Ghostly Business

by K E O'Connor

  “Jasper will be so unhappy with me if I don’t get any money, though.” Sebastien's bottom lip jutted out. “He was relying on this money to change our lives.”

  “Then get the money honestly,” I said. “Jasper can get himself a job and you could get one as well, and start saving. That’s what everyone else does.”

  “I know, you’re right,” said Sebastien. “But Jasper is so sensitive. I don’t think he’d be able to handle a real job.”

  “He should try,” I said. “They’re not that bad. Well, providing you don’t get the boss from hell. Stealing is not going to solve your problems.”

  “I am worried that if I tell Cordelia what’s going on she might get revenge on me,” said Sebastien. “She has got a bit of a temper on her. Especially when she doesn’t get her own way.”

  “She’ll be angry and upset with you, but I can’t imagine she’ll do anything bad.”

  Sebastien glanced up at the house. “What about Leo?”

  “What’s Leo got to do with this?”

  “I’m not sure his death was accidental.” Sebastien chewed on a manicured nail. “What if Cordelia had something to do with it?”

  My heart sped up. “What do you know that makes you think that?”

  Sebastien looked around. “Nothing for sure. But Cordelia told me she needed to stop Leo changing his will. He’d decided to leave money to different people and set up a charity so the cats in the sanctuary would be cared for after he died.”

  “And Lady Cordelia was unhappy about that?”

  “She tolerates the cats but I don’t think she likes them,” said Sebastien. “And with the changes to the will, she would be down a lot of money and have to keep the animals. Leo was planning to set up the sanctuary so it would run in perpetuity, and Cordelia would never be able to shut it down.”

  “Has Lady Cordelia ever told you she did something to Leo?”

  “No! But she talks about being glad he’s gone, and she told me their marriage wasn’t a happy one. She even thought he might be seeing somebody else.”

  I’d heard that rumor already, it was something I needed to look into. A mistress should be on the suspect list if one existed. “I think you could be right about Leo’s death not being an accident.”

  Sebastien swallowed loudly. “And if I break things off with her, she’ll come after me and Jasper as well.”

  “Maybe you deserve it.”

  “I’ve been such an idiot,” said Sebastien. “What should I do?”

  “How about you help me figure out what really happened to Leo, and I’ll keep your secret.”

  “You won’t tell Cordelia anything?” Sebastien’s face lit up.

  “I won’t tell her, but you need to deal with it. You can’t keep stringing her along, it’s not fair.”

  “Even if she did have something to do with Leo’s death?”

  “If she did kill Leo, that’s something the police will deal with. It doesn’t mean you can get away with taking money from her and manipulating her affections.”

  Sebastien sighed and looked at the ground. “I hope Jasper still wants me after I do this.”

  “Sebastien, you’re a lovely guy. If Jasper really does want to be with you, he’ll stay whether you’re wealthy or poor. And if he does decide to leave, then at least you’ll know he was only in it for the money.”

  “I can’t bear the thought of that.” Sebastien’s hand went to his stomach and his face paled. “He could be using me just like I’m using Cordelia. I feel terrible.”

  “And that’s exactly how Lady Cordelia will feel if she discovers what you’re doing,” I said. “So, will you help me and let Lady Cordelia down as gently as possible? Do we have a deal?”

  “We do,” said Sebastien. “Where do you want to start?”

  “By finding an up-to-date copy of Leo’s will,” I said. “Any ideas where that might be?”

  “If she kept it, it could be in her bedroom.” Sebastien shuddered and glanced at an upstairs window. “I try to avoid going in there whenever I can. She’s very frisky for an older woman.”

  “Can you sneak me in there now? Lady Cordelia is on the phone, so I have a few minutes to look around before she expects me back.”

  Sebastien nodded and took hold of my hand, and we hurried back into the house. “Let’s go there now before I change my mind. She keeps papers in the bedroom, but I’ve never paid them much attention, so you might find what you’re looking for.”

