I let out a long sigh. “Ralph showed up in my bathroom Saturday morning. I caught him trying to steal hair out of my hairbrush and put the fear of the gods in him.”
Delia’s gaze flickered. “Even I know what that means and I don’t work with magic. So, what happened?”
“We got into an argument. I accused him of trying to throw a hex on the B&B and he said that he had been paid to steal my hair by a woman that he thought was a vampire.” I realized that I had better tell her the whole story. I told her about the woman and showed her the anonymous text of the painting with her picture in it. Dreading that this might drag Aegis into the mess, I tried to skim over the fact that he was in the painting, but Delia noticed.
“How much do you know about your boyfriend?”
“As much as I need to right now.” I prickled. I didn’t like the direction the conversation was suddenly going.
“Hold on.” She moved away, pulling out her cell phone. When she returned, she said, “I put out an APB on Ralph Greyhoof and called in for a warrant to search his house and the inn. If he’s really that angry about you opening up a bed and breakfast, then there’s no telling what he might do.”
“Ralph isn’t the kind to hurt somebody else. Trust me, I know.” I didn’t want yet another reason for the Greyhoof family to hate me. And as mean as Ralph could be, he wasn’t a murderer.
“You let me be the judge of that.” She stopped as her phone rang. “Hold on.”
While she was over by the stove, talking, I leaned toward Sandy. “We can’t let this get out of hand. Even if somebody is targeting me, that’s no reason to assume it’s Ralph. Hell, he’s a perv, and he’s shady as hell in some ways, but I don’t think he’s a murderer. He wouldn’t kill me over the fact that I’m running a B&B, would he?”
Sandy pressed her lips together, then shrugged. “You know satyrs. They get wound up and go off all half-cocked. They’re so full of hormones that it’s hard to predict what they’re going to do. I wouldn’t put much past them. Hell, I gather that Ralph and his brother George had a big to-do over a woman a couple years back and Ralph put George in the hospital. Rammed him with those damned horns of his. Of course, George didn’t press charges, and they left the hospital arm in arm, but if he’s capable of that, who knows what he might do if he really believes you’re out to ruin his business.”
Delia returned. “They just picked up Ralph. I’ve sent someone to search his house. I’m going in to have a little talk with him now, so you need to keep quiet about this for the time being.” She finished her tea in one gulp, then snagged a couple of the cookies, biting into one. “Until we figure this out, you should be cautious,” she said, wiping crumbs off her mouth. “If somebody is out to kill you and it’s not Ralph, then whoever it is, they’re still out there. For now, watch your step, Maudlin. I’ll talk to Rose’s parents after I speak with Ralph. I’ll be in touch.”
As she left, I noticed that Rose’s body was gone from out back but team members were still combing through the yard, looking for evidence. I poured another cup of tea and sat back, wondering what the hell to do next.
“It seems to me that we have two separate issues here. Three, rather. First: why did Ralph try to steal your hair and did he really do so at the behest of the blonde in the painting? Second: who is the woman in the painting and why is Aegis with her? Third: who killed Rose?” Sandy used a napkin to wipe up a few drops of spilled tea.
“More than three. If the person who killed Rose was actually aiming for me, why do they want me dead?” Obviously, this question was top in my mind. I had been threatened before, but for the past couple hundred years, nobody had tried to act on it. I’d been on the run from witch hunters at one time. They would have first tortured, then killed me if they had managed to catch me. But the witch hunters were long dead for the most part, and it wasn’t legal to kill witches anymore. At least, not in the US, and not in the UK.
“Is there any way you’ve met this blonde and just don’t remember?” Sandy brought up the picture on my phone. “Doesn’t she ring any bells?”
I slowly shook my head. “No. I honestly don’t have a clue who she is.”
“Well, if you want my opinion, you should put a stronger lock on the door, get rid of the vampire, and find some strapping bodyguard to watch over you.” Franny appeared in the middle of the table, making me jump.
