by Joe Vadalma
"Geez ... I don't know. Don't you think it'd be better if we stuck together. This house gives me the creeps."
Raven poked him and laughed. “Why the big brave Keith is chicken. Don't tell me you're afraid a ghost is going to jump out at you?"
"You know I don't believe in none of that stuff."
"Well, what the fuck are you afraid of—the bogeyman? The place is empty. Nobody's here."
"Shit, I ain't afraid of nothin'. Go on up. I'll start with that door on the left."
Morgaine heard high heels clack on the steps leading upstairs. Keith entered the library and played the beam of his flashlight around the room. Morgaine sneaked up behind him and put her hands over his eyes. He shuddered and cried out, “Raven, cut out the screwing around. You scared the hell out of me.” He turned around to face Morgaine. “What the frigg, you ain't Raven.” He brought the flashlight up so that it shone directly into Morgaine's face. “Well, I'll be damned. It's Ms. Van Best. What're you doing here?"
"Same as you. Following up on the clues we got at the seance.” Morgaine winked at him. “So, where's your partner?"
"Searching the upstairs."
She stepped forward until her breasts were inches from his chest and gazed into his face. “That leaves just you and me to look around down here."
He stepped back, a hungry but sheepish look on his face. “I ... uh ... guess so."
"Y'know, I don't think we'd find anything interesting up here. I happen to know that Mr. Ellul had secret rooms in the cellar. If there were any clues to his disappearance, they'd probably be down there."
Keith seemed distracted. Morgaine smiled as she noticed that he was giving her the once over. He did not reply.
She took his hand. “C'mon, let me show you.” She led him to the secret panel behind the bookcase and led him down to the cellars, where with his help, she started the emergency electrical generators. She turned on the lights and showed Keith Michael's computers.
"Hey, this is great,” he said, sat at the desk and booted it up. “I'll bet there's lots of stuff on his hard disk that'll give us a lot of info about where he might've gone."
About an hour later Morgaine's cat, Mephistopheles, sashayed down the spiral staircase from the library. He was followed by Raven with a flashlight in her left hand and a pistol in her right.
Keith was at a desk watching the computer monitor and playing with a mouse. Morgaine stood close behind him, her breast against his shoulder and her cheek close to his.
"Jesus Christ, Keith, what the hell are you doing down here?” Raven cried as she slid the weapon into her shoulder-holster. “I was looking all over for you."
Morgaine and Keith turned their heads in unison at the sound of Raven's loud entrance. Morgaine smiled like the proverbial cat who ate the canary. Keith simply looked guilty.
"Hi Raven,” Morgaine said, “I'm sorry. It was my fault. I wanted to show Keith Michael's secret office."
Keith said, “Uh ... yeah, I ran into her in the library. She asked me whether I knew that Ellul had secret rooms. There's some interesting stuff stored in his computer. Stuff that might help us."
Raven ignored Morgaine. “So why didn't you tell me that you were coming down here. I was going nuts looking for you."
Keith's face reddened. “Well uh ... I got so excited about there being secret rooms that I..."
"Never mind,” Raven interrupted him. She asked Morgaine, “And how and why are you here? Did you follow us?"
"No, it's just coincidence that I came here tonight. During the seance that we held at the institute, the ghost of Melody's first husband indicated that something was hidden in this house. I decided to snoop a little on my own. I still believe that it would be beneficial if we joined forces. I could really help you. For instance, you wouldn't have had to break in; I know where a key to the servants’ entrance is hidden. Also, I knew about the secret door behind the bookcase ... although this is the first time I've ever been down here."
"I'll think it over. I've also made a discovery. There's a dead body in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Is there a working phone down here? I need to call Melody and the cops."
"The police?” Morgaine asked in a sarcastic manner. “How will you explain our presence here?"
"That's why I'm calling Melody first."
"There's a phone, but I wouldn't be too hasty making those calls. We should copy information we've found on Michael's computer first. Once the police get here, that won't be feasible. Also, Michael Ellul had other secret rooms that could be explored."
