The Haunting of Josephine (11 page)

“I
cannot believe it. I had never really thought about that. What if you are the key to it all?”
Unintentionally Mr. Kinsley had hurt Jo who had been trying so har
d to convince herself that her a
unt’s death had not been her fault.

“Maybe you should run that past Captain and see what he thinks. Now if you do not mind I need to get ready for the day.”

“Oh no, Josephine, I did not mean it like that.
I was not trying to hurt you and I still do not think that it is your fault.
It
i
s
just that when you mentioned how it has not been
that long since you have been
here and how soon this all happened after the announcement of our engagement that it may lead us to an answer to know think about it all from that angle.” Jo found herself rather confused. Could it more be their relationship and not just her that had caused it all?

“Who would hurt
my a
unt because of us? Do you really think that is what it is? Who would be able to gain anything from that?”
The more that Jo thought about the possible link the more she realized that there really was a strong possibility that the key factor in her aunt’s death really could be their engagement.

“Someone who does not want to see us together. Either someone who has something against me or someone who desperately wants
to be with
you.” Jo shuddered at the thought
that someone could do something so hurtful and hateful over just wanting to be with her
.

“But that still could be anyone could it not? How can that help us any?” Mr. Kinsley thought about it for a moment.
He knew that there had to be something more out there to help them but he was not sure what.

“Had you told me once that your
a
unt was always keeping all sorts of odd notes about you from the moment that you first came here?” Again Jo was rather confused.

“Yes, she used to take notes on how I was interacting with the
gentlemen
callers so that she could review them with me during our morning lessons.
It was a way to help remind her what I would do right and what needed correction.
” Suddenly Jo started to get what it was that Mr. Kinsley was getting at. “She also kept a journal about what she thought of
every one
of them and their importance or lack thereof in town.”

“Do you by any chance know where she kept these notes? Perhaps we could find something in them that might be helpful.” Jo thought but came to a dead end
. She had never seen where her a
unt kept the notes or got them from
. Katherine had already been in possession of them by the time that Jo would join her in the sitting room for her lessons.

“No
I do not. I am guessing that the only person whom w
ould have any clue would be my aunt
’s personal maid.”

“Good, do you know where I can find her?” Again Jo was beginning to feel frustrated with the fact that she knew so little about her
a
unt’s life.

“I do not know her name.
And I believe that she quit working here right after aunt died.
Perhaps
my u
ncle would know her name or Mr. Genus seems how he would sometimes help
my u
ncle
out
with the
disbursement
of funds to the help.” Mr. Kinsley thought about talking to
Mr. Cline
about it for a moment and then decided that he would like to see how uncomfortable Mr. Genus would get at being questioned about how to get ahold of someone who would know so many intimate details about
Katherine
’s life.

“Try not to worry Josephine; I am going to make sure I do everything in my power to fin
d who it is that murdered your a
unt.”
At that Mr. Kinsley was off in search of the maid whom held a small sliver of hope at finding the man who murdered Katherine.

Chapter 11

Later in the day Mr. Genus was in his office trying to make sure that he had not forgotten to do anything to cover his tracks.
He was not sure why but the police had been starting to seem to pay more attention to his wareabouts
on a daily bases
and he wanted to be sure that he had not forgotten about anything.
When a knock sounded at his door he called for the person to come in without thinking and was shocked when he looked up and was face to face with not only Mr. Kinsley but also with
the
Captain.

“Mr. Kinsley, Captain. Is there something that I can do for you gentlemen?” Neither Mr. Kinsley nor Captain had failed to miss the panicked look on Mr. Genus’s face. Nor the fact that he was
hurriedly
stuffing papers into a folder and placed it quickly into his top drawer.

“Mr. Genus, I hope that you do not mind that we have arrived here unannounced. I had a couple of questions I wanted to ask you and because it is in a legal grey area I asked
the
Captain
here
to join me to ensure the
integrity
of this meeting.”
Mr. Genus’s confusion was apparent on his face and his panic was barely contained at the thought of being questioned by Mr. Kinsley in any
manner
that made him feel it necessary to have the Captain with him.

“What could you possibly have to ask me that would be in any legal grey area that you yourself could not possibly handle considering you are the town lawyer?” Mr. Kinsley wanted to ask why it was that Mr. Genus was so uncomfortable about the Captain being there but decided just to say what he needed to say and then leave.

“I need some informati
on about the household that Katherine Cline
used to run and instead of bo
thering the still grieving Mr. Cline
I decided that I would get the information from you.” Mr. Genus moved to his desk chair and looked decidedly more comfortable.

“What kind of information could I possibly provide for you about
Katherine
’s household?”
Mr. Genus continued to look cockily confident.

“I am aware that you have helped with the
disbursement
of funds to the employees and that would entail you to have access to a list of employees would it not?”

