The Fourth Mistress - Chapter 38：Question of mossy skeleton

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For a moment, Louise stared at the skeleton that laid on the bed of the lake, untouched and plants curled around it to keep it from moving and hidden. Not soon, she started to turn faint, and her body turned around with her hands and legs raised while being pulled down.

Graham, who had witnessed his wife fall into the water, quickly dropped the padding sticks in the boat and jumped right into the water to retrieve Louise back. Swimming towards her, he caught hold of her hand, noticing she had turned unconscious.

Resurfacing near the boat, he placed her inside the boat and climbed back. He gently patted Louise’s cheek to wake her up. Placing both his hands on her chest, he started to pump continuously until Louise started to cough water from her mouth. Graham supported the back of Louise’s head, bringing her to hold near to his heart.

A relieved sigh escaped Graham’s lips, and he pulled back to look at her, “For a moment, I was worried that I lost you,” came the worried voice from his lips. “What happened?”

Louise, who was still trying to get her scattered thoughts back, felt the coldness of the water that had drenched both her and Graham. The rays of the sun kept her from shivering.

Louise stared at the surface of the water that wavered without staying still even for a moment. She felt her mind recollect what she had experienced a few minutes ago, the sound of the water rushing, when she was pulled into the lake and the skeleton that she had noticed.

“There’s something down there… I think it is someone’s skeleton,” whispered Louise.

Graham’s eyebrows furrowed, and he said, “Okay. But let me take you back to the manor so that you don’t fall sick.”

“No,” Louise shook her head, her eyes shifting to look at him.

She didn’t want to wait because who knew if the skeleton would disappear just like the wedding gown in the manor. She had seen it in the water, and she wondered whose corpse it was. She shivered at the thought and the condition she was in.

“I cannot let you go in there again. Let me take you to the shore and you can wait there while I come back in here. We don’t know how deep the bottom of the lake is than it looks,” said Graham, and she finally agreed to it.

“Okay,” replied Louise, and Graham started to row back towards the edge of the lake, bringing her to the shore.

At the same time, two of the servants who were passing by noticed the couple drenched in water and came to check if they were alright. Graham got one of the servants to get the dried clothes and bring in the towel, while telling the other servant to come along with him in the boat. Louise stood there on the shore, watching the boat with furrowed eyebrows.

Last night, when she had changed her plans, she should have known that the ghost would come back to haunt her without letting them have a moment of peace.

Graham dived into the lake and she felt her heart race. She hugged herself with her arms, waiting. And the longer Graham took to resurface, the more worried she turned.

When he emerged from the water, he placed one hand on the edge of the boat, and the other hand pulled up to show the skeleton. The servant looked horrified but pulled up the skeleton and placed it in the boat before Graham climbed back into it.

The boat returned to where Louise was waiting for them, and both the servant and Graham got down. They pulled the boat towards the shore so that it wouldn’t sail back into the lake. Stepping closer, she finally took a look at the skeleton that was covered in moss.

Graham ordered the servant, “Jonas, go and fetch officer Burton to the manor right away.”

“Yes, Master Graham,” the servant bowed his head and hurried back to the manor.

Five minutes later, the family members who heard about the couple drenched in water, they came to where Graham and Louise stood.

Lady Viola walked down the little slope along with her husband towards where the couple stood. “Jonas told that you-Oh my God!” the woman gasped on seeing the skeleton that looked dirty. “Where did this come from?!”

The question was not where it came from, but whom it belonged to, thought Louise in her mind.

“We found it in the bottom of the lake, mother,” replied Graham, and when the butler brought the blanket, Graham helped Louise wrap it around her body.

“What was it doing there? Was it the Lestrange’s?” questioned Robert, a deep frown came to settle on his forehead.

“I thought the manor was thoroughly checked along with its legal documents that nothing ill happened before the property was bought,” stated Lady Viola, a grimace on her face.

“Is it possible that this was the person who had been killed…” Louise’s voice trailed as she looked at the hollow features of the skull.

Maybe this was the person whom Mr. Wensley had gotten killed, but why would a person ever leave the body where the family was living by? Was it because it was the least suspected spot? Everyone who stood there looked at each other, wondering what exactly was going on in Reed’s manor.

But at the same time, Louise wondered if it was someone from the Lestrange family.

Robert, who had a shocked look, asked, “How did you know that there was a skeleton in there?”

Graham didn’t answer the question, and he turned to look at Louise, who stared at the skeleton. He told Gilbert, “Get the skeleton near the shed next to the stable so that it can be inspected by the officer.”

The butler bowed his head, and the two servants brought the skeleton to the shed. And the other servants, who had heard about the found body, had come to stand outside and watch from afar.

After half an hour, Mr. Burton arrived at the manor, and he was led to the shed to take a look at what was found. He said, “Well well well, what do we have in here? Looks like your family keeps running into something or the other.” He came to stand in front of the skeleton that appeared green in colour.

“My wife and I went boating when we found the skeleton in the lake,” Graham informed the investigating officer.

