The Haunting of Thornview Hall

by H. P. Bayne

  He found it there now.

  Raiya hadn’t gone to bed yet, saying she’d been hoping for an update from Sully.

  Once he handed her the amulet, she dropped it immediately onto the nearest table.

  “Some powerful magic in this thing,” she said. “I’ll cleanse it tonight and take it to a friend first thing to be melted down.”

  “What does it mean, exactly?” Sully asked.

  “It’s a symbol used in necromancy. Usually you’ll see it tattooed on a person—one of many on a serious practitioner—but I’ve seen it in amulet form as well. It’s the symbol of brimstone. Basically, it’s meant to channel powerful magic that can then be used against enemies.”

  Sully eyed the symbol again but quickly looked away. “Will you be safe with it around?”

  She smiled. “Course I will. Once it’s cleansed, it will be no good to anyone anymore. Besides, its true power came in its connection to the man it was made for. Once you took it from him, it lost most of its juice. Now it’s largely a source of negativity. It’s been involved in some evil things, this tiny piece of metal. But there’s not much to it anymore.”

  Satisfied they were leaving the amulet in capable hands, Sully and Dez headed home.

  It was coming to eleven in the morning when Sully walked out of the police station.

  Dez was already outside in his vehicle, waiting for him.

  “How’d it go?” Dez asked once Sully had slid into the passenger seat.

  “Fine. Good plan not touching the gun afterward. Zero blowback on us made for a pretty easy investigation for the police.”

  Dez darkened. “Especially since the bitch tried to accuse you of shooting her.”

  “She’s a piece of work, all right.”

  Sully’s phone, fully charged once again, rang in his pocket, and he fished it out. A glance at the screen showed their mom’s number.

  “Mom,” he said for Dez’s benefit as he answered.

  “The jury’s reached a verdict,” she said. “The court will wait until you two can come. Can you come?”

  The anxiety was obvious in her voice. Sully wouldn’t have refused even if he didn’t want to be there. As it happened, he did.

  Sully met Dez’s eye. “Verdict,” he said.

  Dez put the SUV into gear and pulled away from the front of police headquarters.

  “We’re on our way,” Sully told her.

  Mara Braddock and her sister were waiting at the courthouse when Dez and Sully arrived.

  A moment later, Eva came jogging up the street from wherever she’d parked. She slid into Dez’s embrace, and the group of them headed inside.

  The courtroom was packed, but Jada had ensured a bench was set aside for them. Sully tried to ignore the whispering and the stares the moment he entered the room. He wasn’t likely to live down his moments on the stand anytime soon, but that was a worry for another day.

  He sat between Dez and Mara, his back to the rest of the courtroom. Jada came over a moment later.

  “The jury will come in right away,” she said. “There’s a bit of a process to follow before they get to the verdicts, and there will be a few verdicts to run through. Whatever happens, please, do your best to stay calm.”

  “We will,” Mara said. She peered at Dez meaningfully.

  “What?” he asked.

  Sully resisted the urge to snort.

  Lowell was led into the courtroom by the deputy sheriffs. A moment later, everyone rose as the judge entered, then stayed on their feet for the jury’s entrance.

  Sully noticed several of them sought him out. A couple of the ladies smiled at him.

  “Good sign,” Dez whispered as they sat.

  The judge ran through a roll call with the jury and some other stuff Sully ignored. He was busy watching Lowell.

  He was pale, more so than Sully had ever seen him. Almost green, it appeared he was on the verge of being sick.

  If he were anyone else, Sully might have felt sorry for him. But he still had the vision in his brain, the one showing Lowell seizing the marble statuette and raising it high, Flynn’s head in his sights.

  The judge’s voice and Mara’s hand squeezing his drew Sully’s attention. “On the charge of first-degree murder in the death of Aiden Braddock, how do you find?”

  The jury’s foreperson, a tough-looking woman, was on her feet. “Guilty.”

  A smattering of applause not belonging to Sully or his family sounded.

  “Yes,” Dez hissed. Tears had formed both in his eyes and in his voice.

  Sully reached over with his free hand to clasp Dez’s. Dez squeezed back.

  The judge went through the findings with each juror in turn, ensuring each agreed. They did.

  “On the charge of second-degree murder in the death of Flynn Braddock, how do you find?”

  “Guilty.”

  Dez sobbed. Eva, previously holding Dez’s hand, now rubbed his back. Dez grasped her other hand in his free one.

  The lengthy process of ensuring unanimity resulted in the same. No one sounded regretful or uncertain, each “guilty” repeated with force and intention.

  This jury had no doubt.

  They repeated the process for each of Lowell’s other victims. In each case, guilty verdicts were returned.

  Sully’s eyes had remained fixed on Lowell throughout much of the pronouncement of the verdicts. The man had crumbled a little upon hearing each one. He was a wreck, blubbering in the prisoner’s box as he no doubt contemplated spending the rest of his life in prison.

