The Mansion of Mystery, Part 5

I flop down onto Elizabeth's bed, tired after the last week. The house is almost finished and I am just wearing myself out trying to figure out who Chloe is or was. The more thought I put into this mystery the more I confuse myself. If Chloe was a ghost when Elizabeth saw her, she could be a ghost now too. If she wasn't a ghost and was alive back then, well, she could be a ghost now.

Do I believe in ghosts? How else can I explain Chloe being in my hallway when I was here alone, and then vanishing into thin air? Yes, I believe in ghosts. At least, I do now. I have no other explanation. My thoughts only seem to run in circles and I am not getting any closer to finding out what happened here eighty years ago. It is so frustrating.

Elizabeth's journal is yellowing and fading. Some of the ink is unreadable now. All I can garner from her writing is that Chloe and she had some visits while Victor was away, and only while Victor was away, and that they had become quite close.

I sigh and slap my forehead. What I need, I decide, is for the house to be finished and the men to leave so that I can talk to Chloe. Assuming, of course, that whatever happens to bring Chloe here will happen again, and happen long enough for me to interrogate the poor child so I can figure things out.

I turn off the bedside light and attempt to sleep and not dream of Chloe, Elizabeth or the house on the hill.

I have spent the past four days at the library. Richard, the librarian, has spoken to one of the old men in town who was a child when Victor Hewitt suddenly left eighty years ago. Apparently no one knew where he went or what became of him once he left the house on the hill. He just disappeared. When Richard told me that I rolled my eyes and slammed my head on the desk. There didn't seem to be any answers anywhere.

There are also no leads as to Elizabeth's whereabouts. She didn't leave the house with Victor and yet, was simply never seen again. Evelyn, Elizabeth's mother was discovered by Victor floating face down in the fountain pool at the rear of the mansion. Victor called the town doctor who came out and pronounced her dead and removed the body. Dr. Adam Graham stated afterwards that Victor was showing no emotion and seemed almost too frightened to move or speak. The next morning Dr. Graham rode out to the mansion in time to see Victor riding out of the driveway and down the road away from town. He never had the opportunity to thoroughly question Victor about Evelyn's death, and since Victor then "ran away" many of the townspeople at the time figured that Victor had killed her. No one seemed to have any idea what happened to Elizabeth. Her body was never found, her things were still where she kept them; she had simply vanished.

Who would want Evelyn dead? She was overbearing. She was a loud, pushy woman who had unpopular and unappreciated opinions. Certainly she wasn't the first on anyone's guest list at the time. Why kill her instead of ignoring her? And, the voice in my head reminded me, she never strayed far from her only daughter Elizabeth. So where was Elizabeth when Evelyn was being murdered? Was she murdered? Is it possible to simply fall into the fountain and drown? Did she drink? Could she swim?

Every thought I have leads to more questions and fewer answers. The only person who could possibly shed any light on the situation for me is Chloe. The problem is, I can't count on ever seeing her again. All I can do right now is stop thinking about everything, try and step back and just not touch it again until the work on the house is finished. Maybe coming back to it later will stir up something in my head that I'm missing right now. Something happened here eighty years ago. Someone knows something. Somehow I can figure this out.

Monday, October 15, 2007, the house is finished! I circle the date on the calendar in the kitchen. I have working electricity, working plumbing, and heat. I am so happy I could shout, however, I restrain myself and merely smile. I spend the morning dusting and vacuuming the upstairs and the downstairs. With the cobwebs gone and the furniture uncovered and the windows cleaned it seems almost like home. I giggle. It is home. I own this house. Finally, after years of working (well, some years of working) I own a house. I am very happy. Strange things happened here, but I am happy.

Elizabeth's words come back to me. "In truth I am so relaxed, so happy, so confident here. My painting has flourished and my mind feels open and I am so eager some days for Victor to leave me to my house and those who dwell within..."

With the house clean and intact once more, it is time to see if I can find Chloe.

I open the curtains in the hallway upstairs and open the bedroom doors so that the light from their windows will help illuminate the hallway. I walk to the top of the staircase and turn to look down the hallway to the right as I did that first day.

I smile. Once again the curtains at the end of the hallway are closed.

I take a deep breath and call out, "Chloe?" There is no answer. "Chloe, can you hear me?" Nothing happens. I walk to the window at the end of the hallway and open the curtains and walk back to the top of the staircase. This time when I look at the window I can see the curtains being closed. My heart races.

In the darkened hallway a few seconds later I see her. Again, she is standing about two thirds of the way down the hallway. I smile and softly say, "Hello, Chloe."

Her small cherubic face echoes my smile. She whispers, "Hello, Catherine."

I sit down on the top step and pat the space next to me. "Will you sit with me? I'd like to talk to you about Elizabeth."

Her little eyes open wider. "Elizabeth? You know about Miss Elizabeth?" She takes a shocked step backwards.

Surprised, I try to keep her calm. "I know she used to live here and you used to visit her." Once again I pat the step next to me. "It's okay, honey. Please come talk to me."

There is a cold draft as Chloe comes nearer. Hesitantly she sits on the top stair, but too far for me to touch her should I try. It is now or never.

"Did you come visit Elizabeth, Chloe?"

She nods and her short blonde hair falls forward around her face.

"I guess so" she says. "Maybe she came to visit me."

I wonder at that, but let it go for now. There is so much to ask.

"Did you ever see Elizabeth when Victor was here?"

"Victor?" She looks confused.

"Yes, Elizabeth's husband. Did you ever see him? Did you meet him?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh no, Miss Catherine. I never met him. I only talked to Miss Elizabeth."

Remembering my first encounter with Chloe, I shook my head. I said, "No...you called him the last time I saw you. Don't you remember? You shouted, 'Victor!'"

"I shouted...??" Chloe's brow furrowed and then understanding flooded into her dark eyes. "Oh, no. I didn't call him. I didn't know him. My big brother's name is Victor. I called him because the curtains kept opening when no one was there. Then I called him when I saw you. You scared me."

My jaw dropped. I was confused. "I scared you?" Big brother??

Before that information had time to sink into my confused mind, Chloe said, "I think I have to go. Goodbye, Miss Catherine," and as I watched she smiled and slowly faded into the nothingness and I was alone in my house on the hill.