bottom lip apprehensively. Tracking down the maid’s family was the right thing to do, no matter how painful it was going to be. The problem was that none of the castle staff knew much about her family, and searching through the study for contact details was proving futile. “How is that possible? How can nobody know how to locate her family?”
Otto started to pace up and down the room as he continued his search through the notebook. “The truth is, many servants in privately owned castles such as this live there for years. The owner becomes their family in a sense. In some cases, the servants never had much family to start with.”
“What about her cell phone?” Jane asked. “There’s got to be contact details on it.”
“We have not been able to find her cell phone,” Otto said.
Jane’s mouth fell open. “What? Seriously?”
“It is likely somewhere in her room, but since the battery appears to have died calling it has not helped the manservant find it,” Otto explained. “No matter. We shall find it soon enough, and whatever contacts she had will be located. Unfortunately, I suspect we will be no closer to finding her family. Heidi likely had very few people in her life.”
She could understand coming from a broken family. After all, her father had abandoned her and her mother. What she couldn’t understand was why poor Heidi had to die so young and so horribly. “What if there’s nobody out there to plan her funeral?”
The solicitor paused. “Then we will plan it. We were her friends. And if it turns out that we were also her family, we will give her the funeral she deserves.”
That thought comforted her, but only a little. The manservant and the groundskeeper had taken the maid’s body out into the snow half an hour ago, and thinking about it was still so unsettling.
A small clock on the desk started to chime softly.
Otto yawned and took off his glasses to rub at his eyes. “Friends, it is now midnight. While I will keep looking for another quarter-hour, I suggest you adjourn for the night. We will resume our search when we’re more alert tomorrow morning.”
“You’re right,” Gabriel said, heading for the door. “Come on, Jane, I can show you your room.”
She stood up to cross the room. After saying goodnight to the solicitor, they both left the study and headed out into the dimly lit corridor.
Jane followed Gabriel, the two of them walking in silence except for the sound of their footsteps on the stone floors. The corridors and stairs seemed to go on forever, and she was soon out of breath.
“Wow, you sure know your way around the castle,” she said as they walked down a large hall that led to several rooms.
“I told you, I took the grand tour yesterday,” he reminded her.
“How do you even know the way to my room?”
“Because.” He suddenly stopped in front of a large oak door, turned its brass knob, and let the door swing open with an ominous creak. “It’s right across from mine.”
Jane looked around in amazement as she stepped into her room. It was huge, with a large window on one side of the room and a crackling fireplace on the other. There were still-life paintings of fruits, and tapestries depicting medieval battles on the walls. The furnishings were all obviously antiques, with a four-poster bed, ornately carved wardrobe, dressing table, and a vanity complete with a mirror. There was plush red carpeting that looked as luxurious as velvet on the floor and several gold candelabras on the vanity. Despite the modern lighting and an adjoining bathroom that was probably added more recently, she could tell that the room itself was hundreds of years old.
As she walked up to the bed she noticed her suitcase had been placed beside it, and her heart squeezed. “The maid cleaned my room.”
She heard Gabriel walk up to her, his strides so forceful no amount of carpeting could muffle the sound. He paused, and even without turning around she could still feel his presence towering over her. His pine-scented cologne gave away his close proximity. So did the length of the shadow he cast over her. Suddenly she felt his strong hands on her upper arms, and heat burned through all the layers she had on.
“There’s nothing wrong with what you’re feeling,” he said as he turned her around to face him. “Everything you’re going through right now is normal.”