The Fourth Mistress - Chapter 24：Person in the cellar

Louise stared at the sheets of paper that were placed in front of her sitting behind her desk. Mr. Winkle had asked her to go through it for analysis, but her mind was somewhere else. Since the day Mr. Wensley had passed away or possibly when she had fallen into the Edgerton’s pond, she couldn’t put all her concentration in her work.

Her mind felt anxious as if it couldn’t stay still, and she kept going back to wonder what happened. Pulling out her notebook, she started to write down the unusual things she had come across so far. If there was one thing she had learned to work on a case, it was to follow the breadcrumbs.

Trying to remember, she started to write it down one by one—

1. Mr. Wensley’s death in the Edgerton’s manor.

2. Being pushed into the pond.

Louise paused there, her heart rate increasing at the thought of what if it was Alison who had pushed her to have fun? And that after seeing Graham, it had turned out to be serious? But they were both adults and not children to do such things. Since that day, she had tried to come up with different theories that either pointed to Alison or pointed to a dead-end that had no actual explanation.

3. Seeing the hand of the dead near Lisa’s grave.

4. Seeing the rotten hand outside the closet in Lisa’s room.

5. The disappearance of the gown.

6. Lisa’s worries before her death.

7. Ernest Wensley talking to a stranger.

For now, that was all she could remember. Now that Louise had made a case report with points of her current situation, she decided it was time to start looking into herself on what was going on.

Louise knew that if an outsider were to look at her and see what she had written, they would call her nosey. But she wanted to look into the matter rather than wait and turn to be the next dead wife of Graham Reed.

On the weekend, Louise decided to visit her uncle and aunt as it had been a while since she had last seen them, and Graham accompanied her. While Graham was speaking to her uncle, Louise was with Aunt Merlin in the kitchen, preparing tea for them.

“Did they not find the reason why he jumped?” whispered Aunt Merlin, who had received the news about Mr. Wensley’s death from Uncle Hugo.

Louise shook her head, and she replied in a low voice, “Nothing so far. He was perfectly fine when we reached Edgerton’s manor. Nobody knows why he decided to jump at that particular moment. The Reed’s are wealthy and they have little to no problem.”

“What a strange thing. Wealthy families must have their own strange problems. I was very surprised when I heard this. I wanted to come and see if you were doing alright, but then I know how things are there,” murmured Aunt Merlin.

“You don’t have to worry about them, Aunt Merlin. You are my aunt and you should feel free to visit me anytime,” assured Louise, and her aunt nodded her head.

“I know, dear. I just don’t want them to give you a difficult time, or you both getting on wrong foot. I mean you and your mother-in-law. How is she doing?” asked Aunt Merlin, knowing the deceased man was Lady Viola’s brother.

“She’s trying to show a strong front like the rest of the members in the manor. They are trying to cope with the loss, especially Lady Agatha,” said Louise and a sigh escaped from her lips.

Aunt Merlin poured the tea into the teacups, placing them on the tray, and Louise took hold of it. Before she stepped out, her aunt placed her hand on her arm. “If there’s anything you ever want to speak about, Louise, don’t forget, we are still here.”

“I would never forget it,” replied Louise, a smile coming up on her lips, and she carried the tray out of the kitchen.

Both her uncle and Graham, who were busy in their conversation, picked up their teacups. Louise sat down on the stool that she was used to sitting in this house. She watched Graham, who was in his prim and proper clothes, sipping tea that her aunt made. His hair was neatly combed, and his behaviour gentleman-like and humble, she thought in her mind.

As if sensing her continuous gaze on him, Graham’s eyes shifted to look at her. Louise wasn’t a shy young person to look away from him, and a soft smile appeared on her lips. Day by day, her husband had started to appear more handsome in her eyes, and she wondered if it was because of her spending a lot of time with him.

Or maybe it was because they were trying to understand the other, which was leading them to finding each other.

“Isn’t that right, Louise?” questioned her uncle, and Louise tore her gaze away from Graham to look at her uncle. “Next month, you should take Graham to the theatre in Habsburg. Someone said, they are going to play Hulio the carpenter.”

Louise nodded her head before looking at Graham, “Would you be interested to go and see it?” She didn’t want to jump and make plans by herself when she knew he was busy.

“I would very much like that. On our way, let us drop by the theater to make sure we know when it’s showcasing date is,” stated Graham, and Louise smiled. It was the little gestures like this from him that had her heart sway and move towards him.

Louise knew mother Viola wouldn’t be happy, but they were husband and wife, and they deserved to spend time together. When it was time to leave, she hugged her uncle and aunt, wishing them bye for the day and got in the carriage with Graham.

After visiting the theatre and by the time their carriage returned to Reed’s manor, Louise caught sight of the other carriages that stood away from the manor’s front entrance. Looking through the little window, she noticed men carrying caskets towards the back side of the manor.

“Looks like they have brought them here,” said Graham when his eyes fell on what Louise was watching.

