“Officer Molloy has asked that you stay around. They want to ask you some questions.”
“Which one is Molloy?” She squinted at the small crowd of cops, paramedics, and media that lingered on the front lawn. Terri pointed him out. “I suppose they’ll make this out to be my fault.”
Terri was disgusted by the woman’s priorities, but it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t have to deal with them much longer. “I can’t see how. You fired Gertrude. You told her not to come back to the house. If she broke into the cellar, it’s hardly your fault.”
The woman lifted her bony shoulders in a gesture of defeat. “I suppose not, but you know how police officers are. They rarely let facts get in the way of making an arrest.”
“You’ll be fine. You did fire Gertrude, right?”
“I don’t care to use that word. I find it rather harsh. I prefer the word ‘dismissed’, but I suppose there’s no point in quibbling over semantics, especially now. Yes, I told her she was no longer an employee of Glenvale. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just – like you say, it doesn’t matter now, but when you took me on the tour of the estate, you told me she was laid off for financial reasons. Gertrude is the one who told me she’d been fired.”
“Well, that’s her business, isn’t it? It’s hardly my place to go around blabbing about what happened to potential employees. What are you getting at, Ms. Foxworth? Do you feel I deceived you?”
“No, but what did happen? Why did you let Gertrude go?”
“I’m not sure I understand why you’re asking me this. It’s between me and Gertie.”
“I’m asking because I want to know if she was telling me the truth.”
Henrietta sighed. “I wish you would let this go. I thought it was the police who were supposed to be interrogating me.”
“Please. It’s important.”
“I can’t see why. As you’ve said, poor Gertie might not make it. But if you must know, I could hardly employ someone who kept accusing me of murder.”
So Gertrude had been telling the truth. Terri had new admiration for the woman’s bravery. She couldn’t imagine confronting this steely-eyed dowager.
“I can tell from your face that she let you in on her outlandish theories. But of course she would. She’s been attempting to cast doubt on me for a long time now. Me, or my father – she seems to change her mind with the weather. Tell me, Ms. Foxworth – what do you believe?”
Facing the woman who employed her, the person who could hold the key to Terri’s future and reputation in her hands, Terri said the only thing she could. “I believe your brother died from complications of his diabetes.”
Henrietta clicked her tongue. “Yes, a sad, sad thing that was. If he’d been diagnosed earlier, he would most likely have enjoyed a long life, but back then, so much was still misunderstood. I loved my brother. When he wasn’t ill, we did everything together. We were two peas in a pod, our father liked to say.”
“Your sister’s death was stranger. It’s odd that a woman who was such an accomplished rider, who spent so much of her time with horses, would die in a horseback-riding accident.”
She watched the woman’s face carefully, but didn’t detect the slightest flicker.
“Not so strange, really. The creatures are unpredictable. By spending so much time with them, my sister increased her odds of something unfortunate happening.” Henrietta leaned closer then, and Terri took a step back. “Whatever happened to your face?”
She raised her hand to feel the scratches she’d forgotten were there. “I’m not sure. It must have happened during the restoration work.”
“Looks like a cat got to you.” Henrietta returned her attention to the officers, who lingered around their patrol cars, deep in conversation. Her eyes acquired a far-off look, as if she was seeing something occur in the past. “My sister loved cats. When I was a child, one of her pets – Smoky, its name was – got spooked about something and scratched me.” She smiled at Terri. “It only happened once.”
Chapter Eighteen
If Henrietta Vandermere had thought firing Gertrude would stop the rumors from swirling about her family, she was disappointed. Eventide was a small town, and people talked. Once word got out about the gruesome discovery in Glenvale’s cellar, the gossip mill worked overtime. Henrietta refused to speak about it publicly, or would have refused, if anyone had dared ask her. When it came to the police interrogations, Terri was fairly sure the heiress had blamed her brother.
The situation troubled Officer Molloy, who wasn’t convinced that what had happened to Gertrude was an accident. He had kept the lines of communication open, and he was the one who’d told Terri about the most disturbing thing they’d found in the cellar: a portion of a human brain.
“The jar it was in was smashed when the shelving collapsed on Ms. Phillips, so we can’t be sure who it belonged to. It might have been a medical specimen. It was so poorly preserved, it’s hard to say. We’re hoping the DNA test will tell us more.”
Terri had a hunch she knew who the brain belonged to, but said nothing. She’d grown to like Officer Malloy quite a bit, and trusted him to an extent, but there were some things she could never say. Once Gertrude had finally regained consciousness, she’d been ranting and raving about ghosts to anyone who would listen, and now people were speculating that a mental institution would undoubtedly be her next destination.
Molloy had also told her Gertrude wanted to see her. She was surprised. Given their last exchange, the women were hardly friends. However, considering the link they shared, perhaps it wasn’t so surprising after all.
She had the time. Once the police began going through the Glenvale cellar with a fine-tooth comb, Henrietta had put her and Dallas up in the hotel down the road ‘until this entire mess blows over’. There hadn’t been a good opportunity to quit yet, but she would. As soon as she got a chance. It was difficult to admit, even to herself, but the paid accommodations gave her time to figure out what was next for her and Dallas. Terri realized it wasn’t ethical to let Henrietta pay for the room when she was planning to leave, but she didn’t see any choice. They had nowhere else to go.
