22
Liz tapped lightly on the open door of the servants’ sitting room in the back of the kitchen, just behind the back stairs. This was where they came to take their breaks, to eat their lunches. The caretaker, Thad, his bandaged foot in a slipper, sat at the table, eating a sandwich he’d brought from home. His long legs were stretched out in front of him.
“I can’t believe you came into work, Thad,” Liz said, entering the room. “I told Mrs. Hoffman you could stay home until the cast came off. You’ll receive all your pay . . .”
“No, ma’am, I can still get around,” Thad said, his craggy face creasing into a small smile. “It was just a bad sprain. I just walk a little more slowly than usual. The doc said I’ll be fine in a day or two. But I appreciate your thoughtfulness.” He looked up at her. “Really, I do.”
Liz sat down beside him. Thad’s sandwich was tuna fish on white bread, and a baggie filled with Oreos was waiting for his dessert. For some reason this big, burly man’s simple little lunch made Liz feel even worse for him, and all the more guilty. “I’m so sorry for what happened to your foot, Thad,” she told him. “I feel responsible.”
“Oh, no, ma’am, it’s not your fault.”
“I know the lightning startled you, but if I hadn’t asked you to—”
“It wasn’t the lightning either,” Thad said plainly.
“What do you mean?”
“It was her.”
Liz felt her blood run cold.
“Dominique,” Thad said. “She didn’t want her portrait taken down.”
“Oh, Thad,” Liz said, but her admonition was weak.
He took a bite of his tuna fish, chewed a while, swallowed, and then continued. “She’s never left this house, you know. Ever since she was washed off that boat, her spirit has been stuck here. I shouldn’t say such things perhaps. But while I was stretched out in the emergency room, waiting for the doctor to come in and bandage up my foot, I knew I had to speak plainly about this. After all, that poor kid got killed.”
“You mean . . . Audra?”
“Well, I was thinking of Jamison, but Audra, too.”
“Surely you can’t be saying . . .”
“But I am, ma’am. Dominique killed both of them.”
Liz stiffened. “That’s ludicrous, Thad.”
“You’re a kind lady, Mrs. Huntington. That’s the truth. You coming in here and checking on me like this. That proves you have a good heart and soul. She would never have done such a thing.”
“You mean, you didn’t like Dominique? I thought . . .”
“You thought what, ma’am?”
“I thought you did like her, given how resistant you were to taking down her portrait.”
“That wasn’t because I liked her, ma’am. Not at all. It was because I didn’t want to touch her.”
Liz wanted to hear more. “So she wasn’t friendly to you?”
Thad grinned. “Oh, she tried to be. She tried to be real friendly with all the men in the house. She thought every man would fall in love with her. But I was immune to her charms.”
“How so?”
Thad wiped his mouth with a paper napkin, having finished his sandwich. “I’m gay, ma’am.”
“Oh, I see.” Liz tried to hide the surprise on her face.
“It’s okay, ma’am, no one thinks I’m gay at first. I don’t fit the stereotype. And that took Dominique by surprise, too. But you see, because of that fact, I could discern the truth about her. I could see right through her phony charms.” Thad laughed. “She didn’t quite get the same sort of response from me that she got from other men.”
Liz was unable to suppress a small smile.
Thad opened the baggie with the Oreos. “Would you like one, ma’am?”
“No, thank you, Thad.”
He popped an Oreo into his mouth. “Well, maybe I shouldn’t be saying all this,” he said, his mouth full, “but the first Mrs. Huntington was a terrible flirt. She was very vain.”
“Was she?”
“She and Mrs. Hoffman were always going off to have more plastic surgery. Faces stretched, lips plumped, breasts filled out.”
“She had . . . breast implants?”
“They seemed to get bigger every year.”
“And what did Dav—Mr. Huntington say?”
“Oh, he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.”
Liz was getting far more than she had expected when she’d come in, out of courtesy, to check on Thad. Suddenly she had some brand-new insights into her predecessor’s character—and to David’s relationship with her.
“I may be talking out of turn,” Thad said. “But that little fall down the stairs seems to have woken me up.” He gazed at her intently. “I love this place. I love this family. Your husband’s mother and father hired me when I was just a kid, and I owe them everything. I can’t keep quiet when I realize there’s danger lurking around. There are forces at work in this house, and I can’t be silent about them. Not anymore.”
“Well, Thad, I must say that . . .” Liz hesitated, not sure if she was being truthful in what she was about to say. “I don’t believe in ghosts.”
“You will.” He finished his last Oreo. “Dominique was a bad woman in life, and she’s an even worse one in death. She’s not giving up her control of this house just because you’re here.”
“If she’s that powerful,” Liz asked, “aren’t you afraid of her? Aren’t you afraid that, if what you say is true, her spirit will take revenge on you next?”
Thad shook his head. “Not afraid. Not anymore. After that tumble I took, I knew I needed some protection.” He reached inside his open shirt collar and withdrew a pendant on a chain. It was a small green stone. It looked like jade. “Variola gave it to me. Protects against the undead. She promised it was so.”
“Variola gave this to you because you told her what you believed?”
“Sure did.” He grinned. “Had to pay her fifty bucks, but it was worth it.”
Liz smiled sadly. The poor man had been taken for a ride, she thought. “Well, if it makes you feel better to wear it,” she said.
Thad replaced the pendant under his shirt. “It does. And you need to get one, too, Mrs. Huntington. I was planning on telling you so. Everyone here should wear one. I expect Variola won’t charge you or Mr. Huntington like she charged me.”
Liz stood. “Thanks. I think I’ll pop in and have a word with Variola.”
“Good idea.” He smiled up at her. “You’re a fine lady, Mrs. Huntington. I’m glad you’re here. Your good, strong energy will help to drive away any of the bad forces.”
“Thank you, Thad. I hope so.”
Liz headed out into the hall. It seemed it was time she had a conversation with their enterprising chef.