Gypsies, Traps & Missing Thieves

by Rachael Stapleton

A muffled shriek cut across Eve’s words just as the sound of the generator roared to life off in the distance.

  Everyone turned toward the door, candle flames dancing with the movement.

  They heard the scream again, but louder.

  Penny rushed toward the exit, and Kaden followed right behind. “Everyone stay where you are,” Kaden said. “We’ll be right back.”

  Penny assumed no one followed directions, based on the stampede of feet that trailed Kaden and her into the hallway. They heard someone running on the floor above and headed for the stairs. As they reached the top, Lana appeared with wild eyes. Her stylish cashmere sweater and winter white pants having been replaced by black flannel pajamas and black satin slippers. She put her hand to her mouth when she spotted them.

  “Oh, she’s . . . help!” Lana said.

  “Lana, what’s wrong?” Penny stepped forward and hugged her.

  “It’s a girl.” Lana took a shaky breath. “She’s dead.”

  Her hands shook and caused the teacup in her hand to bounce.

  An uproar of shocked dismay rose from the stairs where the rest of the guests congregated.

  “Let me take that, Lana,” Kaden said. “Are you acting or is this for real? I’m a police officer.”

  “Police?” She scanned Kaden’s face and handed him the teacup. “Yes, please. I . . . can’t believe it.” She stared, openmouthed, at Kaden and swayed a bit. Harley pushed his way through the group and put an arm out to steady Lana. “I thought you had a headache, darling. Look at you, acting like a pro.”

  Lana shook her head. “I don’t think it’s part of the game.”

  “Nonsense, dear.”

  Kaden called down to Mallory. “Take everyone back to the lounge, please. Then gather the rest of the staff and wait for us there.”

  Mallory nodded and turned toward the group to begin her crowd control.

  “What happened?” Harley asked, reaching down to stroke Abby’s head. But the little white dog didn’t want to be touched. She backed down the hall, her big brown eyes bulging with agitation.

  Lana sniffled and rubbed her eyes.

  “I was on my way to the kitchen to make some of my sleepy tea when I heard some thuds from behind the bookcase, so I went to it.” Lana pointed down the hall. “The bookcase was open slightly, like a door, so I stepped inside.” She took a shaky breath. “It was a hidden passage.”

  They waited while Lana gulped air and dabbed at her eyes with the collar of her flannel top. She took a steadying breath and continued. “It was pitch dark and I had to walk carefully.” She turned to Harley, who nodded and gave her a small, encouraging, if watery smile.

  “Then it seemed like it got even darker so I flicked my cellphone’s flashlight on.” Lana looked at Kaden. “I came to a staircase. Then I saw her on the floor. She must have slipped and hit her head.”

  Lana stopped and stared past them, back in the moment.

  “She looked like a rag doll tossed aside.” She turned and buried her face on Harley’s shoulder.

  Kaden placed a hand gently on Lana’s arm. “I need to go secure the scene.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Penny said, feeling a rush of adrenaline at the thought of investigating a mysterious death. A sharp moment of guilt stabbed at her conscience. A young woman was dead. She was getting as bad as Eve.

  Kaden started to say something and then nodded.

  “Lana? Are you able to come back and show us this passageway?” He asked.

  She nodded and clutched Harley’s hand as they walked to the end of the hall. Penny grabbed a battery powered candle from the console as they passed by. The flickering light cast grotesque bouncing shadows on the walls. They reached a rotund bookcase and Lana pushed the door open. “Oh! I don’t know if I can do this again,” Lana said, her hand clutching her chest.

  “We’re right here, Lana. You’re safe.” Kaden said.

  They stepped into the corridor. It was just as Lana had described it, dark and narrow. Weak light from the candle cast flickering shadows on the wall. Penny’s shoulders felt tight and her ears strained for any sound.

  When the corridor took a turn, Lana hesitated, took a deep breath, and then nodded to them to proceed. It led to a steep staircase.

  A blue-haired girl lay on the floor at the bottom. Her right leg was bent at an awkward angle and her eyes were open. Lana gasped and Penny heard her move back up the steps.

