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“…the sounds seem to be originating mainly from the stairwell. In fact….” Brant stopped speaking then, even as the demonic noises seemed to come to a crescendo.
Underneath the racket, though, was a sound that might have been an “oof,” or maybe just him letting out a breath. Immediately afterward came a thunk, and then a series of thuds that culminated in a sharp crack, followed by an ominous silence.
I winced. It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out what those sounds probably were — Brant Thoreau falling to his death on the Bigelow mansion’s steep stairs.
Even Archie flinched a little. “That couldn’t have been good,” he remarked.
“No, it wasn’t,” I replied. Unfortunately, I hadn’t heard any sounds on the recording that came across as anything more than a man suffering a tragic fall. No noises of demons screeching as they attacked…nothing that appeared to remotely be a scuffle. Now I understood why Chief Lewis had been okay with returning the voice recorder to Sasha — there was nothing on it to indicate anything except an awful accident.
Well, except those demonic noises clamoring in the background, but I had a feeling he’d written those off as bad plumbing or something similarly prosaic. Henry Lewis was not the sort of man who wanted to admit there was more to the world than met the eye.
I suppose I could have played the recording again with the sound turned up even louder, just in case I’d missed something, but I didn’t know if I could endure listening to those dreadful noises again. Instead, I pushed the recorder away and reached for my wine.
“You seem somewhat melancholy,” Archie said.
Was that sympathy I heard in his voice?
No, I must have been imagining things.
“It’s always sad when someone dies too young,” I replied. “And I hate that this happened in the house that my mother and Tom just bought. They should be enjoying it, not trying to stay away because a man died there recently…and because it might just happen to be infested with demons.”
“You truly believe that about the demons?”
“You have a better explanation?”
Archie’s tailed swished back and forth, and his whiskers twitched. “Not really. I have to admit that I was rather surprised when you mentioned something supernatural was happening at the Bigelow house. It was always quite a serene place.”
I blinked at him. “You’ve been there?”
“Yes,” he said calmly. “Amanda Gardner — née Bigelow — was on the board of trustees for the local school district. She was the one who interviewed me for my position.”
“A-ha!” I exclaimed, and Archie blinked at me, his expression seeming to indicate that he thought I’d lost my mind once and for all.
“Whatever was that about?”
“I just knew you had to be a teacher,” I said. Ah, sweet vindication. Well, being a psychic did tend to give me good instincts about people. “English?”
“History,” he replied.
Okay, so I wasn’t batting a thousand. Still, I’d gotten the big part right.
“Born in September?” I asked.
That question got me a blink. “The ninth, actually.”
I smiled and picked up my wine so I could have a celebratory swallow.
“Is there anything else you’d like to know?” Archie inquired, tone now a little sour.
“Lots, actually,” I replied. “You’ve been hanging out here for quite some time now, but you haven’t told me very much about yourself.”
He licked a paw, then rubbed it along the edge of one ear. When he spoke, he sounded more annoyed than usual. “Perhaps that’s because my past is a painful subject, considering all this.” He waved the same paw he’d just used to groom his ear as if to indicate his feline form, then hunkered down on the seat of the dining room chair where he was perched.
While I could understand Archie’s reluctance to discuss his former life, I figured I might as well try to press on. “But maybe if I knew more about you, I’d be in a better position to help you get rid of your curse. Did you ever think of that?”
Judging by the way he blinked his big golden eyes at me just then, I got the impression that he hadn’t. He was silent for a second or two before asking, “What else did you want to know?”
“Place and time of birth?” I inquired hopefully. Yes, he’d just confirmed that he was a Virgo, but I needed those other details in order to work up a really comprehensive chart for him.
