Death in Castle Dark, page 24
John Dashiell led me to the little table in my kitchenette. He ushered me into a seat, and I set down the cups Paul had provided. I took a sip of tea. Dashiell scooped up the kittens and put them in the center of the table. “Some moral support,” he said.
“And my contraband,” I murmured.
“Doesn’t everyone know by now?”
“Not Derek.”
He smiled. “I think he does. They were strolling around while we all stood in the doorway. He raised his eyebrows at them.”
“Oh!” I looked at my little charges, who wrestled halfheartedly on the table. Then Emily decided to give herself a bath, and Annie and Charlotte stared at each other fiercely before Charlotte decided to clean Annie’s ears. “I hope he lets me keep them.”
He took out his phone and touched some buttons. “Is it okay if I record our conversation? I need you to take me through what happened step by step.”
I held his gaze for the first time since he’d arrived in my room. “Remember when you said you’d show me the creek?”
“I do.”
“I still haven’t seen it.”
His hazel eyes held some apology. “It’s the next thing on my agenda as soon as I close this case.”
“Okay. Is Bethany all right?”
He gave a short nod. “She will be. She aimed at me; I had no choice.”
“I understand.” I looked at his tape recorder. “Where should I start?”
“Start with me joining you at the bon fire.”
I reached out to hold Charlotte’s soft paw and made myself think back to the bonfire: the light, the heat, the chaos. A blue ring glinting on the wrong hand. Bethany’s face so fearful and innocent, then mocking and cruel. The dreadful ascending of the stairs. The risky lunge and Hamlet’s providential arrival. The terrified flight through the dark castle to my room.
I told him what Bethany said, her strange assertions and justifications, and he asked questions.
Finally he turned off the recorder on his phone and said, “We’re finished. You can eat your candy and be with your friends.”
“That’s what every girl wants to hear.”
He laughed, then stood up and gathered his things. He stayed for a moment, looking down at me while I looked up at him. He was about to say something, but Connie peeked around the door and said, “Are you done with her? We want to claim her and spoil her a little.”
“I am finished, yes. Nora, I’ll see you soon.”
I waved, and he walked away.
Then the room was suddenly full: Connie, Renata, Elspeth, Tim, Derek, and Paul were all there, and Elspeth showed me a text from Zana:
Glad you’re okay, Library Pal! I’m making a torte for you.
I nodded, smiling. “Thanks, Elspeth.”
Derek looked solemn but relieved. “I am not going to try to process this betrayal tonight. A double betrayal of Garrett and of all of us who called Bethany a friend.”
“Why did she do it?” Tim asked; he still looked a bit shell-shocked.
I rubbed my arms. “She and Garrett had a brief affair.” I thought of the Jekyll-and-Hyde drawing once again. Garret’s artistic response to the mercurial nature of Bethany.
Derek looked chagrined. “I had heard a rumor in town that Garrett was sleeping with a young woman. For some reason I thought—” He turned red and looked at his shoes.
Connie, who seemed to be able to read his mind these days, said, “You thought it was me?”
He nodded. “I had a fight with him about it, and he denied it. He said I should stop believing gossip. Eventually I apologized to him, but now I find there was at least some truth to it.”
“But I think Garrett was loyal to Sora once they committed to each other. He thought Bethany was just a mistake,” I said. I pictured the drawing, the sweet, peaceful face and the malicious, scowling monster. I wondered if that second drawing was his vision of Bethany when he ended things with her.
Derek clamped a hand on my shoulder. “Nora, you’ve been scared too many times in this castle. So we’re going to change your vision of it. The police are clearing the grounds for us. We can clean up the bonfire and the lawn tomorrow. Tonight we need to be here for you, for one another. It’s not that late—who’s up for a movie in the media room?”
“Only if it’s a comedy,” Connie said, looking like an extra from Star Trek in her weird white pantsuit.
“And only if I can change,” I said, pointing at my own attire.
Renata nodded. “You put on your comfy clothes, and Elspeth and I will go make some popcorn.” She took my hand and held it between her own for a moment. “You should know that when I saw the gun, my first thought was to get Elspeth out of the hall.”
“Of course.”
“But we went in the room and immediately called Derek. He said the police were on the way.”
“Thank you, Renata. Your quick thinking probably saved lives.”
She shrugged and patted my shoulder, then bustled out with Elspeth and Tim.
Connie said, “I guess I’ll change, too. Derek, come help me pick something out.”
Derek grinned like a fool and turned to follow Connie, but I put a hand on his arm. “Derek, you’ve obviously loved her for a long time. Why didn’t you tell her ages ago?”
He nodded, then sighed. “I have loved her for a long time. I fell in love with her almost immediately. I mean, you can see why.”
“I absolutely can.”
“But I was never quite sure if she—reciprocated my feelings. And it got to a point that I feared that if I confessed how I felt and she didn’t feel the same, she would want to leave. And I ultimately felt that I’d rather see her every day, even if I couldn’t have her.”
“Derek, you were so dumb,” I said affectionately.
He laughed. “Connie has already made that very clear. She showed me her little notebook where she recorded what she calls my ‘torment’ of her. I’m just—I’m so relieved. And so happy.”
