Libroman Mystery

Kate had just moved to a new town after her last employment was unexpectedly terminated.  This town was a small slow town and she wasn’t sure whether she would be able to find the same type of employment as before but that was ok.  Even at her age Kate was adaptable and what if she got another master like Master Gregory?  For the time being, she was happy to sit on the porch of the boarding house and gossip with the other women of the town.  In her termination from Master Gregory’s service, she had received a bit of money and she felt like she deserved the vacation.

The women of the new town were all about gossip, but being such a small town, you just ran out of things to say.  As such, Kate was a welcome addition because she came with a story, a mystery, and everyone wanted to hear about it.  So Kate’s only job for now was to relate her tale to the locals (which was perhaps the closest thing to entertainment they’d seen in awhile).  The women were enthusiastic, so Kate began her story charged with their energy as well as thoughtful about the tale she was beginning to relate.

“When Master Gregory was a child, he was never much like other children.  He kept to himself.  He didn’t have any siblings to play with but he would disappear outside for hours of the day.  Being the housekeeper and the only servant other than the cook, the Mistress would send me after him around lunch time and I would often find him hidden away in the garden shed, in a corner with a book.  There wasn’t much light in the shed and I know I’d get a headache if I tried the same.  Little Gregory never seemed bothered by the darkness though.  Spring was the only time that I ever found him elsewhere.  In the springtime, Master Gregory could be found in the orchard.  More often than not he still had his nose stuck in the pages of a book, but there something about the greenness after winter that made him relent in his studies occasionally.  At first my employers saw their bookish son as a prodigy of sorts.  They supported his studies and by the age of seven his personal library was already bigger than any miles around.  When Master Gregory grew older though, his parents began to worry.  Of course Master Gregory excelled in his studies but that was all he looked for.  Gregory had no friends and made no calls to the young ladies of the area.  The Libroman’s eventually decided that this behavior had to stop.  That is when Miss Mary appeared.”

The town gossips began chattering at this point, interrupting her narrative.  “How odd!” 

“I never heard the like.” 

“Someone definitely needed to do something about that boy.” 

“A woman would fix him up real good!”

Kate managed to regain their attention so she could continue, “I guess Miss Mary was the Mistress’s attempt to ‘fix’ Master Gregory.  Sad to say it didn’t work.  They married and settled down.  To my original employers, it looked like the plan had worked, but after they left this earth, it was obvious it hadn’t.  Master Gregory was a smart man and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to live the way he wanted to unless he pleased his parents first.  It seemed that he just waited for them to pass away then became his usual self again.  Master Gregory kept me in his employ and I served him just as loyally as I had always served the family.  My loyalty also meant that I was privy to most everything that went on in the Libroman mansion.”

“The entire town saw a happy couple going to dinner parties and even hosting them at times at the mansion.  I heard the fights.  They saw a smart, successful young man who married a respectable and pretty young woman.  I saw a man on the edge of reclusiveness and an unhappy wife.  All Master Gregory ever wanted to do was read his books.  Of course, the Master would leave the estate to join his wife at dinner parties.  Although I must say that he never seemed too happy about it.  Who was I to speak though?  I was just the housekeeper after all.  It was as if he was leaving against his will.  I’d often hear fighting before they left.  The only words I could ever pick out of these arguments were the Master yelling about his books.”

“That boy needed to take a look at his priorities!” One gossip interjected.

“I never saw the Master as a mean man.  He just preferred not to be disturbed and especially not to be asked to leave his library before he was ready.  At times, Master Gregory would stay in there for days and I would continue to bring him food, day in and day out.  I suspect if I hadn’t, he might have just starved himself.” 

“The library was large room with huge antique bookshelves lining each wall.  The bookshelves were beautiful antiques picked out by Miss Mary.  They were tall with ornate carvings at the top and a rich, dark mahogany finish.  The other furnishings in the room included a couple chairs and a coffee table.  The chairs were the sort that looked impressive upon first glance, with tall backs and beautiful maroon upholstery that was soft to the touch.  However, these chairs were definitely not made for people like Master Gregory who sits for long periods absorbed in his book.  The coffee table was of the same dark mahogany hue as the bookshelves with elaborately carved claw feet.  The coffee tables were covered in beautiful leather bound books that needed to be put back on the shelves, but I knew better than to lay a finger on anything in the library.” 

“Along one wall, there was a break in the bookshelves where a small window overlooked the grounds and next to the window was Gregory’s desk.  It did not fit with the décor at all!  His wife had been horrified at the choice Gregory made and put up a fight at him even buying it.  Master Gregory’s argument was apparently stronger; he would have nothing else.  Like he and his books, the small amount of furniture he chose was very straightforward, nothing like Mary’s taste which was pretentious comparatively.  The window next to Gregory’s desk was rarely open.  Though it was the only window in this large room and the room was often stuffy, Gregory only wished it be open in the spring months. The window overlooked the sweeping grounds of the Libroman Estate which extended about a mile or so before it came to a halt at the looming gothic gates that kept the world from disturbing Gregory’s peace.  And Master Gregory did have peace on his estate.  Directly below the window were the pond and the orchard which in the spring created a most beautiful sight.  Maybe something in the colors of the spring plants or the ripples of the pond in the spring breeze gave comfort to him.  I think for Gregory, the crisp, fresh, almost new, air floating through his window was the equivalent to the wonderful elation of opening a new book.  He had devoured every book in that library sometimes not leaving or days.  The books were his passion and nothing else.”

