by K E O'Connor
“Charlotte said she was getting someone to help with the meals. Bring them along. The more the merrier.”
I hurried back to the bedroom to find Helen leafing through a recipe book.
“You were gone ages. What did Flipper get up to?”
“He got on the turret,” I said. “He found a ghost.”
“Another one!”
“We also met the Countess’s sister, Tilly. She’s got a secret to tell us. I think it has to do with the ghost we met up there.”
Helen’s blue eyes widened. “I love secrets.”
“She’s expecting to be fed in exchange for the news.”
“I can do that.”
I knew she wouldn’t let me down. The three of us raced back to the kitchen. When we arrived, I found Tilly had opened a bottle of white wine and placed three glasses on the table.
She smiled as we entered the kitchen. “I thought we could have a toast to your arrival.”
I introduced Helen and Tilly before accepting a glass of chilled white wine.
“What does everyone fancy for dinner?” asked Helen as she poked around in the fridge. “There’s plenty of food in here.”
“Something simple,” said Tilly. “Grilled cheese on toast would be lovely. I haven’t had that for ages.”
Helen frowned. “I think even Lorna could manage to make you cheese on toast.”
“Don’t bet on it,” I said.
“Grilled cheese on toast will go nicely with the wine.” Tilly topped up our glasses.
“So, the turret?” I asked. “Was there something you wanted to tell me?”
Tilly nodded. “There’s a reason we’re not letting people up there.” She looked from me to Helen and raised her eyebrows.
Helen swiftly placed six slices of bread under the griddle and then joined us at the table. “Did something happen up there?”
“Yes. It was a horrible accident.” Tilly’s eyes sparkled. She clearly liked to share the gossip. “Someone who worked here fell off and died.”
“That’s terrible,” I said. “Who was it?”
“The caretaker, Johnny Baxter. He’d been working here for two years. He could turn his hand to anything. He was up there adjusting the aerial mast one evening when he slipped and fell.”
Johnny Baxter. That must have been who I’d seen. It was as if he was re-enacting his death when he’d thrown himself off the turret right after I’d spotted him.
“How old was he?” asked Helen.
“About my age,” said Tilly, “mid-thirties, maybe a couple of years older. Everybody liked him. We were all so sad when he died.”
“When did it happen?” I asked.
“Six months ago,” said Tilly. “The weather was bad when he went up there. It had been playing havoc with the aerial for days, and Ralph was at his wit’s end. He doesn’t get out of bed much and spends a lot of time watching boring documentaries in his bedroom. There was something he really wanted to see. Johnny offered to go up and fix the aerial. He was sweet like that. Nothing was ever too much trouble.”
“That’s when he fell?”
“Nobody saw it happen, but it was windy and wet that evening. It would have been easy to slip. The poor guy. He was a real hit around here, especially with the ladies.”
“He was a ladies man?” asked Helen.
“He was a good-looking guy,” I said.
Tilly’s eyebrows shot up. “Yes! How did you know that?”
“Lucky guess. I’m assuming, if he looked like Quasimodo, he wouldn’t have been so popular with the ladies.” I gulped down some wine, ignoring the grin on Helen’s face.
“The man had cheekbones to die for.” Tilly sighed and drank some of her own wine.
“Did he leave behind a wife?” I asked.
Tilly shrugged. “He wasn’t married. There was someone on the scene. But Johnny always had time for a chat and a flirt. He had a way of making you feel good about yourself. It was all light-hearted, never serious. After all, he was the caretaker. It’s not as if he could have gotten involved with any member of the family.”
From the way Tilly spoke, it made me wonder if Johnny had been involved with her.
Helen jumped up. “I almost forgot the food.” She raced over, cut some cheese, and placed it on the bread before returning it to the griddle.
“Are you planning to reopen the turret?” I asked.