“Derek!” Connie yelled from her room.
“Coming!” he said.
Paul came jogging back in the room; I hadn’t realized he had gone somewhere until he returned. He approached us in time to hear Derek say, “Nora, I know you’ve been through a lot. But you fit in perfectly here, and of course the next script is centered around you. Connie told me you had thought about leaving, and I understand why.”
I needed to talk to Connie about confidentiality.
He touched my hand, his dark eyes beseeching. “Will you think about staying?”
“You have to stay,” Paul said.
I pointed behind me, where the Brontës sat on the table, staring at us with glowing eyes. “Can I keep my cats?”
Derek pursed his lips. “I didn’t know about these little fellows until this evening.”
“They’re all female, and they’re sweet. Hamlet loves them.” Hamlet was still in the room, sitting at Derek’s feet.
This had been the right thing to say; Derek loved his dog. “Really? So they’re friends? I did wonder if he could use a companion in the castle.” He played with Hamlet’s ears. Hamlet closed his eyes.
“He could use three. He’ll show them the ropes.” I wouldn’t mention Ollie the cat just now. Derek was dealing with enough this evening.
Connie was back, wearing a pair of shorts and a blue-gray T-shirt that read: Oxford. “I couldn’t wait for you. Nora, you get in your play clothes, too, and we’ll go relax in the media room.”
“Okay. Someone hang around so I don’t have to walk down there by myself.”
Paul stepped forward. “I’ll stay. I’ll wait for you in the hall.”
“Thanks, Paul.”
Derek left with Connie, and Paul stood guard outside my room. I went to the little bathroom and looked at my reflection. The face that stared back at me looked pale and slightly haunted by the night’s events, but it was also smiling.
The words of Father Jim came suddenly to mind. He had said something about how an act of violence had shattered the peace, and we needed to bring serenity back to the castle and back to our hearts.
I washed my face and took off my weird costume, donning in its place a pair of pink sweatpants and a black T-shirt that read: Goodman Theater. I combed my hair and tied it back with a scrunchy, then slipped into some gym shoes and went into the main room, feeling refreshed. I fed the kittens and helped them get down from the table so that they could tumble toward their bowls.
The wind had risen outside, and once again the branches scratched against my windowpane. Their clacking would not frighten me tonight.
I went to the door, where Paul and Hamlet were waiting. “Thank you, gentlemen,” I said.
As we walked toward the staircase, Paul said, “What’s your favorite musical? Do you know Brigadoon?”
“Of course.”
“Do you know this one?”
He started singing “I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean” in his attractive baritone. I joined him with the words I remembered, and when we got to the refrain, we started skipping down the hall.
By the time we reached the media room on the second floor, we were wiping tears of laughter from our eyes.
20
Recapturing the Castle
Three weeks later, life was different. We were on the verge of August, and mid-summer heat sat on the castle grounds and made everyone lazy. We had launched our cocktail café mystery dinner, and it had been such a success that Derek was considering extending it beyond the two-month limit. One of our Inspectors had been an arts reviewer for the Tribune, and he had written a complimentary article about the castle and its troupe that Paul said was, in PR terms, “better than gold.” A picture of me at the piano had appeared with the article, along with the caption Mystery and music make for enchanting fare in the new show at Castle Dark.
My mother had immediately texted me a picture of that photo and caption in a frame on her living room table. My brothers sent me the same picture, with the text:
Castle Dark? More like Castle dork.
Paul had also put some of the songs from our mystery night on YouTube, and he and Derek were working to lure more castle visitors via the clips. Paul said things were going very well, and our tragedy had not ultimately put the castle’s existence in danger. He had left a week after our movie party, bound for the job that he no longer really liked, but he promised he would return on weekends. Before he departed, he christened Connie and Derek “Conder,” and the rest of us had taken to calling them that for ease of reference (and to tease them).
After a successful three-day run of summer dinners in the “cocktail lounge” ballroom, Derek gave us a day off, and I invited my family to come for a Sunday visit. Luke was no longer sore, and he showed me his scar the moment he emerged from the car (this surprised no one). I took my parents on a tour of the grounds while the boys went with Tim for a bike tour of the area.
“This is lovely,” my mother said. “Nora, we were so worried about you, but I can see why you want to live here. And your boss is so handsome! Has he asked you out?”
“No, he’s going out with Connie.”
“Oh.” This disappointed her. “What about his brother?”
“Paul? We’re friends. He came back from Indianapolis to meet you guys.”
My parents exchanged a glance.
“No, really. No romances in the castle except for Derek and Connie. We’re all like a big bunch of siblings.”
My mother adjusted her purse on her shoulder. “What about that girl we saw on the news, the one who killed the poor man in the chapel?”
“She’s in jail. I heard her husband has asked for a divorce. I feel sort of bad for her, but not really. She made a series of terrible choices.”
We ascended the stairs of the main entrance and my father, cavemanlike, pounded on the wall. “How long did it take to build this place?”
“Seven years, Derek said.”