“The lake must be shallow to be able to see the skeleton lying in the bottom,” commented Mr. Burton, while staring at the skeleton. “We don’t know who this is. It might be someone who has been sleeping for a hundred years, or maybe this is the person whom Elias killed and threw in the lake on your uncle’s word.”

“You have no proof that my brother got someone killed,” said Lady Viola, her eyes glaring at the officer.

“The letter that Lady Agatha mentioned is enough to prove that Mr. Wensley was involved with Elias Latton. This could be the person whom we have been looking for all this while,” remarked Mr. Burton. He looked at every person who was present there. “It is only a matter of time I uncover what is going on.” Looking at Graham and Louise, he said, “How did you even see it?”

“I lost my balance and fell in the water to the investigating officer’s question,” answered Louise.

The man’s eyebrows raised, and he looked at Graham, “I hope it is not what I think it is.”

Graham’s lips that were set in a line said, “I didn’t push her if that is what you want to know.”

“It is only a possibility that is being considered, after what happened previously,” stated Mr. Burton.

“Graham didn’t push me, Mr. Burton. You have no reason to doubt or blame him,” Louise cleared her husband’s name from being added to the lists of suspects.

Mr. Burton’s keen eyes didn’t leave Louise, and he stared at her, “So you’re telling me it was just an accident?”

“I thought, I saw something in the lake and it got me a little startled,” responded Louise.

“And what did you see?” questioned Mr. Burton.

Louise knew that if she told what she saw, people wouldn’t believe it and would only stare at her as if she was the next one to lose her mind and was going to die, just like Lisa.

“It wasn’t clear,” said Louise and Mr. Burton stared at her.

The investigating officer said, “I would like to ask everyone in this manor to not leave town for the next few days and if you are, let me know until we get to the bottom of this. I am still looking into the murder of Elias, but it has been hard to track down.”

Lady Viola glared at the investigating officer for thinking they had anything to do with this. She said, “If the body is this green, it must have been years.”

“We’ll get to know only after inspecting it, milady,” replied Mr. Burton.

“Is it possible that this person, it was someone from the time when the Lestrange’s used to live here?” asked Alison with a frown on her face.

“It could be, milady. But we need to keep our options open here. I will be taking the body with me and see what we find. The surface of the bones have turned green because of the moss,” answered Mr. Burton. The servants placed the skeleton to the carriage to take it with him for inspection. Graham and Louise walked to stand next to Mr. Burton’s carriage, where Mr. Burton stood.

Graham asked, “How long will it take to know who this body belongs to?”

“The experts will check to see how old the skeleton is and then trace it to the people who passed away in the year,” stated Mr. Burton, his lips pursed as he looked at the manor. “But right now, I am a little busy and will be taking the skeleton to the experts later, as I need to visit a place. Yesterday, one of the restaurants burned down at the centre place of the town in Habsburg. The owners said that they had made sure all the candles were blown out at night. Anyways, I will come back when I find out about this person.”

Saying this, he got inside his carriage and left the manor.

A sigh escaped Louise’s lips.

Louise hadn’t brought up Lisa’s letter with Mr. Burton. She knew if she did, Graham’s writing would be matched and he would not only be subjected to interrogation, but he would be arrested and put in jail by being blamed for Lisa’ murder.

Louise’s hair that was wet earlier had now almost dried with the amount of time she had spent near the shed with Graham and the others, leaving only its ends slightly wet now. They now sat in the drawing-room, next to the fireplace burning with logs of wood. The other family members of the Reed’s had decided to gather in the same room, after Mr. Burton had left the manor in his carriage, taking the skeleton with him.

“What is going to happen?” asked Alison in a soft voice while gently brushing her daughter’s head with her fingers, who was sleeping on her mother’s lap.

“We haven’t done anything wrong,” stated Lady Viola, who sat next to her husband with her legs crossed and her back leaned against the couch. “There is nothing to worry about as we have no idea of how that thing even ended up there or whom it belongs to. Who knows, maybe it belonged to someone before Malcolm Lestrange came to own this place.”

Henry, who sat on the other side, said, “Mr. Burton is only doing his job and he is only trying to find the answers. Though it is surprising that the skeleton has been there all this while.”

“It would be better to get the whole lake scouted by the servants,” said Robert. He wasn’t pleased with the number of times Mr. Burton had visited their manor, not to mention the look of suspicion that had stayed in the investigating officer’s eyes when he was talking to them.

“Yes, get it done right away,” agreed Lady Viola, and she turned to look at Gilbert, who bowed his head and left the room to find the male servants who could dive into the lake and see if any more skeletons were lying in the lake.

Lady Agatha’s eyebrows deeply furrowed, and she asked, “How did you end up falling into the lake, Louise? And Graham, shouldn’t you have been more careful to make sure she was alright?”

“It happened too fast, auntie,” replied Graham.

“What matters is that both of you are safe,” stated Robert, and everyone nodded their heads. “Maybe it would be safer to not go near the lake alone, even for the servants,” he added.