Murder Games (16 page)

“I’m
the groundskeeper.” Rupert said. “I’m responsible for the upkeep on the manor and the maze.”

“You two must be pretty upset abou
t them tearing down this place,” Grace said.

Ivy nodded sadly. “Yes.”

“I’m not,” Rupert said,“I hate this house. It’s drafty. The plumbing rarely works
.
It’s freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer. Nothing works right.”

Ivy gently laid her hand on his forearm. “You know that’s not true. You love this place as much as I do.”

Rupert looked ready to argue when Jerry passed his phone over. “Take a look at this.”

Rupert reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of reading glasses. “I can’t believe you all would fall for this treasure
nonsense . . .” The last part of his sentence trailed off slowly as he began to read whatever was on the screen.

Grace
looked at Ivy. “Can you ask your friends to hold off on demolishing the manor until the ruby has been found?”

“
My friends don’t own the hotel anymore. They lost everything and had to sell last year. We’re dealing with new owners,” she said bitterly. “They don’t care about the manor; these murder mystery events; not even about the staff. It’s their choice, of course. They have their own vision for the place, but . . . I will miss all of this. We just had so much fun here. This has become my home. I just don’t know what we’re going to do now.”

His eyes glassy,
Rupert handed the phone back to Jerry. When he realized Ivy was crying, he gently put his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Ivy, we’ll manage.” He looked back over at Jerry’s phone, which was sitting a few inches away.

Tears in her eyes, Ivy pushed herself away from the table.
“It won’t be the same.” She lifted a hand to her face and exited the room.

S
till staring at the phone, Rupert drummed his fingers angrily against the tabletop. “It’s just not right. She does everything for everyone. You’d never meet a kinder, gentler soul, and they’re just tossing her out. The original owners promised her so much. Promised her that she’d always have a place at the hotel. At this ugly old house, but now . . .” His hands clenched on the table. “I better go check on her,” he said gruffly. He pushed himself away from the table and walked to the kitchen door. “Lunch will be a little late today. I’ll have something for you at two o’clock,” he said before the door swung shut behind him.

“Well,” Jerry said,
“a hidden treasure. That sort of changes things.”

Laura nodded. “It’s probably long gone.”

“Right.” Jerry nodded. “It’s probably been cut down and sold to a dozen different people.”

“Thousands.”
Laura’s eyes shifted around the dining room. “Well, I guess it’s time to get back to the game.” She stood up.

Jerry followed her example and rose to his feet.
“Yeah,” he said enthusiastically. “Back to the game, Doctor Nightshade.”

“Right.” They both stood staring at each other for a few minutes before rushing out of the room at the
same time.

Caroline
pocketed her phone. With a great more dignity and poise, but with just as much enthusiasm, she stood up and walked determinately out of the room.

Austin
turned to Molly. “I hope you don’t think—”

Molly
angrily pushed herself away from the table and stiffly walked to the kitchen door.

Austin
, face flushed, quickly followed her.

Grace turned to Kyle who was staring at Annalise’s portrait.
“Well, at least we know why Erica died.” When he didn’t respond, she added, “The killer must have been after the ruby.”

“
The ruby,” Kyle repeated softly, still staring at the portrait.

“Kyle?” Grace felt like snapping her fingers in front of his face but refrained. “Kyle, look at me.”

“We need to set up a system for searching this house top to bottom,” he said in a faraway voice more to himself than to her.

Grace resisted the urge to take his chin in her hand and drag his gaze back to her. “
At least we know why Erica died,” she repeated a little louder. “It had to have been because of the ruby.”

That finally got his attention. His eyes briefly flicked toward her. “We need to find that diary.”

“What makes you think the diary would tell us where the ruby is hidden now?”

He turned toward her quickly. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“I’m betting Erica has already found the ruby.”

“How do you know that?”

Grace looked over her shoulder at the dining room door. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Think about it. Austin probably tipped her off about the ruby when he was here a few weeks ago. I’m betting she took the diary, discovered where the ruby was and packed for California that day. You heard Molly, Erica told her she was going to move to California, buy a mansion and produce movies. She obviously intended to sell the ruby and use the proceeds to set herself up in Hollywood. The only problem is someone got to her before she got away.” She drummed her fingers across the table. “Somehow, her cousin was involved, too.”

“If the killer got to Erica
, then where’s the ruby?”

“It must
be here; otherwise, the killer wouldn’t still be hanging around. We should check her room. Molly could probably tell us which one Erica usually stayed in.”

Kyl
e stood up. “I’ll go find out,” he said as he dashed from the room.

Grace glanced up to the ceiling. “Of course, there is another possibility,” she said to the empty room.

CHAPTER
fifteen

The door to
the attic squeaked causing Grace to wince. She glanced over her shoulder, waiting for any sign that someone had heard the door open. She placed the skeleton key she had received from Molly back in her jeans.

Molly, disgusted with life in general, had been more than happy
to provide the key to the attic when Grace had asked for it on her way up the stairs. Well, happy wasn’t exactly the right word, Grace thought, as she recalled their conversation. Apathetic was probably a far more accurate description. Regardless, Molly quickly provided the key, before falling face down on the bed and curling up into a ball. Normally, Grace would have lent a sympathetic ear, but as it was, she was rather eager to search the attic while everyone else was occupied on the lower levels.

