One of the policemen stopped the music, and Wicksy spoke with a loud, booming voice. “Attention everyone. Quiet down. Quiet down now!”
When everyone was quiet he said, “No one leaves this room. Aldous, close these doors and the police officers will stand guard. We ask you all to remove your masks immediately and remain calm.”
Everyone removed their masks. I saw Constable Wyatt head over to join the rest of the policemen. John stood next to Aldous, and I leaned in to Amy.
“What do you think this is about?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea.”
Wicksy pretended to search the room, and then turned to face Constable Wyatt.
“Constable Wyatt, or should I say...Carson Reid, you are under arrest for the....”
Suddenly the Constable pulled out a gun and pointed it at Wicksy and then at the crowd. The guests screamed, and as the police officers moved in closer to tackle the Constable, he shot the gun into the crowd.
Crack! Crack!
Many of us ducked onto the floor. A woman screamed and someone fell to the floor. The Loxley Christmas Eve Masquerade Ball had taken a dark turn.
The crowd watched as the police struggled to detain the Constable. One of the guests had been shot in the leg by the bullet the Constable fired.
A dead silence had fallen over the crowd, and once the police had the Constable in a tight grasp, Detective Wicksy spoke in his booming voice once more.
“You are under arrest for the murders of Wendy Watson, Louisa Stilwell, Phillip Pennyworth, and the attempted murder of Agatha Bates.”
I couldn’t believe it. Constable Wyatt was the third Reid brother, and he killed my mum.
“You have nothing on me!” the Constable screamed.
“On the contrary, Carson. A witness found the murder weapon among your things on the day she broke it off with you.”
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“It most certainly does. In addition to the weapon, we’ve had testimonies of your involvement, and we were able to track down your adopted parents. You are also being charged with blackmail of Roger Loxley.”
“This isn’t over. My family has been denied what’s rightfully ours. Do you hear that Paul Watson? That money is ours. And we will get it.”
“You’ll be behind bars long before you even get a chance to do anything else. And as far as your accomplice, your niece, well, she’s confessed to everything.”
They arrested the Constable and escorted him out of the building.
Nobody moved. We all stood in complete and utter disbelief.
Before they left, Wicksy found me and said, “You can relax now Doctor Watson. The mystery is solved, the murderer arrested. Enjoy your Christmas and make extra merry tomorrow. It’s over.”
epilogue
Three months later...
“This case never seems to end,” Detective Barnes complained as he huffed and puffed up the long set of stone steps that led to the front of the building. “I truly thought it was over.”
Wicksy did not say a word until they reached the top of the steps.
“If what we’ve found is true, Conrad, then this case is only just beginning.”
Barnes shook his head and then smoothed out his thick mustache before he and Wicksy headed through the double doors of the institute. Rosalind Reid had sent the detectives a strange letter, and they decided to investigate it. The letter said to dig up Edan Reid’s grave, so with Paul Watson’s permission and the help of Harold Newbury, the detectives had. Unfortunately, someone had already dug up the grave and instead of finding a body, they found an eerie green and gold Jester mask with a note attached to it that said,
Padded Room Number 15. Dutch House, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands.
Early in the morning, Wicksy and Barnes had trekked across the water to the Orkney Islands and arrived at the Dutch House, a small lunatic asylum. They were tired, and frankly, Barnes was a bit cranky having not eaten yet.
When they reached the reception desk, Wicksy said, “I’m here to question the patient being held in isolation, Padded Room Number 15 please.”
Both he and Barnes showed their credentials.
“Padded Room Number 15?” the receptionist asked nervously. “Are you sure?”
“Quite,” Barnes answered, unamused.
“No one’s come for him in years. You may want to be careful. He’s as sly and as clever as they come. Extremely intelligent that one. A real lunatic.”
“We’ll take our chances,” Barnes said again, and the receptionist motioned toward a tall male.
“Take them to isolation, Padded Block Number 15,” she said in a low voice. The attendant raised his eyebrows. “They have credentials,” she added.
The attendant beckoned the detectives to follow him down a long corridor and around a few turns until they stood outside of a tall door.
“You never know who you’re going to get. One day it’s Edan, one day it’s Thomas.”
Wicksy gave Barnes a stern look.
“You mean, there’s a Reid in there?”
“Yes, I thought you knew.”
“Which one is it, really?”
“We just don’t know.”
After unlocking the room with a key, the attendant slowly turned the handle of the room upon which the unmistakable smell of death filled the attendant and detectives’ nostrils.
“Good lord,” Barnes said, shielding his nose.
“I see blood!” The attendant yelled, as he hurried into the room. Wicksy quickly followed.
There on the floor was a man covered in blood, his throat slit.
“God no!” the attendant cried.
“Reid’s dead?”
“He’s not dead,” the attendant fretted. “Graham is. He was a new attendant. Stupid lad. Reid must have killed Graham and escaped.”
“Damn it!” Wicksy raged. Meanwhile, Barnes had entered the room.
As Wicksy wiped his brow, Barnes said, “I heard everything.”
Barnes knelt beside Graham’s dead body, and grabbed a folded piece of paper from Graham’s top pocket.
“What’s that?” Wicksy asked.
“It appears to be a note.”
Barnes opened the note and read it.
“Still alive, and now I’m free. I’ll get what’s mine. Just wait and see.”
