Mystery at the Manor Hotel *In Progress)

The Mystery at the Manor Hotel

By Carly R Phillips

Intro

In Cheshire in a small town of Wilmslow in there was a manor house dating back to the 18^th century it was now run as a hotel, the official name being the Wilmslow Manor hotel. The owner was a descendant of the original owners, the Severtons. George Severton and his wife Julia had run the hotel since their marriage fifteen yrs. earlier. It was passed down to George, being the eldest son by his parents, Kenneth, and Harriet Severton. George's younger brother Michael and his wife Beth worked at the hotel also, Michael as the hotel accountant and Beth as head receptionist. They owned Brickmoore cottage a short walk away from the hotel. They also were shareholders and board members of the hotel as a company. There were three other siblings, but they did not work at the hotel but did sit on the board. The Manor hotel was a very top-rated hotel with a expert chef to prepare meals and top rated service. In addition to this, there was a large sprawling garden, with fruit trees, a graceful flowing river and large fountain with a statute of Andrew Millstone, an ancestor on horseback. It was a lovely place to come and stay. However, there were starting to be things here and there, which seemed odd. Footsteps in the night, things going missing, things like that. So far, it had been nothing the staff would not handle but would it stay just little things....

Chapter 1

It was seven am at the Manor; the maids were starting their day's work. Three maids currently worked for the hotel. Justine Randall, Michelle Kimber, and Holly Jones. All the girls were in there early 20's and when not at the hotel studied at the local college, Justine was arranging the flowers in the front hall in the front entryway.

Justine was medium height, about 5'6 with chestnut brown hair which was put neatly in a bun, slender build, she was quite popular amongst the men who visited but she was quite attached to her boyfriend James Lockworth who helped Henry Wilson maintain the gardens.

It was James who always made sure, with Henry's approval that the best flowers were used to decorate the hotel. Michelle and Holly were beginning to make the beds and clean the rooms of the early risers. Some people who came to stay were quite keen early joggers or wanted to bird watch. Both were blonde, Holly taller than Michelle but was a little bit plumper.

Supervising all three was Head housemaid Janet Nelson. Janet was in her mid thirties. Janet was tall, had jet-black hair and was average size; she had graduated college with Beth Severton. Janet lived in a small apartment in the north wing of the hotel, which she shared with Lisa Stockland, who was the assistant chef and friend of Julia Severton. You could say that all it the manor was a family run hotel, well family and friend run. Just about everyone except the chef and one or two others did not know the family before working at the hotel. Julia was in the kitchen preparing the morning menu. It was Thursday, which meant Belgian waffles, crepes, eggs, and bacon and of course a selection of cold cereals and fruit for those who wanted something light. Julia was in her middle thirties like Janet and had trained at the Chester school of culinary arts. Her auburn hair was in a bun, she was medium height and despite her love for food, she was not plump. Working with her in the kitchen was Jacque Philippe.

A top-rated sous-chef and a immigrant from Southern France, Jacque had been working at the hotel for just over 5 yrs. Since his arrival the cuisine served had gotten high praise. A medium sized man, in his mid forties, Jacque was fastidious and exact about all the dishes he prepared and supervised. Generally a even tempered man however, not your usual temperamental cook, but very careful to ensure best quality was served. No doubt the reason why the restaurant in the hotel was four stars. "Julia." Said Jacque. "Have you collected ze fresh fruit from ze gardener?" "Yes Jacque, I have, it's in the fridge cooling." "Bon." said Jacque as he prepared the mixture for the crepes. Julia started cooking the hard-boiled eggs. On different days eggs could be made to order but today was largely a buffet-style breakfast., Michael Severton in the back offices, looking over the accounts.

Michael was a tall, thin man, middle thirties with dark wavy hair. He wore glasses with metal frames. Looking over the accounts on the computer things looked fairly in good shape. The wages were being paid on time; the general utilities were paid promptly. Not to much expenditure on extras was being paid out.

However, looking over everything he from time to time kept seeing 200 pounds being paid out by someone to somewhere. There were something's he did not have record like his brother and his wife's expenses but that wasn't kept on his accounts but their own. No this was something in the hotel accounts. He decided to buzz his wife, Beth, head receptionist in. She may know of something not recorded but paid out regularly.

