Ghostly Secrets

by K E O'Connor

  The taller of the two policemen looked over at us. “Are you Miss Shadow and Miss Holliday?”

  “That’s right,” I said as I walked towards him, Helen by my side.

  “We want to speak to you. I’m Detective Sergeant Keen, and this is my colleague, Police Constable Connelly.” Both men held out their ID for us to inspect.

  “What can we do for you?” I asked.

  “You were the first to discover Juliette last night,” said Detective Sergeant Keen. “Is that correct?”

  “That’s right,” I said. “We found Juliette at the bottom of the stairs.”

  “A little late to be out,” said Detective Sergeant Keen.

  “I had a headache,” I said.

  “And I was sleep walking,” said Helen. “I mean, I was going with Lorna, because it was dark.”

  “So you weren’t sleep walking?” Detective Sergeant Keen looked at Helen with suspicion.

  “I sometimes do.” Helen glanced at me. “But not last night.”

  I could have kicked her. “She came with me to see if we could find something for my headache. I don’t like the dark.”

  “I see. And did you find anyone else in the house when you arrived?” asked Detective Sergeant Keen, his dark brown gaze fixed on me.

  “Not until Ben arrived,” I said. “Helen went to ring for an ambulance, and I was waiting with Juliette when the lights came on, and Ben walked down the stairs.”

  “So nobody else was in the house?”

  “I don’t know that for certain.” My gaze went to Dexter’s car. “I didn’t see anyone else.”

  “Who else could have been in residence?” asked Police Constable Connelly. He was short and stocky, with a thick neck, and piercing blue eyes.

  “Meredith may have been there,” I said. “And Fleur Musgrave also lives here, but I think she was out last night.”

  “We’ve spoken to both ladies,” said Detective Sergeant Keen. “Anybody else?”

  “The family recently had a visit from Dexter Sellers,” said Helen. “That’s his car behind you.”

  “I believe Mr. Sellers is a business associate of the late Archie Musgrave.” said Detective Sergeant Keen.

  “That’s right,” I said. “And the last time he was here, he argued with Juliette.”

  Detective Sergeant Keen’s bushy eyebrows rose a fraction. “Define argue.”

  “They were discussing financial matters, and Dexter insisted he was owed money. Juliette didn’t agree with that,” I said.

  “And he pushed Ben over!” said Helen.

  “Is there any reason Mr. Sellers wants to harm Mrs. Musgrave?” asked Detective Sergeant Keen.

  “He doesn’t seem like a nice person to me,” said Helen. “I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

  “And he left the house an unhappy man the last time he was here,” I said.

  Detective Sergeant Keen made a few notes in the notepad he held. “Do you know where we might find Mr. Sellers?”

  “You’ll be able to locate him better than we can.” I resisted the desire to take another look at the car. I wanted to know where Dexter was as much as they did, maybe more so. But if he was arrested before I could get to him, my chance of finding out what he had to do with Juliette’s fall, and Archie’s death, would be gone.

  Detective Sergeant Keen frowned at me. “See if his details are on our system,” he said to his colleague.

  “I’m on it.” Police Constable Connelly strode to the police car and sat in the passenger seat before picking up his radio.

  “Anything else you want to tell me about Mr. Sellers?” asked Detective Sergeant Keen.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know him well.”

  Detective Sergeant Keen snapped his notepad shut. “If I need any more information, will you both be available to come to the station?”

  “Yes, but I don’t think we can help any further,” I said.

  “That will be for me to judge,” said Detective Sergeant Keen.

  “Any more news on how Juliette is doing?” I asked him.

  “She’s stable,” said Detective Sergeant Keen. “Took a nasty bash to the head. But is already conscious and speaking. Maybe she will have some useful information as to how she fell down the stairs.”

  “Let’s hope she saw who it was,” said Helen.

  Again, I could have kicked her. “If it wasn’t an accident, that is.”

  Detective Sergeant Keen stared in silence at Helen for a few seconds. “What exactly were the two of you doing in the house at that time of night?”