“Crap!” Sandy almost tipped over her chair.
Franny laughed. “Scared of little old me?” But then she stopped, staring over Sandy’s shoulder at the picture. “I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“You know who that woman is?” I stared at Franny.
“Not really, but I’ve seen her. She came to visit a couple times before you moved in. She’s Aegis’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel.”
And with that, she moved out from the table into the center of the room.
Chapter 5
“AEGIS’S EX-GIRLFRIEND? WHAT the hell? Why didn’t you tell me about her before?” Even as I said it, I realized how ridiculous that sounded. Franny didn’t know what had been going on.
“I assumed that he told you about her. It’s not like he’s fresh out of the cradle. Aegis has been around a few thousand years. I figured you knew all about his past liaisons.” Hands on her hips, Franny glared at me.
“Right, right.” I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “You had no way of knowing, Franny. I’m sorry. But we’ve been trying to figure out who this woman is since yesterday.”
“Oh. Well, you’re right, I didn’t know. But I’m happy I could help.” Franny seemed to be mollified. In fact, she looked downright jolly. I realized she didn’t get many opportunities to feel useful anymore.
“Franny, if you see her in this house, tell me. Please.” I wanted to ask her to leave so Sandy and I could discuss what we had just found out, but that would be rude, especially since she had just helped us out. And maybe, just maybe, Franny could be of more help.
“So. Rachel, huh? Do you also happen to know her last name?” Sandy seemed to be on the same page I was.
“Oh, no. Vampires don’t always use their last names, you know.” Franny was veering into eerily cheerful territory. The grin plastered across her face looked rather manic. The idea of a bipolar ghost intimidated me.
“So she is a vampire? That would mesh with what Ralph said.” I bit my lip, worrying it between my teeth. “I had better let Delia know about this. Franny, is there anything else about Rachel that might help us? Maybe where she lives?” Then, quickly, I added, “She never lived here, did she? With Aegis?”
Franny shook her head. “No. I’d know if she did. I think they had already broken up when he came to live here. I heard Rachel keep begging him to take her back. Well, ordering him. She likes to be in charge. I also heard her talking about Essie Vanderbilt. Apparently they didn’t like each other very much.”
“None of that is good news.” Sandy pushed her tea away. “We need something stronger than tea for this.” She moved to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of champagne that was half-full. Pouring two flutes of the sparkling wine, she handed one to me. “To Rose. May Delia find whoever the hell killed her.”
“May the gods hear your words. To Rose.” I upended the drink. The bubbles tickled my nose and stung my lip where I had accidentally drawn blood. I paused. “If she’s trying to get Aegis back, Rachel has plenty of reason to want to get rid of me.”
“Yeah. She can’t be too happy if she knows about the two of you.” Sandy paled. “They should check Rose for bite marks.”
I reached for my phone, intending to call Delia, but just then I noticed a commotion outside, near the bushes. One of the forensics team seemed to have found something. He was holding it up, talking loudly to his buddies. I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and tromped through the snow, intent on knowing everything I could about Rose’s murder. The tech had already started to bag it before I managed to cross the distance between us, but even from
where I stood, I could make out what he was holding.
He turned around as I approached. “I’ve called Sheriff Walters. She’ll be back in about half an hour.”
Quickly, I backtracked inside the house. “Damn it, he found a set of panpipes.”
“Ralph’s?” Sandy’s eyes widened.
“Ten to one, yes.”
“Could Delia be right? Could Ralph have killed Rose, thinking she was you?”
“No. I refuse to believe he would do that. Ralph’s not a killer. We have to tell Delia about Rachel. She’s on her way. Until she gets here, I guess we just wait.” I could call her but since she was coming back, it seemed easier to wait. The matter was getting entirely too convoluted, entirely too quickly.
A thought struck me. “Franny, I know you can’t go outside, but by any chance were you looking out the back window last night? Did you see anybody out there? Maybe the person who attacked Rose?”
