Ghostly Business

by K. E. O'Connor

  “About two months,” said Johnny. “So, if you’re thinking of making a low offer, I’d suggest you do. The owner is keen on moving on. It’s been in his family for years, and his mother couldn’t afford to keep the repairs up.”

  “She didn’t die here, did she?” I asked, as I peered into a dark looking corner.

  Johnny gave me a worried look and shook his head. “No, she became ill and was taken into a home. The place was empty for about seven months before the son put it up for sale.”

  “That’s good to know.” I looked around the room, tuning into any ghostly vibes that might be present, but didn’t sense anything. Flipper was also relaxed as he snuffled the ground, Jessie never far from his side.

  “Come and take a look at the dining room, and then I’ll show you the kitchen,” said Johnny.

  We followed him into another empty room and then into a dated kitchen that would need to be replaced.

  “How many bedrooms?” I asked.

  “Five bedrooms,” said Johnny. “Three good-sized doubles, with the potential for putting attached bathrooms in if you wanted, and then some smaller rooms, more suitable for guests, a study, or even a nursery.” He flashed us a cheeky grin.

  “Maybe one day,” murmured Zach.

  We checked out an equally dated bathroom and then headed out into an overgrown garden. It was already getting dark, but I could see there were several months of work that needed doing on the garden. But there was plenty of space for Flipper and Jessie to run around in, as they were ably demonstrating, and with some imagination, it would be lovely.

  A large shed dominated one corner of the garden, its felt roof sagging and the door hanging off its hinges. I wandered over to take a look.

  As I peered through the grimy window, the face of a wizened elderly man stared back and a shudder of cold slid through my veins. He jabbed his finger at me and frowned.

  I looked over my shoulder to see Zach talking to Johnny about the boundary fence, before turning back to the ghost. “I’m guessing this is your shed?” I whispered.

  The ghost’s eyes widened and then he jabbed another finger at me.

  “I’m just looking around. I hope you don’t mind, but we’re thinking of buying your house.”

  The ghost shook his head and blinked out of sight.

  This didn’t look too promising. If there was an angry ghost hiding in the garden, he might decide to appear through the walls in the house.

  The elderly ghost appeared in front of me. He was shorter than I was, with an old cloth cap in his hands and a scowl on his wrinkled face.

  I walked farther down the garden, making sure I was out of earshot of Johnny and Zach. “We’re not doing any harm. But we want to find ourselves a place to live. And we thought this looked nice.”

  The ghost frowned at me and then looked over at Zach and Johnny.

  “They’re not doing any harm by being here either,” I said. “Wouldn’t you like a family to move in and make the house warm and friendly again? It looks like it hasn’t been loved for a long time.”

  The ghost’s eyes narrowed before he swooped away and spun in a circle around Zach and Johnny.

  I walked over swiftly, trying to keep my panic under wraps. This ghost was getting agitated and that was never a good thing.

  Zach raised his eyebrows as I got near and rubbed his hands down his arms. “It’s getting cold out here.”

  “Won’t be long before winter arrives.” Johnny gave an affable nod. “So, what do you think of the place? Fancy putting in an offer? You can have another look round on your own if you need some more time.”

  Zach looked at me and nodded. “I like it. What do you think?”

  “Come and check out the shed.” I grabbed Zach’s hand and pulled him away from Johnny.

  “This shed will need taking down,” said Zach, as we approached it. “But I can put something up easily enough. Don’t let the shed put you off.”

  “The shed is fine, but it’s what’s lurking inside that isn’t so great,” I said. “That cold you felt was a ghost, and he’s not happy with us being here.”

  Zach let out a sigh and ran his hands through his dark hair as he peered through the dirty window. “So, this one’s not for us?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “I’m all for doing a bit of renovation, but we would be doing nothing else but that for the next couple of years. It’s too much work with us both having full-time jobs. And if we have to throw a pesky ghost into the mix as well, I don’t think it will be fun for anybody.”

