The Fourth Mistress

Louise and Graham quickly wore their robes and made their way down the stairs as quickly as possible. Hearing the echo of the scream, some of the servants like Gilbert, Jonas, Philip, Meg and Emily had woken up in shock and had climbed out of bed and out of the servants quarters to see what happened. 

The servants stood in front of the dining room with a look of horror marred on their faces, unable to speak but just stare. 

"What is going on here? What was the scream about?" Graham asked in a worried tone. His eyes fell on the maids as the scream they heard sounded as if it was of a woman. 

Gilbert's already grave expression turned worse in complexion while he tried to keep a composed expression, "Master Graham… inside the dining room," said the butler. 

Louise wondered what had got the servants this shaken.

Leaving the servants side, Graham walked towards the dining room and stepped inside it with Louise, who closely followed him. On seeing what was in front of her, a shocked gasp escaped her lips. Senior Mr. Reed sat at the head of the table, with his head resting on the table's surface. One would have assumed that he was just sleeping if it weren't for the blood that surrounded the chair. 

When they walked forward, they noticed his hands were placed on the table with knives pierced on the back of his hands, and his throat had been slit. His eyes looked wide as if he was in utter shock right before he was killed. 

Lady Viola had her mouth covered and standing with her back leaning against the wall. 

Louise' eyes moved away from the woman who was in shock, and she looked at the wall that had writing in blood. It read— 'You are next.'

Soon the other three family members showed up in the dining room where the others were. A scream left Alison's lips, horror-struck on her face, and her husband quickly held her in his arms to support her. 

"Father!" Alison called out to her father, who was sitting dead at the dining table. Tears spilt from her eyes. Every person in the room was too shocked to move away from where they stood, staring at the dead man who was killed and the ground that was stained with his blood. 

Graham went to his mother, placing his hand on her arm and said, "Why don't you take a seat in the drawing room, mother?" 

Lady Viola shook her head, staring into space, "I want to stay here. Near him." She looked at her husband's body before she walked towards him and pulled out the knives stuck into the back of his hands. "Who dared to do this unfathomable thing to him! There's no one else except us in here, go search the entire manor!" 

His mother had turned livid, and it took Graham some time to catch hold of her hands so that she wouldn't do something to hurt herself. "Calm down, mother," he tried to console her. 

Lady Viola slowly broke down, and her face twisted in pain while she tried to hold back her tears. Graham hugged his mother while rubbing her back. He was in pain and shock seeing his father in such a state, dead. 

This was the second death in the family, which was worse than the last one. Louise had never expected that the ghost would start to kill people in the family, and it wasn't done. She had believed that the ghost was only targeting Graham's wife, which was why it was shocking. 

'You are next' who was it for? She asked in her mind. 

Everyone stayed awake in the manor, and the sun rose for the investigating officer, who was once again called, but this time he came with his partner. 

Mr. Burton introduced the other man, "This is Johnathan Shaw and he is here to help me solve the case on what is going on."

Mr. Shaw said, "My deepest condolences for you and your family for your loss." Graham offered a small nod. "Where did the murder take place?" inquired the new officer.

"It's in the dining room," replied Graham, and he led them to the dining room. 

Lady Agatha, Henry, Alison stood in the dining room, and the servants stood outside the room in one corner. Louise stayed next to Lady Viola, who refused to eat or drink anything, not even a sip of water since she had woken up from her sleep. The woman had her lower face covered with a handkerchief. 

Both the officers took a look at the crime scene. 

"There are deep wounds on the back of Mr. Reed's hands . Who was the one to discover the body first?" questioned officer Shaw. 

"It was my mother," replied Graham to the man's question. "When we found him, the knives were stuck into his hands and my mother took them out." 

Both the officer's gazes turned to Lady Viola, who quietly sat on a chair in grief and stared at the ground with no interaction.

"We know it is bad timing, Lady Viola, but we hope you can answer some of our questions," said Mr. Shaw. "How did you find your husband? When did this occur?"

