35. Ghosts Revealed

It was about midnight when we felt the atmosphere subtly change--someone had entered the room.

Then, from across the room where the harp stood, we heard quiet whispering. Could there be more than ONE ghost?

Someone gently brushed the harp's strings and Starry and I scrambled out of hiding.

"Let's keep it quiet now--no need for a concert tonight." I quietly said.

There were TWO gasps of astonishment and the pale moonlight reflected the faces of two surprised "ghosts"--Clarence the Butler and Hettie the Housekeeper.

"You've got us then. The game is up." Clarence mumbled and Hettie started to cry. "I knew this would end badly." she sobbed.

"All right then. Why have you been doing it?" I asked.

"Its this way, Constable." Clarence said. "We meant no harm to Angela--but we are tired  of being servants. We are getting older now and we would like to have a little place of our own and to do what we want to do. We think the eel has made her a good offer and he says he will build cottages and even some retirement apartments on this land which we could afford, but he had no part in our scheme."

"We thought if we made Angela a little less comfortable here, she might go ahead and sell the place and we could have our own little homes. Our families have been naught but servants for generations and we thought to break the chain. Can you understand that, Constable?" Hettie Cried.

"I understand your motive perfectly." I said, But you have gone about getting what you want  very badly. Pretending to be ghosts--really, you should be ashamed."

"We are--we are indeed." Clarence said. "But once we got started we couldn't seem to stop. And then once YOU had been called in, we felt we just HAD to perform some more--for you-- don't you know."

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