  Sully briefly considered that a bigger man, as Leo had described him, might feel at least a little sympathy for Lowell. Today, Sully was not a bigger man.

  He returned his gaze to the jurors as the judge dismissed them with thanks. Some of them wept. Many of them offered smiles to the family before withdrawing to the jury room. Sully and his family smiled back.

  “Just the matter of sentencing to deal with,” the judge said once the jury was out. “What’s your preference, counsel?”

  “The Crown intends to request consecutive sentencing on the various counts,” Jada said.

  “What’s that mean?” Sully asked Dez, although he thought he knew.

  “It means the Crown wants him to serve each life sentence one after the other instead of all together. In practical terms, it would mean he’d never be eligible for parole.” Dez sniffed. “Good.”

  Leo rose. “My client had hoped to deal with sentencing immediately so as to begin the appeal process. But in light of the Crown’s position, I’d like an opportunity to discuss it with my client.”

  “Understood,” the judge said. “How long do you need?”

  “Perhaps twenty minutes, my Lord?”

  “Certainly. We’ll adjourn for twenty minutes.”

  In the end, Leo decided he needed time to make argument, which would involve researching case law and presenting it to the judge. A date for sentencing submissions was set three weeks down the road.

  Sully and his family exchanged hugs with Jada and thanked her, then arranged a time to meet to provide victim impact statements and go over any questions they might have about Lowell’s potential appeal.

  For now, all they wanted was to get out of there.

  One scrum with reporters later, they returned to their vehicles and, from there, to Dez and Eva’s. It was well past lunchtime, so Eva and Dez worked on putting something together for the group of them.

  “Did Kayleigh come home for lunch?” Mara asked.

  Eva shook her head as she monitored a pair of grilled cheese sandwiches on the stove. “I called her and told her to stay at school for lunch today. Said I’d explain later.” She turned toward the kitchen table where Sully, Mara and Lyndsey were seated. “I didn’t want to mention the verdicts were coming in. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate otherwise, wondering.”

  “I’m looking forward to telling her,” Dez said.

  “You guys doing okay?” Lyndsey asked. “It’s been a he
ll of a time for all of you.”

  Mara glanced around the room, then back at Lyndsey. “We’ll be fine. We’ve got each other. And you. Thank you for being there for us, sis.”

  Lyndsey smiled and patted her hand.

  Sully jumped a little as the doorbell rang. He stood and went to answer it.

  Dez called after him. “Check out the window first. If it’s a reporter or some freaky type, leave it.”

  Sully did as suggested. “Does Lachlan count as a freaky type?”

  Dez yelled back. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

  Sully laughed and answered the door.

  “Heard about the verdict,” Lachlan said by way of greeting as he brushed past Sully. “Also heard you boys nearly got yourselves killed during your recent investigation.” He smiled as Sully’s gaze turned questioning. “Your brother. He called me while you were still inside the police station, gave me the rundown.”

  Sully led Lachlan to the living room sofa, where he sat. Lachlan settled into a chair.

  “Yeah, got a little hairy there for a while,” Sully said. “We got paid. We’ll cut you in.”

  “Don’t be stupid. It was informal, and I did zero work on it.” Lachlan looked up as Dez approached. “Listen, you won’t believe this, but your favourite housekeeper called me, asking me to find a way to pin the shooting on Sully.”

  “Bitch,” Dez grumbled. “And?”

  “And I told her no, obviously … eventually. Figured I’d see what I could get out of her first.”

  Dez dropped down next to Sully. “And?”

  “Lena Carr was born Lena Montrose, granddaughter of Thomas and his second wife, Edna. After the events that took place in Thornview Hall, Thomas moved back to England and remarried there.

  “At any rate, it would seem Thomas developed a drinking problem to cope with what happened to him and his first wife. He’d rattle on about Thornview when he was drunk. Most people didn’t put much stock in it, but Lena did. She developed a fascination for the supernatural early on and became somewhat obsessed by this Dunstan Craik character.”

  “Did her grandfather admit to killing him?”

  “Not that she acknowledged, but I’d say it’s likely,” Lachlan said. “An autopsy on the remains might reveal more. Then again, it might not. Not much left of him from what Dez said.”

  “How’d Lena Carr end up at Thornview?”

  Lachlan tipped his head. “She told you she responded to an ad placed by Bill Garver?”

  Sully nodded.

  “She told me she went there to seek a job. Bill was on his own by then, having already killed his wife. Lena wanted to solve what happened to her grandfather’s first wife, but mostly she hoped to find the amulet. Do you know what it is?”

  “Raiya told us,” Dez said. “So, what—Carr fancied herself a necromancer in the making?”

  “I think she wanted to harness the power of it. She had a hard life. She was abused by an uncle on her mother’s side, she said. He was very wealthy, and she felt powerless next to him. She entertained thoughts of using dark magic against him.” Lachlan smirked. “Yeah, she’s a little batty.”