"It was past eleven in the night," replied Lady Viola and the other people in the room looked at each other.

"We were told it was somewhere one in the morning?" stated Mr. Burton. He turned to look at the family members, wondering if Lady Viola was in shock, which is why she couldn't recollect the time. 

"When I saw the clock it was only eleven. It did feel a few hours had passed since I had closed my eyes," explained Lady Viola. "I thought I heard some noise and went to look for him."

"Did you see anyone near him?" came the next question to her. 

Lady Viola shook her head, "No."

"Does anyone have a grudge against your family? Because from the words written on the wall, it looks like your family is being targeted and someone is going to hurt again. It looks like a threat," explained Mr. Shaw. 

Lady Viola answered, "There are so many jealous people because of our status and the way we live life. It could be anyone."

"I am looking for a name here, milady. Someone we can interrogate with," replied Mr. Shaw. 

In the meantime of Lady Viola being questioned, like others, Louise was trying to escape the shock of losing another person in the family. Was Senior Mr. Reed part of something bad? And was there another person in here involved in it?

Louise' eyes fell on her husband, who looked gloomier than the first time when her eyes had fallen on him. Mr. Burton caught the little action, and he called the couple to the side. 

"I told you last time, Mr. and Mrs. Reed. If there's anything that you are hiding, it would be better to speak up about it. Especially with the way things have turned out to be," said Mr. Burton, staring at them. 

Graham pursed his lips and finally decided to speak, "I think someone is trying to target my family."

"Which is clearly showing," commented Mr. Shaw. 

Louise intervened by asking the man, "Mr. Burton and Mr. Shaw, do you believe in ghosts?" The look in her eyes was serious. 

Mr. Shaw started to chuckle, "Are you telling us that this is a ghost's doing? I heard you were an educated woman, milady, to believe in things like these."

"Just because a person is educated doesn't mean we forget God or close the option of being open to things that might be out of our grasp to explain it," replied Louise. She knew they were taking a long shot in here by hoping the officers would believe them. 

Graham placed his hand on her back. He said, "I know it sounds absurd, but all we are asking is a possibility for you to look at the whole picture instead of just looking at a piece of it."

"Have you ever seen a ghost?" asked Mr. Burton to Louise and she nodded her head. 

"I have."

"Seriously, we cannot believe what is being spun here. Ghosts don't exist," said Mr. Shaw to the three of them. "And even if there is one, whose is it?"

"We don't know about it, but we have been trying to figure it out," replied Graham, and the two officers stared at the couple as if they were trying to fool them. "A few days ago, we found a gown that mysteriously appeared in the manor. We went and checked with the tailor who made the dress and was in possession of it after my family had returned it. To know who had brought it from him again, we came upon the name of a woman named Marlow Saltonstall."

Mr. Burton frowned, "Why does the name sound familiar?" 

"It was the case that took place seventeen years ago. The man who shot himself and his two daughters after his wife killed herself," Louise helped in jogging the memory, and Mr. Burton nodded his head. 

"She was the one who brought it?" asked Mr. Burton. "How old was this dress that your family returned?"

"That is the problem here. The wedding gown was only five years old, and as per the tailor, it was brought back three years ago," replied Graham, his expression serious. 

Giving it a few seconds, officer Shaw said, "For a moment let us believe it is true, are you telling this woman, Marlow Saltonstall is the ghost that is haunting your family? Why? If I am not wrong, the woman's family used to live somewhere near Midville, and from what I heard your family had lived in Warlington before moving here." 

"We don't have the answers to it. But hope that this might help you in some way in solving the case and even let us know," stated Graham, and Mr. Burton sighed. 

"Frankly, we aren't convinced by this ghost thing, and why it would bring a wedding gown. But we'll try to see if there is any connection between your family and Lady Marlow Saltonstall," stated Mr. Burton while also adding, "I have handed the skeleton to the experts and hope to get our results soon."