  Zach looked at the house and shrugged. “Speaking of ghosts, how’s it going in the castle? Anymore spooks turned up to trouble you?”

  “I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on with my only ghost,” I said. “He’s got a lot of people who’d be happier to have him dead than alive, so it’s taking a bit of time to work out who’s involved.”

  “Just take care around the living and the dead,” said Zach. “And keep out of trouble.”

  “I don’t even know the meaning of the word.”

  Zach kissed my forehead and grumbled under his breath. “And as for the troublesome living, Gunner’s been asking questions about Helen.”

  “He has!” I grinned at Zach. “Do you think they’re going to get together?”

  “They’re both single, so it’s possible, but I can’t decide if it’s a good thing or not,” said Zach. “Gunner’s been on his own for years. He has girlfriends, but the second any of them get serious he runs in the opposite direction. And I get the impression Helen is looking for a husband.”

  “She is, and posh husband material at that,” I said.

  “Maybe they could just have some fun together.”

  “And that won’t get awkward if we’re all living together and Gunner decides he wants the fun to stop.”

  Zach shook his head. “Let’s hope they can both be adults about this.”

  I wrinkled my nose, knowing how quickly Helen dreamed up fantasies with men after she’d only been on a couple of dates with them. “Maybe nothing will happen between them.”

  “We don’t need to referee their relationship,” said Zach. “You keep me busy enough. And when there’s a ghost around, I barely get a look in.”

  “I’m not that bad!”

  Zach grinned at me. “You’re perfect.”

  I turned to walk back to the house and stumbled straight through the ghost of the angry old man. Chills ran up and down my spine and a cold sweat broke out on my forehead. Flipper jumped up at me and licked my hand, his gaze intent on mine.

  “So, do you fancy making an offer?” Johnny rubbed his hands together. “There are other people interested, so I’d advise you to get in quickly.”

  I shook my head, my tongue feeling numb and my brain frozen. “This is not the house for us. Maybe the next one.”

  Johnny scratched his head. “If it’s the price, I’m sure you can get a deal and knock a few thousand off at least.”

  “It’s not the price. I just don’t get the right feel for the place. We’ll be in touch.” I grabbed Zach’s hand and staggered out of the garden and back to the cars with the dogs running alongside me.

  A grumpy ghost was definitely on my deal-breaker list. We’d just have to keep on looking.

  Chapter 16

  I met Helen for breakfast the next morning in the kitchen and gave her an update about the latest house hunting disaster.

  “We’ll keep looking until everyone’s happy,” said Helen, as she smothered her toast with raspberry preserves. “I don’t want you compromising on where we’re going to live. If there are ghosts in a house that bother you then they bother me. Ignore Zach and Gunner and we’ll find something that suits both of us. They’ll just have to come along for the ride or get lost.”

  “You’re telling me to get rid of Zach if he doesn’t agree with where we’re going to live?”

  “Keep him if you must.” Helen grinned at me. “But I’d be more than happy for Gunn
er to take a flying leap.”

  “Speaking of Gunner, Zach mentioned he’s been asking about you.”

  “What’s he been asking?” Helen’s blue eyes widened. “I can’t imagine why he’s interested in me.”

  I returned her wide-eyed look of innocence. “I can’t imagine what he sees in you either. All that big blonde hair and those gorgeous curves. It’s enough to make a man feel queasy.”

  Helen smacked my hand. “You’re just being silly. Gunner’s not my type and I’m not his.”

  I ate my toast as I studied Helen. I’d never seen her like this around a guy before. She was quick to fall head over heels in love, but it burnt out quickly and she would find some small reason to get rid of the guy. But it seemed different with Gunner, there was a spark every time the two of them met, but they were both denying it. Well, maybe Gunner wasn’t denying it, but Helen was fighting this so hard it made me think that this time her feelings could be genuine.

  “Gunner likes you. Maybe you should consider him, perhaps go out on a date and see how the two of you get on away from the stress of house hunting.”

  Helen placed her toast down. “He’s only teasing. I can always tell when a man is being honest with me.”