If she was right, Erica’s last moments were spent in the attic. She thought back to the first night she had stayed at the Crystal Palace. She had stood on one of the balconies watching the fireworks with Kyle
, when she noticed Murder Manor in the distance and a figure standing in the attic window. A few seconds later, all of the lights in and around Murder Manor went dark. It had to have been Erica standing at the attic window, or her killer, Grace thought with a shiver. She closed and locked the door behind her. With any luck, she would be able to find some evidence that she could take to the police.

She flicked the light switch next to the door
up. In front of her was a long narrow staircase, and at the end of the staircase was another door. The light flickered above her and she wished Kyle were with her. She had hoped to run into him before she started her little investigation, but hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him since he left her in the dining room.

She crept slowly up the staircase grimacing a
s the stairs below her creaked and groaned with each step. She easily opened the door at the top of the stairs and groped for the light switch. The light sparked and flickered for a few seconds before holding steady. She peered around the densely packed room filled with old broken furniture and various pieces of junk and memorabilia.

There was one lone window, smeared with dust and grime, at the far end of the
attic. She made her way down a clear pathway that led from the stairs to the window and looked out.

The Crystal Palace sat in the distance, far beyond the
maze, which surrounded Murder Manor. She ran her eyes along the front of the hotel until she found the balcony that she and Kyle had been standing on the night before.

This was it, she thought as she turned
around. Whoever had been in the attic New Year’s Eve, had been standing right here. The only thing that was left to do was to find some evidence. Easier said than done, she thought, surveying the piles of junk and antiques littering the attic. Spotting a trunk near her feet, Grace bent down and began to search.

*  *  *

“It’s not fair,” Jerry complained loudly. “Laura, let me see it.”

Laura held the book behind her back and faced off against Jerry. “
I keep telling you. I don’t have Lucinda’s diary.”

“Then what are you hiding behind your back?” Jerry asked.

Laura shrugged. “Nothing important.”

“Then why are you hiding it
,” Jerry said. “You need to share with the group.”

“
Why do I have to share?”

Kyle and
Austin, busy pulling books off the library shelves, removing dust jackets, if there were any, and checking the insides for any hidden books, looked up and watched the unfolding drama intently.

Jerry crossed his arms. “B
ecause it doesn’t belong to you.”

“It doesn’t belong to you
, either,” Laura countered.

Caroline looked over the railing on the second level.
“Would you stop badgering the girl?”

Sensing an ally, Laura looked at Jerry smugly.

Caroline leaned forward, dangling her hands off the railing. “Let her figure out where the ruby is.” She looked intently at Laura. “Once she does, we’ll follow her.”

Laura took another step back.
“And do what? If I find the ruby, then it rightfully belongs to me.”

Sighing
, Austin stood up, accidentally knocking a stack of books over onto the floor. “The Prussian Blood Ruby doesn’t belong to any of you. It belongs in a museum.”

The others stared at him blankly.

“If it’s in a museum, it can be admired by the public.” Realizing by their faces that he wasn’t persuading them, he placed his hands on his hips. “At the very least, the hotel is going to claim ownership.”

“Not if they don’t know about
it,” Laura said.

Jerry chuckled. “If you leave with that ruby
, I’m going to march right up to the hotel and tell them that you have it.”

Laura pursed her lips together
, forming an angry line. “And if you find it, I’ll do the same.”

“Then let’s
join together,” Jerry said. “You saw how much that ruby is worth. We could sell it and split the money.”

“How are you going to sell it?”
Austin asked in amusement. “Let’s do this right and go through the proper channels.”

Laura and Jerry spared a second
from their staring contest to throw him a disbelieving look.

Kyle pulled another dust jacket off, revealing another book on the Colorado gold rush.
He flipped through the pages before dropping it onto the stack next to him. He didn’t have much hope in actually finding the diary among all the books in the library. And even if he did, he wasn’t sure how helpful it would be. Grace was probably right. Erica might have already removed the jewel from its original hiding place. If so, the diary was basically worthless. Still, he thought, as Jerry and Laura continued to bicker, it was probably best to keep an eye on the others just in case one of them did uncover the ruby’s new location. Sighing, he dropped another book onto the growing pile to his left. “How about we just find it first? We can worry about everything else later.”

“Kyle’s right.” Jerry held out his hand to Laura. “Come
on, Laura, let’s work together. We’ll have a better chance of finding it that way.”

Laura reluctantly brought the book out from behind her back. When Jerry reached for
it, she snapped it back. “We’ll look at it together.”

Laura placed
the book on the desk. They all huddled around in anticipation. It was a simple thin book bound in soft, brown leather with no title. It practically screamed diary. Laura carefully turned the brittle, yellow pages, one by one.

“What is this?” Jerry asked in annoyance. “We’re looking for a diary
, Laura.” He turned another page. “This is nothing.”

Kyle watched as Jerry turned one blank page after another.
“Literally.”