“What do you think this means?” Barnes asked.
“I think it means this case is far from over, and once again, Paul Watson’s life is in grave danger.”
The End
Thank you for taking your time to read Kolney Hatch: Buried Secrets. My intention is to entertain readers with my fictional works, and I sincerely appreciate everyone who reads the book. A review on Goodreads, barnesandnoble.com and/or Amazon is always appreciated. Please feel free to connect with me personally at [email protected] or visit my Facebook page, Stefani Milan, Author. May you find peace, happiness, love, and abundance on your soul journey. -Stefani
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to the Universal Creator for sparking my creative juices each and every day.
Thank you:
Mom, first and foremost for helping create this book. Your input of ideas and constant feedback and your tireless support of my dreams are the reason why I’m so determined and passionate about my work. Dad, for your support, love, and above and beyond generosity. Jon, for always supporting me and encouraging me to keep going. I love you. Raymond, for your cover design and all your help with my books. Barbara Tisa for your amazing editing. I’ve become a much better writer because of you. Lauren, for always being my first reader and for your support. Thank you Grace Hamilton Gilbert for being incredibly supportive of my books. Thank you Sherry R. for buying the very first copy of this book well before it released! Thank you to my book club family for always encouraging me. I’m so lucky to have you all in my life, and I am able to do what I am today because of you. Thank you to my supportive family and
friends and to all my fans around the country and world. You guys mean so much to me.
Bonus Materials
Mary Loxley’s Poems
Poem One
Eyes turn left,
Eyes turn right,
Patients cry,
Don’t snuff the light
Unleashed terror
Behind the walls
He’ll sew you up
Just like a doll.
-M.
Poem Two
A thicket here,
A thicket there,
A branch that tore my dress.
I walked along
With much despair
My heart filled with distress.
Past pines and fields
And morning mist
My soul the wind did catch
That’s how I felt
As I marched on
My way to Kolney Hatch
M.
Poem Three
The little house that held me close
Was all that I could keep
My only chance of freedom
From a life of strife and grief.
That little house, a slice of life
A place my heart beseeched
Away from brother’s bars
And away from evil’s reach.-M.
Poem Four (Never found by Paul)
Wendy Wendy did you hear,
What your sister said
Wendy Wendy it’s so sad
Now your sister’s dead.
Wendy Wendy leave today
Forget all that you hear
Wendy Wendy if you stay
They’ll lock you up for years.
Poem Five
A secret file
Stowed away
Never meant to see the day
But when it’s found
There is a cost
For when it’s found
A life is lost. –M
A Few Recipes from the Characters of
Kolney Hatch: Buried Secrets
Modified for Modern Cooking
Mrs. Glum’s Chocolate Sponge Cake
Organic Chocolate Sponge Cake Ingredients
Ingredients:
• 4 cage free large eggs, room temperature
• Pinch of sea salt
• ¾ cup organic fine granulated sugar
• ¾ cups of organic flour
• ¼ cup organic cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted organic butter, melted butter
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a 9" x 3" pan.
3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and the baking powder in a separate bowl and put
aside
4. Melt the butter in a bowl and put aside
5. Place the eggs and pinch of salt in mixer and whip the ingredients until eggs are slightly foamy
6. Add the butter slowly into the eggs
7 Add the sugar slowly into the eggs and whip for about 10 minutes until the mixture is ribbon like
Then add the flour, cocoa, and baking powder mixture slowly into the egg mixture, folding the ingredients in carefully
9. Do not overmix or the cake will be dense
10. Pour batter into greased baking pan.
Bake in a preheated to 350F oven, on the middle rack for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Repeat all of these steps to make two cakes, and fill the middle with
Dust top of cake with powdered sugar when cake is cooled down.
2. Claire’s Delicious Lemon Cake
Organic Iced Lemon Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted organic butter, softened
1cup organic fine granulated sugar
2 large cage free eggs
1 ¼ cups all-purpose of organic flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup organic milk
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.
3. Cream butter and sugar in large mixing bowl; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Mix flour, baking powder and salt; add alternately with milk to the butter mixture.
5. Pour batter into pan.
Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes to one hour.
Glaze for cake (after cake cools down)
1/3 cup Organic Confectioner’s Sugar
¼ cup Fresh Lemon Juice
Heat up lemon juice and stir into sugar until smooth, then glaze onto cake
Toasted Marmalade Sandwiches
Ingredients
4 slice of thin white bread or organic white bread
3TBsp of unsalted butter or organic butter
3TBsp of orange marmalade
Cut the crust off of each slice of bread
Butter each slice of bread
Spread each slice of bread with orange marmalade
Cut each slice of bread into 4 equal parts
Place the bread slices on a flat pan and lightly toast them under a grill or in a toaster oven
About the Author
Stefani Milan is the author of New Adult Mystery Thrillers and Children's fiction. Stefani is first and foremost, a light worker. She believes in bringing light and love to everyone she meets and hopes to entertain people through her writing. She is an old soul with a love of the arts. Singing and writing music, playing the piano, film and theater acting, painting, drawing, and photography are just a few of the other arts she enjoys.She resides in southern New Jersey.
Visit stefanimilan.com for more information.
Kolney Hatch: Buried Secrets (The Secret of Kolney Hatch Book 2) Page 21
