Lord Hale's Monster: Blue Moon Investigations New Adult Humorous Fantasy Adventure Series Book 13

by steve higgs

  Inside the library, a lamp sparked into life to illuminate the interior, then another, both of them held at head height to cast eerie shadows against the walls.

  I kept my mouth shut as I continued to watch.

  ‘I think we should be careful about what we touch and where we stand,’ warned Dr Parrish. ‘I am probably being overcautious but I, for one, will not be surprised to discover a booby trap of some kind down here.’

  ‘Why?’ I demanded, finally crossing the threshold to enter the room.

  ‘Hmm?’

  ‘Why would you think this place might be booby trapped, Dr Parrish? We haven’t encountered any booby traps yet.’

  Big Ben sniggered. When I shot him a look, he did it again. ‘You said booby.’

  I rolled my eyes and went back to staring at Dr Parrish. The dwarf stepped in between us, still carrying his big axe. ‘I don’t see what’s so far fetched about that. Given all the events so far tonight, it seems like a logical precaution.’ Before I could argue, there was an audible clicking sound and the door we came in through slammed shut behind us with a deafening boom that caused dust to sift down from the ceiling above.

  ‘Oops!’ We all turned to find Patience with her hand on a book. It was halfway off a shelf but was stuck. ‘I think this is connected to something.’

  ‘Let me see,’ said Dr Parrish, rushing to examine what she had found.

  ‘It’s a book about vampires and the author is Lady Emily Pinkerton,’ Patience explained. ‘When I saw it, I couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with that crazy chick that grabbed Tempest.’

  Lord Hale looked impressed, ‘Quite so, quite so. Well done, that woman. You’re the police officer, wot?’

  ‘Patience Woods, M’Lord,’ I thought for a moment she was going to curtsy, but if she was, I got in her way as I stuck my face in to see the book.

  Dr Parrish stepped to his side to give me room and pointed behind the book. ‘It’s connected to a lever, you see? Quite ingenious.’

  ‘Is it?’ I cut my eyes at him. My boyfriend had just gone missing with blood coming from a wound on his head and he was all excited to find the group trapped in a library.

  ‘I should think so,’ agreed the dwarf who I noticed had a habit of defending everything Dr Parrish said. I squinted at him now, unable still to shake the feeling that I knew him from somewhere.

  ‘That’s all very nice,’ growled Tempest’s mother impatiently. ‘But how do we get out now? I don’t see any other doors and where is my little boy, hmmm? Where did he get to?’ She looked overwhelmed by the night’s events and about ready to burst into tears when she turned into her husband’s chest and buried her face.

  On the other side of the room, part watching proceedings and part poking around, the four professors were inspecting the contents of the room. The library was a large octagon, fitted with shelves containing books and rolled parchments, ornaments and objects and all manner of odd items that looked to have been collected from around the world. It was all covered in a thick layer of dust in direct contrast to all the corridors we had travelled through to get here. The shelves reached up way beyond head height. How one got to them, I could not fathom but then I saw a rail in the floor. ‘What’s this for,’ I asked, pointing to the brass circle running all the way around the room.

  ‘One thing at a time, my dear,’ chuckled Dr Parrish as if I were being an overexcited woman. Mentally, I squeezed my fist shut imagining I had a part of his body in it that I was slowly crushing. At the rate he was going, I wouldn’t be picturing it mentally for much longer. ‘I think your friend has something here.’ He was on his knees and fiddling with the book by Lady Emily Pinkerton that Patience found.

  ‘Can’t we open the door by putting it back?’ asked Tempest’s dad.

  Patience shook her head. ‘I tried that already.’

  ‘I think I can disconnect it from the lever,’ Dr Parrish managed between noises of concentration as he fiddled with something using one hand. He had to contort his body around to get his hand behind the book since it was connected somehow but wasn’t having any luck doing whatever it was he was doing. ‘I suspect it takes a deft touch,’ he claimed in an apologetic manner.

  Big Ben loomed over him. ‘Let me try,’ he offered, waving his fingers about in the air as if doing something magical and fancy. ‘You would not believe what these fingers are capable of.’

