Chapter 09
“Someone from the Plenigan family?”
At my question, Carol answered right away.
“Similar to Miss Lucy. You know who she is, right?”
I nodded, recalling what Amy had told me. Lucy was the daughter born from the former master, Roger Plenigan’s affair.
According to Amy and Carol’s explanation, Patrick was also Roger Plenigan’s illegitimate child. Patrick’s mother died not long after giving birth, and her family accepted a considerable sum of money from Roger. In return, they immediately signed a document stating: “This child has no relation to the Plenigan family, and we will never trouble the Plenigan family regarding this child in the future.”
Because of that, Patrick lost the name Plenigan and became Patrick Morgan. At the same time, despite being in a similar situation, a vast gap opened between him and Lucy—who had inherited the Plenigan name.
Even if he’s Aileen’s grandfather, I can’t help but think the former master was awful.
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I asked a few questions that came to mind.
“If they even signed documents, why is Patrick here? It doesn’t seem like they’d officially hire someone with that kind of background.”
“Even if he became a stranger on paper, he couldn’t stand seeing his own child rolling around filthy in the gutters.”
Amy let out a scoff.
“Don’t get it wrong—it’s not because he cared about his child. It was because it would bring shame to the family. Everyone kept quiet, but rumors had already spread around here. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Morgan family spread them on purpose.
Anyway, he was wandering around like a beggar and causing all kinds of trouble. Since people already knew he was a Plenigan child, they figured they couldn’t just leave him like that. So they thought it’d be better to keep him inside the estate and watch him constantly.”
And so, Patrick Morgan came to live in the Plenigan mansion—of course, not as a son, but as a servant.
At first, they even gave him the title of butler and tried to properly train him. But Patrick was the kind of person far removed from words like diligence, responsibility, or hard work.
Not long after he arrived, people started saying that if they kept him as a butler, he’d ruin the entire household.
It was a bit exaggerated, since he hadn’t been given full responsibility, but one thing was clear: Patrick neither had the ability nor the will to properly carry out his duties.
So Randall, who had long been serving in the role, remained the actual butler, while Patrick was left with the meaningless title of “assistant butler.”
“That’s why they can’t throw him out even if he drinks and lazes around,” Amy continued. “From Lady Melissa Norma’s perspective, Patrick must be a thorn in her side.
But imagine the rumors if she heartlessly kicked out her late husband’s illegitimate child. That would truly be a disgrace to the Plenigan family. In this household, they even teach that it’s improper for a woman to show jealousy over her husband’s affairs.”
Talking about family honor, yet only pressuring the women? Who was it that actually brought shame to the family in the first place?
I thought that to myself, but didn’t say it out loud.
“Even if Miss Lucy is treated like a lady and Patrick like a servant, the family still sees them the same way,” Carol said, pouting slightly.
“You can tell because both Miss Lucy and Patrick have their rooms in the east wing. The rest of the family stays in the west wing. They don’t consider those two real members of the family.”
“Well, they claim it’s because there aren’t enough rooms in the west wing, but it’s obvious.”
“They’re both discriminated against anyway, but Patrick has it worse, so he really hates Miss Lucy.”
“You should see them when they run into each other,” Amy added. “Patrick openly mocks her, calling her a ‘noble young lady of a prestigious family,’ all sarcastic-like. And Miss Lucy, who’s usually polite to others, yells at him at the top of her lungs.”
Their explanations seemed endless, so I decided it was time to steer the conversation elsewhere.
“I see. Anyway, Miss Aileen’s room is in the west wing, right?”
I returned to the earlier topic.
“But she… died in the study on the second floor of the east wing.”
“Yeah. No idea why she went to the study,” Carol said.
Amy immediately cut in.
“She must have gone there because she planned to kill herself. It’s not like she got up in the middle of the night—she was wearing normal clothes, not sleepwear.”
“Well… she hanged herself there. I wonder how much pressure her family put on her for her to make that decision,” Carol said sympathetically.
But I was thinking something else.
This is strange. Would someone planning suicide really leave their room and go all the way to the second floor of the opposite building?
I had never once considered suicide in my life, so I couldn’t fully understand that mindset. But wouldn’t it often be impulsive?
Even if a surge of emotion drove someone to such a decision, wouldn’t that feeling cool down while walking all the way out of their room and across to another building?