"Okay. What have you found? Doctor Dee's secret journal? Files labeled Asmodeus?"
"No,” Keith replied, “but this is an interesting one. It's labeled Lucretia and it's supposed to be the diary of a friend of Doctor Frankenstein's wife."
Raven laughed. “The diary of a fictional character. One that wasn't even in the original novel. Really great stuff. If that's it, I may as well make that call."
"Wait Raven, remember what that nut Westcott said—that Ellul believed that Doctor Frankenstein was a real person. There's a lot of stuff about the mad scientist's book. It was called The Secrets of Life and Death. If Ellul thought it was really Frankenstein's notes, he might've gone after it."
"Okay, finish copying the files, and I'll make my calls."
A couple of minutes later, Keith said, “Done."
Meanwhile, Morgaine tugged on a door on the wall opposite the staircase. “Raven,” she said, “as a PI, you must know how to pick locks."
Raven grinned. “I'm the all-time expert.” She plucked a little tool from her hair and knelt down to fool with the lock. Keith came over to watch.
Morgaine said, “May I see that?” she pointed at the diskette with the copied files, and Keith handed them to her. At that moment, Raven opened the door in which the lock she had just picked was located. Morgaine gave Keith a shove so that he stumbled past Raven into the dark room beyond. Morgaine kicked Raven in the buttocks with the spiked heel of her boot in such a tender spot that Raven crawled away in pain. She slammed the door locking the detectives into the laboratory. She heard Raven pounding on it and yelling, “Hey bitch, let us out."
"Oh dear, are you two trapped in there? I'll have to go for help. But first I'll need to erase some files on this computer's hard drive. That way I'll have the only copy of this. Au revoir."
Morgaine fastened the heavy metal door by a bar lock that was seldom used, turned off the generators and left Moonwood.
CHAPTER 12
ISAAC
"I've got good new and bad news, Michael,” Morgaine said into the telephone at her motel. “Let me give you the bad news first. It's terrible. Elizabeth Wolfgang is dead. One of the detectives that Melody hired found her body at Moonwood."
Michael's voice in the receiver said, “That's awful. I really liked the old gal. How did she die?"
"I don't know. But, she's been dead for some time. According to Raven Lenore, she was in a quite advanced state of decay. What was she doing there?"
"Hiding out. And taking care of the robot."
"Hiding from whom?"
"Government agents. I'm not sure which branch. They wanted to arrest her for stealing the robot. The were also after Jack Westcott, but could never prove he had anything to do with the robot's abduction. What about those detectives? What were they doing at Moonwood?"
"Searching the place. They broke in. They were looking for clues to your location. The seance kind of led them there. I locked them in your lab."
"What? Why did you do that?"
"To get them out of our hair for a while. They're resourceful and will find a way out. Don't you want to hear my good news, darling?"
"Okay. What is it?"
"I found out where Victor's journal may be. We'll be taking a trip soon. Get airline tickets to Genoa."
"I had a suspicion that it might still be in Switzerland. I don't know what I should do about poor Elizabeth. I hate to leave her body there. The least we could do is give h
er a decent burial."
"I suspect that Melody will take care of that after the detectives escape your lab. They'll probably notify Melody and the police."
"I don't like that. You know, the robot was in the lab."
"I didn't think of that. Maybe I'd better do something."
"What? I need to know what you're up to. I don't think locking those PIs in my lab was a very good idea. Now the police will be all over Moonwood, and the papers will drag out all that stuff about the suicides and demon possession again. A lot of publicity is not what we need right now."
"I'm sorry. I'll tell you my plan later. Bye."
She hung up and read the files from the diskettes into her laptop, cursing loudly when she discovered that they were password protected and encrypted. She thought for a while and decided she needed to return to Moonwood. As she walked out of her motel room, she noticed the detectives’ Pontiac parked outside of Room 104. She knocked on the door. Keith answered.
"You,” he cried. “You've got some fucking nerve coming around here after locking us in that lab. We could've died in there. I should have you arrested for unlawful imprisonment."
