Crimson Twilight by Heather Graham Page B

something came hurtling at her. Ghosts didn’t have much strength—thus the tales of rattling chains and squeaking floors and chairs that rocked themselves. But they did have something. And Jane was sure that John McCawley had used all of his strength to cast himself before her. She dove behind one of the pews, drew her gun, and fired. The solid thunk she heard confirmed that her bullet had found the wood of a pew.
    She rolled and took aim again.
    But there was no one there.
    The wraith in black was gone, and so was John McCawley.
    She rose. Her phone was ringing.
    Angela.
    She answered, watching the door to the chapel.
    “I found out more about your Margaret Clarendon,” Angela told her. “She does have a descendant working at the castle now.”
     

Chapter 9
    Detective Flick was waiting for Sloan and Logan when they entered the castle. He immediately directed them to Detective Forester, who had set up in the Great Hall. They sat and told him what they’d discovered at the M.E.’s office.
    “We’re going to need a search warrant,” Forester said. “We need to find whatever object carries Denise Avery’s blood.”
    “You don’t need a warrant.”
    Emil Roth stood at the arched entry to the Great Hall.
    “I own the property. I give you my permission to search every room. I believe there’s a legality about guests in rooms, but I believe my guests will give you permission, too. Am I correct, gentlemen?”
    “Of course,” Logan said.
    “Then I’ll call in some backup,” Forester said, “and we’ll get to it tonight.”
    “I think that’s an excellent idea,” Logan said.
    “Where are Kelsey and Jane?” Sloan asked.
    “Kitchen, I believe,” Forester told them.
    Logan and Sloan headed out of the Great Hall to the kitchen. Kelsey was sitting there with Chef and Harry and Devon.
    “Something to eat?” Chef asked.
    “No, thanks. We had some horrible food in town,” Logan told him.
    Chef grinned. “I do have the reputation for being the best around.”
    “I’d not argue it,” Logan assured him.
    “Why would you stop in town when you’re staying here?” Chef asked. “And how were you out when the rest of us are prisoners here? Oh, yeah, I forgot. You’re Feds.”
    Logan slid into a seat at the kitchen table. “We went to hear gossip.”
    Sloan remained standing. He still didn’t know where Jane was. “We heard a lot of interesting gossip. Apparently, not many people liked Mrs. Avery. In fact, they seemed to think that she was trying to make everything in the world go wrong for Emil Roth.”
    Chef shrugged. “She treated him like he was a kid. When he hired me, not long after his dad died, they had a huge fight. I overheard them. She told him that he didn’t have the know-how to run anything and that he shouldn’t make decisions without her. I’m surprised he didn’t kill her. He was the heir, but she acted like she owned everything.”
    “But he didn’t kill her, did he?” Sloan asked.
    “Emil?” Harry asked. “He’s a decent guy. He’s like a regular guy, but with money. He’d be normal as hell if people like Mrs. Avery didn’t keep telling him that he had responsibilities as if he were Spiderman or something.”
    “Where’s Jane?” Sloan asked them.
    Kelsey, who’d been sitting at the table, frowned. “I’ll go see.”
    “Wait. I’ll just try her phone,” Sloan said.
    He dialed Jane’s number and listened as they continued to talk.
    “The people in town even seemed to think that Avery hired only attractive maids to try and get Emil involved with them,” Logan said.
    “Was that her plan?” Harry asked.
    “I never had it figured as an actual plan,” Devon said. “Go figure. That dried up old prune of a biddy setting Emil up for sex!”
    “Did it work?” Logan asked
    “At first, maybe. A few girls wound up being fired for various infractions. Oh, never for flirting with or co-habiting or whatever you want to call it,” Chef said. “They’d be fired for