Pressing the small button on his desk, Michael said" Beth can you come in for a second." A few moments later Beth entered. Beth was short, with short blond hair, she was also 5 months pregnant, and this would be their second child. Lucy Severton 5yrs old went to the local primary school. "Luckily its quiet out at reception, what do you need." "Beth, can you take look at this?" Beth looked at the computer screen. "Yes, I see 200 pounds going out every so often, and?" "You don't know anything of it?"

"No darling I do not know. I could not tell you what it could be." "I see." "Is that all? I mustn't leave reception unguarded long, not till April comes to be there also."

"Yes, you can go, I'll see you at lunch, shall I?" "Yes, see you then."

Michael sat at his desk and thought for a while. Then he drew up all the list of people associated with the hotel. Then he thought of possible reasons this sum might be being paid out and who would have access to any of the hotel's money to pay out to someone.

"Ok let's start positive." On a piece of paper, he put down: Someone has a family member in need of the funds. Speaking out loud he thought "But then why didn't they come to me about it? "Michael thought further. Then he wrote Goods are costing more for things for the hotel. No, again Jacque or the gardeners would of said something to me. he thought. Ok time to think negatively then since the reasonable explanations do not seem to work. Some one is black mailing someone about something. If that is so, who is blackmailing who? Why are they blackmailing them?

Lastly, he thought someone has a addiction problem, gambling, drugs etc. "That sounds preposterous. I don't see anyone I employ with that problem." However, it could not be ruled out, someone very well could have a problem and could not bring themselves to tell their employer, him about it.

On his paper again Michael then wrote What to do about it?

A) Hold a staff meeting and address the issue. - Should do, yes. OK schedule with Beth a good time to have meeting.

B) Hire a private eye to investigate the matter. Michael thought about it and then thought. Yes I should, I have a hotel to run and I can't spend excess time looking into the matter myself. - Maxwell Jenson of Pearson Lane? I will arrange to see him this week.

1. Involve the police? The last thing I wish to do, but I will if things get worse.

With a plan of action in place, Michael locked the plan in his desk. After that, Michael went on a tour of the hotel, checking to see that all was in order, the menus had been typed and so forth. First, he started in the front parlor and made sure that the fire was lit. He also made sure that the most asked for papers were out, and in good order. The hotel usually had The Times, The Evening Standard and the local town paper, The Wilmslow Watcher.

Chapter 2

The next day, Michael was in his office at his desk, and he opened his BT phone directory and looked up Maxwell Jensen. He picked up the phone and dialed his number. After a couple of rings, Maxwell answered. "Maxwell Jensen speaking." Maxwell Jenson listened to Michael's problem about the funds. "I see, and you would like me to investigate it? "Ok then, come by my office so you can tell me more fully in detail." Then call ended.

Maxwell then turned to his filing cabinet and got out a new file and labeled it MICHAEL SEVERTON, Maxwell was a tall man, about 6 feet tall. He had dark wavy hair, slightly overweight. He hailed from Hereford but moved to Cheshire a few years ago in search of new clients. He had since moved here, had a few so the move seemed like it had been good idea. Now he had a new client with what seemed like a not too complex issue. It least on the surface it seemed simple. It was early days yet though. He would be meeting with Michael Severton tomorrow at 10 am, where he will find out who worked at the hotel, and when they worked so he could interview them.

Right now, he felt like going down to Janice's Caffor some steak and chips. And a cold can of Lilt. He put on his anorak and got in his in 2003 silver Audi. He drove down the street, turned right to Hastings Way. He parked and went into the caf Janice 's cafwas a cozy little establishment, with tables, which had checkered tablecloths and little flowers the tables.

The cuisine was not high class, but it was good home cooking. Shelia Jefferies usually served Maxwell. Shelia was in her mid thirties, a bit plump and had long red hair. "The usual today Max?" "Yes, please dear." Shelia then walked back to the kitchen to put the order in. Sheila came back came back a few mins. later, with his nice cold Lilt.

The 50's station was on, and Maxwell was humming to one of the tunes. About 10 minutes later, his meal came, and he tucked in.

Back at the hotel, the Holly and Michelle were dusting in the hall. "Hey Michelle." "Yeah?" "Are you going to go to the pictures this evening?" "No, I don't think I will, my Mum and Da's going out and needs me to watch my younger sisters." "That's a shame, "Wild Orchid is supposed to be pretty good." Michelle thought to herself that it probably would be, but she had promised Mum she would look after Josephine and Emily. They were old enough that they did not have to be watched every minute like when they were very small, however her Mum did want them to do certain things whilst she was gone. Tasks included doing their daily chore, practicing their musical instruments and their homework.

