Domestic Bliss

Disruptions

Brian climbed out of the Corvette and looked up at the front of the old Baggley house. He could already see the improvements. The balustrade along the front had been repaired and looked good as new … in an old fashioned way in keeping with the rest of the house. The awning over the front windows had been replaced and looked very festive, even though it hadn't been Brian's first choice as far as color and pattern went. He supposed Justin knew best in that department. It looked like the windows had been painted already and the façade had been power washed.

Brian smiled. He had been right in choosing Nate Shumsky to do the repairs and renovations. They had been working at the old mansion for three days and he hadn't had any reports of ghost sightings or frightened workmen. Maybe all his worries had been for nothing.

Brian walked inside and saw the stacks of drywall and planks of wood. Obviously things were moving along. He walked into what would be his office. The old wood floor was covered with a tarp and in the middle of it sat a power saw. He walked over to it but didn't touch anything. Power tools weren't his forte, except for the one in his pants, he thought with a little smirk.

"Brian," Nate said from behind him. "Come to check out if we're wasting your money?"

"I know you wouldn't dare do that," Brian smirked. "Just wanted to see how things were going."

"You mean you wanted to know if there were any ghost sightings, or if any of my men had run screaming into the night."

"Something like that," Brian admitted.

"We've had a couple of incidents that have made the guys a little wary," Nate admitted.

"Oh?" Brian said, a feeling of dread creeping up his spine. "Like what?"

"Nate! Nate!" a voice called from upstairs. It sounded slightly hysterical.

"What?" Nate called rushing from the office and up the steps. Brian followed close behind.

On the stairs near the top lay one of Nate's men. He was sprawled on his back a crowbar in his hand.

"What the fuck happened?" Nate yelled as two other men appeared from the upstairs rooms.

"Something knocked me off the ladder," the man lying on the stairs said. Brian could see the ladder tipped to the side and leaning at a weird angle.

"Why didn't you have the ladder tied off?" Nate demanded. "But more importantly, are you hurt?"

The man shook his head. "Wind knocked out of me. Didn't fall far. I was only a couple of steps up the ladder when … something knocked it sideways."

"Knocked it sideways?" Nate said with a frown. "What do you mean, Don?"

"It was kind of like a force sent the ladder to the side," Don said as he sat up. "I think I can stand. I'm all right."

"Are you sure?" Nate asked as he helped the man to stand up.

"Nothing broken. I may have a bruise or two," Don said rubbing his back.

"Hear that, you bunch. No one gets up a ladder without it being tied off. Now get back to work and use your common sense about safety." The men scattered, going back to their jobs that they had been called from when they heard Don's shout. "You should go to the hospital and get checked out," Nate said seriously.

"I'm fine. I told you nothing's broke. I can do my job."

Nate shrugged. "I offered," he said to Brian. "No more ladders today, Don. Go downstairs and help Chuck in the kitchen."

"Okay, Boss," Don said as he started down the stairs. He took a couple of steps and then stopped to look up at the wall that blocked off the attic. That had been what he was going to take the crowbar to when the ladder had been forced out from under him. He shook his head and went down the rest of the steps.

"Is this the kind of thing that's been happening?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, mostly minor accidents, but all things that should never have happened. Don knows better than to climb a ladder without tying it off, and yet … he did it anyway," Nate explained.

"Out of character," Brian said thoughtfully.

Nate studied him for a split second before saying, "Kind of, but with a sinister undertone. Something bad always results. We've had more cut fingers and twisted ankles this couple of days than we normally have in a month."

"The ghost?" Brian asked in an almost whisper.

Nate shook his head. "I don't like to think so, but the guys are getting spooked."

"You going to run out on me?" Brian asked holding his breath till he heard the answer.

"Not yet," Nate said and there was no humor in his answer. "I won't stay here if my men are in real danger. If I feel that's the case, we're out of here."

"Fair enough," Brian said. He couldn't argue about the safety of the workmen. He also had no idea what he would do if Nate quit on him.

"Are you going to open up the attic?" Justin had had his way about that.

"That's what Don was starting to do when the ladder came out from under him," Nate explained. "I don't think we'll touch it today."

"How about if I bring Justin with me tomorrow and we all work at opening the stairway. Maybe there'll be safety in numbers?" Brian wasn't kidding.

"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we can make sure that nobody has an accident if we're all around at the same time the wall comes down."

"Okay, let's plan for that tomorrow morning," Brian said. "I'll be here bright and early. Now can I talk to you about my office?"

Nate smiled. "I'd like that."

