Copyright © 2005 D.B. Anderson All rights reserved
Bruno first became acquainted
with Miss Millicent Pinkman while investigating a gem robbery in her mansion on
Wind Point South about a year ago. Bruno
found himself more than entranced with the lovely spinster of about sixty years
of age. She possessed a somewhat shy
demeanor. She was also an art devotee,
immensely wealthy, and quite frankly Bruno had a difficult time staying away
from her.
After her gem theft was
brilliantly solved by Bruno, and her accolades were so bright and gleaming on
his behalf, he managed to muster the gumption to ask the millionaires if she
would care to attend the opera Aida with him, and to his utter surprise
and joy she agreed. She later mentioned
she found his gentle demeanor attractive, and his occupation as a private
detective, especially at his advanced age, quite exhilarating.
Upon returning to his office
on Monday morning, after a weekend trip to
Bruno,
I seem to have a GHOST in my house at
Wind Point South. Please visit me
at ten
Monday morning, if convenient.
Millicent
Twenty minutes later, and
somewhat breathless, Bruno tapped on the front door of her mansion with his
silver bear head walking cane. He
quickly made sure his bow tie was on straight, his bowler was tilted just so on
his pate, and he nervously adjusted the display kerchief in the upper left hand
pocket of his sack suit coat no less than four different times to finally suit
his needs.
Millicent’s aged houseman,
Bella, opened the massive French chateau door mounted on large oversized hand
made Medieval iron hinges. The houseman
grinned with relief as he viewed Bruno.
"Detective Clew. Please enter.
Miss Pinkman is in the library."
"Thank you, Bella,"
Bruno answered, handing Bella his bowler, but he retained possession of his
near constant companion; his silver bear head walking cane. "What is all this fuss about a ghost?"
"I'd better let the
mistress explain the dark shadow at
eleven at night gliding through the hallways.
It is quite unnerving."
Bruno listened intently,
obviously intrigued by it all. The thin,
lovely, intelligent, sixty year old Millicent smiled in relief as she viewed
Bruno. Her cheeks had a rosy flush to
them, and she wore something of a nervous grin.
She motioned for Bruno to sit
in the overstuffed easy chair across from her upholstered rocking chair in the
library. "Bruno, I have a ghost! Bella, my houseman, calls the eerie shadow a creeper."
Bruno at first thought to tease Millicent about the incident, but then
saw she was very serious about the matter.
"I am here to serve you.
When is the first time this apparition appeared?"
"Two weeks ago on a
Friday night at about
Bruno raised his silver bear
head walking cane to just under his chin, and nudged his chin in
contemplation. "Excuse me.
Millicent. This foot shuffling
sound... Is this the first time you
heard the sound, also does Bella actually walk with a shuffle?"
"No, this is the first
time I heard the sound. I merely assumed
it was Bella for we are the only two residents, so to speak, living here. I have relatives who stop by for weekend
visits and such, but essentially we are the only inhabitants."
Bruno paused in thought. "This is a massive, majestic
edifice...what of your personal maid, cleaning help, cook, etc?"
Millicent smiled. "They are hired help from an agency, and
are only here during the daylight hours as required, except of course when I
hold a dinner party."
"It worries me that you
do not have a night guard."
"I have Bella," she
teasingly replied.
"No disrespect meant,
but he must be seventy five years old."
"Seventy three," she
responded. "And he keeps a loaded
revolver in his quarters. I also have a
revolver in my bedroom and one in my writing desk drawer just here in the
library."
"Hrumphh..." Bruno
grumbled in disapproval. "Now this
was two weeks ago. Has the shuffling
noise returned since then?"
"Saturday night last,
and again around eleven. That's when I
panicked. I was sure I heard the
shuffling in the kitchen area. I
silently moved to my front door and outside to scurry around the house to alert
Bella in the carriage house. He gathered
up his revolver and we moved towards the back door of the mansion. While doing so I caught sight of a gray-black
bent over shadowy figure exiting the mansion through the parlor French
doors. It was so dark in that area the
shadow almost immediately disappeared.
Bella immediately moved to the area, holding his large pistol at the
ready, but the ghost had eluded us, disappearing into the dark of night."
"Sounds more like your
ghost is a common thief."
"There is the rub,
Bruno. The thief, or ghost, on the first
visit took nothing, and on the second visit only absconded with a few items of
silver plate; a tray, candleholders, and a gravy bowl. I do have very expensive paintings adorning
the walls."
Bruno shook his head in
confusion. "Yes, you do. Almost sounds like some sort of prank. Any pranksters amongst your immediate
friends?"
"Valid point, and there
are a few pranksters, but no one who would do something as unnerving as
this."
"Well," Bruno
mused, "both incidents occurred on a Saturday night about eleven or
so. What say this next Saturday night I
station myself here in the library and wait for the shuffling ghost?"
"Excellent! And I shall join in!" Millicent responded,
her voice overflowing with the anticipation of adventure.
Bruno first response was to
refuse Millicent's offer to join him to wait for the ‘ghost’ because of
possible danger, but then he glanced at her extraordinarily lovely face, and
her blue eyes dancing merrily in their sockets, and caught a whiff of her rose
scented perfume. "There may be
danger."