“Yes it would. But I am not legally allowed to release that type of in
formation to you. I am sure that you are aware of such
.”
Mr. Genus shot Mr. Kinsley a look that challenged Mr. Kinsley to find a way around the law. He clearly was not ready to deal with a well prepared lawyer who always thought of everything he might need to make sure he legally obtained anything he would ever need.

“I am aware. This is the legal grey area that I am talking about. I have received permission from Josephine to obtain such information.” Mr. Genus looked less comfortable and started to move about nervously.

“Even so Josephine does not have the power to release the household records.” Captain decided to speak up to answer Mr. Genus’s counter point.

“Actually, according to
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Cline
’s most recent will every
share of the house that was Katherine
’s is now Josephine’s. Therefore she can legally give permission of the release of the household accounts because legally they are half hers.”
Mr. Genus was clearly uncomfortable by the knowledge of this and continued to stall.

“May I see a copy of said will?
I was not aware that they had made any changes to their will and
I want to be sure that I have covered all of my bases. If it is true that Josephine is part owner of the household and therefore is allowed access to the house
hold accounts then I see no reason that I cannot
shar
e
the
m
with you. But then again I am going to need to speak with Josephine herself.” Mr. Kinsley had worked as a lawyer long enough to have anticipated every slimy step that Mr. Genus might try and use to stall for time.

“Well, as I had suspected that you would ask I have all of these things right here. Now obviously I do not have Josephine with me but I do have a written request from her for the release of the household accounts and you can see that she sealed
the
said letter with her personal wax seal.” Mr. Ki
nsley handed over a copy of Katherine
’s will and the letter from Josephine.

“And as I was with Mr. Kinsley and Miss Josephine when she not only wrote that letter but she also explained to me the reasoning behind wanting such a thing I can
bear
witness that nothing has been fabricated.
” Captain and Mr. Kinsley watched as Mr. Genus mentally went through his possible options but clearly found none. He went to a cupboard and grabbed out an account boo
k and handed it over to Captain rather reluctantly.

“Those are all of the ledgers that I have access to for the household. I do not know if there are any others.” Mr. Kinsley took the books from Captain and prepared to leave.

“Are all
employees
of the household listed in here or do you not have access to those books?”

“They are all listed there. Is there something that I am missing? Why are you looking into the
family’s
finances
?” Mr. Kinsley looked at Mr. Genus wondering if there was something to his question that might answer everything.

“Who said that I am looking into the family’s
financials
? I am looking for an employee that used to work for the house. Why is there some reason that I should be looking into the financials?” Mr. Genus sat down hard in his chair and busied himself with papers
on his desk in a move that made it appear that he was trying to hide his face.

“I am not aware that there is anything wrong with the financials. Is there a particular reason that you are looking into the books to find a past employee? Have you thought to just ask some of the other employees about the whereabouts of the one that you are looking for?”

“I had; however, I did not want to create question within the household. Why? Would you possibly know the name of any of the maids that worked in the house?” Mr. Genus’s head snapped up fast as if he was shocked that the Captain and Mr. Kinsley would be looking into the whereabouts of a maid.

“I might. Which one is it that you are looking for? Do you believe that the maid might have informati
on on who may have murdered Katherine
?” A light sheen of sweat broke out over Mr. Genus’s forehead.

“
Now, I did not say that was the reason that I was looking for her now did I?” Mr. Kinsley took a moment in hope of a response from Mr. Genus, when it was clear that one was not going to come he went on. “I am looking to find Katherine
’s personal maid. She has not been to work since
Katherine
’s death and I need her help with finding something.” Mr. Genus looked even more nervous but attempted to sound as if he was not shaken.

“I am not aware of who was
Katherine
’s personal maid. I never had t
hat kind of information for Katherine
always insisted on personally dealing with her maid’s financial disbursement.” Mr. Kinsley chose not to dispute that fact with Mr. Genus though he strongly sus
pected that Mr. Genus was lying;
though he was not sure to what extent
.

Mr. Kinsley and Captain waited until they were at Mr. Kinsley’s office which was a short walk from Mr. Genus’s before they opened the books. It did not take long to find who
Katherine
’s personal maid was for the books were kept in perfect order. It also included a detailed account of who paid each person and they quickly saw that Mr. Genus had been responsible for the payment of all employees and that
Katherine
had never paid any of the household expenses herself.

“Now why do you think that he would lie about something like that? What is there that he need
s to hide about knowing who Katherine
’s maid was?” Mr. Kinsley asked Captain.

“I am not sure but I am going to make sure I find it out. Does it list a home address for the maid?” Mr. Kinsley looked through a few other books before finding a leger that contained the personal addresses of the employees.

“We are in luck. Katherine
’s maid was a live in but I see an entr
y here in Katherine
’s handwriting for a family contact in case of emergencies. She was a very efficient woman. I guess that we should ask the people at this address and see if they know a more direct way to get ahold of the maid.” Mr. Kinsley carefully copied down the address to the maid’s family and then picked up the books to return to Mr. Genus having had gathered all information that he had needed from the books.