Ghostly Business

by K. E. O'Connor

  “I shouldn’t think she will,” said Sandy. “Lady Cordelia is determined to get rid of the sanctuary and us as well. I’ve been looking around for another job, but no luck so far. Come on, we’ll work our way along this row first.”

  She let me into an animal house, and three timid little black faces peered out at me from the indoor enclosure. I knelt down and beckoned the cats to me. “What do you think about Julius’s idea for an animal park?”

  “Not much,” said Sandy. “And I don’t know why he’d want such a thing, he doesn’t even like animals. The last time he came to visit the sanctuary with Leo he complained nonstop about having allergies and said his face swelled up. If the cats do that to him, imagine what a lion will do.”

  “He thinks it’s going to make money for the estate,” I said, lowering my voice as one of the black cats crept closer, its nose snitching up as it inhaled my scent.

  “I get the impression young Julius is trying to make a name for himself,” said Sandy, as she emptied litter trays and changed the water in the cats’ bowls. “He was always presenting some wild idea or other to his father, and none of them were taken seriously. Julius needs to take a holiday and get a girlfriend, and stop worrying about his reputation. He can get stressed when he’s middle-aged and has a pot belly and high blood pressure.”

  “If he offered you a job in the animal park, would you take it?

  Sandy looked over at me and shrugged. “Beggars can’t be choosers, but I wouldn’t be happy about it. I’m not even sure keeping wild animals in a place like this is right. Imagine if one of them got into the castle when it was full of visitors? It’s a big responsibility to have such dangerous animals in the park. We even get complaints occasionally from visitors when one of the cats scratches them. Think of the compensation claims if a lion got loose and decided to take a bite out of somebody.”

  I grimaced as I imagined the front page news stories that would create. It wouldn’t do any good to the estate’s income if something like that happened. I finally managed to coax the cats out and gave them all a stroke before cleaning their enclosure.

  We were just about to start on the next pen when Big Ginge strolled up, his tail flicking lazily in the air as he sidled along the outside of the houses.

  “Here comes trouble,” said Sandy, as she spotted Big Ginge.

  “He does like to make himself at home,” I said. “My first day here, I found him asleep on my bed.”

  “You’d better be careful if he takes a fancy to your bed,” said Sandy. “He’s the cat who was found asleep on Leo’s face.”

  “Big Ginge suffocated Leo!”

  Big Ginge narrowed his eyes at me and hissed.

  “That’s what Lady Cordelia reckons,” said Sandy. “He was the only cat in the room when Leo's body was discovered.”

  Big Ginge hissed again and his fur bushed up.

  “He doesn’t seem happy about being accused of killing Leo,” I said.

  “That’s one clever cat,” said Sandy. “We used to have him in a pen, but he kept escaping. No matter what we did or how many locks we put on the door, he’d always get out. He’s like the Harry Houdini of cats. But he was Leo’s favorite, which is why he got to sleep in his bedroom. It’s a shame their friendship had such a sad ending.”

  I stepped outside of the cat house I was in and tried to give Big Ginge a stroke, but he backed away from me, his ears low and his eyes wide. He was definitely unhappy about being accused of smothering Leo.

  “Let’s go, plenty more cats to clean out.” Sandy unlocked the next house and ushered me in.

  I stepped inside and began cleaning, but paused and watched as Big Ginge strolled away. If Big Ginge was innocent in all of this, then I was getting more interested in Julius as Leo’s killer. It was time to pin down the prodigal son and see what secrets he was hiding.

  Chapter 17

  After my time helping Sandy clean out the rest of the cat houses, I was in need of a shower, but didn’t dare take the time to do it until I’d finished working with Lady Cordelia. She barely spoke to me the whole time I was in the study with her, and the atmosphere was frosty between us. I still hadn’t forgiven her for bitching about me to Sebastien, and from the way she was treating me, it seemed she was equally unhappy.

  I was glad when she curtly dismissed me and I hurried to my room to take a quick shower before dinner.

  I was just scrubbing the smell of litter trays off me when Leo’s head popped around the shower curtain.