  “Geneviève.” Harley whispered before he turned and followed.

  Penny put a finger under Geneviève’s jaw along her neck to check for a pulse, but they both knew she wouldn’t find one. “I wonder where she was going?” Penny whispered. “Where did she think this staircase led to?

  “I was thinking the same thing. Where does it lead to? There’s just a wall.”

  “It’s like that bizarre mystery house with stairways to nowhere.”

  13

  T hey regrouped by the fireplace in the foyer’s lounge. Kaden asked Mallory when she thought the power would be back on.

  “I don’t understand. The lights should have come on by now.” Mallory held her hands out and shrugged. “The generator’s been running for half an hour. Emilion must be having trouble with it. I’ll go out back and see what’s taking so long.”

  Kaden paced in front of the fire. “Okay, I’ll need to call it in to my department.”

  “I doubt anyone can get through tonight,” Mallory said. “The snow is still coming down.”

  “It’ll be tricky but the department has a few snowmobiles.”

  “Surely we don’t need to call in more police,” Lana said. “What we need is a funeral home. I don’t want to sleep with a dead body in the house.”

  Kaden pulled out his cell phone and dialed. He looked at it again and sighed.

  “I don’t have service. Pen, is yours working?”

  Penny’s was the same—no service.

  “There’s only one cell tower near here and reception can be spotty,” Mallory said. “We have a landline tucked under the front desk.”

  “Let’s go try the landline,” Kaden said.

  They trooped across the foyer. Lana had begun crying again, but it was more of a slow leak than a flood.

  “Maybe you can take Lana to her room and get her some tea or . . . something?” Penny said to Harley.

  He nodded and put an arm around Lana. “C’mon, darling, let’s go.”

  Harley took the lamp and led his wife away. Kaden dialed 911 and listened. He clicked the button on the phone and tried again. He groaned.

  “The landline is out as well?” Penny asked.

  “I’m not sure what to do.” He shook his head. “I don’t like the idea of leaving her body here.”

  “We don’t want to disturb any potential evidence,” Penny said.

  Kaden nodded and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Evidence?” said a voice from behind.

  Penny turned to see Eve with her selectively tuned hearing still intact.

  Eve hurried over to them, her candle flickering wildly. “Was she murdered? Is this for real?” She paused and lowered her voice. “Of course, we barely knew her, so it does make the motive hard to determine.” She looked from Penny to Kaden.

  Neither of them spoke.

  “Unless. . . it was the ghost seeking her revenge!” Eve announced.

  “Mrs. Banter, that’s ridiculous,” Kaden said. “And dangerous. Don’t get everyone all worked up about a ghost story.”

  Eve was silent for a moment. “You’re probably right.” She nodded. “We’ve got to figure this out—if there could be a murderer among us!” She turned to go back into the lounge off the foyer.

  Penny grabbed her arm. “Eve, let us handle it.” Penny glanced at Kaden for backup.

  “Oh, of course. But I can tell Mitch, right?” she said to Kaden and then turned to Penny, whose finger was already pointing in a menacing fashion.

  “Shhh! No, don’t tell anyone anything,” Penny said. �
�Let’s just keep this between us until we can figure out what’s going on.”

  “Okay, got it.” Eve nodded, and then winked.

  Penny looked at the ceiling.

  “What’s going on?” Nana emerged out of the shadowy hallway.

  “Geneviève is definitely deceased,” Kaden said.

  “Oh, no.” Nana put her hand up to her neck. “How did she die?”

  “She hit her head,” Kaden said, “but we’ll have to wait until the ME can get here to examine the evidence.”

  “That could be awhile,” Nana said. “The emergency weather radio says the snowstorm has stalled over us. If the phones are already out, it’s not likely we’ll get a call out anytime soon.”

  “How did you know the phones were out?” Kaden asked.

  “I tried to call Emilion’s cellphone when you were upstairs. I thought maybe it was just mine that didn’t have service, so I tried the landline. He’s most likely outside setting up the generator or maybe he’s still in the basement looking for the damn thing.” Nana leaned closer to Penny and whispered, “Danior’s missing, too, so they could just be together.”