She moved to the window, looking out. “Just because I’m a ghost doesn’t mean I have spectacular vision. Nor does it mean that I’m always spying on everybody.” But then, she let out a long sigh. “No, I didn’t notice anything. I wish I had. I liked Rose. She was sweet and polite to me.” Franny sounded wistful. “Do you think she might come back here as a ghost? I haven’t seen her but that doesn’t mean she won’t wake up pretty soon.”
“I hope to hell not. The coven will hold a ceremony for her so she’s free to move on.”
Franny shrugged. “I have to admit, since you bought the house, at least I’ve had people to talk to. Aegis wouldn’t talk to me at all before you got here. He tried to pretend that I didn’t exist. The same with Rachel. But you…you acknowledge my presence.”
I winced, thinking it wasn’t possible for her to sound any lonelier.
“That’s because you’re the best house ghost I could hope for.” I forced a smile. “Thanks to you, we know about Rachel, even if we don’t know where to find her.” I stopped myself. Franny wasn’t an oracle, and she wasn’t a crystal ball and I didn’t want to make her feel guilty. Guilt like that usually didn’t do anybody any good. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I know very well that you aren’t here to keep track of everything that happens. And I’m sorry you had to spend so many years alone.”
Franny moved over to sit on the banquette. At least, she did a good job of appearing like she was sitting down, though we could see the seat right through her. “That’s all right. I also realize that it’s hard for people to think of me as a real person. Get slapped with the label of ghost and people assume you have no feelings, or that you’re just some misty vaporous rerun.”
Sandy gave me a sideways glance. I could tell she was thinking what I was—Franny sorely needed friends, and maybe she had been such a pain in the ass because she was so lonely. “It must be very difficult going through your days as a spirit. Has anybody tried to free you before?”
Franny shrugged. “Oh yes, several times. But it seems that there’s something keeping me bound to the house. Nobody’s ever taken the time to figure out just what it is. And I certainly don’t know or I’d be gone by now.”
Curious, I asked, “What do you remember from your last days, and right after you…right after the accident?” Even though we all knew she was dead, saying it to her face felt wrong.
She closed her eyes, then wistfully said, “I remember telling my mother I wasn’t going to marry the man she had chosen for me. And then I ran to my room. I was reading a book. I did so love to read—it wasn’t new, but I hadn’t read it yet. I remember very well—the book was Clermont, by one of my favorite authors. Regina Maria Roche. She was a bestseller at the time, you know. Anyway, I was so wrapped up in the book that when the dinner bell rang, I continued to read as I headed downstairs. But I didn’t see that one of the serving girls had dropped a piece of coal on the stair and I stepped on it and tumbled down—all the way down.” She paused, wiping a hand across her eyes. “The staircase didn’t have a railing or carpet like it does now.”
I winced. The thought of tumbling down the stairs like that was horrifying. The staircase was steep, though wide.
“As I dropped my book and found myself falling, I remember being shocked—as though I had discovered some terrifying new thing and didn’t know what to make of it. After that, I remember one sharp pain, and then everything went black. I don’t know how long later, but I woke up and I was standing on the staircase, but nobody seemed to realize I was there.”
“That must have been horrible,” Sandy said.
Franny nodded. “It was. My mother…my grandmother and sisters…my father—they all ignored me when I tried to talk to them. I couldn’t go outside. When I went into the parlor I saw a casket, and there was my body in it. After that, it got misty again until I was standing in the kitchen and somebody else was there. The kitchen was different and I realized that I was dead, and that I was in the house but my family was gone.”
“What did you do?”
“I tried to contact the woman, but she couldn’t seem to see me. People came and went. The house changed hands several times. Some saw me and were afraid. Others saw me but couldn’t talk to me. Either way, until you moved in, I pretty much lived an isolated life. Afterlife?” She cocked her head. “Do you know why I’m trapped here? I’m not sure what waits beyond these walls, but I’d like to find out.”
