Chapter 8 Inquiry

The time was just a little under four-thirty in the afternoon when she checked her pocket watch after she arrived in Mortimer House and said her farewell to Nicholas. Making her way into the house she decided not to disturb anyone who might be inside the living room, so Emily walked to the back of the house and used the back entrance for the servants instead. Her arrival inside made the present servants pause as she walked in, and was greeted by watchful eyes but they were never of judgment. Several moments passed and they returned to whatever it was they were doing.

Emily could feel the heat from their stares and decided to rush upstairs to change her clothes.

The room was neat as ever, so no one could claim that she was a sloth and did not care for tidiness. Without thinking in advance, she decided to take a bath just before dinner so she slipped out of her day clothes and put on her robe, and brought a towel with her. Reaching the bathroom, she turned on the faucet and set it to warm, and there she waited, reflecting on her day out of the house, and immediately she thought of inquiring about Nicholas and his whereabouts before he had arrived in Middleton Valley. Emily thought deeply about how she could pull that off without the money to gather any kind of information from the servants of the house.

An idea passed through her mind; she would have to contact an old friend who now happened to be a detective; Augustine Knight. Thankfully she still had her address book as well as the phone numbers of the people she had become friends with along the way. Gus Knight, she thought and smiled. It had been a long time since she saw Gus, five years ago she recalled and he was always a welcome sight.

Getting into the tub slowly, her mind was not on the warmth of the water but elsewhere, and it always returned to either the Mortimers, Mr. Hawthorne, or Nicholas himself. Her full body now submerged in the warm heat of the water did not flinch, she only felt it clean the dirt and dust she had accumulated from her day out. Emily had not felt anything the way she did when she was with Nicholas in a long time. She had told herself earlier that she was too much herself and he was himself, trying to dodge what she truly felt for him. Something about Nicholas reminded her of the one man she fell in love with for the first time; Daniel Chapman, many years ago. That burst of adventure she had experienced today was exactly what she felt whenever she was around Daniel during their school days at university. Emily thought Nicholas was a far cry from Daniel, who was literally the boy living next door and had all the good qualities though he was not considered popular by any means at school. Nicholas had an air of mischief about him, a danger, and he would likely land her in trouble in ways Daniel would not. That was a long time ago, she thought, surely Daniel had moved on from their school days at university? Meanwhile here was Nicholas, appearing as lonely as she had been for years. No, she was not going to do anything of the kind, or at least until she found out more about him. At the same time, she thought it was quite shallow of her to fall for someone so easily, and for the first man she met at the party too. Emily could not help but think it was all too easy and quick, maybe she should back down or wait and see what comes out of it? Emily thought.

Once she got out of the tub, she immediately wrapped herself in her bathrobe and wrapped her wet hair, wore her house slippers, and returned to her bedroom.

In the bedroom, she immediately changed into fresh new clothes and opened her bedside drawer to pick out her address book. She turned off the lights and locked the door behind her with her bedroom key and made her way downstairs.

Emily nearly bumped into Cecille with the latter having been shaken from the near experience of a collision.

"You gave me a fright," said the elderly woman, clutching her chest.

"I'm sorry, Camille." Emily apologized, as sincere as she was Camille did not feel the same way. "May I use the telephone?"

"You may use the one in the servant's quarters," Camille replied and went her way.

"Thank you," Emily said though knowing that she was not heard.

Reaching the servant's quarters, she immediately went for the telephone hanging on the wall, thankful that none of the servants were around to see her tip-toeing. Emily opened her address book, and searched for Augustine Knight's name, wondering if the number she was about to dial would still be working. After she dialed the number, Emily immediately heard a ringing on the other end of the phone.

Ring, ring, ring

No one picked up, and she thought of putting down the phone.

Ring, ring, ring

There was a click on the other side of the phone, and a voice came;

"P.I. Knight speaking, what may I help you with?"

"Gus?" she asked just to make sure that it was really him. "It's me, it's Emily."

"Em? What? Is this really you?"

"Yes, it's really me," she smiled and added. "Listen, I haven't any money, but I'd like to make an inquiry."

"Well, you had my back years ago I can do this job for free." He replied confidently.

"Thank you," she did not know what to say but her mind raced and immediately said, "I'd like to put an inquiry on a Nicholas Sutcliffe."

"Do you have a description?" Knight asked.

"Around six feet and two inches tall and athletic, electric blue eyes and black hair streaked with grey," Emily replied. "He was a captain in the Navy not too long ago."

"That's quite a description you've got there, Em," said Knight who chuckled on the other end of the phone.

"Shut it, Gus." She said while trying to keep her voice down for no one to hear even though there was no one in sight in the servant's quarters.