  Dr Parrish gave him a single raised eyebrow of confused disbelief and in response Big Ben clicked the thumb and middle finger of his left hand and Patience’s bra came undone.

  ‘Damn you,’ she swore. ‘I still don’t know how you do that.’

  As Patience fiddled around inside her dress to get her hands on the loose bra straps, Big Ben blew on his fingers like a wild west gunslinger and said, ‘It’s magic.’ Then he cocked an eye at me. ‘Want me to do yours?’ I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm with my clutch bag. I wasn’t wearing a bra but if I told him that he would probably offer to make my knickers fall off by blowing in my ear or something.

  He looked down at Dr Parrish again, and this time Dr Parrish accepted defeat and moved out of Big Ben’s way. Tempest’s dad came to see if he could help. ‘What’ve we got?’ he asked, taking his glasses off to squint into the gap behind the book. ‘Some kind of wired connection, linked to the bottom edge of the book, by the look of it.’ He pulled a multitool from his pocket. ‘I should have something on here we can undo the wire with.’

  ‘Sure,’ said Big Ben. ‘Or…’ he grabbed the book with one giant hand and ripped it free, ‘we can just do that.’ He tossed the book to Dr Parrish and leaned against the bookcase. ‘My friend is missing, and we are wasting too much time.’ He said it like it was a threat.

  The dwarf stepped in again. ‘I can assure you we are all just as…’

  ‘Uh, uh, uh,’ Big Ben waggled a finger at him. ‘That’s quite enough from you, Tinkerbell. Pixies get to have an opinion later.’

  The dwarf’s mouth flapped open and closed a few times before his words caught up with his lips. ‘A pixie?’

  Patience smirked. ‘Don’t be getting all fiery now, he’s just teasing.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Big Ben before the dwarf could reply. ‘Just teasing. Wouldn’t want to offend a chap with a double headed axe.’ He slapped the dwarf on the arm, which shunted him a foot to the right, and began to walk away. As he went, he murmured loud enough for everyone to hear, ‘Besides, everyone knows Tinkerbell is a fairy.’ As the dwarf lunged after Big Ben, Dr Parrish caught his shoulder and held him in check.

  Lord Hale made sure he was between the dwarf and Big Ben as he held out his hands to see the book. ‘This must be my great grandfather’s collection,’ he claimed. ‘I knew he had pieces from all over but thought it to be lost. I doubt anyone has been in this part of the house in more than half a century and I never knew it existed.’

  ‘How can that be?’ I asked. His eyes swung in my direction. ‘How can it be that you don’t know this was here. When was the lift shaft put in? It looks new, but whenever it was, they had to look at the plans for the building.’

  He stretched out his bottom lip, pulling an expression to show that he didn’t know the answer, ‘I’m sure they did look at the plans, my dear. They being the contractors. I played no part in that and could have stared at the plans for a month without deciphering them. No, I’m afraid, my grandfather was something of an eccentric. He most likely squirrelled all this stuff away down here and kept it a secret from everyone.’

  One of the professors asked, ‘Do you think there might be some clues in here as to why the family carries this curse?’

  Dr Parrish jabbed a finger in the man’s direction. ‘Good thinking that man. Everyone, start looking for anything to do with the Incas.’ I screwed my face up in disbelief; it was starting to feel like I was in an elaborate escape room.

  People were doing it though; the witches, the professors, Dr Parrish and the dwarf; all of them were rummaging along the lines
of books and artefacts as they looked for a clue.

  ‘Should we be helping?’ Patience asked.

  I wriggled my lips as I thought. ‘No. Leave them to their foolish errand. I am going to find a way out.’ I pointed to the door we came in through. ‘That’s the only door, right?’

  Behind me, Lord Hale, still reading from the vampire book by Lady Emily found something of interest. I stopped talking so I could hear what he had to say. ‘This book is basically a memoir of the period she spent with my ancestor.’

  I couldn’t help myself from interrupting. ‘I thought it was a book about vampires.’