  “Well, the generator is running. I can hear it. Nana, maybe you and Eve can go back to the lounge and try to keep everyone calm,” Kaden said. “I need to talk to Penny and figure out what we’re going to do.”

  “Sure, okay. I just don’t understand how that poor dead girl found out about the passage.” Nana ran her hands through her hair. “Only family and the staff know about the secret staircase. We’re very careful about keeping them hidden.”

  Eve held her arm out for Nana and escorted her down the hall as if they were heading to dinner in an English country house.

  Kaden smirked. “Wow. I’ve heard from Cody just what a handful that Eve Banter was but I think that was an understatement.”

  Penny shrugged in an attempt not to appear standoffish. “She actually can be quite helpful.” Eve might be a pain in the behind, but she was her pain in the behind and Kaden was now treading on thin ice. She cleared her throat, “So, we can’t leave a body sitting up there all night. What are we going to do?”

  He nodded. “I know. And I don’t know how to keep everyone out of there. I’d post a guard, but I don’t know who to trust, besides you and Eve—and we’ve already agreed that she’s not to be involved. Besides, she can’t stand guard through the night; she’d likely fall asleep.”

  “No, Eve is more likely to imagine a ghost and send up an alarm . . . but she’d hardly fall asleep on duty.” What was this guy’s problem?

  “This sounds awful, but I’m tempted to wrap the body and put it out in the snow to preserve it. We know the general time of death is between the time everyone saw her upon her arrival and nine hours later when the body was discovered after the séance.”

  “We should see if we can find any large sheets of plastic—like a new shower curtain. Maybe there’s an outbuilding that we can put the body in that will keep it cold.”

  “Good idea,” Kaden said.

  Penny followed him back in the direction of the lounge

  “Oh, there you are,” Harley said. “I just got Lana calmed down. She’s resting in our room. Did you get in touch with your department?”

  “The phone lines are down,” Penny said.

  “Everyone’s in the lounge,” Kaden added.

  Danior approached them. “I just heard about Geneviève. What’s going on?”

  “Is there an outbuilding or someplace we can store the . . . Geneviève . . . to keep her cold?” Kaden asked.

  Danior nodded. “The garden shed would work. There’s plenty of room.”

  “Is there a dead bolt on it?”

  “Yes, but why? I hardly think she’s going to run away.”

  “We need to keep people away from the body so no one can interfere with evidence,” Kaden said.

  “Evidence? I thought she fell.” Danior questioned.

  “It’s protocol,” Kaden lied. “Did you get the generator working?”

  “I don’t know. Is that where Emilion is? I can’t find him anywhere. I’ve been all over the house and property.” Danior replied.

  Mallory, Kaden, and Penny went back into the secret passage with a new shower curtain and the largest flashlight Mallory could find.

  The hallway felt still and silent when they entered, as if it held its breath. Penny had sensed this in other sudden-death cases. The vacuum left behind was palpable. Kaden and Penny got to work quickly. They had both been trained in crime scene protocol but Kaden took the lead and photographed. Mallory had provided them with plastic kitchen gloves and paper bags. They examined the area carefully and bagged anything lying nearby. They found an earring that matched the one in Geneviève’s left ear not far from the body, and a few stray blue hairs that matched Geneviève’s length and color.

  “We should call her family. Is there a cell phone?” Mallory pointed out. “She had one earlier.”

  “I don’t see it.” The lack of electric light hampered their efforts. “Maybe it’s in her room.” Penny responded. “We’ll have a look tomorrow morning once we have some light.”

  They laid the curtain on the floor next to Geneviève, and Kaden and Penny carefully lifted her onto one edge. They gently rolled her in the shower curtain to protect any evidence that might remain on her body, under her fingernails, or anywhere else on her person. As they shifted her over, a clang sounded just underneath her. Mallory shined the light on the ground and a reflective glint winked at them. Penny bent down to examine the piece of jewelry.

  “Mallory, was Geneviève wearing a chain earlier?” Penny pointed to the necklace without touching it.

