Ghostly Business (Lorna Shadow Cozy Ghost Mystery Book 5)

by K. E. O'Connor

  “What rubbish,” said Tabitha. “I had nothing to do with it. A cat sat on his stupid face. You think I trained a cat to do that?”

  “Tabitha, we only want to help you,” I said. “If you got angry and lashed out at Leo, the police will understand.”

  Tabitha’s frantic gaze shot around the room. “Stop ganging up on me. I had nothing to do with it.”

  “We aren’t,” I said.

  “I’m telling you, I won’t have it.” Tabitha wobbled on her black heels, before turning and running out of the room.

  “Don’t let her get away,” I yelled, and dashed after Tabitha, along the hallway and to the front door, closing in on her with every step. There’s a lot to be said for preferring practical pumps over high heels.

  “You stay away from me,” shouted Tabitha, as she yanked open the door and slammed it in my face just as I reached her.

  Pulling open the door, I hurried outside and saw Tabitha fleeing across the gravel towards the cat sanctuary.

  I whistled for Flipper and he shot out the window, closely followed by Big Ginge, and they joined me as I ran across the grass after Tabitha.

  I was gasping for air by the time we got to the cat houses, and Tabitha was nowhere to be seen. I looked down at Flipper and Big Ginge. “Go find Tabitha.”

  Flipper set his nose to the ground and began to sniff, while Big Ginge nonchalantly strolled past all of the houses, peering in at each resident as if to show off his freedom.

  I crept along the rows of cat houses, trying to see if Tabitha had snuck into any of them and was hiding.

  Flipper barked, signaling he’d found something, and I ran to join him. Tabitha was crouching in a corner by a maintenance door. “You stay away. Don’t let your dog bite me.”

  “Flipper won’t bite you,” I said. “Why did you run away from us?”

  “Because you just accused me of murder!” Tabitha spun around and pulled open the door to the maintenance room.

  I dashed in behind her, the door slamming shut, and ran straight into her back.

  “Uncle Monty!”

  I peered around Tabitha’s shoulder and saw Montgomery unconscious and tied up on a chair.

  Chapter 20

  “What happened to him?” I hurried over and checked Montgomery’s pulse. I let out a relieved sigh as I realized he still had one, and quickly untied his hands and feet.

  “Who would do such a thing to him?” asked Tabitha. “We were supposed to be going to dinner.”

  Montgomery groaned and his eyes flickered open. “I feel like I’ve been kicked in the head by a horse. Who hit me?”

  I gently slapped his cheek to keep him conscious. “Montgomery, it’s Lorna. Do you know what happened to you?”

  “I was in the garden,” said Montgomery, “waiting for Tabitha. I decided to take a look at the cats. All I remember after that is hearing someone walking up behind me and then getting smacked on the back of the head.” He moved his fingers up to his head and winced.

  “You didn’t see who hit you?” I asked.

  Montgomery blinked slowly and gently shook his head. “Not a clue. Where am I?”

  “Someone tied you up and left you in one of the maintenance rooms,” I said. “Do you think you can stand?”

  Montgomery took a deep breath and slowly got to his feet. I let him take hold of my arm until I was certain he wasn’t going to fall over.

  “Are we still going for dinner?” asked Tabitha.

  I sighed and shook my head. She was surprisingly unconcerned at just having discovered her uncle knocked out and tied up.

  “Maybe another night.” Montgomery patted Tabitha on the shoulder as he staggered past. “Got a bit of a headache to deal with.”

  “But you promised,” whined Tabitha.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, someone’s just tried to kill your uncle,” I snapped at Tabitha.

  “He looks fine,” said Tabitha. “You are okay, aren’t you, Uncle Monty?”

  “Just perfect,” sighed Montgomery.

  I tilted my head and looked at the bruise on Tabitha’s forehead. “Remind me again what happened to you? How did you get that bruise?”

  “A problem with the car,” said Tabitha stiffly. “The brakes failed.”

  “And you’re sure it was a fault?” I said. “Has anyone checked to make sure the brakes were faulty?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Tabitha. “Why do you want to know?”

