Dragon Gate by Gary Jonas Page B

Elizabeth Noble was probably already dead when Mike Endar came to see me.
    “I’ll take you home.”
    As we left, several police cars turned in to the parking lot.
    “What more can you tell me about the Marshall Clan?” I asked.
    “Not much. You should probably talk to Graham about it.”
    “I will.”
    She sighed. “Just so you know, I fully expect my brother to tell you to go back to Denver. He’s going to see this as a family matter, and you are not family. The odds of him listening to me are slim to none. Oh well. It will all be over soon anyway.”
    Her tone of voice told me more than she realized. It was the tone of someone who had given up. I’d had plenty of personal experience with that. She was resigned to the fact that she was going to die and there was nothing anyone could do to change the outcome.
    “We’ll see about that,” I said.
    oOo
    Back at the mansion, I sat with Rayna in the drawing room. I didn’t try to convince her to let us help. She made it clear that she wanted us there, but in her view, it was up to Graham. I hoped Kelly had talked some sense into him. We could help. I knew we could.
    Esther moved about the room, running her ghostly hands over expensive furnishings. From the look on her face, I knew she wished she could actually touch them, but without that sensory input, she quickly grew bored.
    “Would you like something to drink?” Rayna asked. “I can have Jenkins bring some tea.”
    “I’m good,” I said. I don’t wear a watch, so I pulled out my cell phone to check the time: 10:35.
    “I’d like some tea,” Rayna said. She reached over and pulled on a fabric rope, and deep in the house, I could hear a bell chime.
    A few moments later, the butler entered the room. “What can I do for you, Miss Noble?”
    “Please bring us a pitcher of green tea. Perhaps some crackers too.”
    “Yes, Miss Noble.”
    Esther drifted over to me. “She’s single and attractive, Jonathan.”
    I met Esther’s eyes.
    “And she’s rich,” Esther said. “You could marry her, and I could have a big mansion to haunt.”
    I knew Esther was trying to bring some levity to the room. She had a thing for me but was trying to keep it on the down low since she was dead and there was no future there. Back when the typewriter had been complete, she’d been bound to it, so if I went on a date, I could leave the typewriter at the office and Esther wouldn’t have to see anything. Now that the typewriter was in pieces and she could pop to any of them, she tended to show up when I was with a woman, and I knew it hurt her. So I knew she wasn’t being serious about Rayna.
    Besides, Rayna was a client.
    The front door opened. Graham and Kelly entered and found us in the drawing room.
    “How did it go?” Rayna asked.
    “Mother’s dead,” Graham said.
    “We know. We found her body. You forgot your phone again. I tried to call you.”
    Graham crossed the room, sat down beside his sister, and took her hands in his. “I’m sorry.”
    “We knew it was likely,” she said, and I knew she was speaking about her mother, not the phone.
    Kelly stood next to my chair and touched my shoulder. “We met some people I’d like to kill,” she said. “They looked like refugees from a Renaissance festival.”
    Graham turned around. “You won’t be killing anyone.”
    “Maybe not tonight,” Kelly said.
    Jenkins entered the room with a large tray that held a pitcher of tea, two cups, and an assortment of crackers. He stopped when he saw everyone. “I’ll bring more teacups.” He set down the tray and backed out of the room.
    Graham glared at me. “You two need to go now. This is a family matter, and you aren’t wanted.”
    “There were thirteen men,” Kelly said. “You need us.”
    “We’ve been over this. The answer is no.”
    “Thirteen men,” I said. “You really want to face off with them alone? You really want them to kill Rayna too?”
    “How dare you!” Graham said. He rose and approached