She almost giggled. "You will protect me! And I will have my revolver." She opened her library desk middle drawer and
reached inside to extract a Derringer pistol.
Bruno moved her hand aside as
she had the Derringer pointed at his brain.
"So be it. I'll be here
Saturday at nine. That will give me time
to reconnoiter the mansion and property before your unwanted guest once again
appears...or not."
On Saturday next Bruno
arrived at Wind Point South promptly at nine.
Bella joyfully greeted him, pointing to his cannon size revolver tucked
in his trouser waist belt, and he led Bruno to the library where Millicent was
anxiously awaiting. She was dressed in a
stylish tan hunting outfit and was polishing her Derringer pistol. She had a tray of sandwiches set out on her
desktop, a pitcher of water, and a bottle of Champaign at the ready.
"I see all contingencies
have been covered here to greet our ghost," Bruno commented with a tinge
of jocularity, picking up one of the quartered sandwich portions and nibbling
on its edge. "Backed
ham...excellent." He then paused
pouring himself a glass of water.
"Allow Bella to open the
Champaign," Millicent suggested.
"No, no," Bruno
accentuated. "No alcohol whilst on
duty. I'll make a complete search of the
property now, starting with the attic, then all rooms, then into the basement,
and then the grounds." Bruno
removed his pocket watch from his vest pocket.
"Nine forty-five." He
replaced the watch in his pocket.
"Is there an electrical light in the attic, otherwise I'll take a
candle with me."
"All floors have
electrical lighting," Millicent quickly responded. "Would you like me to accompany
you?"
"I prefer you stay
here. I'll return in a half hour. Your assignment is to stay alert for the
shuffling ghost incase it might appear earlier than expected. I don't think it is a harmful ghost, but one
can't be too careful."
Within forty minutes Bruno
returned to Millicent and Bella in the library of the mansion. As he entered Millicent lifted her Derringer
ready to inflict harm, and Bella was having trouble removing his old heavy
revolver from his waist belt.
"Only me! All is secure. I can see no way the ghost can
enter the mansion without breaking a window, or knocking down a door, or
perhaps...walking through a wall."
Just then they heard a
shuffling noise in the hallway. They
then heard a cackling noise, as a witch speaking to herself. Bruno hurriedly swung the library door open
and rushed into the hallway. He saw the
bent over ghost slowly moving down the hallway to the back of the house. He rushed to the spirit and embraced it,
picking it up into the air. It screeched
in surprise as a frightened owl might at being manhandled. Millicent and Bella were close behind with
their revolvers drawn. The eerie specter
kicked and crowed as Bruno held it into the air. Millicent suddenly screamed.
"Mabel! Is that you, Mabel?" she asked, speaking
to the bag of struggling bones Bruno now held by the nape of its neck.
"Yes, ma’m. Just protecting your silver ware from
thieves. There has been a great deal of
crime going on in the area."
Millicent motioned for Bruno
to lower the elderly woman, and then took the senior citizen intruder by the
hand and led her into the library.
"Bruno, this is Mabel Schwartz our retired housekeeper. She had been with our family for forty years,
and just recently I had to let her go because of her failing memory." Millicent then stared into Mabel's dull,
confused eyes. "What are you doing
here, Mabel? You are retired now. You do not live here anymore."
"I came to hide your
silverware from the thieves. They are
all over the city." She then held
up the bony index finger of her left hand as she spoke. Her near dim eyes now gained a momentarily
flair of agitation. "They may be
watching Wind Point South as we speak!"
She then trembled slightly.
"I'm hiding your silverware real good at my flat. No one will find it!" She then broke into a shrill laugh sounding
as a witch in full cackle.
"Bella, take Mabel to
the spare bedroom and stay with her. I
will be up promptly."
Bella gently placed his large
hand around her thin left arm.
"Mabel, remember me...Bella?
The houseman?"
Mabel gazed up into Bella's
wide brown eyes, now showing obvious concern for her situation. "No, I do not know you..."
"One thing," Bruno
suddenly spoke up. "Mabel, how did
you enter the mansion? I personally made
sure everything was secured."
She stared up at Bruno in
annoyance. "I have a key for the
servant's entrance! How else would I get
in? Do I look like I am dumb?"
Millicent shook her head in
despair as Bella led Mabel away. Bruno
smiled as he sat on the easy chair across from Millicent's rocking chair. "Poor old dear. Her mind is all turned about."
"Yes," Millicent
responded with worry. “I'll have her
placed in a convalescent home."
"I'll call on you in a few days,"
Bruno gently spoke, gazing longingly into Millicent's now almost tear filled
eyes.
"Please do,"
Millicent responded, reaching up and kissing Bruno on the cheek.
"Will Monday at eleven
in the morning be fine with you?"
"Yes," she
responded, leading Bruno to the front door.
"Shakespeare’s Othello is being presented at the Lake
Shore Theater next Friday evening."
"I'd love to go with
you," she responded, opening the huge baronial front door. "I must tend to poor Mabel now."
"I understand..."
Millicent again reached up
and kissed Bruno on the cheek, and then shut the door in his face.
Bruno then found himself
beginning to hum Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as he briskly walked the three miles
to his flat, twirling his silver bear head walking cane between his thick
fingers as if he were leading a parade.