Sinister Goings-on in Room Seven: A Jane Carter Historical Cozy (Book Two) (Jane Carter Historical Cozy Mysteries 2) by Alice Simpson

Author:Alice Simpson [Simpson, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2018-02-03T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

“I’m sleeping where?” Jack was incredulous.

“In room seven,” Dad repeated. “You’ll come back with a corking story.”

“If I come back at all.”

“You won’t force you to do it.” Dad was no longer smiling. “I know it’s a dangerous business, Jack.”

“I’ll do it.”

“I thought you would, Jack. You’ll be armed, of course. I’ll station guards somewhere around the house.”

“Isn’t that apt to give the whole thing away?” Jack asked. “It isn’t likely anything will happen if it’s known we’re watching the place.”

“And the Times may get wind of it, too,” I added. “Then your scoop will explode like a soap bubble.”

“Perhaps, you are right,” Dad said. “It would be better to have no guards in evidence, but I can’t let you take too much risk, Jack.”

“Dad, I know how you could keep folks from suspecting that the house was being watched!” I said.

“How?”

“Give a big party there tonight. It would be killing two birds with one stone.”

“I don’t understand.”

“For weeks, Dad, you’ve been saying you intended to entertain your staff. Old Mansion is perfectly spooky for a wonderful ghost party. Florence and I could plan all the entertainment, and serve refreshments. Everything would appear just like an ordinary party. The townspeople won’t suspect what’s behind it all. While the party’s in progress, Jack could be keeping his eyes open. Also, if anything goes wrong while he was staying in that room, there would be any number of helpers at hand.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Mr. Carter said doubtfully. “It sounds a bit fantastic to me. Your thought would be to have the party last all night?”

“Into the wee small hours, at least. Oh, Dad, it would work out beautifully. The guests won’t need to know anything about why Jack was in the house.”

Jack said he thought it was a good idea, and Dad gave in. Mrs. Conrad did not protest. She was past protesting. I think we could have proposed housing a herd of swine on the premises, and she would have inquired as to how much straw we required.

“I’ll leave all the plans for the party in your hands, Jane,” my father said. “Can you take care of it on such short notice?”

“Yes, you invite the newspaper gang, and I’ll do the rest. You might sign over a couple of checks in blank. I’ll have to arrange with a caterer to bring in food and find musicians.”

I had a lot of work to do, and I couldn’t do it alone. I headed back to Greenville. On the way home, I stopped off at Mud Cat Joe’s shed. There was no one around, so I wrote a hasty note, telling Mud Cat where we had seen a houseboat resembling the one he had lost. I tacked it to the shed door and hurried home.

Mrs. Timms and Florence both came to my assistance. We found a caterer willing to deliver at short notice. Flo had a cousin who played in a five-piece orchestra, and they were free for the evening. The only thing left was the entertainment.

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