Their coachman stepped down from his seat, walking towards the door and opening it for them. Graham stepped out of the carriage, and he turned around, ready to give his hand to support her. But Louise had already started to step out, and they met halfway, where one of her feet was on the foot stand, and for once, she was near to his height.

“Careful,” said Graham. He moved his hand to place it on her waist when he noticed the little imbalance.

“Thank you,” murmured Louise, finding her footing, and she got down.

They walked towards the other carriages that were parked, and Graham asked the butler, who stood there, “Are all of them here?”

“Yes, Mr. Reed. These are the last ones that arrived ten minutes ago,” informed Gilbert.

“Have them placed carefully,” ordered Graham, and the servants bowed their heads.

It seemed like Graham’s father had made arrangements in a way where the carriages had arrived at almost the same hour, thought Louise to herself. Three servants arrived near the carriage, and they slowly started to bring down the caskets that had been tied with ropes so that it wouldn’t disturb the body inside.

A maid arrived, calling Graham as his mother had summoned for his presence. Louise stood there, watching the servants carry the casket to the backside, and then they did the same to the second one.

The servants returned to carry the last casket. During that time, one of the servant’s hands slipped, and the casket fell on the ground opening the lid.

“Sorry, milady!”

“Be careful,” came Gilbert’s stern voice while bowing his head at Louise in apology with the other servants.

But the words went unheard by Louise because in that briefest time between the casket lid being open and closed later by the butler, she caught sight of the corpse lying inside it. The skeleton wore a floral dress.

She stepped forward, noticing the nameplate nailed on it—Lisa Reed.

Louise watched the casket being carefully carried by the servants under the butler’s supervision to the backside of the manor. Not staying there, she followed them from behind. Until now, Graham’s wives had only been an idea that was spoken about. But after seeing Lisa’s skeleton in the casket, her position in the Reed’s family sunk deeper in her mind.

When she reached the backside and away from the manor, where Mr. Wensley had been buried a few days ago, she saw the dug up ground. The servants placed the caskets in the hollowness of the ground, and the Reed’s estate now had nine graves. Three for the deceased wives, four for the grandparents, one for Mr. Wensley and one for Mr. Reed’s aunt.

Louise watched the butler giving instructions to the servants to properly push the mud so that the caskets wouldn’t come up to the surface. She called him “Gilbert.”

The butler quickly turned and walked up to where she was, “Yes, milady?”

“Graham said you had the keys to the cellar. Do you have them right now with you?” asked Louise, her eyes noticing how dull he looked because of the hollowness underneath his eyes. She wondered if he didn’t get enough sleep or was this his actual appearance, she asked in her mind.

“I have them with me,” answered Gilbert, his hand fishing into one side of his vest pocket.

Louise raised her hand, ready to take the key, but before the butler gave it, he said, “It is the bronze key that will open up the door to the cellar room.”

“Thank you.”

She took the keys from the butler, and he gave her a small bow.

Getting inside the manor, Louise walked through the corridors to come and stand in front of the cellar room’s door. On her way, she had picked herself a lantern. She pushed the bronze key into the lock, turning it around to hear the door unlock.

Pushing the door, Louise stepped inside with the burning lantern in her hand. As expected, the cellar room was dark.

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Raising her hand that carried the lantern, she looked around. There were a lot of things kept in here. Some were covered, and some were left to collect dust. Noticing some of the things that looked out of this time, Louise assumed it must have belonged to the Lestrange family, while some items possibly belonged to the Reeds, her now family.

The light from the lantern was enough to cover where she stood but not enough to reach every part of the cellar as it was big. As the cellar was built underground, it was quiet where one couldn’t hear the chirping of the birds, nor the sound of the servants or the family members of the manor.

As she continued to walk, she noticed a large frame placed to face the wall. It must be the portrait, thought Louise to herself, and she placed the burning lantern on the ground before walking towards it.

Carefully, she picked it up and turned it around so that she could take a better look at it. No one must have come to see recently as Louise noticed the little formation of webs. She used her hands to remove them. There were members of Reed’s family in the portrait.

Louise turned to pick up the lantern and brought it closer to the portrait so that she could take a better look. In the portrait was Senior Mr. and Mrs. Reed, who sat on the couch. Mrs. Reed had the same expression as of now, one that was serious and her chin up. Alison and Henry were in there along with Molly, who was just a baby. The recently deceased Mr. Wensley and Lady Agatha stood next to Graham and his wife. Louise noted the same floral dress that the woman wore. This was Lisa Reed.

Lisa had a radiant and sweet looking smile on her face. Her dark black hair had been tied.

“This must be when they were just married,” murmured Louise to herself.

Louise hadn’t seen the other two wives yet, but she found Lisa to be pretty. She had been buried in the same dress with full sleeves, and the dress reached until her ankles.

Everyone appeared to have the same demeanour, except for Graham, who appeared more relaxed compared to how he was now.