The hospital room was dim, the shades drawn, when she arrived. Someone had paid for Gertrude to convalesce in a private room, and Terri guessed that someone was Henrietta Vandermere. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, after all.
Since Gertrude was sleeping, Terri had time to survey the damage close up. The woman’s head was bandaged, and her face was a rainbow of cuts and bruises. Her left leg was in a cast, and her mouth was swollen. Molloy had mentioned she’d lost quite a few of her teeth. Terri had braced herself for the worst, but it was impossible not to be shocked at Gertrude’s condition. What had happened to her? It looked like a hell of a lot more than being trapped underneath a set of shelves.
Her stomach churning, she turned to leave.
“Don’t go.”
The raspy whisper, loud in the stillness of the room, made her jump.
Gertrude’s eyes were open now, and something in them had changed. She wasn’t the woman Terri had met – she saw that instantly. There was an awareness to her that was both understandable and frightening.
“I’m glad you came.” She attempted a smile, but Terri looked away, unable to bear the thought of seeing an empty mouth.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’ve been better. But I’m glad to be alive.” Gertrude reached for her hand, and Terri gave it to her, feeling uncomfortable. “Thanks to you. If you hadn’t let those men search for me, I would have died. You have no idea what was about to happen to me when they found me.”
She didn’t, and she didn’t want to. Molloy had hinted around the subject enough for her to get the gist. “Please don’t thank me. It’s my fault you were down there as long as you were. If I’d called the cops as soon as I’d heard that crash—”<
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Gertrude squeezed her hand. “Don’t blame yourself, Terri. Please. You did the right thing, the only thing. You and I both understand what it’s like in that house. Hearing strange noises in the night is the tip of the iceberg.”
“It was Niles, wasn’t it?” She wasn’t sure why she asked. The last thing she wanted was to have her suspicions confirmed, and yet, it wasn’t safe for her to remain ignorant. Some of their belongings were in that house, and eventually, she’d have to go retrieve them. She couldn’t shy away from any information that might protect her daughter.
Gertrude’s eyes darkened. “Yes. It was Niles.”
“Did he lure you there?” Terri felt anger boiling a hole in her insides. The little creep. She’d known he was evil. He’d shown her that the night he’d attacked her. She’d never fallen for his ‘sweet young man’ crap.
“Not in the way you mean. I wish I could say he did. That would mean I wasn’t quite so stupid.”
“You aren’t stupid. I’m sure you had your reasons for going back to the house.” Oh, how I wish you hadn’t.
“I was so close, Terri. So close. Or so I’d thought. Niles told me the truth was in the cellar. He promised he’d show me where to go if I came back one more time. And he did, but the truth wasn’t anything I’d thought it would be.”
She finally understood how Gertrude had found the crawl space. It was so hidden that even if the cellar had been included in the restoration plans, she might not have found it.
“He was proud of it, you know? Proud of all the horrible things he’d done, and proud that he’d fooled me for so long.” Tears shone in her eyes. “He’s a monster. I can’t believe I listened to his lies. I am such an idiot.”
“No, you’re not. Most people can’t communicate with spirits. They don’t even believe they exist. You had no reason to suspect he was lying to you. A young man appears, says he was murdered, and asks you for help. What else could you have done? I think anyone in your position would have done the same.”
“It wasn’t quite like that. Niles never told me he was murdered, not directly. You saw how sensitive he was about being dead. He didn’t like to talk about it, or even admit it. But he certainly dropped enough hints and let me think that he was murdered.”
“So you don’t think Henrietta killed him anymore?”
She snorted. “If she did, she did the world a favor. No, my fixation on Henrietta is over. Maybe you were right. Maybe it was more about wanting to get back at her for firing me than it was about finding justice for Niles.”
“I don’t really believe that. You were trying to find justice for Niles before Henrietta fired you.”
“That’s true.” Gertrude sighed. “Well, that’s over with, and Henrietta actually did me a favor when she dismissed me. All I want to do now is get out of this hospital and figure out what’s next. I’ll never go in that house, ever again.”
“That makes two of us. I do have to go back to get our stuff, but I’m not planning on sticking around.” She actually didn’t have a plan at all, but she didn’t intend to tell Gertrude that.
Gertrude’s eyebrows shot up so high they were hidden by the thick bandage that covered most of her head. “What do you mean? You’re still doing the restoration, aren’t you?”
“Not currently, no. The cops can’t decide if the cellar is the scene of an accident or the scene of a crime, and until they do, Henrietta has me staying at a hotel. There hasn’t been a great time to tell her that I mean to quit. She’s been a little preoccupied, as you can imagine. Everyone is acting like her brother was a twisted psychopath. But once I get the chance to talk to her, I’ll tell her me and Dallas are leaving. I’m just not sure where to yet.”
Gertrude tightened her grip so much that she crushed Terri’s fingers, causing her to yelp. “You can’t leave. You have to keep working in the house. The evidence is still there.”