Morgaine gave him her sexiest smile. “I'm terribly sorry about that. I don't know what came over me to do such a terribly thing. Can we talk it over?” She took step closer so that their bodies were millimeters apart and stared hypnotically into his eyes. “Where's your partner?"
"She's at Ellul's estate with his wife.” His dazed look let Morgaine know that she was having the desired effect on him.
"So how did you two escape that locked room? You must be magicians."
"You're not going to believe this. An android, y'know, a robot, like in the sci-fi flicks, helped us escape."
"How fascinating? Where's this robot now?"
"Some government jerks, or hoods posing as G-men, got him. They tied me and Raven up and called the local cops. We spent the night in jail. Mrs. Ellul bailed us."
"You had quite an adventure. Are ready for more?” Morgaine reached up and put her hand up to his neck. “I go for big strong guys."
Keith shook his head as though to clear it and stepped away. “Cut it out. I ain't gonna cheat on Raven. Peddle your wares someplace else. I ain't buying what your selling."
Morgaine reached into her purse and pulled out a revolver which she pointed at Keith. “I guess I'll have to try a different approach with you. Let me in and close the door. I want to know everything that happened after I left the Ellul mansion."
* * * *
The storm that evening grew worse. By the time Morgaine and Keith entered Moonwood, the old house squeaked, groaned, rattled and shivered from the wind. The foyer smelled musty and damp, and the rain drummed a constant tattoo on the roof. A terrible gust of wind moaned around the house and rattled the shutters, lightning struck something close by, and the overhead light flickered, dimmed and went out. As Keith and Morgaine tried to make their way to the library in the pitch black house, Keith bumped into a table and a vase fell with a crash. “Oh shit,” he cried. “I broke a goddamn vase. I hope it wasn't valuable."
"You clumsy oaf,” Morgaine whispered harshly in his ear. “Now your partner and Mrs. Ellul will know we're here."
Suddenly the beam from a flashlight held by someone on the stairs was shone directly into Morgaine's eyes. Raven's voice said, “You always were a klutz."
Keith put up a hand to shield his eyes. “Is that you, Raven? Lower the flash; it's in my eyes."
Raven kept the light on their faces. “Well, if it isn't Claudia. Come back to steal more files? Or lock us in another cellar room? And you, Keith, got a new girl friend? A dream girl who can push you around?"
Keith said, “Hey, I don't have anything to do with this..."
"Shut up,” said Morgaine in a sardonic tone. She moved her arm so that Raven could see the Beretta that she was poking into Keith's back. “Don't worry Raven, I have no designs on lover boy here—although he is kind of cute. All I want is that notebook you found in the cellar. It turns out that those files were encrypted and password protected. So, let's trade. The diskettes and your partner for Lucretia's journal."
"Who's this?” Melody asked.
"The woman who locked us in the lab, Claudia Van Best. Claudia, the journal's in the room where Keith and I were going to sleep."
"Lead the way. And no funny stuff."
Raven climbed the steps behind Melody and Keith. Morgaine followed closely with the gun in Raven's ribs. In the room, Raven retrieved the notebook from a drawer and handed it to Morgaine who removed the diskettes from her purse and threw them on the bed. “Stay right here for a few minutes. If I see any of your happy faces before I pull out of the driveway, I won't hesitate blowing you away. I'll leave your car at your motel in Westchester.” Grinning wildly, she blew them a kiss, said, “Bye, bye,” and backed out of the bedroom. Moments later she clattered down the stairs.
Morgaine gunned the Pontiac and peeled rubber as she pulled away from the house.
* * * *
Morgaine dropped the detective's car at the motel as she had promised, checked out and drove the Camero to the Westchester Institute. Michael and his two friends were waiting for her. She handed Michael the journal and asked, “Did you make airline reservation for Zurich?"
"Yes. For tomorrow night. Just you and me, right? Do you have a passport?"
"I'll manufacture one. Rhami and Bob can take care of things at this end. We have one more problem."