And if she truly intended to end her life, wouldn’t it have been quicker to throw herself into the pond between the buildings rather than go through the trouble of going upstairs?
Of course, I couldn’t be certain without knowing Aileen’s state of mind at the time. So I asked another question.
“Was there a suicide note?”
“I was too out of it at the time to notice anything,” Carol said.
Amy added,
“The floor was covered with scattered books, so it was chaotic, but they searched everything. No note was found. Her room was clean too.”
The lack of a note bothered me. But I had read that not everyone who commits suicide leaves one. That alone wasn’t enough to conclude it was murder.
“Hey…”
I carefully glanced between them before speaking.
“Do you think Miss Aileen really killed herself?”
“If she didn’t, then what? She hanged herself,” Carol replied, then narrowed one eye slightly.
“Or… do you also believe it was the Plenigan family ghost?”
“No. I heard that ‘ghost’ just refers to the suffocating atmosphere in this household.”
“That’s true. But some people really believe there’s an actual ghost.”
“Huh?”
Carol let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Lady Melissa Norma. When she heard how Miss Aileen died, she ran all over the mansion screaming, ‘It’s a ghost! The ghost took her because she brought shame to the family!’ The master looked so troubled.”
“Not just her—some of the older maids believe in it too,” Amy added.
“In old mansions, there’s always at least one legend, right? My sister works at the Clayton estate, and they say there’s a ghost that rides around in a carriage.”
Legends are common enough. Even the Whittington estate supposedly has a headless butler roaming around.
Maybe someday they’d even add a legend about a butler with eyes on the back of his head. While I was thinking that, Amy and Carol excitedly continued.
“This is from when the former master, Lord Roger, was young. He had an aunt named Adelaide who loved parties. She went out every night with men and came home late, so the whole family was in an uproar over her improper behavior.”
“It’s strict even now, so imagine how bad it must’ve been back then.”
“And then one night, Lady Alice’s ghost appeared in front of people! The servants saw it themselves and fainted—it wasn’t a dream.”
“Lady Alice? The one who painted the portrait in the study?”
At my question, Carol nodded.
“Yeah. Her ghost appeared and solemnly pointed at Miss Adelaide. She didn’t say anything—just pointed. And the next day, Miss Adelaide was found dead!”
“Ugh… that really sounds like a ghost’s curse,” Amy said.
“So after that, the women of the household became very careful with their behavior. Because Lady Alice’s ghost had supposedly punished a woman who brought shame to the family.”
“But it’s just a legend,” I said.
Amy and Carol both shrugged.
“Well, ghosts are something only kids believe in, anyway.”
I pieced together everything I had heard. The evidence that Aileen hadn’t committed suicide was still weak.
But I still couldn’t accept it.
Not yet.
I steeled myself again.
I need to investigate Aileen’s death more thoroughly.
As Ian had said, I wasn’t an investigator or a detective, so there were many limitations to what I could do.
Before anything else, my days were so busy with maid work that I hardly noticed time passing.
“Lately, the cleaning standards have been poor.”
Head maid Mrs. Pierce spoke sharply during the morning assembly.
“Miss Anne saw a mouse and became upset. There seem to be quite a lot of mice in both the east and west wings these days. The kitchen must properly manage leftovers and ingredients. And dispose of garbage immediately.”
“Miss Anne is really scared of mice,” Amy whispered to me, avoiding Mrs. Pierce’s gaze.
“Last time, she saw one and screamed, then fell backward—”
“Amy! Ellie! Are you listening?”
At Mrs. Pierce’s sharp call, Amy flinched and lowered her head. Mrs. Pierce glared at us briefly before continuing.
“More importantly, we have an important guest staying in the east wing. It is disgraceful for mice to be running around. I’ve ordered new mousetraps from Jason Brothers’ shop—they’ll arrive today. Install them and check every morning whether any mice have been caught.”
“Ugh, you’re telling us to clean up a mouse caught in a trap?”
Amy made a face as if she felt sick. The other maids also looked contorted, but perhaps due to Mrs. Pierce’s stiff demeanor, they could not say a word.
I haven’t even finished investigating Eileen, and now I’m being put in charge of cleaning up after rats?
I also felt pathetic, but it was unavoidable.
Ian would probably laugh a lot if I told him this. By the way, did Ian find out anything?
I thought I should meet Ian in the afternoon using cleaning as an excuse.
