Irma’s lips twitched. “That sounds more like Ottilie, but...” She took to frowning. “Since you did disappear from Chicago, may I assume that someone started questioning you about who Ottilie’s heirs were?”
Mr. Baumgartner nodded to Fenna. “She started stopping by my office not long after Ottilie left town, then began increasingher visits about seven months after Ottilie left, demanding to know where Ottilie had gone, when she was expected back, and if I thought something might have happened to her, and if so, did that mean I, as Ottilie’s solicitor, was responsible for having my client declared dead. Since I got the distinct impression Fenna was only going to become more persistent, I decided, in order to protect Drusilla and Annaliese, I needed to leave town.”
“And I thank you for that,” Drusilla began, “although my sister and I certainly ruined your plan when we showed up in Chicago and let it be known almost immediately that we were now the owners of Merriweather Castle.”
Mr. Baumgartner smiled. “That definitely wasn’t part of the plan. Your aunt never thought either of you would even come to visit the property she gave you, let alone move into the castle, which, as I’ve already intimated, she was only intending on transferring to you on a temporary basis. Know, though, that your aunt would have more than compensated you for taking her gift back.” He leaned closer to Drusilla. “She was thinking about buying both of you cottages in Newport, ones that would rival Mrs. Astor’s cottage, to make up for any disappointment you might have felt over being asked to turn the castle back over to her.”
“She wouldn’t have needed to do that, as Annaliese and I would have understood the reason behind the transferring of ownership,” Drusilla said. “I’m simply sorry that we ruined the plans you and Ottilie put into place to safeguard the property, which we wouldn’t have ruined if someone hadn’t stolen our fortune, making the castle the only property we had available to live in.”
“Norbert told me about the trouble you’ve experienced, which makes me feel even sorrier that I never returned your telegrams, as there was no need for any of you to suffer from lack of funds. I have the authority to relinquish the trust funds your aunt set up for you and Annaliese.”
Drusilla blinked. “We have trust funds?”
“Five million apiece, and funds that your aunt made sure could never be able to be accessed by any husbands if or when you married, as your aunt wanted both of you to have a way to be financially independent.”
“Ottilie left her nieces five million apiece?” Fenna repeated.
“And that’s just the money she set aside in trusts,” Mr. Baumgartner said. “They’ll inherit far more than that, but only, of course, if we get conclusive evidence that Ottilie is indeed deceased.”
Fenna exchanged a glance with Sneaky Pete before she returned her attention to Drusilla. “Pete and I may have some information that might help you find out exactly what happened to Ottilie, but information like that always comes with a price.”
Forty
It was difficult to resist the inclination to give Fenna a bit of a shake, but after realizing it would hardly be appropriate to shake a woman who had her hands tied behind her back, Drusilla settled for quirking a brow Fenna’s way instead.
“You want me to pay you for information that might lead to Ottilie’s whereabouts—a woman you’ve told me numerous times was one of your dearest friends, even though Norbert seems to think otherwise?”
“Ottiliewasa dear friend of mine. If she wasn’t, why would she have shown me that miniature of you, or told me about Annaliese and plume hunters, or also told me that her sister-in-law’s name is Irma?”
“I would imagine she told you information about my family while the two of you traveled to Egypt together, as well as showed you a miniature of us during that time, but ...” Drusilla narrowed her eyes. “I have a feeling it’s far more likely that after you and Sneaky Pete got rid of the staff at the castle, and then you continued haunting the place, probably at the direction of Loughlin MacSherry, you made a point of looking through Aunt Ottilie’s personal effects. If I’m right, you would have undoubtedly run across some of the letters I, along withAnnaliese, sent to our aunt over the years, as she was notorious for saving our every scribble.”
Norbert made a bit of a process out of clearing his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “Fenna wouldn’t have had to look hard for your miniatures as Miss Ottilie never took her charm bracelets with her. They were what she considered special treasures, so she kept them in a jewelry box that’s probably still on her dresser.” He settled a scowl on Fenna. “And while it doesn’t surprise me to learn that you’ve been riffling through Miss Ottilie’s belongings for months, and don’t think I haven’t figured out that it was you leaving all those messages on the mirrors because you had access to Miss Ottilie’s handwriting and could have easily copied her distinctiveS, what I haven’t figured out is how you’ve been able to access the castle.”
“There’s no secret to how we got into the castle,” Sneaky Pete said. “We just used the tunnel.”
Fenna immediately leveled a glare on Pete. “There is absolutely no reason for you to admit anything we might have done, especially when doing that is the same as handing the Pinkertons a confession of guilt on our part.”
Sneaky Pete glared right back at Fenna. “I’m not admitting anything that’s considered a crime except that we had access to the castle because of the tunnel, which Norbert undoubtedly knows about. Besides that, it might benefit us to cooperate because you know the Pinkertons are going to find out about the tunnel anyway since we showed Sanford how to access it so he could get to his boat without scaling down the cliffside. He’ll most likely tell them all about how we got away from the castle once the Pinkertons start questioning him.”
“Except that Sanford’s clearly taken leave of most of his senses so the Pinkertons probably wouldn’t have put much stock in anything he’d tell them,” Fenna snapped.
As Sneaky Pete took to looking like he might not have considered that, Norbert took a step closer to him. “While it’s trueI know about the tunnel, I’m not sure how you could have used it when Captain Harvey had the entrance sealed off right after he decided to retire.”
“Just because the entrance was sealed off doesn’t mean the person who was sent to do that sealing did a credible job,” Sneaky Pete muttered.
“You were the one responsible for carrying out Captain Harvey’s order?” Norbert demanded.
“Sure was, and I decided to make sure it wasn’t sealed off properly because I thought the new owner might appreciate my foresight in keeping the tunnel accessible, and would, of course, reward me for that foresight.” He shook his head. “That almost worked to my advantage after Loughlin MacSherry approached me, telling me to let him know when the captain was going to sell because he knew all about Captain Harvey being a smuggler. MacSherry also knew the castle was perfect for clandestine activities and wanted to be the first in line to buy it.”
“If that’s true, why isn’t he the owner of the castle now?” Drusilla asked.
“He was out of town when the captain decided to sell.” Sneaky Pete shook his head. “That was a bone of contention with MacSherry for certain, and believe you me, he was really upset that I hadn’t been aware of what the captain was planning in advance.
“MacSherry eventually stopped holding me responsible and decided he’d just bide his time and wait for another opportunity to gain ownership of the castle. He thought that time had come after Ottilie didn’t return on schedule, which is when he reached out to me again, telling me he’d pay me a handsome fee if I could provide him with a list of Ottilie’s heirs before that became public knowledge.”
Pete inclined his head in Fenna’s direction. “Since Fenna had been Ottilie’s assistant, I got MacSherry’s permission to bring her into the job as well. But it didn’t turn into the easy moneywe thought it would because Mr. Baumgartner wouldn’t tell her who Ottilie’s heirs were. He then left town, and Norbert wouldn’t let her back into the castle. That’s when we decided our only hope was to continue making it appear as if the castle was haunted, something that would allow me and Fenna to snoop around at our leisure.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t difficult to unseal the entrance to the tunnel, and Fenna and I have been using it ever since.”
Fenna released a hiss. “Be quiet, you fool. There’s no need to keep telling them things they haven’t asked to be told.”