  “What if the brakes had been tampered with?”

  “You think someone is trying to bump us all off?” Montgomery laughed. “Who would want to do such a thing?”

  “Tabitha’s car was tampered with; Julius got run over and fractured his leg; and you’ve been whacked over the head. That’s too much of a coincidence,” I said.

  “Why would anybody want to kill me?” Tabitha looked at Montgomery. “Uncle Monty, make this woman stop talking nonsense.”

  Montgomery scratched his chin. “Lorna might be onto something. It is strange how all of us have been injured recently.”

  I heard scrabbling at the door and opened it to find Flipper, Big Ginge, and Helen waiting outside.

  “What’s going on?” asked Helen. “Has Tabitha confessed to killing Leo?”

  “I’ve confessed to nothing.” Tabitha pouted and folded her arms over her chest. “Because I’m guilty of nothing.”

  “Using cat fur on your clothes doesn’t make you innocent,” I said coldly.

  Tabitha’s lips flapped open and shut a few times. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “We’ll deal with that later.” I turned to Helen. “We just found Montgomery tied up in here.”

  “Lorna thinks someone tried to kill me,” said Montgomery.

  Helen’s eyes widened. “The broken leg, the bump on the head, and now this.” She gestured at Montgomery.

  “I don’t feel very well.” Tabitha sagged against Montgomery, and he awkwardly patted her shoulder. “All this talk of killing is ruining my appetite. And I was looking forward to some juicy veal or a bloody steak.”

  “Everything will be okay.” Montgomery looked over at me and shrugged. “Perhaps we should go back to the castle and discuss this? And I need something for my headache. Whoever hit me didn’t do it gently.”

  Five minutes later, we were back in the study with Julius and Sebastien. Montgomery had updated them as to what happened, while Julius sat in a chair, his hands clenched around the arm rests and a look of surprise on his face.

  “Any idea who would want to get rid of you all?” I looked around the room but nobody seemed all that keen on meeting my gaze.

  “Dare I mention Lady Cordelia,” said Helen.

  “Mommy would never harm us,” said Tabitha, who sat stiffly on the sofa.

  “She doesn’t like the prospect of an animal park in the grounds,” I said.

  “She was coming around to the idea,” said Julius.

  “She wasn’t,” said Sebastien. “Cordelia complains about it all the time to me. She detests the thought of the estate being used in such a way.”

  “I hate to be the one to say it, but we were being reckless trying to get the animal park off the ground without Cordelia’s support,” said Montgomery.

  “But the castle eats money,” said Julius. “This is a logical step for us. We need to move forward and diversify the castle’s business interests.”

  “Setting the park to one side,” I said, “can any of you think of a common enemy you have? If your accidents weren’t in fact accidental, and someone is trying to bump you off, who would benefit from you all being dead? Who’s next in line to inherit the estate?”

  Montgomery drummed his fingers against his knee and stared at the ceiling. Tabitha plucked imaginary pieces of lint from her trousers, and Julius scratched his chin.

  I groaned and rolled my shoulders. “There must be somebody! What about nephews and nieces or relatives of Leo’s?”

  “It was just the two of us,” said M
ontgomery. “Leo was always the sensible older brother. And as for other relatives, we’re a small family. Our parents are dead, but there are a couple of great aunts. But they’re both wealthy and won’t be interested in this estate.”

  “What about business partners?” asked Helen. “Perhaps one of them has their eye on the estate. If they can get rid of everyone who benefits from it they might try to buy it at a bargain price.”

  Julius shook his head. “Father always kept business in the family. He didn’t like having outsiders involved. Diversifying with the park was a problem for him because I wanted to bring in outside investors.”

  “Which is why you killed him.” Tabitha glared at Julius.

  “Shut up,” said Julius. “Stop trying to make people think I’m involved in this. You’re the one with the weird urges to kill anything that has fur on it.”

  Helen leaned over to me. “None of this is getting us any closer to figuring out what happened to Leo.”