  ‘It is, my dear, it is. But Lady Emily wrote it as a memoir. Largely I think it is about being in love with my great, great grandfather and having to suppress her carnal urge to bite him all the time. A tale of unrequited love, if you like. In the passage I am reading, she makes reference to my great great grandfather’s obsession with Incan mythology. He was to be the third Hale to be slaughtered by the monster if he made it to his eightieth birthday and spent much of his later years trying to work out what reason there was for the curse. I’ll read you an extract.’ Lord Hale cleared his throat as if about to give a speech and started reading. ‘Rupert remains convinced the key to breaking the curse lies in his great grandfather’s visit to Peru. He hasn’t slept in days, smitten with the need to solve this puzzle. He fears not for himself but for future generations of Hales, most specifically focussing on his grandson, Eric, who will be the next victim of the monster if Rupert cannot stop his own death.’

  As he burbled on, I continued listening but whispered to Big Ben and Patience and started poking about for myself. The door shut when Patience triggered a lever, so it stood to reason that there had to be another lever to open it. The voice of doubt was screaming at the back of my skull and it was certain the door was never going to open no matter what we did. This evening had been about moving us from one point to the next. So when we left this room, we would do so using a new door to the one we came in through. That might sound ridiculous in a room with only one door, but I also thought it would be entirely in keeping for us to find a secret passage behind a bookcase.

  ‘How can we help?’ asked Tempest’s dad, looking eager to be doing something. He held his wife’s hand in his, the two inseparable it seemed. I explained my thoughts about how we would be able to escape the room and pointed out the rail in the floor. Then we all split up and stared examining the bookcases, the books and objects on them. Somewhere in here there had to be another trigger. We looked like we were doing the same thing as Dr Parrish and his academics; I even got a thumbs up from him when he caught my eye. His crew were looking for some clue about the ancient nonsense that caused the monster to manifest and I was happy to let them do it. I still wasn’t buying into the monster story; it was just too far fetched even after what I had seen.

  I hadn’t got far with my search for a secret door when I almost tripped over Frank. He was kneeling on the floor. ‘Frank, what are you doing?’ I asked, waving my arms to rebalance myself.

  His face was almost level with the floor, and he didn’t look up when he spoke. ‘I think we might be in trouble.’

  ‘What have you found?’ I asked with a resigned sigh.

  He called out, ‘Lyndon.’ Then sat back onto his haunches, blinking up at me through his thick glasses.

  Dr Parrish came rushing over to see what Frank wanted, a large dusty book in his hands. ‘What is it, Frank?’

  He made a worried face but didn’t get up. ‘I thought this was a brass ring for a ladder to move around on so one could access the upper shelves.’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Dr Parrish, looking mystified about where Frank was going. I thought that was the purpose of the brass ring too.

  ‘Well, bad news, I’m afraid. It’s got an additional ring of silver running just inside it and there are tiny runes inscribed all over it.’ I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I was fairly certain it was something bad from the way the colour drained from Dr Parrish’s face. He glanced about the room nervously, his eyes darting here and there.

  Patience drifted over to see what we were doing. ‘Let me guess,’ she said with unforced resignation. ‘There’s something coming to get us.’

  Frank sighed as he heaved himself off the floor. ‘We’re standing in a giant summoning circle.’

  ‘Which means…’ I prompted him.

  ‘That someone built this room specifically to trap and hold something large.’

  ‘Or,’ cut in Dr Parrish, ‘to create a protective circle to hide in so the something large couldn’t get to them.’

  The two men locked eyes, realisation clearly dawning on both their faces. ‘This was supposed to keep the monster out!’ they both cried jubilantly. Their shout got the attention of everyone in the room.

  One of the witches said, ‘Did I just hear you say protection circle?’

  Excitedly, Frank pointed to the brass ring embedded in the stone floor. ‘Look. Just inside the brass is a silver circle and it is engraved with runes.’

  ‘Is it complete?’ asked another of the witches, the one with the utterly straight blonde hair. Her question caused a frantic scramble as half a dozen people, Frank and Dr Parrish included, all got on their hands and knees to inspect the circle.

