The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn (A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Short Story) by Gigi Pandian

Author:Gigi Pandian
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: amateur sleuths, murder mystery series, Women Sleuths
Publisher: Henery Press
Published: 2017-11-16T05:00:00+00:00

iv.

I awoke with my heart pounding furiously. I shot up in the strange bed. That sound…where had it come from? My arms prickled with goosebumps. I couldn’t tell if it was from the chill in the room or from fright. Had the sound of a muffled scream come from somewhere in the hotel, or from the confines of a dream?

My room was pitch black. Not even numbers on the clock shone through the darkness. The power must have still been out. I felt along the bedside table for my flashlight. Instead I found my phone. Even though I’d plugged it in, the screen was dark. In the darkness, I listened to see if the sound that had woken me would come again. It didn’t. All I heard was the sound of the storm walloping the windowpane. That must have been what had startled me awake.

I snuggled back under the lumpy quilt, trying to get comfortable. I wasn’t supposed to be here. My brother had scheduled a belated Thanksgiving dinner in San Francisco so I could be there, but with the storm getting worse, as time passed it seemed more and more certain I was going to miss Thanksgiving for a second time this week. I was feeling a little sorry for myself—when a man’s scream pierced the cool air.

I found the flashlight by accident as I stepped on it jumping out of bed. I pulled a sweater over my camisole and leggings and rushed downstairs in my bare feet. I found Rosalyn and Dot standing outside the closed library door in their pajamas. For Dot that meant silver yoga clothes that matched her hair. Rosalyn looked as if she’d stepped out of another century, with the edges of a lacy white gown poking out beneath a silk robe, and her long black hair wrapped in a braid around her head.

“What was that sound?” I asked.

“That’s what we were trying to figure out,” Dot said.

“The library door is bolted from the inside,” Rosalyn said. “This isn’t good.”

“I’d say it’s very well done,” Dot said. “This is a much more dramatic publicity stunt than your telling of the ghost story. Your heart wasn’t in it earlier tonight. I didn’t believe in the ghost. But now—”

“This isn’t a stunt,” Rosalyn snapped. “But I know how to find out what’s going on.” She disappeared down the hallway.

“Where’s she going?” Kenny asked, appearing on the stairs from the floor above.

“Hopefully to get a key,” Dot said, rattling the locked library door.

Ivy and Tamarind were behind Kenny. The three of them had taken time to get dressed, but Kenny was barefoot like me. Rosalyn returned holding both a key and a screwdriver. We were all there except for Simon.

“My father didn’t believe in ghosts,” Rosalyn said, “in spite of the publicity for our hotel. When he bought this place, he replaced the hinges and locks of this door. That way we could always get inside. Even if something blocked the door again, we could easily remove the hinges and open it in the opposite direction.

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