  I looked around the room again and realized we could be sitting with Leo’s killer only a few feet away.

  “I think the attempts on your lives extend to your father’s death,” I said. “Leo didn’t die by accident, and your injuries were staged to look like mishaps.”

  “Apart from mine,” said Montgomery. “Someone very much intended to bash me over the head and leave me to starve in the maintenance room.”

  “Maybe whoever hit you was going to make your death look like an accident,” said Helen.

  I nodded. “Somebody is trying to kill you all.”

  “And that someone is in this room,” said Sebastien.

  It was as if he’d read my thoughts. “That’s also possible.”

  “You think I faked being run over so I wouldn’t be considered a suspect in my father’s death?” Julius snorted and shook his head. “Nobody killed father, he was smothered by a cat.”

  “Where were you all when Leo died?” I asked.

  “We’ve already been over this with the proper authorities,” said Tabitha. “I was with Julius working on the plans for the park.”

  “And I was out at a bar,” said Montgomery. “I’ve got dozens of witnesses, and a rather pretty young lady who’d happily vouch for me.” He raised his eyebrows and winked at me.

  Sebastien shrugged. “They’re right. And I was with Cordelia all evening. We had the police here questioning everybody after Leo died. But after the autopsy showed the cause of death, the investigation ended. The police were convinced nothing untoward happened.”

  “You all need to be careful,” I said. “If there is a killer on the loose they could still be targeting you. They must have a reason for wanting all of you gone, and the one thing you all have in common is this castle.”

  “So make sure you watch your backs,” said Helen.

  “I don’t suppose you want to watch mine for me,” said Montgomery.

  “You’re big enough and ugly enough to look after yourself,” said Helen. “Well, you should be.”

  Montgomery touched his injured head. “I didn’t see the attacker coming. Whoever it was snuck up on me and got me before I knew they were there. I need extra protection.”

  “And that suggests your attacker knows their way around the estate,” I said. “If they can move around undetected, you most likely have all seen them before and don’t think it’s odd they’re on the estate.”

  “But we have dozens of staff here,” said Tabitha. “Along with the ones in the kitchen and the garden, we have the seasonal staff who manage the castle itself.”

  “And we have several dozen volunteers involved in giving castle tours,” said Julius. “It could be any of them. I wouldn’t expect it to be unusual to see them in the grounds. Some of them like to look around and make up their own tour presentations, so you often see some stranger wandering about looking at the castle and muttering to themselves. I don’t pay them any attention anymore.”

  I tipped my head back. All of these potential suspects would take weeks to investigate, and I wanted Leo to get some peace, and for me to get back to doing the job I was meant to.

  Julius and Tabitha started bickering again, and Montgomery excused himself to go lie down after his kidnapping experience.

  Sebastien patted my hand, just before leaving the room. “Sorry I wasn’t much help.”

  “You were great, thanks for what you did.”

  “I’d better start getting my stuff together,” said Sebastien. “When Cordelia hears about this she’s going to be fuming. The two of you need to look out as well. Julius is going to tell her everything.” He turned and left the room.

  I sighed and looked over at Helen. “Where shall we start? I have a bad feeling we’re not going to be welcome here for much longer. And Leo still needs our help.”

  Helen pursed her lips as she stood. “How about we get some tea and cake? All this arguing and running around is exhausting.”

  I smiled and left Julius and Tabitha to their bickering. Helen was right, tea and cake always made the world look brighter, and it might give me the energy I needed to start work on all the new potential suspects.

  Chapter 21

  “Can you bring me through some clean newspaper?” shouted Sandy from the other end of the cat houses. “I’m all out down here, and I like to put clean paper in the bottom of the litter trays.”

  I raised my hand in acknowledgement, and headed to the boxes of old newspaper in the store room.