They walked downstairs together, but neither of them could avoid a quick look at the infamous wall that hid the attic and its secrets from them. Tomorrow the Walls of Jericho would come tumbling down.

*****

"Justin, I told Nate that we would be there when they open the attic tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Justin asked. "Are they prepared?"

"Prepared for what?"

"I … I don't know. Just prepared."

"Did you find out something more about the house, about the murder … about Algernon Blackwell?"

Justin shook his head. "I've read every piece of information about the murder and the Baggley family that I could find. A couple of days after the murder was discovered all reference to it seems to have disappeared from the papers. It's almost like it didn't happen."

"So, we know it was never solved."

"Yeah, but usually a murder gets a couple of weeks of coverage before the story gets old … especially when it involves a prominent family like the Baggleys," Justin explained. "The newspaper coverage on this lasted barely two days."

"Cover up," Brian said flatly.

Justin nodded. "It sure seems like that's what it is. The case is still technically open, but nothing more was ever mentioned about it that I could find. It was like everyone just wanted it to go away."

"So Algernon Blackwell never got justice," Brian said thoughtfully.

Justin smiled. "He's my prime candidate for being the ghost. He wants the justice that was denied him, and he won't rest until he gets it."

Brian shook his head. "Nate says some strange things have been happening during renovations."

"I'm not surprised. We both felt there was something strange in that house."

"Nate's going to quit if any of his men get hurt."

"Oh!" Justin reacted. "Is it that bad?"

"One of his men fell off a ladder while I was there this afternoon. The guy said the ladder had been pushed to the side."

"And there was no one else around him," Justin stated.

"Not a soul. He had a crowbar in his hand ready to start ripping out that wall."

"I guess the ghost doesn't want us disturbing the scene of his murder."

Brian glared at Justin. "Will you give that fucking ghost crap a rest!"

"You know, you are exasperating. One minute you're talking about the ghost and the next you're denying its existence."

Brian looked thoughtful. "I don't want to believe there's a ghost, but obviously something is going on in that house."

"I'm glad you admit that. Maybe if we can get into the attic tomorrow, we can find out some more information."

"Information," Brian said shaking his head. "Don't you think the police would have searched thoroughly when this all happened?"

"Not if they thought it was an intruder who murdered him," Justin said with a look of wonder on his face, like this had just dawned on him.

"Isn't that what the papers said had happened?"

"Yeah, but then you mentioned cover-up and I'm wondering if that was maybe just a story that the family cooked up. Maybe something much more sinister happened."

"Like what?" Brian asked.

"I don't know, but maybe we can find some papers or something that will tell us," Justin said hopefully.

"You are such a … weirdo," Brian said as he pulled Justin against him and kissed the top of his head.

Justin laughed. "You love me anyway."

"I think I love you because you are a weirdo."

"Hey," Justin said pulling back and swatting Brian's chest. "Just you wait and see what we find out."

"I'm not sure I want to know."

*****

The following morning Brian and Justin arrived at the Baggley house just after nine. Nate and his crew should already be at work. They walked into the foyer to find Nate talking to his workers. The men were seated on the stairs all looking glum.

"Is something wrong?" Brian asked.

"We had another … accident," Nate said choosing his words carefully.

"It wasn't an accident," one of the men said. "That light fixture was secure, but it came right down on Don's head for no reason."

"Isn't Don the guy who fell off the ladder yesterday?" Brian asked.

"Was pushed," one of the men muttered.

"Where is Don?" Brian asked looking around.

"I sent him home. He had a cut on his forehead," Nate said. "The men want to quit this job."

"I see," Brian said sadly. He had known this was coming as soon as he saw them all sitting on the stairs and not working.

"I refuse to force them to continue working here if they fear for their safety," Nate said.

"I wouldn't expect you to," Brian admitted.

"Guys," Justin said stepping forward. "If we open up the attic right now, maybe I can get to the bottom of what happened up there and then we won't have to be worried about the ghost anymore."

"How can you know that?" the first man who had spoken demanded.

"I don't know for sure," Justin admitted. "I said maybe. I've been researching the murder here and I think I have some idea of why the case was never solved."

"So you're going to solve it after all these years?" the man asked skeptically.

"Not bloody likely," one of the other men muttered.

"I'm going to try," Justin stated. "And if you guys don't want to help open up the attic, then I'll do it myself." Justin grabbed a hammer that was sitting on one of the steps and started to pick his way through the men and up the stairs.

"You won't get far with that thing," the man who had just muttered said.

"He'll get a lot farther if I help him," the first guy said as he stood up. He followed Justin up the stairs.

"Shall we make this unanimous and get the job done right away?" Nate asked.