I thought of what it must be like to be a ghost, trapped without anybody to talk to. Franny had an active and curious mind. She had died reading. The thought of her stuck without anything to do but able to remain as congenial as she was made me terribly sad.
“I don’t know why, but when I get things sorted out with Rose’s death, I’ll see what I can find out. Would you like that?” It felt like over the years somebody should have at least looked into it.
She clapped her hands. “Would you? Really? Oh, thank you, Maudlin. I take back every mean thing I thought about you because you wouldn’t paint the kitchen pink.” She paused. “Somebody’s coming up the front walkway. I’ll excuse myself, if you don’t mind.”
And, before I could say a word, she vanished.
It was Delia. She gave me a polite nod, then headed out to the back where she talked to her men and looked at the panpipes. A few minutes later, she came back inside and sat down at the kitchen table. “I suppose you’ve figured out who they belong to?”
“I saw, yes. Panpipes.”
“They’re engraved. Those things don’t come cheap.”
“Ralph’s?” I wanted her to say “No,” but she nodded.
“Yeah, they have his name on them. And they have blood on them. We’ll have it analyzed, but ten to one it’s Rose’s blood. I think we have our killer. And we have a motive.” She scuffed the toe of her boot on the floor. “I was hoping it wouldn’t be him. I’ve always liked Ralph, even though he and his brothers are hotheads.”
“I have more information for you to check out. I found out who the woman in the picture is.” I told her what Franny had said. “So, she’s got motive to hurt me, too. You should check Rose’s body for fang marks.”
“We beat you to it. Nothing. She was stabbed at close range and bled out from those wounds. Not a fang mark on her. No, I think her killer is someone who’s still alive.” Delia pushed herself to her feet. “Okay, I need to head to the station so I can question Ralph. I can’t know for certain, but I’m pretty sure you’re safe now.”
This was all moving a little too fast for my taste. “If Rachel was involved, she might still be after me.”
“There’s no evidence of a vampire attack on Rose. I can’t hunt down a vamp because she wants your boyfriend. We have no proof yet that Ralph was commissioned to steal your hair.”
“Why would he say that if it wasn’t true?”
“To throw suspicion off of himself and onto somebody else. If he wanted your hair to have a hex worked against you, it would make sense to say somebody paid him to do it when y
ou caught him in the act.” She was beginning to look a little irritated and I realized she thought I was questioning her judgment.
“But how could he describe her in such detail?”
“He told you a blond pretty woman asked him. He threw in the idea that she might be a vampire—he didn’t know for sure. That’s vague enough to chalk up to coincidence. And when you showed him the picture, what better chance to divert the attention to somebody else?”
“But it doesn’t track—”
Sounding downright grumpy now, Delia stood, adjusting her jacket. “It tracks well enough for me to arrest him. I have to go. I advise you to remain cautious but don’t get paranoid. I’ll call you after I talk to Ralph. Meanwhile, steer clear of the Greyhoof brothers. They might all be in on this.” With a glowering frown, before I could say another word, she turned and headed out to the backyard to her forensics team, who was wrapping up their search.
I looked over at Sandy. “I know Ralph didn’t do it.”
“Okay. I’ll back you on that. But how are you going to prove it?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. I guess I’ll wait to see what Ralph tells her and go from there. Meanwhile, I need to talk to Aegis about Rachel. How do I bring her up?”
The last thing I wanted was to start the ex-from-hell discussion. He knew about Craig, but I had purposely left things vague so that Aegis couldn’t decide my ex needed an etiquette lesson. I felt fine sending a whammy or two Craig’s way. But sending a vampire to do my dirty business was a whole different ball of wax.
I glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. The entire morning had been spent steeped in death, but my stomach was rumbling and I was feeling a little light-headed. The champagne hadn’t helped, either, although one glass barely tickled my nose.
“I need food. I’m tempted to go out to lunch but the news about Rose’s death has probably spread and I really don’t want to answer any questions.” I opened the fridge. “Want some eggs? I’m not much of a cook but I can fry an egg.”