"Some men claiming to be from the NSA have taken the robot. The detectives think that they are not really from the government; that they are acting for someone else. An unknown party."
"We must get it back before we leave for Switzerland. We can hide it there."
"Let me have a crystal."
Michael took a crystal ball from a cabinet and handed it to her. Morgaine gazed into it until she went into a trance state. When she came out of the trance, she said, “Come with me. I know where those men are keeping the robot."
* * * *
Two hours later Morgaine pulled the Camero into the parking lot of an abandoned factory once owned by the TURC Corporation. Using her demoniac powers, Morgaine opened a side door which she and Michael entered.
"This is a big factory,” Michael whispered. “Do you think you can locate Isaac?"
"Not yet.” Morgaine took out a wand from her purse and said a finding spell over it. Holding it in her left hand and a flashlight in the right, she followed its vibrations as she had her schedule when she was in The University of Wizardry. It led them to a windowless room previously used by TURC as a clean room. The lights were on. Morgaine and Michael did not enter immediately, but cautiously peered into it. Two men in dark suits stood watch over the robot. One leaned against crates with one foot resting on a box. The other sat on another crate reading a comic book. Isaac stood near the wall, an electrical cord connecting him to a wall socket.
Morgaine made magical passes with her hand and muttered a formula under her breath. The two men's eyes closed, their heads nodded, and they slid to the floor asleep. From the doorway Morgaine stage whispered, “Isaac, come with us."
Isaac said, “I cannot. Those men ordered me not to leave this room until they told me otherwise."
Michael entered the room and looked the robot in the eye. “As your real owner, in the name of your designers, Jack Westcott and Elizabeth Wolfgang, I counteract that order. Follow us.” He turned and walked toward the door.
Isaac unplugged itself and followed Michael.
As they drove back to the institute, Morgaine asked, “How are we going to get him to Switzerland?"
"Seeing those crates in that factory gave me an idea. We'll disassemble him, pack him in a box and have him shipped."
* * * *
Soon after Morgaine and Michael arrived in Belrive, a village on the eastern shore of Lake Geneva, they rented a villa. According to Mary Shelley's novel, this is where the Frankenstein family was supposed to have lived. An ancient
ruin of a castle overlooked the town from a hill. The robot parts arrived ten days later. Michael took another two days to assemble. They brought robot to the ruined castle, which they explored perfunctorily without finding any clues to where Victor Frankenstein might have left a journal or notes on his work. They returned to their villa around sunset, leaving Isaac in the ruined castle. Morgaine gave it an order that, should it be discovered, it must not reveal where Morgaine and Michael resided, or that she was with the mystic.
After Michael retired for the night, Morgaine consulted the crystal. She cursed as she discovered that Melody and the detectives had the same idea and were already in Zurich.
* * * *
Late in the afternoon the next day, Morgaine told Michael that she was going into town to do some shopping. She drove up the winding dirt road to the ruins at the top of the hill. When she spotted another car on the side of the road, she parked her rented BMW and cautiously approached it, going through the woods in order not to be seen. As she neared it, she saw that Melody was alone in the front passenger's seat. She had her head down as though she was reading something. The detectives were nowhere in sight. Morgaine placed a sleep spell on Melody and headed up the trail to the castle.
When she arrived at the ruins, she walked around for a while until she noticed a rope tied to a merlon. The other end dangled down a hole in what was originally the castle's roof. She pulled the rope up and waited nearby. The sun went down, and night fell before she heard anything from below.
Suddenly she heard Raven holler. “Hey Melody, Melody,” she hollered, “drop down the rope.” She pointed her flashlight at Morgaine at the hole's edge. She gazed down at Raven with her Beretta in her hand, a malevolent grin on her lips.
"Is that you down there, Raven?” she asked. “And is that sweet man, Keith, with you?"
"Yeah, we're both here. Where's Mrs. Ellul?"
"Asleep in a car at the barrier blocking the road up here. Would you like me to drop your rope down?"
"That would be nice."
"After you tell me what you found."
"Nothing. Keith fell through rotten boards. I climbed down here to rescue him."