2 25. Weird short drop-in
Chloe is driving her Cooper today and first they visit the shop where she excuses herself. She wants to pay Mrs. Kennedy a quick visit while Hunter is talking to Hayley.
Mrs. Kennedy is doing a young woman’s hair and Chloe sits down on the sofa. Mrs. Kennedy, standing with her back to Chloe, peeks at her in the huge mirror. “Good morning, Chloe, I don’t hope you bring bad news and that the ghosts are starting to chase you.”
Chloe smiles. “Why do you expect bad news? I’m living quite happily there and I only want to say thanks for all Robert’s hard work and I want to assure you that I will carry all the costs of the improvements. I hope it is okay with you.”
“It is fine, Chloe, thank you very much. I really feel guilty. We should have thought about those things, but without tenants, there is no income to justify the improvements."
“I don’t understand. You know about the money I spent but your first words implied that I want to run away.”
“Robert visited me this morning for a short while before he went shopping for groceries. He told me about last night’s false alarm the first night after it was installed. What happened, lovey?”
“Sometimes you get false alarms, Aunty. Luckily there was only one last night. Thereafter everything was fine.”
“I don’t want to sound negative, my girl, but an alarm in that house will never work. Maybe in Isaac’s place, but not in that house.”
“Why Aunty? Robert showed me the monkeys in the high trees and in no way they can still enter the house. I think it was the monkey’s antics that chased the tenants away.”
“Did they trigger your alarm last night?”
“No, maybe it was a mouse or a cockroach. Who will know? There must be way many things that can trigger an alarm.”
“Robert told me his friend, Hunter, had informed him about your nightly visitors through the attic windows and then Robert showed you the monkeys. Why do you think the intruders were the monkeys?”
“Robert was thinking the same; that’s why he showed us the monkeys.”
“Robert also showed the monkeys to some of the previous tenants, but that didn’t help. They all fled soon afterward. Oh, and another matter. How do you get by with your new neighbor, Chloe? I know Isaac since he was a little boy and look; today he is an attractive, medical doctor.”
“We are relating just fine, Aunty.”
“Yes, he now is an attractive man, isn’t he? He can easily sweep any lady off her feet.”
She glances at Chloe as if she expects Chloe will confirm her words, but Chloe only smiles back. Mrs. Kennedy continues: “Chloe, I should really have warned you. You moved into a haunted house. Isaac’s place has up to now been free from all these strange events. It has always been that house of yours that unnerved the tenants. Isaac is alone in a huge house and maybe he can accommodate you when things get out of hand. He is a bachelor. Do you know that?”
“Aunty, nothing is amiss. I’m just fine there.”
“And what is wrong? Robert told me Hunter is very worried about your safety. He believes someone is threatening your family’s safety. Robert told me your father and Hunter were bosom pals in the war and he is now very worried about you. Hunter is an exceptional man, Chloe. He is Robert’s only friend and can interpret sign language very well. Robert usually only talks to me who also can interpret sign language and he is very lonely there in the woods. It really is a small world we live in. Who could predict that you would move in there and needs Hunter’s help? Now Robert is seeing his old friend regularly.”
“Then I have bad news for Robert. Hunter is on his way tomorrow to George if he completes all his business today and I don’t know how long he will stay away.”
Mrs. Kennedy stops with her work and stares in the mirror at Chloe while her head shakes a little. She doesn’t say a word and only glares absentmindedly at Chloe while she thinks deeply so that her client also begins to stare at Chloe inquisitively.
When the situation becomes weird, Mrs. Kennedy speaks again: “Chloe, what happened last night? That is the reason for your visit today. Something is bothering you, my child.”
“No, Aunty, why do you think so?”
“I can see something is bothering you. Something happened and you don’t have a logical explanation for it. You don’t have to hide anything. It happened to all of us. What triggered the alarm last night?”
Ill at ease Chloe sits motionless while both women stare at her in the mirror. Mrs. Kennedy just has the way to unnerve her and let her feel like a Frankenstein guinea pig in a hazardous, psychological experiment.
