Chapter 12
Christien walked into the library of the Inn looking very excited. It looked like he found more useful information than I had.
“I take it your research went better than mine?” I asked stretching my arms out behind me.
I had been sorting through the family albums, scrapbooks, and various local history books that filled the shelves while Christien went to town to do a little research. After half a day I knew minor details about pretty much the entire family that had lived here throughout the decades but none of it told me why so many spirits remained here and why they were so powerful and sexual. And invisible to me, which could be the strangest thing about this entire situation.
I had a feeling it all went back to the Inn being a brothel but the records from that era weren’t in the library nor were they in Barbara’s collection of the unique and naughty. I was exhausted and had learned nothing useful- I had not even spotted one seductive specter lurking anywhere.
The Wi-Fi didn’t work so I couldn’t even check online for any historical records. It had been a long day with diddley squat to show for it.
He smiled. “I think so.”
He sat down beside me at the polished rosewood library table and gave me a quick kiss.
His kiss put me in a much better mood. “Don’t keep me in suspense, tell me what you discovered.”
“Well, after a lot of digging and a day of sweet-talking the local historian, I finally got her to cave and tell me some of the darker history of this quaint little town.”
“Dark history?” My interest was immediately piqued.
“Witches to be precise.” He looked smug.
“Really?” I asked. “So you think the ghosts are this powerful due to some sort of spell?”
“Hold on, ma chérie. Don’t get ahead of the story here,” he kissed me softly. The vampire knew how to shut me up. “The story Barbara told you painted widow Radcliff as an innocent woman wronged by her husband’s gambling, his death left her so destitute she had to turn to a life of prostitution.” He snorted, “Turns out that’s not the real story. The good widow Radcliff drove her husband to drink. Turns out she had a way with the gentlemen of the town. And apparently, she was quite wanton in her ways and didn’t even bother to hide it from her husband…or anyone else. After years of being a cuckolded husband the poor man started drinking, and when he drank…he tended to gamble and lose.”
“So let me guess his gambling losses were piling up?”
“Yes, they were. But it seems that the lovely Mrs. Radcliff had her gentlemen friends pay off his debts. Some of the holders of the debts were supposedly so ‘bewitched’ by Mrs. Radcliff that they even forgave Mr. Radcliff of his debts. No one killed him over owed money. Mr. Radcliff killed himself. The story goes he just couldn’t take the Mrs. cheating on him anymore.”
“So he killed himself and she decided to make her sexuality public and become the madam of a brothel?”
“Yeah.”
“So, do you think she was a witch?” The story was getting more interesting, but I still was not seeing what any of this had to do with the amorous apparitions.
“I think so. I think she cast a sex spell on this Inn, hell-probably the entire town so they would be alright with a brothel in their midst.”
“That still doesn’t explain her behavior before the brothel or the men being so drawn to her, unless she was dabbling in sex spells for a very long time. And I don’t see how that explains the randy wraiths sexin’ it up around here. I mean, even if she cast a sex spell way back then, how could it still be affecting the Inn now, so many years after her death?” The puzzle seemed to grow without the big picture getting any clearer.
“I do not know, ma chérie, but something tells me we’re onto something here. There’s no way Madam Radcliff and the naughty ghosts are not connected. I firmly believe there is no such thing as coincidence.”
Christien sat there staring into space deep in thought. I knew he was tracing connections and going through scenarios in his head. Being around for a couple of centuries had made him quite brilliant. Well, he had probably been brilliant to begin with, the years just added wisdom. He had proven to be invaluable in many of my recent paranormal investigations. He knew so much about this world that human years of working in the field could not give me. He had been living in it for centuries. He had connections and firsthand experience.
“After years of investigations, I am inclined to agree, my dear. Coincidences just don’t happen, not when it comes to finding answers in the paranormal world.”