Crystal Gardens (29 page)

H
orace was removing yet another fever-heated cloth from Burton’s hot brow when he heard the sharp, demanding raps on the front door. For a few seconds his spirits lifted. Perhaps the doctor had returned with some new medicine.

He dropped the cloth into the bowl on the dresser and rushed into the small parlor. He paused to peek through the curtains. When he saw Sebastian and the woman on the front step his heart nearly failed him. All was lost. There was no point trying to escape through the kitchen garden. He could not abandon Burton. The only hope was to bluff.

He opened the door. “Who would you be, sir, calling at such an hour?”

“Lucas Sebastian,” Lucas said. “This is my fiancée, Miss Ames. We met last night when you and your associate trespassed onto the grounds of Crystal Gardens.”

Horace fought to control his panic. “I have no notion of what you are talking about. There’s a sick man in this house. He might very well be contagious.”

“He’s still alive, then?” Miss Ames asked quickly. “I might be able to help him.”

Horace squinted at her through his spectacles. “The doctor has already been here. He said there was nothing to be done.”

“We believe your associate is afflicted with a fever of the paranormal senses. It is unlikely the doctor has ever encountered such an illness.”

“And you have, Miss Ames?”

“Yes,” she said. “I have. Just last night, in fact. Mr. Sebastian suffered a similar fever shortly after the energy storm in the maze. As you can see, he is very much alive and in excellent health today.”

“Because of you?” Horace asked. Suspicion warred with desperation.

“Miss Ames saved my senses last night,” Sebastian said. “Where is the harm in letting her examine your associate?”

“He’s not my associate,” Horace said. “He’s my brother.”

Miss Ames whisked up her skirts and moved through the doorway. “Where is he?”

In spite of his panic, habit took over. Horace fell back, allowing her to sweep past him into the shadowed parlor. Sebastian crossed the threshold in her wake. Aware that he had lost the small battle, Horace closed the door.

“Burton is in the bedroom,” he said.

But he was speaking to Miss Ames’s back. She was already moving through the bedroom doorway.

Sebastian glanced briefly into the room. Evidently satisfied that Miss Ames was not in danger from Burton, he turned around and regarded Horace with flat, cold eyes.

“You and I are going to talk while Miss Ames determines if there is anything she can do for your brother,” Sebastian said.

“I d-don’t understand,” Horace stammered. “My brother and I came to Little Dixby to sketch the ruins.”

He knew he sounded weak and insincere. He had never been much good at lying. But there was an aura of menace around Sebastian that was quite terrifying. Indeed, the ominous energy saturated the atmosphere in the parlor. Sebastian’s eyes appeared to be glowing a little.
Like the eyes of a demon,
Horace thought. He was a scientist, a modern thinker, but he had never been more frightened in his life. Burton could not protect him today.

Sebastian did not even bother to dismiss the flimsy explanation. “I assume you murdered my uncle because he would not allow you and your brother to search for the Roman gold said to be buried somewhere in the Night Garden.”

“Murder?”
Horace stopped breathing for a few beats. “See here, I swear we did not murder Chester Sebastian. It is well known that he died from the effects of some toxic plant in his gardens.”

“That may be a popular theory here in Little Dixby, but I am convinced that he was the victim of foul play. I suspect you also killed his housekeeper, presumably because she could identify you.”

“No, please, I swear. Burton and I haven’t killed anyone.”

“You and your brother visited my uncle last month, shortly before his death.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“There is a record of your stay in his last journal.”

“His journal,” Horace repeated dully. “Yes, of course.”

“You brought with you a lantern powered by a crystal,” Sebastian continued relentlessly. “The device allowed you to navigate the maze and, presumably, the inner garden. It also functions as a weapon. You will be relieved to know that my man, Stone, survived it, by the way.”

Sebastian knew everything. Horace felt the floor starting to dissolve beneath his feet. A great black hole yawned beneath him. There
was no point trying to prevaricate. The devil had come to drag him down into hell. He was shaking so badly he could no longer stand. He collapsed onto the nearest chair.

“The lantern was never intended as a weapon,” he said. “The crystal can be used to generate a beam that allows one to find one’s way in places where there is a great deal of energy clouding the senses. We hoped it could be used to locate the gold in the ground. But I realized soon after I perfected it that it could also focus a beam that would temporarily freeze all the senses, normal and paranormal. The result is a period of unconsciousness.”

“Last night when your brother used it at full power in the maze, it triggered an energy storm.”

“We had no idea it would do that,” Horace said. “You must believe me. Burton intended only to render you unconscious. It’s that bloody damn treasure, you see. He is obsessed with finding it.”

“Obsession can drive a man to commit murder.”

A great weariness came over Horace. Sebastian was about to have him arrested for murder and Burton was dying. There was no hope left.

“No, Mr. Sebastian,” he said. “We did not kill your uncle.”

“Why did you go after the treasure you believe to be in the Night Garden? There are Roman hoards buried all across England, just as there are ruins scattered about. Wealthy Romans often buried chests containing their valuables in the ground when they were forced to flee attackers or when they had to leave their estates for some reason.”

“Yes, but they rarely left maps, you see. And the odds against accidentally stumbling over a chest of gold buried in a farmer’s field centuries ago are slim, to say the least. But the legend of the gold on the grounds of the old abbey is much more specific. Burton’s research indicates that the hoard is in the Night Garden. He believed that with our talent and with the aid of the crystal device, we would have an excellent chance of locating it.”

“You knew the gardens are dangerous.”

“Of course.” Horace sighed. “I also reminded Burton that Chester Sebastian had been conducting his experiments at Crystal Gardens for decades and that if there were a treasure to be found, he would have discovered it. But my brother can be quite fixated on a goal.”

