The Haunting of Josephine (13 page)

“Mr. Kinsley, Miss Josephine. I am so sorry to
disturb
you but I need to talk to Mr. Kinsley straight away.”
Captain looked upset about something but neither Mr. Kinsley nor Jo could have possibly been prepared for what Captain needed to say.

“Captain, what is this
about?
Surely anything that you need to say to Mr. Kinsley you can say
in front
of me.” Captain glanced at Mr. Kinsley for
confirmation
before
continuing
and was met by a slight nod from Mr. Kinsley that it was ok to speak freely
.

“Mr. Kinsley
, I just received word that Katherine
’s Maid has be
en found murdered this evening
. I do not know much but from what I do know I can say that I believe that it was
committed
by the same person who
murdered Katherine
.” Jo was so shocked she felt faint. Mr. Kinsley led her back into the writing room and sat her down on a chair.

“Are you heading out there tonight
to see if you can find any solid evidence to convict him
? I can
no
t believe that the only person that could give us a clue as to how to find this guy just mysteriously is murdered on the same day that we found out how to find her.”

“I do not believe that it is a coincidence. I believe that someone that we have had on the suspect list from the beginning finally made a move without thinking and just
revealed
himself to us. I just wish I had a bit more evidence.”
Captain walked to the sideboard in the sitting room and poured himself a drink.

“You are right. He was the only person who knew that we were going to go and talk to her and if he had known before that she could give out any evidence he woul
d have killed her sooner to Katherine
’s death. He must have panicked when we talked to him today.”
Jo sat listening to Mr. Kinsley and Captain talking. Out of the
corner
of her eye
she could see the image of her a
unt sobbing in the
corner
. Then suddenly she remembered.

“Bradley, I forgot. Look over there on that desk. It was
my a
unt’s
desk
. I was going through it to see if I could find anything and I found many of her notes. I wonder if there is anything in there that can help you.” Mr. Kinsley kissed her forehead and ran over to the desk with Captain not far behind him.

The two men flipped through the pages of all of the different books that
lay
on top of the desk appearing to get more and more frustrated as they were
n
o
t finding anything th
at they thought could help them
. Then Mr. Kinsley while putting one book down with a hard thud
popped
a drawer open that Jo had not been able to get open herself. Inside was another book of notes. This one was titled
“Mr. Genus”.

Chapter 13

December

Well he has done it again.
You would think that Mr. Genus would realize that no matter what he will never gain the upper hand in
Mr. Cline
’s company.
He constantly is trying to undermine me and trying to make it seem like it is just me being
a woman
and paranoid but I just know th
at he has to be out to get Mr. Cline
’s company.

We received word today that in a couple of months our
Niece
is going to be coming to stay with us. I know that I had
told Mr. Cline
that this was going to be an
undue
burden on us but I am sure that I will love her. I have already heard that she is a beautiful and smart creature. I do worry about Mr. Genus’s response when he heard about her coming. He seemed overjoyed and asked so many questions about her.

I do not know why I was so shocked when he lost his temper with me but I was. He clearly was trying to make a play at my
niece
and he was so maddened at the idea that I would steer her away from someone like him. But who could blame me? On paper he seems alright and certainly could take care of her well above the means that she has been raised. But there is just something about him that worries me.

Mr. Kinsley was shocked at what he was reading. It seemed as if everything that they would need to at the very least have grounds to bring Mr. Genus in we contained in this book that Katherine had kept. Why had she not let anyone know that she had been worried about Mr. Genus?

March

The arrival of my
niece
has gone smoothly. She tried to
insist
that I call her Jo though she must know that I never can. I was bothered even more than before by the way that Mr. Genus was looking at her. He was looking at her as if she was just a piece of meat that he wanted so desperately. It was hard to find a reason to give him to deny him being her suitor but
every time
he looked at her tonight I feared for her and her safety. I did find it rather curious that after dinner Mr. Genus disappeared from the house but the stable boy informed me that Mr. Genus did not claim his horse until well after we were all in bed. This is something that I must look into.

Each passage more and more gave strength to a case that they now knew they would be bringing against Mr. Genus. To think Katherine had the key to her murderer all along written in her journal. If only they had looked for it sooner.

April

I am beginning to become increasingly worried. The stable boy has informed me that every night that Mr. Genus has been here in the past several weeks he has claimed his horse several hours after having disappeared from the house. What is he doing in all of that time?

To add e
ven more worry Mr. Genus became
beyond agitated at the announcement of Mr. Kinsley’s engagement to Jo. I wonder if this is something that
I should mention to Mr. Clin
e or even to
Captain.