  After a quick check to make sure the way was clear, we dashed up the stairs together. Sebastien hurried me along the corridor and into a sage-green and cream bedroom with an enormous four-poster bed and expensive antique furniture.

  “I’ll keep a lookout by the door and alert you if anyone’s coming,” said Sebastien.

  I hurried to a cabinet and rifled swiftly through the drawers, not finding anything of use in them.

  “Why do you think something bad happened to Leo?” whispered Sebastien.

  “You might say I’ve had a tip-off,” I said.

  “Somebody else thinks Leo was killed?”

  “They definitely do.” I decided not to mention it was Leo himself who believed he’d been murdered.

  “How awful if it was Cordelia,” said Sebastien. “I’ve been dating a murderer.”

  “And you’ve also been trying to con a murderer, you should be more worried about that.”

  “Good point,” said Sebastien. “Found anything useful?”

  I closed the drawer on the cabinet. “Nothing so far. She might have destroyed the will to make sure there was no evidence.”

  “Leo was good with his money,” said Sebastien. “I bet he made copies.”

  “Did the two of you ever meet?”

  “Yes, a couple of times at some of the charity things I’m involved with. He seemed like a decent guy. Absolutely besotted with his cats. We had a conversation for over an hour about them at one event. But he knew his stuff and was good with investments. He even gave me a few tips for investing in different businesses.”

  “Then you owe it to Leo to uncover if anything bad happened to him.”

  “You do realize I have a lot to gain by Leo no longer being alive,” said Sebastien.

  I turned slowly on my heel and stared at him, my heart pounding in my chest. Had I just made a huge mistake and revealed what I knew to Leo’s actual killer?

  Sebastien grinned at me. “You’ve gone really pale. The Goth look suits you.”

  “Not funny,” I said to him. “But you’re right, with Leo out of the way you could start working your magic on Lady Cordelia in order to get your hands on the money.”

  “Sweetie, I’d never do such a thing,” said Sebastien. “I can’t even squash flies. I’m all for everyone having a shot at life. Did Cordelia tell you I’m a vegan?”

  “She didn’t,” I said.

  “She hates it, and is always serving me gross piles of dead animals. She thinks real men should eat meat,” said Sebastien. “But I read a study saying meat lowers testosterone levels, and I need as much of that as I can get. I’m hoping to have a child with Jasper one day. Well, a surrogate will carry the baby, but I’ll be the father.”

  “Sounds wonderful,” I said.

  “So, I don’t hurt any animals, and I definitely wouldn’t hurt people. Even ones with arms like an octopus.” He grimaced.

  I was convinced enough by his argument that I turned my back and had a look through the final drawer in the bedroom. I let out a frustrated sigh. “There is nothing here. Does Lady Cordelia have any other private rooms she uses?”

  Sebastien squeaked and dashed away from the door, flapping his arms at me. “You need to hide. Cordelia’s coming.”

  Chapter 14

  I pulled open the door to the closet and jumped inside, concealing myself behind a row of dresses just in time. A second later, I heard the bedroom door open and Lady Cordelia walked in.

  “Darling! What a lovely surprise,” said Lady Cordelia. “What ar
e you doing in here? Hoping for a little afternoon delight, you naughty boy?”

  I clamped my hand over my mouth, feeling a shred of sympathy for Sebastien at the saucy tone Lady Cordelia was using. What he was doing was wrong, but people do crazy things when they’re in love, and he sounded like he’d fallen for this Jasper.

  “Oh, no. Nothing like that. I was just... looking for a missing cufflink,” said Sebastien.

  Even to me, that lie was so obvious.

  “And there was me thinking you were planning some romantic surprise,” said Lady Cordelia. “We have been together for nearly six months. I am ready when you are.”

  An uncomfortable feeling ran through me as I listened into their intimate conversation. I didn’t want to have to hear the two of them getting it on.

  “We aren’t even engaged,” said Sebastien. “And I wouldn’t want to think I’m rushing you into anything so soon after losing Leo.”

