“Why don’t you tell her yourself?” Jane asked.
He shook his head. “It’s as if I can’t breach the castle. I try to enter. I don’t know why. The family arranged the wedding, but they didn’t want us together. There were a number of us out that day—Emil Roth, father and son, among them. I watched the blood flow from me, but I never knew who’d done the deed. And yet, I prayed that my love would go on—that Elizabeth would rally and find happiness. She loved me, but she wasn’t weak. She should have lived a long life and she should have found happiness. But she did not. I’ll never leave her now. I will watch her at the window for eternity.”
“I’ll tell her,” Jane said. “But there is a way—there is always a way. We’ll figure it out, and you two may tell each other everything you wish to say.”
As she spoke, she heard her name cried out loudly and with anguish.
Sloan!
“Here!” she cried. “I’m in the chapel.”
A moment later, the door burst in and Sloan rushed to her, sweeping her into his arms. He was oblivious to the ghost, oblivious to everything but her.
He shook as he held her.
“Hey,” she said. “I’m fine. Where have you been? Where are Kelsey and Logan?”
“Right behind me. There was someone about to break into Emil Roth’s room. We all chased whoever it was down the stairs and out into the yard, but they disappeared as if into thin air,” Sloan said with disgust. “I went back to the room and then I banged on Roth’s door and—Roth is sleeping with his help.”
“I know,” Jane said.
Logan came striding in, followed by Kelsey. “There you are,” Kelsey said, pushing Sloan aside to give Jane a hug. “We were worried sick.”
Jane told them, “Hey! You guys left me.”
“We were chasing a mysterious figure,” Logan explained.
“The door locked, right, when I left?” Sloan asked, worried.
She nodded. “I just came out looking for you.” She frowned. “Hey—now, we’re all out here and Emil Roth is back in his room.”
They turned as if they were one and went racing back to the castle.
They weren’t careful then as they raced up the stairs.
At the door to Emil Roth’s suite, they suddenly paused. “Whatever he’s doing, we have to interrupt him. We’re trying to keep him alive,” Sloan said.
Logan nodded and banged on the door. Emil Roth, dressed in a silk robe, opened the door. Seeing them, he groaned. “You all again.”
“Mr. Roth, someone was sneaking toward your door in the middle of the night. I believe they meant to cause you some harm,” Sloan told them.
“It was me,” said a squeaky, apologetic voice. Scully Adair, clad in an oversized shirt, her hair still in disarray, walked slowly out of the bedroom. She gave them a little wave. “Sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Jane shook her head—trying to dispel unwanted images that rose before her mind’s eye. “You don’t need to apologize. You’re both adults.”
“But, Scully, it wasn’t you,” Sloan said. “It was someone wearing black, evidently sneaking around, who was headed toward Emil’s door. We chased them, and whoever it was disappeared right outside the front door.”
“Why would anyone want to hurt me? To most of the world, I’m worthless,” Emil said dryly.
“You’re not worthless!” Scully said passionately.
“You seem to be a fine enough young man, sincerely,” Jane told him.
“But, beyond that, you are worth a fortune,” Kelsey reminded him.
Emil Roth shook his head. “If I die, the only living heir—or heiress—is Denise Avery. But she doesn’t just get everything. There are all kinds of trusts. The castle will be left to posterity. It will go to the village and be run by a trust and a group of directors.”
“But she’d still make out all right,” Logan said.
Emil waved a hand in the air. “She’d get a few million.”
“Oh, Emil!” Jane said. “People have died for far less than a few million.”
“But—Denise,” Emil said.
Jane turned to Sloan. “Where was she when you all went running after the figure into the night?”
“We woke up Mr. Green and Mrs. Avery,” Logan said.
“But both took their time answering their doors,” Sloan said.
“Which, of course, is more than possible when you’re sound asleep,” Kelsey said.
“This can’t be—real,” Emil said.
“We didn’t imagine the figure we chased away,” Sloan said flatly.
“So what do I do?” Emil asked.
“You sit tight,” Logan said firmly. “We’re waiting on some answers from our home office, and the M.E.’s report. We’ll have that info in the morning. For tonight, sit tight. One of us will stay in the hall through the next few hours. When the sun comes up, you’ll be with one of us through the day until we get to the bottom of this.”