You’re a detective. Don’t you see that you have a natural talent for landing yourself in the middle of the most bizarre situations? Seriously, Sarah, I’ve never seen anything like it. And do you not realize that you are the one who pushes the matter to the bizarre resolution?’

  ‘Zeke—’

  ‘Yes, Zeke is a trained professional, but you’re his equal, his partner. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.’

  I started laughing just then, uncontrollable laughter that made my eyes water. Soon Cynthia joined in and we both laughed until we could laugh no more.

  * * *

  It rained the day Dr Geisler came home from the hospital. A week had passed since Bethany’s arrest. She had confessed to embezzlement, the attempted murder of Minna, Matthew, and me. She claimed – according to Detective Morrisey – that she just wanted to help people and that all her efforts were for the hospital. We all knew she did it out of pure greed. She had refused Zeke’s offer of an attorney. She wanted to accept her fate, serve her sentence, and try to live with all she had done. There wouldn’t be a trial, so Dr Geisler would be spared that embarrassment.