  “Is that why you went out with a secret cross-dresser?”

  “Even you were fooled into thinking Henry was a decent guy.” Helen glared at me. “And as soon as I saw him investigating my shoes I knew something was off with him.”

  “All I’m saying is give Gunner a chance, you might be surprised.”

  “Enough talk about the annoying Gunner,” said Helen. “I heard Lady Cordelia complaining that you were missing yesterday. What were you up to?”

  I gave her a quick update on my failed attempt to find the new will. “And you’re not going to believe this, but Sebastien has a boyfriend and is trying to con money out of Lady Cordelia. He also thinks Lady Cordelia might have killed Leo.”

  Helen’s jaw dropped open. “I knew their relationship was a strange one. And Sebastien is so well-dressed and smart.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “Just that gay guys have a sense of style that men like Zach often fall down on.”

  “Zach has great style,” I said.

  “He pulls off the casual and crumpled gardener look well,” said Helen. “But he could learn a thing or two from Sebastien. And Sebastien commented on how nice my dress was when we met. I should have picked up on that.”

  “Stop with the stereotypes around gay guys,” I said. “Anyway, I agreed not to tell Lady Cordelia, so long as Sebastien lets her down gently and doesn’t steal from her. In return he’s helping me investigate what’s going on with Leo.”

  “It will be handy to have someone on the inside,” said Helen. “All we’re finding so far are more suspects and no real clues.”

  I nodded, and was just contemplating a second round of toast when I heard raised voices outside. I jumped up and looked out the window.

  “What’s going on?” asked Helen.

  “Not sure,” I said. “But that sounds like Lady Cordelia. Let’s go take a look.”

  We hurried outside and discovered Lady Cordelia standing next to her black Bentley. Her face was bright red and her hands were on her hips. Spray painted on the side of the car were the words cat killer in shaky bright-green paint.

  A police car was in the driveway and Nell was standing by the car, her hands cuffed behind her back.

  I shot a surprised look at Helen and we stopped a short distance away.

  “It has to be her! She threatened me just the other day. And now this.” Lady Cordelia jabbed a finger at the damaged car. “Who knows what she might do next.”

  “We’ll take her in for questioning,” said one of the police officers. “And we’ll keep you informed as to what we discover.”

  “I told you to leave the estate.” Lady Cordelia glared at Nell. “You are not welcome here. I’ll have a restraining order put on you if I have to. You’re not to step foot on my land or in my property again. And you are never going to see any of those cats again either.”

  Nell returned Lady Cordelia’s glare. “I knew you hated those cats. And I also know you want to kill them. Sandy told me what your plans are.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Lady Cordelia. “And what I decide to do with those animals is my business. You no longer work here.”

  “Because you unfairly sacked me,” said Nell.

  “I can’t deal with this.” Lady Cordelia waved a hand at the police officers. “Take her away.”

  The police officers exchanged an amused glance, before one of them encouraged Nell into the back of the police car.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Lady Cordelia, as I walked closer with Helen by my side.

  “I’m getting rid of a problem.” Lady Cordelia watched the police car being driven away before turning to me, her expression cold enough to freeze my blood. “And none of this would have happened if you’d gotten rid of those cats like I asked you to. Nell keeps coming back despite me insisting she leaves. No matter how many times I tell her she’s fired she keeps turning up to feed and clean out the cats. And now she’s done this.” She pointed at the car again.

  “Did you see her do it?” asked Helen.

  “No, but who else would it be?” asked Lady Cordelia. “She’s getting petty revenge because she lost her job.”

  “Maybe some of the other staff on the estate are unhappy the cats are going,” I said. “People like them being around. They’ll be missed.”

  “I don’t care if they’ll be missed,” said Lady Cordelia. “This is your fault, Lorna.”

  “I’m doing what I can to find homes for the cats,” I said. There was no way I was taking the blame for Nell getting handy with a tin of paint. It’s not like I told her to wreck a car costing more than a hundred thousand pounds.

