The Fourth Mistress

Chapter 69  Marked unsolved

Her family and the people she had lived in Reed's manor now sat in the living room. And right next to her sat Graham's ghost. Ghost because the man was long dead and unlike before near the lake, where the officers had caught a glimpse of the ghost, right now except Louise, no one could see him.

She heard Uncle Hugo saying to Alison, "Let me go and see Father Andrew."

"Let me come with you," Alison's husband Henry proposed, standing up from his seat so that he could accompany Louise's uncle. Henry turned to his wife and said, "I will be back soon," the woman agreed. Aunt Merlin went to see them at the door while the servants stood at the same spot. In the meantime, Alison continued to shed her uncontrollable tears, while Louise was too aware of her deceased husband's ghost sitting next to her. She turned to look at him, noticing Graham's green eyes looking back at her. It was Alison's sob that broke Louise's eye contact with him, and she turned back to look at her sister-in-law, getting up from her seat and sitting next to Alison. Even though Louise was younger than Alison, she was stronger when it came to her emotions regarding what had transpired. Alison was quick to put her arms around Louise, hugging her. She said, "I am so sorry, Louise. I thought it would be different this time. I thought you would overcome all the bad omen and be able to save our family." A soft sob escaped from Alison's lips, and she then whispered, "But never did it occur to me that our family members would die. I should have never urged my brother to marry again." Louise hugged Alison back, rubbing the woman's back to comfort her. She said, "No one would have thought that something like this could happen, or why it was happening. It isn't your fault, Alison." And while Louise comforted her sister-in-law, she saw the ghost stare at her with the same serious expression on its face, similar to the first time they had met. Alison pulled away from Louise and said, "Once Henry comes back, we'll go and stay in the Three Season's building," stated Alison with a small frown on her delicate face. "You can stay right here with us. There's enough rooms," Louise tried to convince, but Alison shook her head. With a weak smile on her face, Alison said, "I wouldn't want to impose."

Louise stayed next to Alison for an hour until the woman slowly started to fall asleep because of the journey and the trauma. And during that time, where Aunt Merlin prepared tea with Camille and Gilbert served tea, none of them noticed Graham's presence in the living room. The ghost finally spoke to her, "Won't you talk to me?" It was hard for her to come to terms with Graham's death because on one side Louise had seen his charred body, while here was his ghost, talking to her. She hadn't found the time to grieve for his death, which had started to cause mixed emotions in her. Louise stood up from where she was sitting until now, and she informed her aunt in a whisper, "Let me go and take a look at the cows."

And though she said it, Aunt Merlin knew that it was only a reason for Louise to get some air for herself. The elderly woman noticed her niece looking at a particular spot in the living room, staring at it before excusing herself and stepping out of the house. Louise entered the forest which surrounded the backside of the DeRose's house. She could hear the birds chirping and the soft rustling sounds of the leaves rubbing against each other because of the wind. She tucked a piece of her hair, and when she had walked a certain distance, she stopped. Placing a hand on one of the barks of the trees, she took a deep breath as if trying to calm her agitated mind. The sound of leaves crumpling on the ground was heard, and she turned, noticing it was Graham's ghost, who had followed her. A deep frown came to form on her forehead, and she asked him, "Why is it that I am the only one able to see you?" Graham's ghost stared at her, his face expressionless, and he then replied, "I don't have an answer to it. I thought Alison would be able to see me, but it seems like I have turned non-existent. It seems like only you can see me now." "This is not right," whispered Louise. She didn't know if she should feel happy that she could still see him or pity herself. "I apologize for burdening you with something so difficult, Louise," apologized Graham. He took a few steps forward, and he came to stand right in front of her. He said, "You don't have to carry this. You can sell the Reed's property with Alison and leave this place with her family. Start fresh." Only if it was that simple, thought Louise in her mind. Even though many hours had passed since the tragic incident, it didn't stop Louise's mind from replaying every single moment, wishing she could turn back time and save him and the others. "I cannot leave," whispered Louise, her eyes lowering and looking away from him. "What do you plan to do?" asked Graham, "You missed your exam..."