Tilly nodded. “It would be a shame to keep it out of bounds. It is horrible, but accidents happen. And as you saw, the view is amazing. I used to go up there some evenings and sit and watch the sunset. I don’t think it’s morbid to go up there. It doesn’t do Johnny any good to keep the place on lockdown. Charlotte is talking about having a barrier placed around the turret lip. I’m not sure that would have helped Johnny, though. He could have stumbled, or the wind could have hit him and knocked him off balance.”
The kitchen door opened. A man walked in, and his head lifted as he inhaled deeply. He pushed his shoulder-length dark hair off his face, which instantly fell back, concealing his eyes. “I smell something delicious in here.” He grinned at us.
“Will! Come and meet Helen and Lorna,” said Tilly. “This is their first day. I’m filling them in on all the family gossip.”
Will walked over and held out his hand for us to shake. “Nice to meet you both.”
“Will looks after our horses,” said Tilly. “He’s so gifted when it comes to them. He can make even the wildest animal behave itself.”
“You’re too kind.” Will grinned impishly. “I do like my horses, though. I’ve been riding for years. Finally had to give it up after an old back injury kept playing up. That’s when I joined the estate.”
“And we’re never going to let him go.” Tilly winked at Will.
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Will. “Now, about that delicious food I can smell.”
“You must join us,” said Tilly. “Helen, there’s enough food to go around, isn’t there? I’ll get more wine.”
Helen jumped up and sliced more bread and cheese. “There soon will be.”
“A woman who knows how to cook. I think I’m in love,” said Will.
“I’m sorry to say, I’m well and truly taken,” said Helen. “I’m getting married in two weeks.”
Will placed a hand over his heart. “Don’t tell me that. All the good ones get snapped up.”
Helen blushed and turned back to the bread.
“You know I’m still single,” said Tilly, batting her eyelashes at Will.
“And far too good for me.” Will tweaked a strand of her hair before joining us at the table and accepting a glass of wine from Tilly.
“I was telling the ladies about what happened to Johnny,” said Tilly.
The easy smile on Will’s face faded as he slumped in his seat. “I still can’t believe it’s been six months. It seems like last week when we were talking about it and the police were here looking around.”
Tilly patted his hand. “I know. It’s so sad. Johnny wouldn’t want you to grieve for this long.”
“Were you good friends with Johnny?” I asked.
“I was. We needed to stick together. Too many women around here.” He shrugged and smiled at me. “Johnny was a great guy. We used to tinker around with old cars when we had spare time. He knew how to fix just about anything.”
“You poor thing. You must miss him,” said Tilly.
I noticed how Tilly’s hand remained on Will’s arm. Maybe she had a thing for dating estate workers. It must be hard, a single lady and all these hot guys at your beck and call. I realized I was staring at Will’s muscular forearm and looked away.
Helen walked over with plates full of melted cheese on toast. “This might make you happier.”
“You are an angel.” Will grabbed a piece of toast.
“It’s nothing special,” said Helen. “I’ll cook you a real meal one evening.”
“You’d better be careful,” said Tilly. “You don’t want your boyfriend gett
ing jealous because you’re cooking for another man.”
Helen smiled. “Gunner has nothing to worry about. I love him. And I keep him well-fed and happy.”
“As all men should be,” said Will.
Flipper jumped up and paced around the kitchen.
Johnny’s ghost appeared. His face was downcast as he surveyed everyone sitting around the table.
Flipper went over and snuffled around him.
“We still haven’t gotten around to finding a new caretaker,” said Tilly. “It doesn’t seem right somehow, replacing Johnny.”
“He can’t be replaced,” said Will. “He was a good guy.”
Johnny smiled sadly as he watched Will stuff down another piece of toast and cheese.
“Still, the castle can’t be left for long without someone looking after her. There is always something that needs doing here.”
“I still can’t figure out why he wanted to go out on the turret in such bad weather,” said Will. “The wind is strong up there, even on a nice day.”