  Mallory bent down and looked. She took in a sharp breath. “No it . . . it looks like my mother’s hamsa necklace. The one that I was supposed to use for the séance. It was passed down from Great-Grandmother Simza, but how would Geneviève have gotten ahold of it?” She reached out to pick it up.

  “Don’t touch it yet,” Kaden yelled. “Sorry. We need to dust it for prints.”

  Mallory pulled her hand back. She stood as if to put some distance between herself and the piece of jewelry.

  “Your mother is deceased, right?” Kaden asked.

  Mallory nodded her head quickly.

  “Where was this necklace stored?”

  “I don’t know. My Nana usually wears it, but she took it off for the game.”

  Mallory stepped over Geneviève and gave the wall at the bottom of the stairs a gentle shove. “I’ll go get the spare keys and meet you at the shed.”

  Kaden and Penny both looked up, startled. “Another hidden door,” Penny whispered as she got to her feet and inspected the wall. The door opened out into a broom closet under the main stairs. Beyond it was the corridor and front foyer.

  Kaden slid the necklace carefully into a small paper bag and put it with the rest of the evidence bags. He directed Penny to lift Geneviève, and they trooped out of the broom closet to the foyer’s front door, where they met Mallory.

  Once they made it to the locked shed with Geneviève’s plastic-wrapped corpse, Penny left Kaden and Mallory to lock up and walked back to the house. Eve was lurking in the shadows outside around the corner of the house.

  “Eve, what are you doing here?” Penny murmured. “You look suspicious.”

  “I’m looking for Emilion,” she said

  “Let’s go sit down by the fire. I’m sure he’ll turn up soon.” Penny steered her inside the library where some of the guests had settled.

  Nana sat on the blue velvet couch with Gloria and Rebel, listening to the howling wind and snow lashing at the windows. Nana stared at the tarot cards in front of her, shivering despite the nearby roaring fire. “Where’s Mallory?” She asked.

  “She’s with Kaden. She found the spare set of keys so we could lock Geneviève’s corpse in the shed,” Penny said.

  Nana nodded. “Emilion has the main set, but he seems to have disappeared.” Her hands shook as she pulled h
er cardigan more tightly across her shoulders and then rubbed at her eyes.

  “I’m so sorry this is happening, Nana. Are you alright? Should I find Danior for you?”

  She sniffled. “It’s okay, dear. I’m stronger than I look. Unfortunately, I knew something was going to happen this weekend. I should have cancelled the party. I just didn’t know it would be of this magnitude.”

  “What did you think would happen, Nana?” Penny asked.

  “That’s the thing. I didn’t know. Truly, I hoped it was only your flight cancellation and the snow storm. I thought I had the solution when Eve asked you to stop by,” she turned to Penny. “I never imagined one of the guests would stumble into the passage and fall down the stairs.”

  Penny didn’t point out that Geneviève might have had some help falling down the steps. That would only cause a panic. But the truth was, as long as the snow storm continued, they were all stuck in the manor with a possible murderer.

  14

  T he power had still not been restored, and the house was cooling down even more when Penny and Gloria decided to walk Nana upstairs to her third-floor suite. Rebel and Denise had already drifted upstairs to put on an added layer.

  Penny shivered in her matching tweed caplet and skirt as she watched Nana fumble with a pack of matches and light candles as they went.

  “Why don’t we go raid Mallory’s closet, Pen,” Nana said through a yawn. “She has lots of warm clothes.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” Penny said and nodded. “My suitcase is still in the car.”

  They wandered down the hall to Mallory’s room and slid the closet door open. The candle flickered as Nana held it up to better examine the sweaters. Nana flipped through the hangers while Penny pulled on a white long-sleeved shirt and grey joggers. At last Nana found an emerald green knit with buttons down the back and brown leather elbow patches.

  “Now this is a beautiful choice,” she said handing it to Penny. “Emerald green compliments that fiery red hair of yours.”

  “It looks soft and warm and that sounds perfect right about now.”

  Penny tossed the sweater on over top of the other clothes and told the ladies she’d see them later, then she slipped out into the hallway to look for Kaden. Somebody needed to get that damn generator hooked up to the furnace.