Reece practically dragged me out of the kitchen. “We need to discuss a serious matter, sir.”

“Okay. Go ahead.” I spotted Elle through the window, wandering next to a woman with red hair. Today, Elle wore almond colored pants that formed around her thighs and hung below her waist. A thin, white material wrapped around her breasts. All of that luscious black hair draped her shoulders and fell past her behind as it waved in the breeze. I almost tapped on the window to get her attention.

For what, to say hi like a bumbling idiot? What did I expect, that a few minutes in an art museum would form some sort of connection?

Reece talked to me about whatever emergency was happening, but my attention remained on Elle while she walked with the women toward the garden.

“. . . but Mrs. Greer promised that it won’t happen again. I’ve called a locksmith to fix the attic door and—”

“What?” I stopped ogling Elle and directed my attention to Reece. “Mrs. Greer said what?”

“Well, the night before last the doorknob and lock were broken on the entrance to the attic, but she confirmed that no one entered or left last night.”

Dear god.

I ran trembling fingers through my hair. “How could she confirm it?”

“Mrs. Greer had security look at the cameras outside the attic door. They reported that no one walked in or out of that level.”

The attic door is messed with and a girl is killed, all in the same evening. That can’t be simple coincidence.

“Get a guard for the door.” Instead of heading to my office, I took the last flight of stairs to the attic.

“That’s a total of twenty new guards on the property, sir.”

“That’s fine. I would rather overdo it than have another person die. Make sure this party is monitored as well. No one can attend but the guests who lived here. I also want them watched as much as possible. For all we know, one of them killed the girl and we’re throwing the sicko a celebration.”

She scribbled it all down. A beep sounded from her hip. “That’s the reminder for the meeting with Metropolitan Art Museum. I rescheduled it for four. We have fifteen minutes.”

“You go ahead. I have to check on something.” I left her right there. The rest of the people who ventured this way did so out of duty and responsibility. Our maids didn’t clean the space daily like the rest of the castle. Only the one maid who had been in service with us for years could clean this section. Security did nightly patrols of the door outside of the attic. I didn’t inform them of why, they simply did what they were told. Hex never made it up here. He couldn’t deal with it. Grandma did out of a sense of duty and knew that no one else would, no one else cared.

Did you hurt that girl?

I approached the door. A guard stood next to a man in a blue uniform as he stayed on his knees and fidgeted with the door. This must be the locksmith. I studied the area. Scrape marks trimmed the edges of the metal hinges. They hadn’t been there when I visited last time. When had I last come up here? Last month, or longer?

“Does it look like someone broke out of this door, or was someone trying to break in?” I asked the locksmith.

“It looks like someone kept slamming things against the door.” He pointed to the hinges. “You see how the nails are sticking forward like that? That means the door was being pushed from the inside. The door knob had that same problem. In my opinion, I don’t think anyone was breaking in. It looks like someone was trying to break out.”

“And you checked the security tape on the cameras out here?” I asked the guard.

“Yes sir. Although. . .”

“What?”

The guard shifted from side to side and looked around. “All the cameras up here shut off after ten at night.”

“Excuse me?”

The guard rubbed his hands together. “I’m sorry, sir. I wasn’t going to say anything about it. In fact, I was asked not to say anything since the cameras are now fixed to record all the time, but I heard that a young girl died yesterday and that she was around both of my sisters’ ages. I didn’t feel right about lying.”

“Who’s in charge of the cameras?”

“Mr. Brewster.”

“Okay.” Today will be Mr. Brewster’s last day of work. “Consider yourself promoted to his position. Who else knew about this?”

“Just me, his wife, and him. We’re the only ones allowed up here.”

“His wife?” I scrunched my face up in confusion.

“Mrs. Greer. She uses her maiden name.”

So they can work here together without me knowing that they were married.

They’d both come with a lot of credentials and recommendations from very trusted associates. I would’ve probably hired them regardless and understood their need to be together. The positions were practically twenty-four/seven. Grandma relieved her at times, but Mrs. Greer pretty much lived, slept, and ate up here. She would’ve wanted to see her husband every now and then, maybe even have a few late night visits. She had a big bedroom in the attic and didn’t think it was a big deal to have her husband slip by whenever everyone else was asleep.

Tags: Kenya Wright Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net