Laura bent her head closer to the book. “Maybe it’s in invisible ink.”

“It’s not,” Austin said.

“How do you know?” Laura asked.

“Because I saw it, remember?” Austin turned back around. “That’s just an empty sketchbook.”

Ivy
opened the doors to the library and gasped. She looked in horror at the state of the library. There were more books on the floor than there were on the shelves. “Oh, look at the mess you’ve made!”

Kyle wasn’t sure if she was about to cry or laugh. She just stood there in the center of the room shaking her head in disbelief. Feeling
guilty, he quickly began to straighten the books scattered around his feet. “Don’t worry, we’ll clean this up.”

Ivy sank down into one of the wingback chairs. “I don’t know how you expect to find this diary. Erica probably took it with her when she left.”

“If she left,” Kyle said.

Austin
, who had sat back down next to Kyle, turned his head sharply. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Ivy said in annoyance, “of course she left.
If there really was a ruby here, I have no doubt that Erica found it. That’s probably why she isn’t here. She’s probably already had the ruby cut into a thousand pieces and is out there having a grand old time.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “I hate her so very much.”

“
Why are you so certain that she found the ruby?” Jerry asked.

Ivy opened her eyes. “Would you leave if you knew there was a priceless gemstone
hidden away that no one else knew about?”

Caroline made her way down the circular staircase. “Well, that’s just wonderful.”

“Where are you going, sweetheart?” Jerry called out as his wife opened the library doors.

“To my room
,” Carolina said. “If you want my opinion, there’s not much reason to continue searching. Ivy’s right, this Erica girl probably has it.”

Kyle
quickly reminded them of what Grace witnessed less than twelve hours before.

“Grace was just having a nightmare,” Ivy said dismissively.

“What if she wasn’t?” Kyle leaned back against the desk. “What if it was Erica that was dragged out of here last night?”

“Then that means whoever killed her has the jewel,”
Austin pointed out.

Kyle shook his head. “
If the killer has the ruby, I doubt he would have tried to move the body. He would have just run off. I think whoever it is, might still be here.”

They fell silent, each weighing the risks and potential reward of continuing their hunt with a potential murderer running around.

“We’ve got ‘till tonight, right?” Jerry asked. “It doesn’t hurt to keep looking. If it’s here, great. Wonderful. We’re all millionaires. If it’s not, then we had some fun searching.”

Caroline pushed her hair back away from her face. “I
don’t know. What if Kyle’s right? We could be in danger.”

“If we all stick together
, we’ll be safe. I agree with Jerry,” Laura said, “let’s keep looking.”

Ivy looked thoughtfully outside. “You know
, Erica did spend a lot of time at the glass gazebo in the maze. Molly told me that Erica used to pretend she was Liesl from the
Sound of Music
, and jump from one stone bench to the other.”

“How can you hide anything there?
” Laura asked. “It’s all glass.”

Ivy stood up.
“Rupert told me that there’s a trap door under one of the stone benches. That’s where he found the diary.” She looked out the window.

“Did Erica know about this trap door?” Kyle asked.

Ivy nodded. “She did spend a lot of time out there by herself. In fact, she seemed to spend more time out there in the last couple of weeks than she had the whole time she worked here.”

A few minutes later, they were outside marching toward the gate.

Kyle stopped in front of the fountain. He glanced back up at the manor, debating whether to find Grace and let her know what they were up to.

Jerry dropped into place next to Kyle. “I think if we can just get everyone to agree
, we’ll all be a whole lot richer when we leave this place,” he said excitedly. “Do you think you can get Grace on board?”

Kyle’s eyes drifted up to the second floor.
If he knew his Grace, she’d probably start calling the police, the hotel, and anyone else she could think of, if she found out what they were up to. The trick would be convincing her to go along with the treasure hunt without involving any outsiders, at least for now. “Piece of cake.”

*  *  *

“Okay, now all that’s left to do is call the police. With any luck, Kyle and I can be back at the hotel before dinner,” Grace said to herself as she dropped Erica Powell’s wallet back into the woman’s red leather purse. It had taken awhile, but she had finally found the proof she needed shoved into an old bureau at the back of the attic. Deciding that the police could take it from here, she placed the folded notebook paper with Belinda Forrest’s phone number back into the purse’s side pocket. It wasn’t exactly a smoking gun and she still didn’t have any idea who the murderer was, but she at least had proof that something strange was going on at Murder Manor. At least enough to warrant an investigation, she thought, as she shoved Erica’s suitcase back behind the bureau. She reached back into the side pocket and pulled out Erica’s smart phone before slipping the red leather strap onto her shoulder.

She walked back to the staircase and
made her way down to the door. She turned on the phone as she walked, happy to discover that Erica had not password protected her phone. Pausing at the door, she immediately went to Erica’s recent calls.

There were over fifty
received and sent calls on New Year’s Eve, with the majority to or from Belinda Forrest. Grace noted that the last call Erica made was to Belinda thirty minutes before January first. There were also a few missed calls before and after midnight from other numbers. From the names assigned to those numbers, all but one appeared to be work related, and to that one number, Erica had assigned three dollar signs instead of a name.