Since it was nighttime, we decided to wait until the next day to see Frank’s alleged sworn enemy or his obsessed stalker if I were to believe his theory. Unexpectedly, I had all the time in the world to investigate the blackmail case because Nathan didn’t wish to see anyone.
He had sent a person to inform me about that. The message was brief and provided little to no explanation for this demand.
“He will see you in a few days, as he requires solitude,” the messenger said. All I understood from it was that Nathan had gone into hibernation because his dad raised his voice at him. That may make him sound childish, and there could be more to what happened between Nathan and his father. I couldn’t say anything until I talked to him.
I allowed the messenger to leave without pestering him for more. What was going on in Nathan’s mind was a headache for another day. I already had a lot more on my plate.
The first thing I did after breakfast was to look for Doctor Williams. Upon reaching his office, I found it locked from the outside. Since I couldn’t believe it, I asked someone else about it. A servant confirmed it was indeed true that he had quit his job and left. Mrs. Sinclair wasn’t lying about returning to the right path, which made our blackmail situation even worse. She would hate my guts for ruining her life when she trusted me enough to share her biggest mistake and asked for another chance.
If Doctor Williams had stayed, my conscience wouldn’t have felt as remorseful as it felt now.
“Amelia, finally you are here,” Frank began when I met him in the afternoon. “I tossed and turned in bed all night, recalling every small thing that girl had done. Her name is Estelle, by the way. I don’t know her last name since I didn't bother to ask that. Or maybe she told me, and I don’t remember. The point is, I have always thought her to be unimportant, and she wants to punish me for it.”
“Okay. Were you able to recall something useful?” I asked.
“I think so. From what we know from movies, stalkers have those bright yet deep eyes that when you stare into them, they seem like you can share your every problem, but when they watch you from a distance, those same eyes shift to....”
“Alright. I get the point. Take me to her now,” I stopped Frank from entering delulu land again. I had lost faith in his ability to judge people when he said he had an obsessive stalker. He had no clear evidence to support his theory. Also, he was fine and unsuspecting till the day before. He would have noticed something if a person was infatuated with him. I guessed that someone hated his guts. It could be because of Frank’s position in the house, or he was hiding something like the Sinclair family.
I couldn’t trust anyone but myself in that house. It wasn’t like I was an open book. I had my secrets to guard. Everyone does. There is always something you can’t share with anybody.
It took us a good while to find Estelle. Most of the servants weren’t aware that someone with that name worked in that mansion. Only one person recognized her and still didn’t know where she was.
Defeated, we began roaming the halls of the mansion. It was extremely tiresome to search for a person who had the presence of a ghost in an enormous mansion with countless rooms. Her job was to dust. So she could be anywhere.
“I told you. No one cares about her,” said Frank. “I was the only one who was nice to her when she started working.... three, not four, I don’t know how many months or years ago. The thing to be noticed is she is an outcast here. She must be obsessed with me. She is capable of anything.”
When Frank put it way, there was a slight chance of that being true. Loneliness can drive a person to madness. I expected her to be at least a mentally ill, middle-aged woman. No one in their right mind would pursue a love interest where there was no hope.
“Stop!” Frank startled me with his sudden command. He put a hand before my body to block me from moving. “There she is, Amelia. Just look at her and tell me she is not madly in love with me and completely cuckoo.”
There was only one woman before me. She was in a maid’s white and black uniform with her skirt inappropriately above her knees. She was dusting a vase and had headphones on her. Nothing seemed strange there. That woman was minding her business, unaware of our presence.
Frank walked up to her and tapped on her shoulder. She didn’t respond and kept on dusting the vase. “Excuse me, missy.” Frank removed her headphones and made her look at him. She wasn’t as shocked as a regular person should be. “Admit that you have a crush on me. You want me. You think about what it would feel to kiss my luscious lips and desirable body every single day. Those thoughts have turned into an obsession, and now you have lost all control. You simply can’t stop. It’s not in your hands anymore. You must have me to stop your brain from exploding. Admit it. Say it.”
I hid behind my palms. Frank had completely lost it. He was embarrassing the both of us. I could have told him to stop, but running away, pretending not to know him, seemed a better option now.
The woman blankly stared at Frank for a while. It had to be astonishment. “Fine. I do have a crush on you,” she said, grabbing his collar and kissing him on the lips.
Frank was onto something. That woman had her tongue deep in his mouth. No sane, innocent woman would kiss a man who accuses her of having a crush on him. She had to be the lunatic who was blackmailing us.