One man shook his head, but then stood and followed the only remaining worker who had also got up and started to climb the stairs behind the others.

"Let's go," Nate said quickly. "Before they change their minds."

Brian followed Nate up the stairs.

A little while later they had the wall down and the stairs cleared of the debris.

"That wasn't so bad," Nate said with a sigh of relief.  No one had been harmed during the tearing down of the wall.  "I think you should go up first," Nate said to Justin.

Justin nodded. "Come with me, Brian."

Justin held out his hand and Brian slid his into it. They climbed the stairs into the attic, neither knowing what they would find there.

At the top of the stairs they looked around. The large room was mostly empty. It must have been cleaned out some time after the murder. There was a chair over by a window and a chest of drawers against one wall. That was all that was immediately visible.

Brian and Justin walked out into the middle of the room.

"Look over there," Justin said pointing to a doorway. "There's more stairs through there."

"Of course," Brian said. "Those would be the servants' stairs."

"But there's no sign of them downstairs," Justin replied.

"They probably go off the kitchen somehow. Nate, come up here and have a look at this."

Nate came up into the attic. He looked around warily. Not seeing anything untoward he walked over to where Brian and Justin were looking down the narrow stairs. "Service stairs," he said.

"Where do you think they come out?" Brian asked.

"Probably the kitchen," Nate said looking down the narrow stairway. "Bob, go down to the kitchen. I'll go down these stairs and we'll take out the wall that's hiding where they end. The extra stairs could be very useful once your business gets going."

"So I can hide from irate customers?" Brian chuckled.

"I was thinking more like quick changes sent to the art department," Nate said with a smile and a wink at Justin.

"I don't think there'll be any last minute changes," Justin said with a smirk. "My work is always impeccable."

"Twat," Brian laughed as he pulled Justin into a hug. Nate headed down the stairs.

While Nate and Bob were hammering away at the wall at the bottom of the stairs, Justin went to the chest of drawers and started pulling the drawers open. They were all empty.

"Expected to find something in there, didn't you?" Brian asked as he watched Justin.

"Yeah, I was hoping." Justin closed the drawer he had been looking in and pulled the bottom one open. It came a little ways and then stuck, refusing to open all the way. He gave it a yank and it still wouldn't budge. "Brian, help me."

"What for?" Brian asked. "It's empty too, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it feels like something is blocking the track."

"Okay," Brian sighed.

He walked over and they each took a handle and gave a concerted pull. The drawer came flying out and they almost fell on their asses. Justin looked in the drawer which was empty. He turned it over and found nothing on the bottom that would have caused the drawer to stick.

"Maybe this is what you're looking for," Brian said reaching into the empty space where the drawer had been and retrieving a small book about the size of a journal or diary.

"Oh fuck!" Justin said as he grabbed the book from Brian. "It has Algernon's name on the first page." Justin began flipping through the book. "I think this is his diary. Maybe it will tell us something about what was going on before he was killed."

"One can always hope," Brian smirked wondering how Justin could be so excited about something that was from the distant past. The story of Algernon Blackwell had obviously captured his imagination.

"I'm going to take this home with me and read it right through."

"You do that, Sunshine."

"Oh shit!" echoed up the stairs.

"What's wrong Nate?" Brian called.

Just then they heard the sound of something giving way and falling.

"Nate!" they both shouted as they started down the narrow stairs. There was a cloud of dust and debris as they made their way down. It was hard to see. The closer they got to the bottom, they could make out pieces of lumber and plaster and other building materials blocking the stairs.

"Hey, it's Bob.," a voice called from below.  "Nate's under this debris. We have to clear it away."

"We'll work from up here," Brian said as he and Justin began lifting boards and placing them further up the stairs.

It didn't take long until they had found Nate. He wasn't moving. Brian was closest to his head and he knelt down and gently slapped Nate's cheeks hoping to rouse the man.

"Nate, Nate, are you all right?" Brian asked, the feeling of panic starting to overwhelm him.

"Um, yeah," Nate mumbled as his eyes opened and he looked around.

"Thank God," Brian breathed in relief. "Call 911, Justin."

Justin took out his phone and hit the numbers. He began by giving the address of the house and then briefly explained the nature of the emergency.

"I'm all right," Nate protested trying to get up.

"Stay put," Justin ordered. "They said not to move you."

"But … I'm okay," Nate said again.

"Stay put, you stubborn bastard. We're going to get you checked out by the paramedics," Brian said.

"Okay," Nate gave in closing his eyes.

They all heard the distant sound of sirens heading in their direction.

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