  “Like I said, I had a headache—”

  “Yes, and Miss Holliday was sleepwalking. Then she wasn’t.” Detective Sergeant Keen scratched at the stubble on his chin. “You haven’t been with the household for long have you?”

  “No. But we’ve got excellent references,” I said.

  Detective Sergeant Keen kept rubbing at his chin, the sound like sandpaper on a piece of wood. “It’s not your references I’m concerned about. Do you often sleepwalk?” he asked Helen.

  “All the time.” Helen glanced at me. “I need to be tied to the bed at night to stop me from going for a ramble in my sleep.”

  “That’s an interesting image.” Detective Sergeant Keen smirked. “If Mrs. Musgrave believes her fall wasn’t an accident, you will both need to give a formal statement as to what you saw.”

  “We’ll be happy to help.” I felt sweat prickling in my armpits, and hoped that was an end to his questioning.

  Detective Sergeant Keen placed his notepad in his pocket. “That’s all for now. But don’t go too far, just in case.”

  “Is it okay to go into the main house?” asked Helen.

  “Yes, we’ve gotten everything we need from there,” said Detective Sergeant Keen. “I’ll be in touch.” He walked to the police car and slid into the driver’s seat.

  “They think we’ve got something to do with it,” said Helen quietly.

  “We were the first ones on the scene,” I said. “And we didn’t make a great job of lying about why we were in the house in the first place.”

  “Why did I have to be the one who was sleepwalking?” Helen asked as we made our way towards the main house.

  “I wasn’t serious about the sleepwalking,” I said. “He’ll think we’re idiots or hiding something.”

  “What do we do now?” asked Helen. “Dexter is still at large, and we need to question him.”

  “Maybe we should leave this to the police.” I watched the police car glide away from the house. I did want to find out what happened, but Zach’s words about being more careful were rolling round in my head. “If Dexter did do this, then he’s quite capable of doing us harm as well.”

  “He wouldn’t dare,” said Helen.

  The front door opened, just as we reached it, and Zach emerged, one arm wrapped round Fleur’s waist.

  “You’re here!” I stepped back, trying not to feel horrendously jealous at the sight of another woman in Zach’s arms.

  “I’ve been questioned by the police,” said Zach. “And Fleur was distraught over what happened. I was taking her for a walk round the grounds to calm her nerves.” He gave me an imploring look and then glanced down at Fleur, who clung to him like a determined limpet on its favorite rock.

  “It’s so terrible.” Fleur wiped an invisible tear from her cheek. “I can’t believe what has happened to Juliette. First, Archie dies and now someone tries to kill Juliette.”

  “Are you sure someone else is involved?” I asked her.

  “Well, she could have been drunk and taken a tumble,” said Fleur with a sniff. “I know she’s overly fond of champagne. Never leaves any for me in the house.”

  “Did you see anyone else at the house last night?” I asked.

  “No, there was no one else here,” said Fleur. “I got back late after it had happened. I really do need some fresh air.” She raised her wide eyes to Zach and blinked at him. “Can you help me?”

  “I’ll t
ake you for a walk.” Helen grabbed hold of Fleur’s arm. “Come with me.”

  “Zach’s going to take me,” said Fleur.

  “Zach is busy,” said Helen. “You’ll have to make do with me.” She yanked a protesting Fleur away and round the corner of the house, giving me a wink as she did so.

  I could have kissed Helen for getting rid of Fleur. I could see she wasn’t upset about what had happened to Juliette, and was using it as an excuse to get her claws into Zach.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” said Zach. “Where have you been?”

  “We went to find Dexter,” I said. “We think he’s got something to do with the accident Juliette had.”

  “So you went looking for a potential killer on your own?” Zach caught hold of my hand and pulled me towards him. “Didn’t you stop to think about how dangerous that could have been?”

  “But we didn’t want him getting away,” I said.

  “Maybe so, but I want to keep you alive.” Zach pulled me into his embrace.

  “We weren’t in any danger,” I said.