  It was almost the end of another day of working with the cats. After all the confrontations yesterday, I was glad when Lady Cordelia had announced I was to work with Sandy in the sanctuary until further notice. Although it wasn’t what I was used to doing, I liked being away from Lady Cordelia and her sarcastic remarks about my abilities. It also gave me time to think through the next steps in finding Leo’s killer, something the tea and cake hadn’t helped with, although it had been lovely. Plus, it was fun to hang out with some friendly moggies. Maybe it was time for a career change, I could get used to looking after animals all day. And Flipper also loved it.

  I looked down and grinned at him. He had several cats following him around and was in his element as he strutted along with his new friendly felines. If Jessie could see him now, she’d be jealous of all the attention he was getting.

  I grabbed the newspaper and hurried over to Sandy.

  “Thanks for this,” said Sandy. “And whenever you want to start on the ones at your end, they will also need their paper changing and fresh litter.”

  “I’ll get right on it,” I said.

  “Any more news about what’s happening to the sanctuary?” Sandy brushed her hands together and then began to separate the newspaper out.

  “I think you’ll have a couple more weeks,” I said. “Any luck in finding a new job?”

  “Nothing so far. But I did speak to Julius about the possibility of me getting involved with the animal park. It’s not my ideal job, but I’ll take it if I have to.”

  “He’ll have to keep you on,” I said. “You’re great with animals. And there can't be that much difference between looking after a cat and a lion. You'll be top wild-animal keeper in no time.”

  Sandy smiled at me. “You’re not so bad yourself. Don’t suppose you fancy giving up a life of paperwork for a minimum wage job that involves all the free fur balls a woman can handle?”

  I laughed. “The thought had crossed my mind.” I walked back along the cat houses to the boxes of newspaper. I grabbed my own handful and opened the first house.

  One litter tray down and I was on to the next one. I shook out the cat litter and was just about to grab the dirty paper from the bottom when I noticed strange looking writing on it. I peered at the paper and realized it wasn’t usual newspaper print. I dragged it out and shook off as much of the dirt as I could. The air suddenly felt heavy and sweat broke out on my brow. I was looking at a copy of Leo’s will.

  The edges were soggy and stained, but I didn’t care about that as I carried it out of t
he cat house and into the small office Sandy used.

  I flattened out the paper, and despite the smudged ink, could see Leo had left almost everything to establish a charity so the cat sanctuary could remain on the estate forever. No wonder Lady Cordelia and anyone else who saw this will would want to keep it hidden.

  I continued to read down the will, slowing as I saw a line about leaving money and assets to different individuals. There were small sums left for Julius, Tabitha, Montgomery, and Lady Cordelia, but it was the next line that was of most interest.

  I hereby leave twenty percent of my remaining estate to Melinda Nell Babington.

  Melinda Nell Babington? Nell was the first name of the cattery helper who’d been arrested for damaging Lady Cordelia’s car. Did this relate to her? And if so, how was she related to Leo? If they shared the same surname they must have some kind of familial connection.

  My heart caught in my throat. Could she be Leo’s secret wife? Perhaps he’d married her without divorcing Lady Cordelia. That would explain why he needed to keep their connection a secret.

  I looked up as I heard the office door open and my mouth went dry. Nell stood in the doorway, her narrowed gaze on me.

  “Looks like you’ve found something you shouldn’t.”

  Chapter 22

  “I thought you’d been arrested,” I said to Nell, glancing around for a place to hide the will.

  “I got released without charge.” Nell closed the door behind her and leaned against it. “Lady Cordelia didn’t see me damaging her car and the police weren’t prepared to go with just her word that I was the culprit. Seems like money can’t buy you everything.”

  I looked down at the will and swallowed. “You know about this?”

  “I should, since I’m in it.” Nell took a step towards me.

  Now the door was shut, I caught a whiff of flowers. It must be Nell’s perfume, the perfume Leo smelled just before he died. “I didn’t know you and Leo were related.”

  “Nobody does,” said Nell. “We’re brother and sister.”

  So much for my secret marriage theory. “Why the secrecy?”

  “I’m his half sister,” said Nell. “Our mother had an affair and I was the result. She was sent away in shame to give birth to me and then I was put up for adoption. It was a big scandal at the time, but the family was determined to keep it a secret.”