Hoping you can answer a question. I met a guy outside MM. He mentioned a woman being killed there. Any idea what he meant?
I hit “send” on the message and wait.
More than one woman I know of. One from the 1920s was the first. Killed by her husband. Left behind a couple of kids.
I do the math in my head. The children left as orphans then would have been the right age for one of them to have been Dora’s parent. I’d guess she’s around seventy years old.
But none of this answers the burning question.
Anything weird done to her body?
She was stabbed thirteen times.
I widen my eyes and blink. This guy really does know the mansion’s history.
Nothing else?
He’s gone for longer this time, and I understand why when I see the length of his response.
There are two categories when it comes to deaths associated with Maison Marteau. First, the ones that definitely happened inside the mansion. Other than the murder-suicide, most of those are people who died of natural causes.
Then you have the “associated deaths.” The ones that happened somewhere in the vicinity of Maison Marteau but for one reason or another were blamed on the mansion. Like the place is cursed or something.
This guy really is a font of information. My fingers fly over the keyboard.
Tell me about the associated deaths. Any of them women with something weird done to their bodies?
Another short pause.
There was a girl found in the catacombs. Scrapes and bruises attributed to banging around in the dark. But I think you’re asking about the party girl.
The words “party girl” jab from the screen and send a shiver down my spine. I haven’t heard anything about this one. What party? When?
I start to type, but GraveDanger beats me to it.
Happened in 1985. Her body was found in Bois De Boulogne, a forest on the west side of Paris. Covered in leaves and dirt but not buried deep. Sloppy and amateur, like someone didn’t know what they were doing or didn’t care if she was found.
I read his response again. Confused, I ask a follow-up question.
Why linked to Maison Marteau?
He takes a long time, and I nibble on my thumbnail. Watching the screen, my muscles tense, clenched with sickening dread.
At last, he comes through.
She went to a party there on the night she disappeared. Info about her last activities is hard to come by, but the police issued a statement saying she had last been seen crossing Pont d’léna, the bridge near the Eiffel Tower. Online sleuths don’t buy that story. The witness was never named, and the investigation dried up.
Another investigation into the Marteau family stalled out. Because of police corruption? The money and influence of the family? I lean in and continue reading.
There were other reasons people think party girl died at the mansion. Did you read the earlier comments about the guy who built the place? How his habits started talk of vampires?
Dropping my hand to the computer, I type two words.
Yes. Why?
I hold my breath and watch the screen.
His answer pops up and my stomach drops.