“After what happened to you? Are you crazy?” Immediately after she said the words, she regretted them. There was, after all, a lot of speculation that Gertrude was mentally ill. “I’m scared to go back there for a few minutes to get our things. It’s not safe.”
“Terri, I don’t think he’s going to hurt you or Dallas, not anymore. I was his target – for whatever reason, he wanted me to suffer. I see that now. But he won’t do that to either of you, and besides, he has nothing to hide now. His little lair of horrors is gone. He made sure of that when he pushed it over on me.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t take that chance. With me or my daughter. Why would you want us to stay? I thought you’d be happy we were leaving.”
“I don’t care how Niles died now. Maybe it was natural causes, or maybe Henrietta purposely fed him candy until he burst. It doesn’t matter to me, not anymore.”
“But…?” The fierceness in the other woman’s eyes unnerved her. Maybe she was insane. She had to be, if she thought there was any way Terri would go back to stay in that evil house.
“You know what he wanted to show me most, Terri? Emma’s brain. He had his fucking sister’s brain in a jar. She didn’t die in an accident. He was there.”
“Couldn’t she have died in an accident, and he saw the opportunity to…take a piece of her?” she finished lamely, thinking uncomfortably of her dream, the vision she’d had of Emma’s death. But was it a vision? She’d been reading Emma’s journal, with all those horrible stories, right before she went to sleep. “I get how awful it sounds, and clearly there was something very wrong with him, but that isn’t a crime. Not as serious a crime as murder, anyway.”
“Look me in the eye. If you can look at me and tell me you honestly believe Emma Vandermere died in an accident, I won’t say another word about it. You and Dallas can leave Glenvale and move hundreds of miles away from Eventide and never hear another peep from me.”
Terri tried, she really did. She even opened her mouth, but no words came out. Gertrude’s intensity was too unnerving. And besides, she’d always been a terrible liar. Triumphant, the other woman settled back against the pillows, releasing Terri’s hand.
“I knew it. You have to solve this, Terri. Put an end to this mystery, once and for all. You’re in the best position to do it.”
“Honestly, what does it matter? Emma Vandermere is dead. Niles Vandermere is dead. Henrietta has more than one foot in the grave. You’re alive, but it could have easily turned out differently. Why should we risk our lives trying to solve a murder that everyone else believes is an accident?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Gertrude said quietly.
“That’s worth risking your own life, and mine, and Dallas’s? Gertrude, because of what you found, everyone in Eventide already knows Niles was a monster. Why isn’t that good enough for you?”
“Because that’s not the end of the story, and you know it.”
Terri pictured her nightmare again, and what she’d seen through Emma’s eyes. What if it had been real? Could she go to her grave keeping that secret?
“There were dozens of animals in that cellar. Animals that Emma loved, that had been killed because she loved them. It was awful.”
This time, the tears fell. She took Terri’s hand again, and Terri found herself crying with her. She’d never been able to tolerate the abuse of animals, who were the only creatures truly capable of unconditional love. People who hurt animals were the lowest of the low.
“Do it for Emma,” Gertrude whispered. “Please, Terri. Do it for me.”
* * *
“What are we doing, Mom?” Dallas looked puzzled, and Terri couldn’t blame her. She’d knew been acting weird since she’d returned from the hospital. Seeing Gertrude, along with the promise the woman had coerced from her, had Terri spooking at shadows. Glenvale was like a spider who’d caught them in its web. No matter what she did to escape, it pulled them back in again. “We’re not religious.”
Terri waited a moment, looking up at the church with its imposing steeple. It didn’t appear friendly or welcoming. “Maybe we will be after this. Come on.”
Her shoulder bag contained a number of empty jam jars and a small travel mug, every container she could find. The jars clinked when she walked, and the sound made her feel a little braver. If she were going to return to the belly of the beast, at least she’d be well armed.
The church’s heavy wooden doors opened silently, emitting them into the sanctuary. She was relieved to see it was empty. After setting her bag on the floor, she opened it and handed Dallas two of the jam jars. “Fill these from that font over there, and close them tight. Be careful not to drop them.”
Awed by their surroundings, her daughter nodded and did what she was told without arguing or questioning. Come to think of it, it had been some time since Dallas had argued with her. They were in uncharted territory, and Terri figured her response to it had been as good as anyone else’s.
Filling her own containers from the other font, she felt like she was stealing. She’d watched so many movies where the heroes burst into a church and filled all manner of things with holy water, but she didn’t know if what they were doing was allowed in real life or not. Dallas was right; they weren’t religious. Terri’s mother, a lapsed Catholic, had raised her without what she’d referred to as ‘the unreasonable restrictions of the church and its culture of guilt’, and, not knowing anything different, she’d done the same with her own daughter. But a little faith would be a good thing right now. Faith, and the feeling that something all-powerful and benevolent was looking out for them.
“Hello,” said a soft voice from behind her, and Terri nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled to see a diminutive woman with short gray hair curled like her own grandmother’s. The woman smiled, revealing deep dimples. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Sister Grace. I don’t recall seeing you here before.”
Sister Grace. Could there be a more perfect name for a nun?
The Restoration Page 17