  “Get out of here!” I hurled my loofah at him. “No ghosts in the shower.”

  Leo ducked his head back and vanished.

  I grumbled under my breath as I swiftly washed the conditioner out of my hair. That was one rule I had when it came to ghosts; they did not disturb me when I was in the shower. No pervy ghosts allowed. I groped around for a towel, and then wrapped it around my body, before stepping out of the shower.

  Leo was still in the bathroom, but had his back to me and his face to the wall.

  I swiftly wrapped a pink fluffy towel around my hair. “I’m decent now. But next time, wait until I’m out of the shower before making your presence known.”

  Leo turned around slowly, a sorrowful look on his face, and he kept his eyes on the ground.

  “I still haven’t figured out who killed you,” I said, as I wiped steam off the bathroom mirror. “But I am interested in Julius.”

  Leo shrugged and shook his head.

  I massaged cream into my face. “Do you know Julius is going ahead with his wild animal park? Everyone I've talked to has told me you were dead set against the idea. So, I’m thinking he decided to get you out of the way so he could carry on with his plan.”

  Leo shrugged again, not seeming enthused by my idea.

  “Wait for me in the kitchen,” I said. “I need to get dressed, and you’re definitely not watching that. Perhaps we can come up with some useful information together if we spend time considering each suspect.”

  Leo nodded and vanished from sight.

  I still waited a few seconds before dropping my towel, not wanting him to unexpectedly arrive when I was naked.

  I dressed in my favorite pair of soft, grey trousers and a black pullover, before swiftly drying my hair and then heading to the kitchen with Flipper to see what Helen had cooked us for dinner.

  As I walked through the doorway, I could hear Helen talking to herself. But then I spotted our extra guests; Leo was drifting around in one corner and Big Ginge was perched on a seat by the table, his gaze intent on Helen as she cooked.

  “Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, you know.” I sat at the table and grabbed a hunk of warm homemade bread from the plate in front of me.

  Helen brandished a wooden spoon at me. “I’m not alone. I know Leo is here because I’ve been shivering for several minutes. We also have a four-legged guest. He is interested in everything I have to tell him.” She gestured to Big Ginge who was washing himself and rubbing his paw over his ears.

  “Am I forgiven yet?” I asked him.

  Big Ginge paused from his washing and regarded me with large bright eyes.

  “What did you do to him?” asked Helen.

  “I was with Sandy at lunchtime,” I said. “She reckons Big Ginge was the cat who suffocated Leo. He thinks otherwise.”

  Leo rushed over to the table and spun around it several times, shaking his hand and rattling the cutlery.

  “And from the way Leo is behaving he also doesn’t agree with that theory.” I gripped the edge of the table as I waited for the dizziness to pass.

  Flipper began chasing after Leo and snapping at him.

  “Whatever Leo’s doing tell him to stop,” said Helen. “The kitchen feels like we’re in a freezer, and if I get too dizzy I won’t be able to finish dinner.”

  “You heard the lady,” I said to Leo. “You need to calm down so we can discuss what’s going on.”

  Leo stopped by Big Ginge and pointed at him before shaking his
head. Flipper ran straight through Leo and then turned around and jumped up at him.

  “I get that you don’t think Big Ginge had anything to do with your death,” I said, as I patted Flipper’s head to calm him down.

  “The newspaper reports suggests otherwise.” Helen sat at the table.

  “What do you know?” I asked.

  “I’ve been doing a bit of research,” said Helen. “I looked up the media reports on Leo’s death. Turns out he had cat fur lodged in his throat. That’s why they believe a cat suffocated him in his sleep. And it was ginger fur they found.”

  Big Ginge’s narrowed his eyes at Helen as if he understood what she was saying.

  “Be careful what you say next,” I cautioned her. “Big Ginge is not amused.”

  Helen shot the cat a cautious look. “The newspapers also reported that swabs of Leo’s skin were taken and they found cat saliva on his face.”

  “That does seem damning evidence,” I said, my attention still on Big Ginge.