  “But you could have been,” said Zach. “What did Dexter have to say for himself when you caught up with him?”

  “We didn’t find him,” I said. “We tried the hotel we thought he was staying at, but they were unhelpful. And we decided not to hang around on the off-chance he returned. We wanted to get back and make sure everything was okay with Juliette.”

  Zach rested his hands on my shoulders. “The police are interested in somebody for her fall. They seem convinced it wasn’t an accident.”

  “Maybe she’s already told them something,” I said. “And the way we found her at the bottom of the stairs suggests she was pushed from behind.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “She was face down. If she’d missed her step and fallen over, she would have tumbled down the stairs head over heels. And her arms were thrown out as if she was trying to stop herself when she hit the ground.”

  “It's possible she missed a step and landed face down anyway,” said Zach.

  “I guess so,” I said, not feeling convinced.

  “I bet you haven’t had breakfast yet,” said Zach. “Let’s go to the kitchen and see what we can find to eat.”

  “We shouldn’t,” I said as I let Zach lead me through the house. “Meredith doesn’t like anybody getting in the way.”

  “She’ll make an exception in this case,” said Zach. “We’ve all had a stressful time.”

  We walked into the large, open plan, country style kitchen and found it deserted.

  “Looks like our luck’s in,” said Zach.

  “Maybe Meredith is having a break.” I looked round to make sure there were no signs of her.

  “Could be. It must be a shock for Meredith to discover her employer's been injured.”

  “If she catches us in here and is angry, you’re taking the blame.” I watched Zach switch on the kettle and open the fridge door.

  “I’m happy to take the blame,” said Zach. “But I must make sure my favorite girl is well fed and looked after.”

  A thrill of excitement ran through me at Zach’s words. It was nice to know he considered me his girl. “So you’re not interested in anybody else?”

  Zach paused from his investigation of the fridge. “As in other women?”

  “Yes, other women.” I felt my cheeks glow. “Fleur is interested in you, and she’s beautiful.”

  “And as I’ve said before, as flattering as that is, I’m not interested in her.” Zach shut the fridge door and walked to my side.

  “It’s just that, well, we’ve never discussed our situation.” I played with a loose thread on my sleeve and realized I was still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

  “Our situation?” Amusement traced through Zach’s words. “Is that what you’re calling our relationship?”

  “No!” I swatted his arm. “But we’ve only been dating for a short while, and I’m not certain how you feel about me.”

  Zach wrapped his arms round me and kissed my cheek. “I’m very fond of you.”

  “Which is nice,” I said, “but that doesn’t define our relationship.”

  Zach tipped my chin up with a finger. “If you’re asking me if I’m seeing other people at the same time as you, then the answer is no. I have my hands full trying to keep you happy.”

  “So there are no other women in your life?”

  “Well, there is one other special woman,” said Zach.

  “So you are seeing somebody else?” I tried to struggle out of his firm embrace but he held on tightly.

  “Yes, and she’s the most perfect woman I’ve ever met. She’s cute, furry, sits when I tell her to, and never complains.”

  I let out a sigh. “You’re talking about Jessie!”

  Zach laughed and hugged me to him. “Of course. Jessie is my number one girl. Well, maybe the two of you can take joint first place. I have room in my heart for both of you.”

  I didn’t mind sharing joint first place with a dog. I was the same way about Flipper. Love me, love my dog; that was a motto I always stuck to. “I can handle that.”

  “Good, because I’m happy,” said Zach. “I’m happy with you. I’m happy with Jessie, and I’m happy with how my life is going. I want both of you with me for a long time. I don’t care how many beautiful women throw themselves at my feet; the only beautiful woman I’m interested in is you.”

  “And Jessie,” I muttered into his shirt.

  “That goes without saying,” he said.

  “Well, I’m glad we got that all sorted out,” I said.

  Zach laughed and let go of me. “Yes, so am I. Now, let’s see about getting you fed.”

  ***

  Three rounds of toast and a pot of tea later, and I was ready to start searching for Dexter again.