“Neither of you is a botanist, I take it?”

“No, but we do have a great interest in the paranormal, so it was not difficult to coax your uncle into inviting us to visit the Gardens.”

“He was always eager to talk to others who took his work seriously, but he was cautious,” Sebastian said. “Some of his colleagues were opposed to his research. Others wanted to steal specimens, even though he warned them that none of the plants would survive long if removed from the source of the waters.”

“We called on Chester and showed him my little lantern. He was very excited and agreed to conduct an experiment inside the maze. He said it was becoming increasingly difficult to get through it, even with his talent. He was convinced that the energy in the gardens was growing stronger.”

“He was right.”

“He gave us a tour of the grounds. Burton concluded that the lantern worked. We thanked your uncle and departed to make our plans. The next thing we know, Chester Sebastian was dead. We assumed that would give us plenty of time to explore the grounds in a logical fashion. We rented this cottage and began preparations. Then you arrived. Burton feared you intended to settle in at Crystal Gardens. He became desperate.” Horace spread his hands. “You know the rest.”

Miss Ames appeared in the doorway. “Your brother is resting comfortably. The fever has abated.”

Horace shot to his feet, hardly daring to hope. “Burton will survive?”

“I believe he will recover, although there may be some permanent damage to his senses due to the duration of the crisis. I cannot say one
way or the other because I have not had a great deal of experience with this sort of thing.”

Horace hurried to the doorway and looked into the bedroom. Burton was sleeping peacefully. It was clear, even from a few feet away, that he was no longer wracked with the paranormal fever.

“I do not know how to thank you, Miss Ames,” Horace said.

“You can do so by answering Mr. Sebastian’s questions,” she said.

“I have answered them all.” He looked at Sebastian. “I give you my word there is nothing left to tell you. All we wanted was the treasure. We did not intend to hurt anyone and I swear we did not murder your uncle.”

“What of the housekeeper? Do you know what happened to her?”

“No, I never paid much attention to her. She seemed a sullen sort.” Horace pushed his spectacles higher on his nose. “Do you intend to have Burton and me arrested?”

“No,” Sebastian said. “But I may want to ask you more questions at some other time. Do not leave Little Dixby until I give you permission. Is that clear?”

“Perfectly clear, Mr. Sebastian.” Horace cleared his throat. “About my crystal lantern, I don’t suppose you found it by any chance? It was one of a kind.”

“It is safe enough for the moment but the crystal appears to be dead.”

Horace considered that for a moment. “I expect it was the explosion inside the maze. It no doubt ruined the tuning of the crystal. It’s very sensitive.”

“My brother has a great interest in the science of the paranormal. He may wish to speak to you about your invention.”

“Your brother?” Horace frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“It is not important now,” Sebastian said. He took Miss Ames’s arm and started toward the door. “We will deal with the matter some other time.”

“Very well.”

Sebastian paused at the door. “There is one thing I do not understand, Tolliver. Surely you saw enough examples of my uncle’s botanical experiments to know how dangerous it would be to start digging anywhere on the abbey grounds.”

“I did try to warn Burton but he wouldn’t listen.”

Sebastian shook his head.

“Treasure hunters,” he said. “No common sense at all.”

E
vangeline untied the strings of her bonnet and handed it to Molly. “Mr. Sebastian and I are both in need of tea. Would you please bring a tray to the library?”

“Yes, Miss Ames,” Molly said. But she hesitated, bonnet in hand. “May I ask if you found those two men you were looking for? The intruders?”

“Yes, Molly, we found them, thanks to your cousin,” Evangeline said.

Lucas grunted in disgust. “For all the good it did.”

“Are they going to be arrested?” Molly asked eagerly.

“No,” Lucas said. He stalked down the hall toward the library. “They were treasure hunters, not killers.”

Molly’s eyes widened. She turned back to Evangeline. “What does he mean, Miss Ames?”

“It means he was mistaken,” Evangeline said. She stripped off her
gloves. “Mr. Sebastian is not accustomed to making errors of that nature. It annoys him.”

“Oh, I see.” Molly frowned. “Does that mean that his uncle and Mrs. Buckley were not murdered, after all?”

“No, it does not mean that there was no murder done here at Crystal Gardens,” Lucas said very loudly from halfway down the hall. “It just means I have eliminated two of the possible suspects.”

He vanished into the library. Evangeline smiled at Molly.

“Tea, Molly,” she said.

“Yes, Miss Ames.”

Molly hung Evangeline’s bonnet on a peg and hurried off toward the kitchen. Evangeline dropped her gloves onto the hall table and went into the library. She eased the door closed behind her. Lucas was standing at the window, brooding on the cell door view of the gardens.

“You are still certain that your uncle and Mrs. Buckley were murdered?” she asked.

“I am still convinced that Uncle Chester’s death was not from natural causes. I thought I made it clear that I have never been absolutely positive about what happened to Mrs. Buckley. All I know is that it would be helpful to find her, dead or alive.”

“I agree.” Evangeline sat down, absently adjusting her skirts.

“I was so certain those two men killed him, Evangeline.”

“It did seem the most likely answer; in fact some would say it still does. Tell me, why did you believe Horace Tolliver?”

Lucas shrugged. “Damned if I know. I just did, that’s all I can say. Why? Do you have a different opinion?”

“No, I’m inclined to agree with you.”

“Now I must start over again from the beginning.” Lucas turned away from the window. “I have been far too obsessed with finding Horace and Burton Tolliver.”

“With good reason. They were the last visitors here at Crystal
Gardens, according to your uncle’s journal, and they have psychical abilities. They intruded onto the grounds. They were armed with a paranormal weapon that they employed against both Stone and yourself. Everything pointed toward their guilt.”