  “So she found herself a job there so she could search for the amulet,” Dez said.

  “Her grandfather had said something about the amulet being left behind, placed where no one could use it ever again. She set out to find it. Only she got distracted. Garver’s kids needed someone to look after them, and she took it upon herself. To be fair to the woman, she was very young when she started working there, only eighteen. And I think she started off from a good place, more or less.”

  “Only the longer she spent in the house, the more it twisted her,” Dez said. He eyed Sully. “But you thought the place only turned people who were already dark.”

  “I think she was,” Sully said. “Not naturally. Life made her that way. Going through abuse can change you, suck all the light out of you. She was vulnerable to anything Craik wanted to do. The fact it took her this long to go completely off the rails probably says more good things about her than bad.” He turned back to Lachlan. “Maybe now that Craik’s gone, she’ll start to come back to herself.”

  “Except her husband went crazy and ultimately took his own life,” Dez said. “Doesn’t bode well for her. Or, frankly, for us, once she gets out.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that just yet,” Lachlan said. “Given she’s got no record and is over eighty, it’s doubtful a prosecutor would object to bail. But it’s sounding as if Carr is going the right way for a psych assessment. If so, it might be she gets committed to Lockwood for treatment. And unlike the old days, that would actually be a good thing for her, I think.”

  Lachlan sat back, a signal he’d finished providing his info and was about to change course. “Congrats on the verdicts, by the way. I was thrilled to hear it.”

  “There’s still the appeal to contend with,” Dez said.

  Lachlan waved a hand dismissively. “Pfft. Forget it. He’s going to try. End of the day, he had the best lawyer in town, and we all know Leonard Jacob leaves no stone unturned. Plus, he’d have had to search pretty damn hard to find a more cautious judge. Justice Collingwood is highly regarded as the best you can draw for a jury—and that’s if you’re a defence lawyer. The jury found as they did because there was no other way to find. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  Dez nodded. “I hear you. I just hate things being left hanging.”

  “I understand completely,” Lachlan said. “In which case, you’ll be happy to help me with a case I’m working, now the trial’s over. What do you say to a little insurance investigation?”

  Dez sighed. “I say, if it doesn’t involved ghosts, I’m in.”

  Sully grinned.

  Afterword

  Thanks so much for reading. I am continuing to work on the next Dez and Sully books, and would be pleased to keep you updated on future projects and release dates if you would like to join my mailing list. As an added bonus, a growing anthology of short stories, entitled Haunted: The Ghosts of Sullivan Gray, is available as a gift to subscribers. Visit my website at hpbayne.com to sign up or simply click here to join and pick up the current version of Haunted.

  The books in The Braddock & Gray Case Files are intended as standalone books, so they can be read independently of each other and from the preceding The Sullivan Gray Series. Braddock & Gray follows the events of Sullivan Gray, so those who have read the previous series will find a few cookies scattered here and there. I will include links below to the books in The Sullivan Gray Series should you wish to check them out (if you haven’t already, of course).

  The books in The Sullivan Gray Series can also be read as standalones to some extent, each containing a plot that wraps itself up by book’s end. But there is a deeper plot that threads throughout the seven novels, so for that reason, I always suggest they’re best read in the following order (click the titles to check them out on Amazon):

  Black Candle

  Harbinger

  The Dule Tree

  Crawl

  Hollow Road

  Second Son

  Spirit Caller

  As mentioned, the books in The Braddock & Gray Case Files can be read as standalone novels, but for those interested, here’s the publishing order:

  The Edge Creek Light

  The Haunting of Thornview Hall

  Wynne Witch (coming soon)

  As always, I wanted to take a moment to thank my family and friends for their incredible support. I am so appreciative of all the people in my life who have been at my side throughout this journey.

  A big, Dez-sized thanks also to my brilliant editor Hannah Sullivan and to my absolutely stellar team of advance readers, all of whom ensure each of the books is all it can be and more. I am incredibly grateful to you all.

  And, of course, a huge thank you to everyone who’s picked up this and other Sully books. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my author dreams come true.

  Abou
t the Author

  Fascinated by ghost stories and crime fiction, H.P. has been writing both for well over two decades, drawing on more than fifteen years in a career in a criminal justice setting. Raised on a farm on the Canadian Prairies, H.P. enjoys reading, portrait drawing, travel and spending time with family and friends.

  For more information, visit H.P.’s website at hpbayne.com.

  Also by H.P. Bayne

  Books in The Sullivan Gray Series (best read in the following order):

  Black Candle

  Harbinger

  The Dule Tree

  Crawl

  Hollow Road

  Second Son

  Spirit Caller

  The Sullivan Gray Series Box Set 1

  The Sullivan Gray Series Box Set 2

  Books in The Braddock & Gray Case Files (can be read in order or as standalone novels):

  The Edge Creek Light

  The Haunting of Thornview Hall

  Wynne Witch (coming soon)