Fixing To Die

“I’m sorry if I frightened you, Sister,” An’gel said, more irritated with Dickce than she cared to show. “The point is still valid. I don’t think this is a house of horrors, but what’s going on here isn’t normal. Now, Mary Turner, there’s a question I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mary Turner said. “What is it?”

“Do you know whether there is a secret room or a hidden passageway in the house?” An’gel asked.

“Like in that Nancy Drew book?” Mary Turner asked. “I loved that book. My grandmother gave me her copy when I was nine years old.” She shook her head. “No, there isn’t that I know of. Daddy never said anything about one, and neither did Granny. I tried to find one after I read that book, but I never found anything.”

“I see. It would certainly go a ways toward helping explain things if there were,” An’gel said. “I’m not convinced there is one, mind you, but we have to keep our minds open to all possibilities.”

“Naturally,” Dickce said. “Does this mean you want to continue going through the house looking for those spatial oddities of yours?”

“We might as well,” An’gel replied. “We need to observe everything we can about the house, and everyone in it as well. The answer could be anywhere. Anyone.”

An’gel thought she heard the stairs creak a couple of times. She wondered who was going up or down. Where was that medium, for example?

“Have you seen Mrs. Pace recently?” An’gel directed her question to Mary Turner.

“No, as far as I know, she is still upstairs in her room. I had just come back from showing Serenity and Truss to their rooms when I startled Benjy in the hall. I was actually on my way to see you, Miss An’gel and Miss Dickce, to talk to you about dinner tonight. I’d forgotten all about that in the excitement.” She winked at Benjy, who reddened a little.

“We’ll be happy to go out to dinner,” An’gel said. “We don’t want to place any additional burden on Marcelline or you. I imagine Marcelline was looking forward to a little time off herself.”

“That’s kind of you,” Mary Turner said, “but Marcelline has already put a roast on for dinner, and there’s enough for all of us.” She paused a moment. “Not for the other guests, though. I don’t intend to feed them anything other than breakfast.”

“I smelled the roast when I came in through the kitchen,” Benjy said. “Smelled great. I vote for eating here, if that’s okay.”

Dickce laughed. “Of course it’s okay. As long as Marcelline has already cooked for us, I vote we stay here, too. We can help clean up in the kitchen afterwards.”

“Yes,” An’gel said. “That’s a good idea.”

“I’ll tell Marcelline,” Mary Turner said. “She might take you up on that, but don’t be surprised if she doesn’t. That kitchen is her domain.” She grinned as she rose from the sofa. “If there’s nothing else you need to ask me right now, I’d better go and talk to her about breakfast for the next few days and a few other things.”

“Go right ahead,” An’gel said. “If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know.”

Mary Turner nodded and smiled at them before she left the room.

“What shall we do now?” Dickce asked.

“For the moment, y’all can sit right here,” An’gel said. “I’m going up to my room to retrieve my phone before we do anything else. I’ll be back in a minute.”

An’gel left Dickce and Benjy chatting about his room in the annex. She paused at the foot of the stairs and steeled herself for the potential aura of cold but felt nothing when she climbed the stairs other than her own exertions.

She found her cell phone right away and was about to head downstairs again when she decided she might as well use the bathroom before she did so. She walked past the doorway to Dickce’s room and tapped on the bathroom door. The bathroom, which she was having to share with both her sister and Nathan Gamble, was between Dickce’s room and the French room. Hearing no response from within, she opened the door and entered.

While she was drying her hands, she heard the sound of raised voices coming from next door in the French room. She paused to listen for a moment. She couldn’t distinguish the words but thought that both voices sounded male. She wondered who might be arguing with Nathan Gamble. Had Henry Howard come back early from his trip into town?

An’gel replaced the towel on the rack and moved to the door. She opened it a crack and listened. The voices next door had stopped. She opened the door farther and peered to the right, toward the French room. She wanted to avoid the quarreling men if at all possible.

The hall was clear. She was about to step out and shut the door when she heard the French room door open. She stepped back in and peered around the edge of the door frame.

The lawyer Wilbanks stumbled into the hall as if he had been pushed out the door. He was in the act of fastening his pants. He glared toward the door. He sounded hoarse when he yelled, “That’s the last time I let you . . .”

An’gel pushed the door shut at the vulgar verb. She had heard and seen enough to know what had been going on next door.

CHAPTER 13