Chloe smiles. “The bell at the well is ringing continuously. Did Robert hear anything?”
Mrs. Kennedy is flabbergasted. “No! Robert did not tell me about this. Maybe only you heard it.”
“There you have your ghost. And I have just awakened him. I’m just joking, Aunty. I must go now. Hunter is waiting at the shop for me. He has a busy schedule today that he wishes to complete before he goes to George.”
“What is going on, Chloe? You haven’t told me anything.”
“We are unsure what exactly, Aunty, but Hunter is investigating. It is a long story and maybe I’ll tell you next time. I shall visit you when I come to the shop next time.”
Chloe rises quickly while Mrs. Kennedy and her client stare at her and she leaves hastily as if something is chasing her. She feels quite relieved when she is outside as if she has just escaped from an asylum. Briskly she walks to the shop while she ponders the little visit. Is Mrs. Kennedy hiding something? Did she experience unholy things and just waited for Chloe to experience the same before she wanted to tell her? Maybe she is afraid to tell her what is going on so as not to lose a tenant. Or maybe she is weird by nature?
Chloe realizes that Hunter and Hayley had a good chat during her visit. Hayley is very worried about Chloe’s safety and Chloe and Hunter have to pull out all the stops to pacify her. Hunter tells her how Chloe safeguarded her place but leaves out his role. He lets her believe that Robert did all the work.
When they turn off onto the dirt road on their way to the farm, Hunter surprises her out of the blue: “Chloe, I don’t think you are necessarily safer on the farm. Maybe it is safer there on the smallholding together with Isaac and Robert.”
Chloe is surprised. “Really, Hunter, what brought you to this conclusion?”
“A lot of things can go wrong on the farm. There you are together with two men and the farm workers who could be suspects and one of them can easily plan a little mishap for you. Do you have sufficient electrical fencing and alarms around and in your farmhouse, and so on?”
“No, Hunter, but we have Batista and Buddy that look after us as if we are royals. They keep watch around the house and sniff us out wherever we are. They are giant Boerboel watchdogs. Wait till you see them. They look like lionesses.”
“Chloe, you’ll have to make a plan, because farm murders are now commonplace in South Africa. It will look like an ordinary incident if you are attacked on the farm. The people that tried to eliminate Zoey and Lyle can easily hide their agenda and let it look like a farm attack. No, Chloe, I really think you are much safer at your place with the radios, the alarm, and Robert on guard. But don’t become too blasé. Be vigilant always.”
“I think that is a good point, Hunter.”
Hunter shakes his head despondently. “But, I will only be confident when I have solved the case and all of you are safe, Chloe. That is why I am in a hurry to complete my work here on the farm today so that I can hit the road to George tomorrow morning to try and find Quinn. By the end of the day, I will have a list of suspects in priority order besides Quinn. But I will direct my investigation firstly at him.”
“Will you share your list with me?”
“No Chloe. My suspect list provisionally contains only wild speculations, and only when certain deductions are borne out by facts, will I know the direction to follow.”
“How long do you think you will stay in George, Hunter?”
“As long as necessary. I shall make contact with you regularly and keep you up to date of my progress and at the same time find out whether you are still okay, Chloe.”
“You must allow me to reimburse you. You are losing out on your normal income and are incurring costs on behalf of us. Where are you going to stay in George? Let me at least reimburse you for accommodation and fuel.”
“Chloe, there is a little old flame who regularly invites me to stay with her when I have something to do in George. I’ve already contacted her and she can’t wait to lay the table for me.”
Chloe smiles. “Hunter, I get the feeling you are a hero of many ladies.”
Naughtily Hunter smiles. “Private detectives frequently encounter situations in which we have to save beautiful ladies out of their quandary and some of them never forget us.”
“Okay, if accommodation is not a problem, I accept, but I am not going to take ‘no’ for an answer for fuel because it is pricy and I think your old jalopy is quite thirsty. I am going to give you enough to keep that tank full always. Period! Finish!”