  Big Ginge shook himself and a cloud of fur floated from his body.

  “You see.” Helen pointed at the fur. “And he’s a big cat, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to curl up on Leo’s face and suffocate him.”

  Big Ginge growled.

  “Even if he didn’t mean to,” said Helen swiftly.

  I wished Big Ginge could talk and tell us what really happened.

  The kitchen door banged open and Sebastien hurried in, glancing furtively over his shoulder as he did so. “I’m glad you’re here.” He looked at Helen and then raised his eyebrows at me. “Is it okay if we talk about you know what?”

  “Helen knows everything,” I said. “Sit down, we were just about to eat dinner if you want to join us.”

  “No thanks, but I found something that might be interesting,” said Sebastien.

  “Is it the will?” I asked.

  “No, but it’s got something to do with Julius and this park idea,” said Sebastien. “I haven’t got long, Lady Cordelia is on the hunt for me. She wants us to have a romantic dinner out.” He grimaced at me.

  “Remember what I said, be nice to her.” Not that I thought she deserved it anymore.

  “I’m doing my best,” said Sebastien. “But she’d try the patience of a saint.”

  “What did you find out?” asked Helen.

  “It’s a big loan agreement Julius wants to take out.” Sebastien pulled out several sheets of paper from his inside jacket pocket and handed them to me.

  I read through the paperwork quickly. “Julius wants to remortgage the castle for millions and gamble it on this wild animal park idea.”

  Leo spun up to the ceiling and flew round the table several times.

  Sebastien grabbed the back of a chair and the color leached from his skin. “Is anyone else feeling giddy?”

  Leo knocked over the condiments on the table, his face livid as he shot past me again. Someone was not happy with Julius’s loan idea.

  “Why don’t you sit down?” Helen jumped up and grabbed hold of the condiments, setting them upright. “Maybe you’re feeling lightheaded because you haven’t had any dinner.”

  Sebastien nodded and fumbled his way into a seat before putting his head in his hands. “I get these strange feelings sometimes when I’m in the castle, like everything’s tilting. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this place was haunted. And I’ve walked through plenty of cold spots when I’ve been here as well. That’s supposed to be a sign ghosts are around.”

  I looked at Leo who was still spinning around the kitchen. “Old places often carry rumors about ghosts.”

  “I’m open-minded to the idea of ghosts,” said Sebastien. “I had a great aunt who used to be able to read people’s futures from their tea leaves. She would brew a disgustingly strong batch of tea, make you drink it down and then spill the remains of the cup into a saucer, and she'd predict what was going to happen to you. I was never sure if I believed her, but she did tell me she saw me living in a castle, so maybe there is something to that sort of thing.”

  I gestured at Leo to slow down, and after another spin around the room he stopped by my chair and glared at me.

  “This loan agreement gives Julius a strong motive for killing Leo,” I said. “We need to confront him about it.”

  “You need to be careful,” said Sebastien. “He’s your employer’s son, he could have you sacked. I know he’s made up stories about other members of staff he didn’t like so he could get rid of them. And Cordelia always sides with Julius, so you won’t stand a chance if he wants you gone if you start asking awkward questions.”

  “Having heard what Lady Cordelia had to say about me when I was hiding in her closet, I expect she’s looking for an excuse to fire me,” I said.

  “Is there any way we can ask him discreetly?” suggested Helen.

  “Would you be up for doing some of your amazing flirting with him?” I asked. “You could get something useful out of him if you smiled sweetly.”

  “Not this time,” said Helen. “I’m rationing my flirting to men I consider serious husband material.”

  “And you won’t get that with Julius,” said Sebastien. “He’s barely out of short trousers and is too busy trying to be the boss of this place to notice you. Not that you aren’t lovely.”

  Helen smoothed down her hair. “Thank you for noticing.”

  “Is your hair color natural?” asked Sebastien. “It’s so shiny. You must use a treatment on it.”

  “It’s all mine,” said Helen. “The color and the shine.”