"I see you've moved on from Chapman." Said Gus lazily.

"Can you send it to Mortimer House, 777 Trinity Road, Middleton Valley?"

"How'd you end up in the Valley?" He asked.

"I can't stay on the phone for long, sorry."

"Em, wa---"

She had put down the phone just as Jones one of the footmen arrived.

"First time seeing you down here." He said, straightening his uniform.

"First time seeing you down here too."

Emily had no choice but to pick up her address book and close it, hurrying back upstairs before dinner was served.

There was no time to have other things in mind, she needed to be as calm as possible during dinner to get through this day but she did plan to make smaller inquiries among the servants of Mortimer House and she had Cecille to ask first since she was the easiest to ask and she always gave satisfactory answers to any questions she had, Emily imagined that this was no different.

Dinner came, and Mr. And Mrs. Mortimer were looking as grim as ever in their all-black clothing as though someone had died and she hopes that that was not the case at all.

The food as usual was appetizing and aromatic and so she had a piece of everything. When the Mortimers noticed this, she stopped in mid-air but decided to continue.

"I was out the entire day," she said as an excuse for her appetite. "I'm in need of nourishment."

"You were out with Nicholas the entire day, I'm glad." Said Dolores as she cut her steak delicately, Emily looked at her not with contempt but was struck that her employer would know of her whereabouts. "Don't look at me like that, Nicholas came looking for you earlier this morning."

"He didn't tell you, did he?" Mr. Mortimer asked, there was a surprising hint in his voice.

"No, he didn't."

She put down her fork for a moment and sighed, but not so heavily that the Mortimers could hear it, she had put the children first above her own feelings at the moment. Emily knew the children would ask what was going on with her if she did.

When dinner ended, she said her good night to the family but she did not rush upstairs to her room. Instead, Emily chose to go to the servant's quarters once more where she knew the lot of them would be.

Upon reaching the room, the lot of them hushed down as she passed them by. Emily felt an unwelcome presence whenever she was around them, never that 'good people' atmosphere Nicholas was telling her about earlier in the day. She wondered if he truly knew them or if they were all putting a front.

Her eyes landed on Cecille, it was refreshing to see a familiar face or so she thought. Emily came rushing to her side on tiptoe so as not to break the silence but her footfalls betrayed her as her boots clacked all the way.

"Cecille," she called for the elderly woman. "I'd like to speak with you after you finish dinner."

Cecille only nodded and said nothing more, she was surprised that she was treated like a stranger. Surely it would not surprise her to know that it was Camille who answered the door when Nicholas came to inquire about her. It also would not surprise her if she had told the entire household about her run-in with Nicholas. She had hoped that he was gentle with her since the years were not doing her any favors.

Arriving in the living room, she collapsed on the couch and let out a heavy sigh. She could either believe it or not believe it, but one could say that Emily knew that this was coming. Soon there would be rumors swirling around about her visit to Hawthorne Heights with Nicholas introducing her to old Mr. Hawthorne...or not. Emily could imagine they would leave that part out, but who in their mind would start such a rumor when they had been cautious not to let anyone catch them entering the Heights in the first place?

Why did this have to happen to me? She asked herself as she often did but never out loud.

"What did you want to speak to me about?" asked a voice from behind her, it was Cecille.

"Ceclle, I know we haven't known each other that long," she started, rising from the couch, and straightening the creases of her dress. "But what can you tell me about Nicholas Sutcliffe?"

"Very predictable of you," said Cecille sharply. "Arrogant, and pompous is all I'll say." She added, turned, and went away.

Emily was left there standing in shock, the person whom she thought was her only friend in the entire household had left her stunned cold. She collapsed once again on the couch and lamented on what had just happened, now she was sure that Nicholas was not who she thought he was. He was no friend, and from Cecille's assessment, he was a fiend. Why did I bother inquiring about him to Gus? She asked herself, now Emily was sure she was wasting her friend's time and resources on the very job she hired (though unpaid) to do.

She rose up from the couch, walked over to the foot of the steps, and began her walk up to her bedroom. She was not going to stop Gus from doing his job, no, she was going to get to the truth of the matter about Nicholas Sutcliffe and see if he really is the monster Cecille claimed to be. Emily needed verification of his person, and she was not just going to take the word of some old woman who was likely suffering from dementia, no, she needed a reliable source on that, and she trusted Gus enough to get the job done.

Relief passed over her, she might have said to herself her true feelings about Nicholas but while that was frozen, for now, she was glad that she did not show herself to him despite sharing with him certain aspects of herself. Emily clutched her chest, inhaled, and then exhaled.

Everything will make sense soon, she thought, it has to at some point.