Louise then picked another portrait. It was one where Lady Viola looked much younger with Mr. Reed. Next to them stood young Graham and Alison, and this brought a smile to her lips. In the portrait, Graham looked serious. After looking through some more portraits, she wondered why they hadn’t been hung on the walls of Reed’s manor.

Then, she found the portraits where Graham’s first wife Nancy and his second wife Johanna were in it, noticing the way Graham had matured in his physique.

Both Nancy and Johanna appeared to be young looking. All the previous three wives looked kind, while Johanna seemed to have her chin up like Viola. Now that she had seen all of them, Louise tried to find out if there were any possible connections between the three women, and the only thing was Graham and his family.

If there was a similar pattern in each of their deaths, it would have been easy, but the first two had died due to illness, while the third had died because of an accident in the attic.

While Louise stood alone in the cellar room, staring at the three paintings, she heard footsteps behind her. When she turned around, she faced darkness that made it difficult for her to see anything.

The footsteps were light, and she asked, “Molly, is that you?”

But Louise received no response. She knew Graham’s niece enjoyed playing hide and seek, waiting to be found by others. “Molly?” she called again. Maybe it was someone walking on the floor above, she thought to herself.

Turning back to the paintings, Louise started to keep them back in their original places. While doing that, she heard something creak again. Her eyes fell on the wooden floorings that she stood on, and she slowly turned again.

“Who is it?” questioned Louise, her voice firm and unwavering.

Her eyes moved from one place to another, and it finally fell on something tall and lean, a shadow as if someone was there. She felt her heart drop and her hands turn cold similar to the cellar’s temperature. The door through which she had entered the cellar was still open, and if she wanted, she could leave.

She tried not to let the darkness of the cellar scare her.

But her courage shook when she noticed the top part of the object move, as if a person stood there, moving the head ever so slowly to look at her.

Louise quickly grabbed the lantern’s handle that she had earlier placed on the floor, raising the lantern, noticing it was just a coat stand covered in a white sheet.

But the next second, the cellar’s door shut and her heart started to pound.

She quickly ran towards the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. The keys thought Louise to herself. Pulling it from her pocket dress, she tried to push it through the lock, but to her dismay, she noticed the key couldn’t be inserted from this side of the door and only from the other side.

The doors of this manor needed to be fixed thought Louise to herself. She banged the door with her hand.

“Is anyone out there? I have been locked in here,” Louise shouted so that someone who was walking nearby would hear her.

With the already dead silence that surrounded her, Louise heard the creak of the wooden flooring. Someone was in the room, and it wasn’t funny to be playing with her. Turning back, she took a few brave steps forward.

She couldn’t see anyone from where she stood, but the sound of the footsteps were clear, which moved from one corner of the room to another.

“Who is there?” demanded Louise, and upon her words, the footsteps stopped, bringing in silence.

Louise went back to the door and banged it with her hand when she felt a sudden pain erupt through her palm, and she cried out in pain. Pulling back her hand, she brought the lantern to see blood. She had placed her hand right on the nail that was on the door.

She turned back, looking at the space inside the room, hearing the footsteps continue to approach her. Suddenly when the cellar door opened, the footsteps stopped making Louise’s heart stumble.

“Lady Louise?” questioned Emily with another maid named Jemma. “Your hand!” she gasped, noticing the blood drip down her hand.

“I thought there was a rat in the cellar,” said Louise.

“Let me go and take a look inside,” and Jemma went with the lantern, looking around to return, “I will as the butler to check again, Lady Louise.”

“Jemma, go get the bandages with the medicine,” said Emily to her fellow maid, and then she said to Louise, “Let me help you clean this, milady,” and they entered the backside of the kitchen, which wasn’t too far from the cellar.

“I was so worried when I heard a scream and came to see what happened with Jemma,” said the maid as she poured water to clean the wound at the basin, and Louise flinched in pain. She had used her open palm to bang the door, not knowing there was a nail stuck in there.

Right on time, Graham entered the room with the maid following behind him with bandages in her hand.

“Jemma said you are hurt. What happened?” Graham frowned in concern when he saw Louise’s hand. Walking to her, he took a closer look.

“I placed my hand on the nail that was on the door. It was just a small accident,” Louise assured him, but the frown on his face didn’t leave.

“Go fetch Gilbert,” Graham ordered the maid, dismissing the other maid and took the maid’s place to pour the water on Louise’s hand. He then helped wrap the bandage. He said, “You should have told someone to come along with you. The cellar is dark and it is hard to see things in there unless you carry six to seven lanterns with you.”

“I will keep that in my mind,” replied Louise, her eyes trained on his hands that moved up and down as he rolled the bandage around her palm.

“Is it too painful?” on Graham’s question, Louise shook her head. His quick decision to replace the maid from helping her made her internally smile. Two minutes later, the butler arrived, and Graham ordered,

“There’s a nail on the cellar’s door. Get it removed right now before someone else gets hurt.” The butler bowed his head, obliging to the order and stepped out of the kitchen.