  Each of them was reporting back to the others and getting more and more excited until Dr Parrish swore and raised his hand. ‘There’s a break in it. Right here and its almost half an inch.’

  ‘What does that mean, Dr Parrish?’ asked Lord Hale, a hopeful look on his face.

  Dr Parrish held out a hand so the dwarf could help him up. ‘The circle cannot be closed unless it is complete. We need to find silver to fill the gap.’ He wasn’t defeated for long though. ‘Quick everyone; look for an ornament or artefact made from silver. Look for ivory too, ivory trinkets were often mounted in silver.’

  His request generated another scramble as the dinner guests began picking through the things on the shelves. ‘Don’t feel like helping?’ the dwarf asked when he noticed I hadn’t moved. Patience, Big Ben, and the Michaels were all next to me as we considered our next move. It had nothing to do with finding silver, but since he asked, I gave him my attention. ‘Where’s the bat droppings?’ His eyes widened a little as if panicked by the question, but I saw Gina turn her head my way. I swung my head to take in all the faces looking my way. ‘Is nobody else curious? There were ten thousand bats in this room but there’s no poop. Were they magical bats?’

  Gina put down the ornament she was holding. ‘Yeah. Where did they come from even? If there’s no way out of this room, then how were they alive? What do they feed on and where have they been perching?’ She pointed to the ceiling. ‘There nothing for them to hang from.’

  I got in on the action. ‘The corridors outside are spotless. Barely any cobwebs and no dust or dirt on the floor. Does the monster have a cleaner?’ That question got a snigger from a few of the dinner guests. ‘What are you not telling us, Lord Hale?’

  The elderly lord looked quite taken aback by my question. ‘My dear, I cannot imagine what you mean.’

  I didn’t get to ask the next question because a loud thump hit the ceiling and shifted more dust. As it filtered down, I saw Lord Hale, Dr Parrish, and the dwarf all exchange a worried look. The thump sounded like something hitting the ceiling; something soft, rather than something hard. It landed near one edge of the octagon, over by the witches, who took a step back when they heard the object above their heads shift. It must have come to rest half on the ceiling, half hanging over the edge because we all heard it slide down behind the bookcase on that side and land at floor level.

  I had a fresh stack of questions to ask. I didn’t ask any of them though, I walked to the bookcase where the something had just landed behind, took the books off it and thumped the wood at the back. I got a hollow sound.

  ‘What was that?’ asked one of the witches. She and her colleagues were still staring in the direction the object had la
nded. Whatever it was, was behind the bookcase, or behind the wall assuming there was a wall there. It didn’t sound like there was.

  ‘Ben,’ I called to get his attention. ‘It’s action time.’

  ‘Yeah, baby. Now we’re talking.’ He rubbed his hands together gleefully, very much the man of action and never happier than when he was either hitting something or getting naked.

  ‘What are you doing?’ asked Dr Parrish, trying to get in our way as we crossed the room to where the object had fallen. Using his body as a barrier wasn’t a tactic that would work for very long with Big Ben around.

  I pointed an accusing finger at him. ‘I don’t know what game you are playing, Dr Parrish, but it is clear we are being duped somehow. I am going to leave now. I don’t know what just hit the floor behind the bookcase, but it sounded like a body to me.’ There were several gasps at my statement. ‘So there is clearly a cavity behind that bookcase and I am willing to bet that it will prove to be the passageway we are supposed to find to get out of this room and onto the next bit of this odd and clearly fake experience.’

  ‘Dr Parrish, what is going on?’ asked Lord Hale. ‘They act as if they don’t know.’

  ‘Don’t know what?’ asked Big Ben, sounding dangerously close to thumping someone.

  ‘What you are doing here,’ replied Lord Hale looking utterly perplexed. ‘It was all on the invitations.’

  ‘Yes, that’s right,’ agreed Dr Parrish. ‘We are trialling a new high-ticket murder mystery escape room experience and asked you all to test it out for us and provide feedback. So far, I cannot fathom what we paid for because you have all been bonkers and aggressive. Especially you,’ he finished, jabbing a finger at Big Ben and only just managing to dart out of the way when Big Ben tried to snap it off.