“He was helping Ralph,” said Tilly. “Johnny was always quick to help other people, even if it made him late for things or he had to work overtime. He was that kind of guy.”
I watched Johnny discreetly as he listened to the conversation. He shook his head several times. He wasn’t happy about something.
“I don’t like to ask, but was Johnny’s death definitely an accident?”
“Of course,” said Tilly. “The police came and checked everything out. Nobody else was involved. It was just horrible luck.”
Johnny shook his head. He didn’t agree.
Helen caught my eye and raised her eyebrows. She must have seen my attention was elsewhere.
Will pushed his empty plate away and patted his stomach. “I’ll have to come back again. That was great.”
“Next time you come, I promise you a real meal,” said Helen as she collected the empty plates.
“It’s a date.”
“Remember, Helen is taken,” said Tilly. “Don’t you go turning her head.”
“I only have eyes for you.” Will grabbed Tilly’s hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze.
Johnny shook his head again and rolled his eyes.
As the conversation moved on to what Helen’s next meal would be, I sat back and watched Johnny. He was miserable. He was here for a reason. His death needed looking into. There was more to what happened than I’d been told.
Someone in this castle was keeping secrets.
Chapter 4
The sun shone brightly as I pulled back the curtains. It was my first proper day on the job, and I was excited to get started. The castle was full of interesting knick-knacks and dark corners full of intriguing finds.
There would probably be a few spiders as well, but I’d let Flipper deal with those.
Helen opened my bedroom door. “All ready to go?” She walked in and sat on my bed.
“Just about. I’ve been thinking about the ghost.”
“Which one?”
I’d told Helen about our ghost guest who’d joined us at dinner last night.
“The turret ghost, Johnny. I’m not sure his death was an accident. He’s not happy. And the fact he’s still hanging around the castle makes me think something bad happened to him.”
“Somebody pushed him?” Helen shuddered. “What a gruesome thought. He sounds like a nice guy. Why would somebody want to do that?”
“Maybe he wasn’t such a nice guy. Tilly said he was a ladies man. Maybe he got on the wrong side of one particular lady and she decided to do something about his roving eye.”
“If he was as much of a hunk as you reckon he was, he’d be able to overpower one woman if she tried to shove him off the turret.”
“Not if she snuck up on him and shoved him over,” I said. “You heard what Will said last night. It was horrible weather when Johnny was up there. He might not have heard someone creeping out of the turret door and running at him.”
“Are you thinking it was Tilly? She sounded a little possessive of Johnny, even though she said they didn’t date.”
“No. I don’t know. She seems nice.”
“I think Tilly might have a bit of a crush on Will,” said Helen. “The stable boy and the lady. That’s old school romantic. Isn’t there a book written about that?”
“Not quite. The one you’re thinking of has a gamekeeper and a lady.”
“Is it smutty?”
“Not by today’s standards. You’d probably like it.”
Helen laughed. “You’ll have to get me a copy as a wedding present. Maybe it will teach Gunner a few new tricks.”
“I’ll add it to the long list of other gifts you’re demanding.” Zach and I had made a set of beautiful, hand-carved chopping boards for their wedding present. Well, Zach had done the hard work, and I’d given instructions as to what to carve on them. We’d also planned to take a holiday when they came back from their honeymoon to give the newlyweds time to get used to living together as husband and wife.
“Talking about my wedding—”
“We weren’t.”
Helen’s bottom lip jutted out. “Anyway, I need to call Marjorie before I start work. She hasn’t got back to me about the place settings.”
“You’ve decided on the place settings. She will have ordered everything by now. You can’t change your mind at this late stage.”
“I’m not changing my mind. I need to make sure she hasn’t forgotten something important.”
“She’s a professional. You’re paying her thousands of pounds. She won’t forget the place settings. Give the woman a break.”
“I’ll give her a break after the wedding. Until then, I will keep hounding Marjorie to make sure she’s on top of it all.”