"Where was everyone else when they heard the screams?" Mr. Burton inquired before speaking to the servants who gave their alibi on where they were and with whom at that time. 

After the officers finished their enquiries, they stepped out of the manor.

Mr. Shaw said, "I went through the previous file of Graham Reed's deceased wife. She used to speak about ghosts too." Having a look back at the manor, he said, "Maybe the person who was involved with Wensley and Latton was Robert Reed. And maybe Robert Reed was the one who got Latton murdered for killing his brother-in-law?"

"That doesn't give us an answer to who killed Robert, does it?" stated Mr. Burton, getting in the carriage. 

"If you asked me, the family looks shady. People keep dying and no one is able to find out the reason behind it. Looks like a crazy case, Burton," said officer Shaw as he followed inside, and the carriage's door was closed. "I will go and check what this connection was about the wedding gown and you can go and check if the experts found anything helpful." 

The same day, arrangements were made for Robert Reed's funeral, in the backside of the manor next to the other graves of the family members. The priest, Father Edward, performed the last rituals, and some of the people came to pay their respects and prayers for the deceased person so that he could rest in peace. 

The family grieved over the loss, not knowing who killed Robert Reed and the motive behind it. At the same time, fear had started to creep into the mind of the remaining people in the manor after reading the words in the dining room. 

Few days passed since the incident, while everyone anticipated for the murderer to be caught and punished.

In the drawing-room, Louise sat on the couch with Molly sitting on her lap, holding a book as they read the story together. Alison had not taken well the news about her father's death and was being cared for by her husband Henry in the room, and Louise had offered to take care of Graham's niece when she was in the manor. 

Molly read from the passage, "... for the mices to run away from the cat that prow-prowled, without tying the bell which-"

Hearing the sound of the carriage, Molly was quick to jump from her lap, and she ran towards the hall. 

"Molly, wait," Louise placed the book down and followed the little girl, who had gone hopping and reached the front door. 

By the time Louise reached the main door, Gilbert had already attended to it, and he opened the door wide. 

"Is Uncle Graham back?" asked the little girl. 

It was too early for Graham to return at this hour of noon, thought Louise in her mind. When she came to stand in front of the door, she noticed it was Mr. Burton, and she could only hope that he had come with some useful information, not just to interrogate more. 

Mr. Burton came to stand in front of the door and offered a bow, "Afternoon, Lady Louise."

Louise nodded at him, somewhere worried about seeing the grim expression on his face. 

"Is Mr. Graham in the manor?" asked the officer. "I went to his office, but they said he left the workplace an hour ago."

Louise shook her head, "No, he isn't home yet. Did you find anything in regards to Senior Mr. Reed's murder?" 

"No, actually it was about something else. May I come in?" 

"Yes, please," said Louise, stepping away from the door, and so did the butler, who then came to take the man's coat. "Gilbert, you can tell the maids to prepare some tea and bring it to the drawing room." 

Gilbert bowed his head, and his eyes followed the officer who now walked next to Lady Louise towards the seating room before he walked away from there to the kitchen. When Mr. Burton took his seat, Louise asked, 

"What did you want to speak about?"

"It is regarding the skeleton that was found in the lake here," stated Mr. Burton, and Louise nodded her head for him to go on. "The experts checked it twice so that there was no mistake in what was found. I also thought it would be better if I let you know first before the others…"

"Who does it belong to?" asked Louise, holding her breath and waiting to hear the results that were found. 

Mr. Burton took two seconds before he replied, "We checked the records of the deaths that took place in Habsburg, Midville, Warlington and other surrounding areas. The experts found out that the skeleton belonged to a woman in her early twenties and has been dead for five years. The skeleton that you found belongs to none other than your husband's deceased wife. Lisa Reed."

"That's not possible," replied Louise with her eyebrows knitted. "She is buried in the family cemetery that we have behind the manor."

Louise had seen the skeleton in the casket with her very own eyes. If the person in the officer's custody was Lisa… then who was the person in the casket? 

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