Louise had worked so hard so that she would be able to pass the exam and work along with Mr. Winkle. But she realized how sometimes, no matter how much a person puts effort, if it wasn't written in the person's destiny, there was nothing one could do. "What about you?" she questioned him back. She turned her gaze back to look at him, and she said, "I will be collecting yours as well as others' bodies by tomorrow." They stared at each other for the longest seconds. Graham asked her, "Do you plan to burn me along with the others?" Louise' eyes slightly widened. Once she burned Graham's body, he would completely cease to exist, and she wouldn't be able to see him anymore. He would be gone forever. Her lips pursed, and she asked, "Do you not want me to?" Graham offered her a smile that was filled with sadness, "No, you should. It is only right that you burn us all so that what has happened in the past, doesn't repeat itself." Her heart clenched at his words, and she gave him a nod because it was the right way to do it. "Maybe that's why I am still here."

Louise didn't reply to it as she didn't have the proper words to spare. Many deaths had taken place in the Reeds manor, but surprisingly, it was just Graham's ghost that existed while the others didn't. When Uncle Hugo and Henry returned from the church, Henry informed everyone at the house, "Father Andrew has agreed to hold the ceremony and we can do it once the officers come back to us." Aunt Merlin let a sigh escape from her lips while Alison went to her husband, hugging him, who hugged her back. "We'll be going to the Three Seasons and be back here tomorrow morning. Would you like to come with us, Lady Louise?" he politely asked Louise. Louise shook her head, "I am fine here." She then turned to look at Reed's butler and said, "You can go with them if you want, Gilbert. Henry and Camille too." Gilbert bowed his head before replying, "We are your servants now, Lady Louise. Please allow us to stay where you are and serve you until the end. At least for the sake of gratitude." To this, Uncle Hugo replied, "I will get one of the rooms in here ready, and also the ones at the back." Alison came to Louise's side, kissing her cheek, and she said, "Stay safe, Louise. I will see you soon tomorrow morning." Louise offered a small smile, "You too." Away from the DeRose's house, in the mortuary's headquarters office where the bodies of the deceased had been taken and kept, a physician stood next to Graham's charred body. The man was keenly examining it while the two officers stood at the side, staring at the body laid on the table. Mr. Burton said, "So many deaths in a single day. Soon Lady Louise will be under questioning on suspicion of murdering the Reeds and the servants."

Mr. Shaw's eyes that were fixed on the dead bodies turned to look at his fellow officer and said, "But she wasn't the one who committed the crime. Didn't you see the ghost—"

"There's no such thing as a ghost, Shaw. Think about it practically. People die, and sometimes the trauma affects the others or the trauma projects, making us believe that what we saw is a ghost of someone," explained Mr. Burton in a serious tone. "The woman will be put through interrogation and will then be let off the hook. Can you imagine what the higher-ups or the people would say if we said that these murders were orchestrated by a ghost?" Mr. Shaw shook his head, "It is not right, Burton. I know what I saw with my own eyes. If I was able to see it, and the woman was able to see it, and obviously you saw it, the ghost should be visible to others. It is unorthodox, but maybe bring the dead's ghost to testify on what happened."

Mr. Burton huffed, "Fine. If you are that intent, then get Lady Louise Reed in here, so that we can see if the ghost contacted her again." Hours passed, and the physician finally said, "It looks like someone strangled him before he was left to burn in the house." "And do these hand marks identify with Lady Louise's hand?" questioned Mr. Burton. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"They don't," replied the physician, and he said, "Strangely it relates to the skeleton of the woman, who was found on the grounds of the Reed's manor." "That's not possible!" Mr. Burton was still in denial. "It is why it is strange," replied the physician, and he continued to speak, "There's only one way for it to have happened, that is Mr. Reed died many years before the woman, and his body was preserved. But his body shows no signs of aging."

"At least it is clear that Lady Louise had nothing to do with their deaths. We can always place the case in one of the mystery and half solved cases, Burton," stated Mr. Shaw because he knew his fellow officer wouldn't want to file this one as a ghost case. People in this building didn't believe in ghosts unless the ghost appeared in front of them. "Fine," replied Mr. Burton with a frown on his face. "Mark and place it in the unsolved cases. "You can let the family know that they are free to take their family members and bury them now.

That night, Mr. Shaw sat down in his office room, documenting most of the things that were believable while the rest had been left unwritten as if the incident would be taken to their grave. Once he was done with it, he took the file to the storage file room. The file read—'The case in Reed's Manor' As he placed the file with the other files, it made the officer wonder how many such similar cases must have taken place in the past for it to be marked unsolved. Before Mr. Shaw could leave, he sensed as if someone stood at the door and he turned to find no one there. Somewhere he was rattled over what he saw at the Reed's estate and he felt like he needed to get some sleep before he could take up the next case. When he left the storage file room, a shadow came to appear in front of the files.