  “You need to work faster and better,” said Lady Cordelia. “I want those cats gone by the end of the week or you’re going to need to find yourself a new job as well.”

  Tabitha ran out of the house, still wearing her silky pink pajamas. “What’s going on? Did I see a police car taking Nell away?”

  “Don’t worry yourself about that,” said Lady Cordelia. “Nell’s got herself into a bit of trouble. She won’t be back here again.”

  “What did she do?” Tabitha smoothed her bed-messy blonde hair down over her bandaged head.

  “Ruined the Bentley.” Lady Cordelia gave an irritated sigh. “Go inside Tabitha, you’re not presentable to be seen in public.”

  “But who will look after the cats?” asked Tabitha. “Our little fur balls need someone to keep them well-groomed.”

  “They’ll be gone soon,” said Lady Cordelia.

  “Nell was always so good with the cats,” said Tabitha. “And she let me play with the kittens. They're the softest of all.”

  “Get inside and put some clothes on,” snapped Lady Cordelia. “It’s not decent to be seen outside in your nightwear.”

  Tabitha stared at the spray paint on the car before shrugging and turning back towards the castle. As she did so, I spotted Julius and Montgomery standing by the front door. Both were dressed as if they’d come in from a posh night out, and wore crumpled tuxedos, their bow ties hanging loosely around their necks. They were huddled together and looked deep in conversation.

  Seeing Julius again reminded me I needed to find out more about his plans for the animal park and just how determined he was to make it happen.

  Everyone else slowly dispersed, and I was just going back to the house with Helen and Flipper when Sandy ran up. “I just heard Nell has been arrested.”

  “Lady Cordelia think she vandalised her car,” I said, gesturing to the Bentley.

  Sandy’s eyebrows shot up. “She does have a fiery temper, and she was furious when Lady Cordelia banned her from coming to see the cats. But I’m not sure she’d do anything like that.”

  “Lady Cordelia is convinced,
” said Helen.

  “Are you going to be all right at the animal sanctuary on your own?” I asked Sandy. “That’s a lot of cats to take care of.”

  “I’ll stay until I get everything done,” said Sandy. “It’s not fair the cats miss out because Lady Cordelia’s firing anyone who says a bad word about her.”

  “I’ll come and give you a hand on my lunch break,” I said.

  “I’d appreciate that,” said Sandy. “Fifty litter trays do not get emptied on their own.”

  I wrinkled my nose but nodded. “I’ll meet up with you later and we can tackle those litter boxes together. I looked over to where Julius and Montgomery had been standing, hoping I’d be able to have a word with Julius, but they’d both vanished. My interrogation of him would have to wait.

  ***

  I grabbed a quick sandwich from the kitchen at lunchtime, before heading over to the cat sanctuary to give Sandy a hand with the feeding and cleaning, and hopefully tickling lots of cute cats.

  She waved as she saw me round the corner and gestured me over.

  “Glad you could make it. I fed them all at breakfast, but there’s still plenty to do.” Sandy passed me a plastic apron and pointed at a pair of green welly boots. “Best to put those on, you need to make sure your shoes are free from germs so you don’t spread any infections around.”

  “You must be missing Nell,” I said, as I tied the apron around my middle and shoved my feet in the boots.

  “Like you wouldn’t believe,” said Sandy. “I’ve never known anybody work harder than her. She was devoted to the cats. I still can’t believe she’s been fired, and now Lady Cordelia’s had her arrested. It’s not fair.”

  “You don’t think she vandalised Lady Cordelia’s car?” I took the broom Sandy held out for me.

  “I wouldn’t have said she’s that spiteful, but it’s possible,” said Sandy. “She loves cats more than people. And with Lady Cordelia insisting on getting rid of the cats, I can’t say I blame Nell for letting her anger take over.”

  “Maybe when Lady Cordelia calms down she’ll have a change of heart about Nell.” I followed Sandy along a row of cat houses, slowing occasionally to tickle the chin of a waiting cat.