“Huh. This is good brickwork right here,” he said, trying to pry some old mortar out of the wall.
“Dad, stop touching that. Come on, I want to show you the portrait gallery.” We went in the front door and were immediately greeted by a giant hound. “Oh, and this is Hamlet.” My parents, both animal lovers, made much of Hamlet and his gentle, massive head.
The next several hours were spent in fun pursuits. My parents joined the “Castle Gang,” as Derek called us, for lunch in the dining room. The twins reappeared with Tim and wolfed down some food before Derek took us all on a tour. We finished more than an hour later, on the main floor, and Derek said, “We haven’t even toured the catacombs; Nora hasn’t had the courage to go down there yet.”
“That would be awesome!” Jay said.
But Paul appeared like a savior at that moment, holding bows and arrows. “Anyone up for some archery?”
My brothers practically tackled him in their enthusiasm, and he led them out the south entrance and onto the back lawn, where he had affixed a target to a distant tree. Derek, Connie, my parents, and I sat at the table near the fountain, chatting and laughing at the boys’ primal cries as they tried to kill imaginary foes.
At two o’clock I got a text:
I’m here!
I ran through the main entrance hall to meet my sister, Gen, fresh from New York in a blue rental car and looking like a summer dream in a peach floral dress and some flat white sandals. In childhood we had nicknamed her Nancy Drew because she actually had titian hair, and today it shone in the sun like a red-gold crown.
I gave her a giant hug and said, “I missed you!”
“Oh, my gosh, I love New York, but I would quit in an instant to live in this place! It’s crazy, like traveling into a storybook.”
“You have no idea. Come on in! We’re in the back.”
I led her through the main hall, letting her ooh and ahh about all of the castle’s charms, to the south patio, where she greeted my parents, Derek, and Connie.
“You’ll meet the rest of the troupe at dinner,” I said.
Derek poured Gen some lemonade, which she brought to a seat next to me. She leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Who is that?”
I stared at her. Derek and my father were talking loudly, so I was able to murmur, “That’s my boss. He’s spoken for.” I frowned at her; she had just been introduced to both Derek and Connie.
“Not him,” she said. “Him.” She pointed toward my brothers, who were still hollering and shooting arrows like crazed Robin Hoods, guided by Paul, who had grown hot, removed his shirt, and stood gleaming like a young god in the sun. Wow.
“That’s Paul. He’s Derek’s brother and my friend. Should I introduce you?”
She nodded, looking a bit starstruck. Gen had broken a series of hearts in New York, so this was new for her. And interesting.
I led her out onto the lawn, where the boys greeted her enthusiastically, and Paul quickly donned his shirt. “Excuse me,” he said as I called him over. “Archery can be sweaty work.”
“Sure. Paul, this is my sister, Genevieve. Gen, this is Paul Corby.”
Paul shook her hand, and she smiled at him with her pretty Gen smile.
“Gen just arrived,” I said, “so she missed the castle tour. I need to stay with my mom and dad; I wonder if you’d show her the sights.”
“I would be happy to do that,” Paul said. “Give me a minute to clean up, and I’ll return for you. We men have been at this for a while.”
Gen nodded and thanked him, and she watched him walk away.
We persuaded the boys to lay down their arms and join us for some lemonade. Luke regaled us with tales of his appendectomy, starting with his realization that something might be wrong. “It hurt like a—” He looked at Connie and her sweet, inquisitive face, and said, “It hurt a lot.”
Jay was studying the back of the castle with a look of pure joy. “We have got to play some Murder Ball in this place.”
Derek grinned. “What exactly is Murder Ball?”
“It’s like hide-and-seek, except the goal is to kill the person you find with a Nerf ball.”
I stiffened; this wasn’t the kind of talk Derek wanted to hear after a man had been murdered in his castle.
To my surprise, he laughed and said, “We absolutely have to play that. But the castle is so big, it would be impossible to find someone. You’d have to set parameters. And of course the secret passageways would be out-of-bounds.”
The twins looked at him, their mouths gaping. “What secret passageways?” Luke said.
By nightfall my brothers had exhausted just about everyone in the castle with their boundless energy, but not one person was immune to their youthful charms, especially (to my vast surprise) Renata. At dinner she sat across from them and continually burst into gales of laughter, wiping at her eyes and telling them they reminded her of a school friend she once had. Later, in the hallway, I saw her slipping them both a twenty-dollar bill and telling them to have “summer fun” with the money.
* * *
* * *
At eight o’clock, Castle Dark was quiet. Teams had been pulled from a hat: Tim and my mother, Derek and Elspeth, Paul and Gen (I suspected that Paul had cheated to get this result), Renata and Luke, my father and Zana (who had stuck around for the fun), Connie and me. Each team had been supplied with a Nerf ball (which the boys had brought in hopes of playing the game), and we were in quest of one Jacob “Jay” Blake, who was hiding somewhere between floors one and three. I had made a no-catacombs rule that the boys were willing enough to accept with the rest of the castle at their disposal.
At one point, as the teams formed and the balls were distributed, Luke pulled me aside. “You can never quit this job,” he murmured. “Your brothers are counting on you.”