“At first the marriage seemed fine at least to my eyes.  The union was arranged so I couldn’t hope for much especially with Master Gregory’s quirks.  As I said, they fought, but they lived together without much trouble.  Then one day Miss Mary just up and disappeared.  It wasn’t right for a woman to travel on her own and Master Gregory hadn’t sent her away to my knowledge.  Gregory usually went with her, even on her trips to town, though he always put up a fuss.  I hadn’t heard any fuss.  She was just gone, that’s all.  I assumed she was off to visit family even though the Master never said any such thing nor was it a conventional activity for a woman.  But after a few weeks, my common sense started tingling.  Soon, every time I went into that cavernous library, I got the chills.  I don’t know if it was the stale air or the slight draft from the window, but I had a feeling, a bad feeling.  Something horrid had happened here.”

“Oh honey!” “What happened?” “What was it?”  All the women spoke at the same time.

“Now, now Ladies!  Settle, Settle.  I’m not entirely sure what brought on this sudden change in my assumptions, I’m no Sherlock Holmes.  It could be any number of things, I suppose, like Gregory’s sudden cheeriness or the door that was now locked on the second floor.  I’ve never been a real smart woman, but I knew I had to do something.  Miss Mary was innocent.  She never hurt the Master, only pulled him away from his comfortable library a little bit.  I asked around town to see if anyone had talked to Miss Mary lately or knew any of her kin.  No one knew anything.  She didn’t come from those parts and Miss Mary didn’t talk much of her family.  As for seeing her, no one had since the last time she was sighted at the mansion.” 

“I knew the next step had to be the locked door, but how to get in? I had to find a way to sneak up to the room without the Master knowing.  Normally sneaking around the house wouldn’t be a problem because the Master was in his library all the time. But for all its beauty and luxury, the walls of the mansion were surprisingly thin.  Even with the bookshelves and books layering the walls of the library you could still hear anything going on in the adjoining rooms.  Thus, I devised a plan to crush up some of the Master’s sleeping pills into his afternoon tea so that he would fall into a deep slumber for long enough that I could sneak into the locked room.  Later that day, while Master was still in the library, I snuck to his bedroom, down the corridor a ways.  About this time of day, Gregory was usually totally absorbed in his work and would not be as sensitive to any strange moving-about on my part.  I took the pill bottle from his night stand and emptied a handful into my apron pocket.  The bottle was large and I hoped that Master wouldn’t notice the change in contents.  I waited till the next day to slip the drugs to him in his afternoon tea in hopes that any strange behavior on my part would go unnoticed if the episodes were spread out.  I entered in the usual way. . .”

Knock, knock.

“Enter.” grunted Gregory

“Yes sir, I’ve brought your tea, sir.”

Grunt.

“I had to be sure that he drank his tea today.  I could not afford to steal any more pills and if the Master was deep in thought over some subject or another, he would often ignore his tea all together.  That day I was a bit more pushy than usual.  I asked the Master if he would like for me to pour his tea for him.  No answer.  Would he like cream or sugar?  Still no answer.  I poured just a bit of cream in and stirred.  With the cup placed directly in front of Master Gregory, I stepped quietly towards the door.  To my demented delight, the Master seemed to have absent-mindedly picked up the tea cup.  I turned and walked down the hall making audible footsteps till I came to the stairs where I turned around and began tip-toeing back.  I reached the library door and saw the Master begin to slump slowly in his chair.  I needed to know that he was thoroughly drugged so I stayed at the door and watched Gregory sleep for a few moments.  As I watched, I began to worry, the sleeping pills worked awfully fast.  I dearly hoped that I hadn’t used too many pills as the result might be death.  With that thought, I slunk to the locked door and began to slip a stolen key in the door.”

“Why did you do it? Why did you meddle, hun?”  The women were shocked!

“I don’t know what got into me ladies.  I just had to know what was going on.  I just thought my plan was flawless.” 

“The door creaked open and I saw what looked like a normal scene.  The room was an office type room that Miss Mary had used to plan her social events and to see any personal visitors.  Miss Mary was sitting at her desk that like her other furniture was pretentious yet beautiful.  I walked to Miss Mary’s side and obviously something was not right because she didn’t turn.  A mirror sat on the desk, right underneath her nose.  There was no fog on the mirror.” 

“I did not want to do this, Kate.”  The Master had appeared in the doorway, needless to say looking rather crazy.

“I don’t know how he knew, but God bless that cook.  I have no idea why he was upstairs.  He normally never left the kitchen, but he suddenly appeared behind the Master with a large priceless vase in hand which he proceeded crack over Gregory’s head.  I climbed over the body and ran to call the police.  The police arrived and I explained what I had found and showed them the room.  They gave me a reward from the Master’s estate money saying that he wouldn’t need it anymore.”

“And that Ladies, is how I came here.”