Page 68 of The Shape of Night

“There’s always a chill inside. Don’t you feel it? Even on the hottest days in August, I could never get warm. I don’t think I ever took off my sweater. I could spend the day sweltering on the beach, but when I stepped back into the house, it was like walking into a freezer.”

Because he didn’t want you there.I think of the first time I stepped into Brodie’s Watch, and the initial chill I felt, like walking into a wintry fog. And then, in an instant, the chill had vanished, as if the house had decided I belonged there.

“I wanted to stop visiting her,” he continued. “I pleaded with my mother not to make me return. Especially after the incident.”

“What incident?”

“That damn house tried to kill me.” At my startled expression, he gives a sheepish laugh. “Well, that’s what it felt like at the time. You know the chandelier that’s now hanging over the foyer? It’s a replacement. The original chandelier was crystal, imported from France. If I’d been standing just two inches to my right, that thing would have crushed my skull.”

I stare at him. “It fell?”

“Just as I walked in the door, the fixture gave way. It was only a freak accident, of course, but I remember what my aunt said after it happened: ‘Maybe you shouldn’t come anymore. Just to be safe.’ What the hell did she mean by that?”

I know exactly what she meant, but I don’t say a word.

“After I almost got killed there, I wanted to stay away, but my mother insisted I keep returning.”

“Why?”

“To maintain family connections. My father was on the edge of bankruptcy. Aunt Aurora’s husband left her with more money than she could ever spend in a lifetime. My mother was hoping…” His voice trails off.

So this is why the ghost didn’t approve of Arthur Sherbrooke. From the moment this man stepped through the door, the captain would have known his true motives. It wasn’t devotion to his aunt Aurora that brought Sherbrooke to Brodie’s Watch every summer; it was greed.

“My aunt had no children of her own, and after her husband died, she never remarried. She certainly didn’t need to.”

“For love, maybe?”

“What I meant was, she didn’t need any man’s financial support. And there was always the danger that an opportunist would take advantage of her.”

The way you tried to.

“Even without her money, I’m sure more than a few men must have been interested in her,” I say. “Your aunt was a fine-looking woman.”

“You’ve seen her photo?”

“During my research into the previous occupants, I came across your aunt’s picture in a society column. Apparently she was quite the popular girl when she was young.”

“Was she? I never thought of her as beautiful, but then I didn’t know her when she was young. I just remember her as my oddball aunt Aurora, wandering that house at all hours of the night.”

“Wandering? Why?”

“Who knows? I’d be in bed and I’d hear her creeping up the turret steps. I have no idea what would bring her upstairs because there was nothing up there, just an empty room. The widow’s walk was already starting to rot and one of the windows leaked. Ned Haskell used to work as her handyman, fixing up the place, but she let all the help go. She didn’t want anyone in her house.” He pauses. “Which is why her body went undiscovered for days after she died.”

“I heard you were the one who found her body.”

He nods. “I drove up to Tucker Cove for my annual visit. Tried calling her before the trip but she didn’t answer the phone. As soon as I stepped into the house, I could smell it. It was summertime, and the flies were…” He stops. “Sorry. It’s a rather unpleasant memory.”

“What do you think happened to her?”

“Some sort of stroke is my guess. Or a heart attack. The local doctor called it a natural death, that’s all I know. Climbing those turret steps might have been too much for her.”

“Why do you think she kept going up to the turret?”

“I have no idea. It was just an empty room with a leaky window.”

“And a hidden alcove.”

“Yes, I was quite surprised when Ned told me he’d found that alcove. I have no idea when it was walled up or why, but I’m sure my aunt didn’t do it. After all, she didn’t even bother keeping up the place. By the time I inherited, it was already in sorry shape. Then those kids broke in andreallytrashed the place.”

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