  “Let’s talk about hair dye another time,” I said. “We need to figure out a way to get Julius to open up about this loan and find out what he told Leo about his plans to remortgage the castle.”

  Leo jabbed a finger at the loan paperwork and shook his head.

  “Could be Leo was in the dark about the loan and Julius was going behind his back,” I said, more for Leo’s consideration than anyone else’s.

  Leo nodded along with my theorizing.

  “And if Julius became suspicious that his father was on to him, and he didn’t want him to put a stop to the loan, he may have acted hastily.”

  Leo tilted his head to one side and frowned.

  Sebastien groaned and raised a hand. “I’ll be your sacrificial lamb.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked him.

  “I can’t stand being mauled by Cordelia anymore. And since I’m not going to get any money out of this, I need to bring it to a halt. I’ll confront Julius with what we’ve found out and see what he’s prepared to tell me. I can use this as my way to escape from Cordelia and maybe even help Leo at the same time.”

  “Julius isn’t a fan of yours,” I said. “We saw that over dinner the other night. He might not tell you anything.”

  “I’ve always made it clear to him that I thought he wasn’t mature enough to run this estate and he’s never forgiven me for that,” said Sebastien. “Confronting him about this loan will only enrage him further. And if I upset Julius enough, Cordelia will side with him and fall out with me. It’s just the excuse I need to get out of here.”

  I raised my eyebrows and nodded. Sebastien had an ulterior motive for confronting Julius but it worked in our favor. And if he could find out what we needed, I was prepared to offer him up as our sacrifice. “Okay, then we need to make some plans to get you and Julius in the same room and find out what he knows.”

  “And we need to do it quickly,” said Sebastien. “If I have to spend one more night fending off Cordelia’s advances, there might be another murder to investigate.”

  Chapter 18

  I disinfected my hands before leaving the cat houses. I’d spent an hour with Sandy after work helping her tidy everything. She was still struggling on her own, and Lady Cordelia wasn’t being any help and kept saying the cats would be taken away soon, so Sandy didn’t need extra help.

  I hurried back to the castle with Flipper to find Helen already waiting for me outside the gate
house.

  “You’re late.” She grabbed my elbow and hurried me around the side of the castle.

  “You can’t hurry a fussy cat when they won’t eat their dinner,” I said.

  “Sebastien is already on his way to see Julius,” said Helen. “We don’t want to miss what he has to say.”

  Sebastien had convinced Julius to meet with him that evening and discuss a fictitious business opportunity. They were meeting in a downstairs study so we’d be able to listen in through the window.

  Big Ginge came running out from a hedge and ran alongside Flipper as we neared the window.

  “Not a word out of either of you,” I said to Flipper and Big Ginge. “We need to be discreet.”

  Both animals looked up at me with big innocent eyes.

  As we reached the window, I could hear the sound of a quiet male voice.

  Helen risked a look through the window and then ducked back. “Julius is in there on his phone. And he’s got one leg in plaster.”

  “That’s odd, he was fine when I saw him this morning. I wonder what he’s done?” I was about to take a look myself, when there was a knock at the door, and we listened as Julius finished his phone call.

  The knock sounded again, this time louder.

  “Enter,” said Julius, his tone already sounding irritated.

  “Julius, how are you?” It was Sebastien, and he sounded nervous. “You’ve hurt your leg.”

  “Well spotted. But I’m busy,” said Julius. “What did you want to talk to me about? You said something about a business opportunity. I’ve already got a lot going on right now, so can’t take on too much additional work.”

  “Yes, I imagine you have with your plans for the animal park,” said Sebastien.

  There was a short pause. “What do you know about that?”

  There was the rustling sound of paper and I exchanged a glance with Helen. Sebastien must be showing Julius the loan papers he’d discovered.

  “I found some interesting information about how you’re raising the finance for your park,” said Sebastien.

  The silence lasted for so long that I couldn’t help but look in the window. Julius was staring at the papers Sebastien had laid on the table. Two bright-red spots of color were on his cheeks and I could see he was grinding his teeth together.