I felt so sorry for Marjorie. Sure, she was getting well-paid for ensuring Helen and Gunner’s wedding day was a success, but she would need a long holiday after this. I’d make sure to buy her a drink at the wedding reception as a tiny way of saying thank you for putting up with Helen and her perfectionist ways.
I grabbed my laptop and mobile. “Let’s head downstairs. I need to make a start on this inventory. There’s so much to do.”
“And I need to check out the kitchen properly,” said Helen. She was doubling as a seamstress and cook. The family didn’t need her every day. She would make the evening meals three times a week as well as doing the dressmaking and alterations for the Countess and Tilly.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw the ghost standing by his suit of armor again. I nodded him a greeting, and he smiled at me.
The Countess walked out of the great hall, her arms full of paperwork.
“Lorna, I’m glad I caught you. I thought we could start in here with the inventory. Everything is a little less chaotic. I made a start on the silverware some months ago. It’s a good way to break you in gently.”
“That sounds good.” I gave Helen a wave goodbye and followed the Countess back into the great hall.
She walked to a dark wooden dresser, placed her papers down, and opened the drawers. “This is full of silverware. It’s all lovely, but we never use it and don’t even have it on display. Make a start on this. Put aside the pieces you think are the best and get a valuation of the rest.”
“You could turn this space into a display room as well if you don’t want to part with it.” I looked at the stunning silverware. “It’s such a shame to get rid of it.”
“I know. But with my plans to downsize, there won’t be room. Ralph isn’t getting any better, and I hate him stuck in his bedroom on his own. Maybe we need a nice little bungalow.” She wrinkled her nose. “Or I could build something smaller in the grounds and we can live in that. I want Ralph to be more comfortable. He gets so down.”
“That must be tough.”
“Yes. It can be trying for us all.” Countess Ponsonby turned slowly, taking in the room. “You are right, though. This space is lovely. Maybe we should fill it with beautiful thin
gs.”
“It’s a great space,” I said. “Do you ever hire it out?”
“Now and again, mainly to family friends. It makes it more manageable when you know who’s using the space. We’ve even had a few weddings here.”
“I imagine it looks lovely covered in flowers.”
“Yes, it does. I married Ralph here. Well, we got married in the grounds of the castle. It was a beautiful summer’s day. We were so happy.” She looked down at a silver plate and ran her fingers over it.
I felt sorry for the Countess. She was only in her early forties, yet she seemed trapped in her marriage. She spoke fondly of her husband, but it must be hard, with him being so unwell. They didn’t seem to have much of a life, with her trying to organize the castle and him depressed and staying in bed. She must be lonely.
She looked over at me and pulled her shoulders back. “After you’re done in here, you can make a start on the medieval room. We have far too much of that, and it’s not all staying. Ralph doesn’t want them to go, but we’ve got more than a dozen suits of armor. We only need one or two. You can pick the best ones and get rid of the rest.”
“There will be a market for those,” I said.
The Countess smiled. “I imagine there is. Boys never grow out of wanting to be knights in shining armor.”
“Coming to rescue us damsels in distress.”
Her smile broadened. “We’re rather good at rescuing ourselves these days.”
I had to agree. I’d had years getting myself out of the messes I’d created without anyone’s help if I discounted Helen and Flipper. Okay, so maybe I did need help. But it was only recently, since Zach had come into my life, that I’d let a guy help me. I loved having Zach as back-up if ever I needed rescuing.
“Once you’ve identified the prime pieces, I’ll get an appraiser in to identify the true value of everything. If there’s anything you’re not certain of, set it to one side. I don’t want you throwing out the family jewels without realizing it.”
“I won’t get rid of anything without your permission,” I said. “I’ve worked in a few castles, so I know how something that doesn’t look valuable can be priceless.”
She smiled and patted my arm. “Excellent. I’ll be in my parlor if you need anything.” After having another brief look around, Countess Ponsonby left the hall.