The Mystery of Novak Manor - An Eleanor and Lydia Mystery

Chapter Two

Eleanor settled into the chair with a contented sigh just as a plump lady in a pretty green dress and white apron bustled into the room.

"Ah! Ladies, this is my housekeeper, Mrs. Stojanovski. I'd be lost without her."

The housekeeper clasped her hands in front of her impressive bosom. "You must be tired after such a long trip. Can I bring you a cup of tea to perk you up? Maybe some biscuits?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," Eleanor said.

"Do you have any Mountain Dew?" Lydia asked.

The woman peeked toward the windows with a confused frown. 

"Maybe a Coke?" Lydia asked.

The frown melted into a warm smile. "Oh! Yes. I believe we do have some Coca-Cola. Do you drink it over ice? I hear that's the American way."

"That would be great," Lydia said.

The woman hurried away and Eleanor made small talk about the flight and the weather until the refreshments had been served and the door had been shut tight.

She'd learned long ago that closed doors did not necessarily provide the solitude one would expect when one is in a very old castle, but the illusion of privacy invited a higher level of confidence.

"So, here we are. Tell us everything," she said.

Lord Novak crossed his long legs, propped one elbow on the arm of his chair, and rubbed his fingertips over his lips as if he needed to warm them up before setting them in motion. Finally, he began with a statement of the obvious. "You remember General Gruber."

Eleanor swallowed the lump in her throat. "You mean the man who I caught red-handed, selling little children to the highest bidder? The one who kidnapped me and beat me within an inch of my life? Even at my age, some things are not so easily forgotten."

The prince had the good grace to appear embarrassed. "Mrs. Stojanovski was the first to report a sighting. The poor woman raced into my private study one night after midnight, hysterical, screaming and threatening to run away. She kept saying, 'He's back! He's back!' It took the better part of a quarter hour and two very stiff drinks to settle her down enough to get any details from her.

"She tends to start her days quite early, always the first one up in the household, so she's known to retire to her quarters every night not long after the supper meal has been served. That night our cook, Mr. Teodoro, served a particularly spicy tomato dish and poor Mrs. Stojanovski woke up around midnight with a terrible case of heartburn. Unable to find any relief in her own medicine cabinet, she ventured down the hall to seek if a light still shone in Miss Melnyk's room. Miss Melnyk is responsible for all the maintenance duties around the castle. She's an absolute genius with anything electrical."

He raised a brown and lowered his voice as if imparting some scandalous news. "I'm told the light shines late there and the voice of the gardener's been known to be heard behind that door from time to time." Though the women had said nothing, he held out a hand as if to stop their protests. "I'm not one to interfere in such matters. The two of them are adults and may do as they wish on their own time, but my father would demand they marry or leave the house. He has strong ideals formed in another time."

"A time when things were simpler, but not always kinder," Eleanor said.

Lord Novak conceded with a tip of his head. "At any rate, before the good lady had opportunity to knock on the door, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and saw the general, apparently looking precisely as he had in life, down to the medals on his chest and the shine on his shoes except that he wasn't altogether solid."