  “I lost Leo to those wretched animals years ago,” said Lady Cordelia. “And they’re the cause of all of my stress at the moment. And I’m beginning to have doubts about that new girl, Lorna.”

  My eyes widened and I pressed my ear to the door of the closet. What problem did she have with me?

  Sebastien cleared his throat. “Why don't we go downstairs and make you a cup of tea and you can tell me all about it?”

  “I’d much rather have a gin and tonic and go out like you suggested,” said Lady Cordelia. “Lorna doesn’t seem all that good at her job, though. I’ve given her the simple task of sorting out the cat problem, and so far she’s done nothing but create problems. Anyone would think she doesn’t want the animals taken away from the estate. She’s only been here five minutes, she knows nothing about what we do here, so I can’t understand why she’s being so difficult.”

  “Let’s get out of here.” Sebastien sounded anxious. “I fancy some fresh air.”

  I appreciated Sebastien’s efforts to get rid of Lady Cordelia so I could escape from the closet, but it didn’t seem to be having the right effect.

  “She wasn’t even prepared to do some gentle bribery when trying to get rid of the animals,” said Lady Cordelia. “Lorna claims to have plenty of experience dealing with the upper class, but I’m not sure she’s used to being around our sort of money. Old money behaves differently to newly found wealth. I’ll have to investigate her background some more and make sure she wasn’t making any false allegations about her experience.”

  My mouth fell open and my hands balled into fists. I was great at what I did.

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t do that,” said Sebastien. “From what I know of Lorna, she seems like an honest person.”

  “You don’t know her,” said Lady Cordelia. “She might be playing us all for fools. She’s supposed to have worked for several lords and ladies across the country. I’m going to get in touch with some of them and see what I can find out about Miss Shadow. But she’d better pull her socks up in regards to her work ethics, or this relationship is going to come to a speedy end.”

  I resisted the urge to jump out of the closet and tell Lady Cordelia exactly where she could stick her job. I’d had better paid and more pleasant places to work. Just because I wasn’t willing to bend the rules and bribe some desperate charities to take on the cats, that didn’t mean I was a bad employee.

  “You look stressed out,” said Sebastien. “How about that fresh air?”

  “I might take a nap,” said Lady Cordelia. “I can’t find Lorna, and I wanted to try her on some different administration tasks, see if she’s any good at anything she claims to be. If she keeps hiding like this then she’s going to have to go.”

  I pressed my lips together. I was hiding right at that moment, but I didn’t have much choice. If Lady Cordelia caught me snooping into the very real possibility that she’d killed her husband, I’d be out of this job before I’d gotten started.

  “Come and give me a cuddle,” said Lady Cordelia.

  My toes curled at the girly tone she used on Sebastien. No wonder he cringed every time she got near him.

  “I think I’m coming down with a cold,” said Sebastien. “Best I don’t get too close in case I’m infectious.”

  “Darling, you always seem to have colds these days,” said Lady Cordelia. “I’m going to ask my doctor to give you a thorough medical and make sure you don’t have anything more serious. I like my men to be fit and strong, after all. I’m sure it’s because you don’t eat any meat. Are you sure you get enough protein?”

  “I get all the protein I need,” said Sebastien.

  “Well, I don’t mind your cold germs,” said Lady Cordelia. “Come and give me a squish.”

  I cringed again as I heard the sounds of kissing. If this went on for much longer I was going to have to reveal myself. I couldn’t stay in here the whole time if things got hot and heavy between the two of them.

  Lady Cordelia let out a sigh. “I feel better already.”

  “Let’s go and find you that gin,” said Sebastien. “That’ll make everything seem better.”

  “It’s going to need to be a strong one,” said Lady Cordelia. “I just had Julius bending my ear about his animal park again. Did you see all the workmen he brought onto site? I didn’t say he could do that, but he’s already drawn up plans and put out a contract to tender. Anyone would think he’s in charge around here. But he’s got a lot to learn before I hand over the estate to him.”

  “Just make sure he doesn’t get ahead of himself,” said Sebastien. “You don’t want him spending all of your money.”