Three
entries
, three entries that had enough to prov
ide proof that
Mr. Genus
had been suspicious enough and that there was a source of motive for him
as the murderer
. There were several more that could be used against Mr. Genus
as well
if they were going to attack his b
usiness practice with Mr. Genus if they could not make a charge of
murder stick they were still going to be able to manage to keep him behind bars one way or another. T
here were three main
entries
that Aunt had
logged
into her journal that were enough circumstantial evidence to pick up Mr. Genus.

It did
not take long to find whom the
stable boy was that she had mentioned in her journal. Nor did it take long to get him to confirm that Mr. Genus tended to leave his horse for several hours past the time the butler had noticed Mr. Genus leaving the house
offering
opportunity
and proof of access
.

It had hurt so much to read
Katherine
’s last
entry
about Mr. Genus’s anger toward Mr. Kinsley and Jo’s engagement. It certainly did not help Jo with her guilt of feeling that
her a
unt
’s
death
might have been because of her.

When Captain had gone to Mr. Genus’s house to pick him up he had found a completely empty house but left officers there and at
hi
s office for
just in case
he would return. That night they increased the security around Jo and Uncle’s house and Mr. Kinsley even stayed there to increase the security to try and protect Jo until they were able to detain Mr. Genus. Not that any of that could protect her from a man who was obsessed with getting to her.

Chapter 14

Jo woke that night feeling groggy and drugged.
She struggled to move but between the wait of a drug in her syste
m and the sharp sting of the rope
s that were tying her down to the bed she knew instantly that something was terribly wrong. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see Mr. Genus standing over her.

“Wha???” She was unable to talk. The drug he had placed in her system was stopping her from being able to question him let alone call out for help. Her eyes quickly scanned her room hoping to see her resident ghost.
How did he get in here? How was he able to get past all of the guards?
Jo’s mind raced from thought to thought from question to question with what seemed like no end.

“How dare you continue to plan your wedding to
that
man!
You are mine
and I am going to make you mine.” Jo again groaned in response hoping that she could fight through the effects of the drug enough to be able to call out for help.

“I had been hoping to get you to come to me willingly but I have run out of time. How is it that you were able to figure out the one person who would be able to
reveal
that it was me? I thought that I would not have to worry about her when I managed to convince
Mr. Cline
to sign her r
elease papers right after your a
unt’s death but then you sent not only Mr. Kinsley to find her but also Captain.” Jo heard a gasp in the
corner
that she was sure that Mr. Genus could not hear for he did not move or react to the sound.

Jo turned her head as much as she could and as muc
h as she dared and spotted her a
unt’s ghost standing in the corner. She drifted through the wall into the room where Mr. Kinsley was sleeping and came back into the room looking frustrated.

“Stay
strong
Jo. Do not fight him. Try to keep him talking. I promise I will find a way to save you.” Again
Katherine
drifted out of the room.
Jo thoug
ht for a moment about what her a
unt had said and saw the wisdom in her suggestion.

“
That
first day that you were here I know that we connected. Why did you have to listen to your
a
unt and go after someone else? I thought that we could be good together.” Jo managed to get a bit more out and was happy that when she tried to talk
that as long as she did not sound like she was going to cry out that Mr. Genus actually stood there and tried to hear her.

“Mr. Gen… It was… hhhherrr…. I I I did” Mr. Genus smiled down at Jo
clearly happy with what he thought he had heard in her words
.

“Please call me Charles. Are you trying
to
say that it was all her?” Jo did her best to shake her head yes. Figuring that if she played on his emotions and want to have her that it would be her best chance to survive. “Now I wish that I would have given you more of a chance. Why are you planning that wedding to him then?” Jo had to think fast.

“I I It’s jus a weeeddding… n n not really ssspee for hhhimm.” Again Mr. Genus smiled down on her. Jo caught a glimpse of
her a
unt who was now pacing in the corner trying to figure out what she could do in her limit
ed
abilities
.

“My dearest, I knew that you could not be that shallow that you would marry someone like that man. He is so self-righteous and thinks that he is so much better than everyone else just because he works to get what he wants and because he makes things unduly hard for himself.”

Just then Katherine
got a great idea and jumped onto Jo’s bed and into her body. “Aww, does that bother you that much?” Mr. Genus looked rather shocked
and scrabbled back from Jo
at her
sudden ability to talk clearly as if she was not drugged at all. He turned to grab some more drugs to drug her and Jo screamed out!
Over and over again her screams rang out through her room and through the house.

“Help, Help me! Get him. It’s Mr. Genus. He is trying to kill me.”
Katherine
was no longer able to possess Jo. Her spirit was forced out when Mr. Genus suddenly plunged a syringe into Jo’s neck and she passed out. Mr. Genus set to work to try and free Jo from her binding tying her to the bed but the sound of footsteps fast approaching her door he realized that he would not have time to do anything to her let alone try and take her with him.