  Having left Zach to his gardening, I hurried through the house and out into the grounds in search of Helen. There was no sign of her, so I guessed her walk with Fleur hadn’t been a big success.

  I dashed to our cottage and flung open the door. Helen was sitting at the table, with a mug in her hands and a weary expression on her face.

  “You owe me a huge favor,” she said as she spotted me. “Fleur is a nightmare.”

  “I think we figured that out a while back,” I said as I shut the door. “Thanks for getting rid of her. If she’d stood there for a second longer wrapped round Zach, I’m not sure I’d have been able to hold myself back.”

  “I was happy to step in and get rid of her for you,” said Helen. “But she’s such a whiner. The whole time we were walking, she kept complaining about how little money she had and how awful Juliette was. I was on the verge of suggesting to Fleur that she had pushed Juliette down the stairs, when she decided she’d had enough walking, and ran back to the house before I could stop her.”

  I sat down at the table next to Helen. “Could she be the one who pushed Juliette down the stairs? Maybe it wasn’t Dexter after all.”

  “To figure that out, we have to find Dexter,” said Helen. “Any signs of him at the house?”

  “Other than his car, nothing,” I said.

  “And how are things with Zach?” Helen smiled slyly. “I’m guessing you had a little chat with him about being so hands-on with the simpering Fleur?”

  “We had a chat.” I inspected my fingernails.

  “And? What did he have to say for himself?”

  “That he’s not interested in her,” I said. “In fact, he said he’s only interested in me.” I looked up at Helen and grinned.

  “Which is amazing news.” Helen wrapped me in a warm embrace. “I’m so happy for the two of you. But it’s about time. He shouldn’t be so coy about telling you how he feels. You’re an eligible bachelorette and could get snapped up at any second.”

  I snorted a laugh. That was not how I’d describe myself. “Well, we’re both happy and committed to each other. That’s all I care about.”

  “So you’re deliciously
in love, and I’m still hopelessly single.” The corners of Helen’s mouth turned down.

  “We’ll get that fixed,” I said. “I thought Police Constable Connelly was giving you a lot of attention. I’m sure he winked at you.”

  “Yuck. I’d never date a policeman,” said Helen. “All that shift work must be exhausting. And what if he went and got himself injured on duty? Definitely not for me. I want a man with a safe profession and a cut glass accent.”

  I shook my head. “We’ll have to deal with your love life another time. We still need to hunt down Dexter and see what he has to say about Juliette’s accident.”

  Chapter 18

  “Thanks for nothing.” Helen slammed down the phone and leaned back in her chair. “I’ve tried being his wife, his sister, and his business partner, and the snooty hotel staff are not budging.”

  We were in the cottage, trying to find a clue as to Dexter’s whereabouts. Flipper was curled up on my feet at the end of the sofa, happily dreaming about long walks and big sticks. Helen sat opposite me with a look of frustration on her face.

  “Maybe Dexter isn’t there anymore.” I looked out the window at his car that still sat by the main house. “Could he have come here late last night and stayed over?”

  “You think we should search the house again?” asked Helen. “Surely, he wouldn’t still be there if he has anything to do with Juliette’s fall.”

  “He could be in hiding,” I said, “waiting for the police to leave and everything to calm down before coming out. He must know the house well, since he’s been friends with Archie for so long.”

  “Or maybe he fled as soon as he’d done it,” said Helen. “He could have shoved Juliette down the stairs and ran off into the night. He’ll be sunning himself in Belize by now.”

  “But why run when you have a car outside?” I asked. “Dexter is still about. And I bet he’s lying low. We need to go hunting for him.”

  “That will beat speaking to snobby receptionists who won’t give me any useful information,” said Helen. “Perhaps Flipper could use his nose to sniff out Dexter’s whereabouts? And I give Flipper permission to bite Dexter as punishment for being such a nuisance.”

  I looked over at Flipper, who was snoring on the sofa. “I’ve never used him to track people before. And we don’t have anything of Dexter’s that he can smell and get his scent.”