  “I’m not worried about that,” said Lady Cordelia. “He has his own trust fund, and I’m happy to give him some money for a sensible business idea. But this isn’t it. And Leo would not approve of the park going ahead. They argued about it on several occasions. He was adamant the park shouldn’t happen. He didn’t want wild animals dragged in here for people’s entertainment.”

  The more I got to know about Leo the more I liked him. He had a good heart when it came to animals and appeared to have more interest in them than he did people. I guess being married to Lady Cordelia might do that to a person.

  I grimaced as I heard the sounds of more smooching and my stomach gave an uneasy rumble. Now I was feeling sorry for both me and Sebastien having to put up with Lady Cordelia and her frisky advances.

  I heard a loud, false-sounding sneeze from Sebastien.

  “Darling! You must be coming down with something after all,” said Lady Cordelia.

  “I did warn you I had the sniffles,” said Sebastien. “We’d better lay off the kissing for a bit. I don’t want you to get sick as well.”

  “You could be right,” said Lady Cordelia. “I do so hate having a cold. Let’s go and find that drink, and you can have a hot toddy. That will make you feel better.”

  I waited a few moments after the bedroom door had closed before jumping out of the closet. I had another quick look around the room to see if I’d missed any hiding places for the will, but turned up nothing.

  I slipped out of the bedroom and back down the stairs. I hadn’t found the will, but what Lady Cordelia had said about Julius and his insistence on the animal park, raised my interest in him again as a suspect. If Leo had refused Julius any chance of having the park, he might have decided to remove the obstacle and get on with his plans anyway.

  I was going to speak to Julius again and see just how far he’d go to make his dream of the animal park a reality.

  Chapter 15

  I’d borrowed Helen’s car for the evening, and was parked outside a large, grey-stone detached house, just in time to see Zach and Jessie arrive in his mud spattered Land Rover.

  I gave him a wave as I hopped out of the car with Flipper and joined him by the front door, kissing Zach's cheek as I did so. Flipper and Jessie snuffled noses and then sat down.

  “What do you think of the place from the outside?” Zach looped an arm around my waist. “It could do with a whitewash, but will look great w
hen it’s smartened up.”

  I looked at the wide bay windows at the front. The frames were partially rotten. “It will need a bit of money spent on it.”

  “But it’s a bargain,” said Zach. “And I don’t mind putting some time in on the house if you do like it. And Gunner’s not bad at getting his hands dirty when I force him into action. Although he’ll tell you otherwise.”

  “It’s got potential,” I said.

  A sleek black car pulled up and a man of about twenty-five with slick-backed blond hair and an off-the-peg suit stepped out.

  “Nice to see you both,” said the man. “I’m Johnny. I’ll show you around this lovely place. Lots of room to grow in, and plenty of opportunity to put your stamp on it.”

  We both shook hands with Johnny and waited as he jimmied the key in the lock several times, before forcing his shoulder against the door and giving it a shove. He stumbled through and skidded on a pile of uncollected mail.

  “We’ll need a new door,” muttered Zach, as he let the dogs go in ahead of us, Flipper leading the way and Jessie close behind.

  “Most of the restoration work is cosmetic.” Johnny straightened his tie and grinned at us. “And the hallway has a lovely wide vista. And these flagstones will scrub up to perfection.”

  I grinned at that as I inspected the grimy cracked floor. I was used to hearing the usual nonsense estate agents spoke as they tried to sell something that had been neglected.

  “No problems with subsidence?” asked Zach.

  “Not a problem,” said Johnny. “These old buildings are usually sound.” He tapped on the wall and some dust drifted off. “Nothing a good clean and some paint won’t cure.”

  We wandered into the front living room, which was bare of any furniture, not even a carpet on the wooden floorboards.

  “These will look nice varnished,” I said. “Or we could put a whitewash on them.”

  “Good idea,” said Johnny. “And you could open up the fireplace as well if you like that sort of thing. Make it a real feature of the room.”

  “We do like open fires,” said Zach. “How long has the place been on the market?”