Michelle was there to oversee all of this and make sure that everything got done. They were told that if they did, they would be allowed an ice-lolly and could watch a video of their choice before bed. It seemed a good enough reward to work for. Soon 6pm came and Michelle Kimber went to her family's house to tend her sisters. Jennifer Kimber was a member of the Choral Chamber, which was a choral music group that met at St. Luke's Methodist church.

The church had stood in the town since 1200's and was of a Norman style. Father McCray was the choirmaster, as well as the vicar of the church. Father McCray was not a tall man, about 5"8. His black hair was receding, and he wore horn-rimmed glasses. He was very knowledgeable about scripture and music. He had studied Theology at King's College in Oxford. At 6:15pm everyone was arriving to the church for practice. "Everyone, to your sections, first and second soprano over on the right, alto middle, tenor and bass on the left." Said Father McCray. After taking a few minutes to get assembled, and folders of music passed out, choir practice began.

Meanwhile back at the hotel, Beth Severton was just about to leave for the night, when from one of the upper floors she heard a door slam. Perhaps one of the guests left a window open and their door ajar she thought. Probably nothing to worry about she reasoned and decided to think no more of its ns head home to the cottage. Brickmoore cottage was down a dirt lane, which was to the right of the hotel. It had a thatched roof; the stone was whitewashed on the outside. It dated about the Tutor period, but had been altered and upgraded in about the 1960's.

The black Daimler "Double Six "was parked in the drive. Neither Michael nor Beth used the car to go to work, the hotel being so close. They did use it for family outings and doing shopping in Churston or Hedgely and of course visiting either set of parents who liked in Northampton. Beth opened the oak door of the cottage. She found Michael sitting on the sofa in the sitting room, which the front door opened into. Michael looked up from his paper and said, "I have hired a private detective to help me with this matter we are dealing with." "Really? Who did you hire?" asked Beth "I have hired Max Jensen and he has agreed to the job. Its necessary Beth, I must know where that money is going before someone thinks I am making that money go out, and I am not going to have that happen." Beth sat down on the couch next to Michael. "I understand, it's important. I hope Max will figure it out." "Aye so do I," said Michael.

Meanwhile, a few streets away, on Candlewick Lane, was where George and Julia's home was located, it was called Juniper House. Unlike Michael and Beth's, it was not a thatched house, instead

it had a grey slate roof, and the main part of the home was red brick. Whilst George was the owner of the hotel, he also spent part of his time running The Treasure Trove, which was an antique shop. In the hotel, with Julia in the kitchen, Beth at reception, and Michael doing the accounts, and many other positions filled by capable people, George did not have a lot that he personally did for the hotel. His main job was to go to the shareholders meetings and take care of inventory such as replacement lamps when needed. His antique shop came in handy for that. Janet Nelson took care of ordering of the day-to-day things such as the uniforms going out to be washed, and toiletries. In the house, George and Julia were in the dining room having their tea. Julia was an excellent cook both for the hotel and at home.

Tonight, was lamb chops and mint sauce and roasted potatoes. "This is truly excellent my dear." Said George. George was at tall man, about six feet. He had black hair that was greying. He was wiry, when not taking care of business at either the hotel or the antique shop George loved to play racquetball at the local recreation center.

"Thank you my dear, I am glad you like it." Said Julia, who since coming home had taken her hair down out of its bun. He hair was a now shoulder length of a rich auburn color. "Anything new?" asked Julia. "I got this fantastic turn of the century mirror just in today." Said George. "I'll have to drop in and see it sometime said Julia who secretly wondered how much it cost. However, for the moment she would not say anything.

Julia and Michael finished their tea and then went to watch Heather Lane on the television. This was a long running drama show, which they liked. In the sitting room, George went to his favorite leather chair and Julia sat in her usual spot, on the settee, where her knitting was on the floor by the side.

Back across town, in his apartment Maxwell Jensen decided to phone Michael Severton before it got too late.

Chapter 3

The next morning the hotel was in a bit of a flurry. It was always busy, always things to do but today was slightly different. Maxwell Jensen had called Michael last night to ask if he could interview the staff.

"What do you think he will ask?" Holly asked Justine. Justine with a sense of humor and a bit of a tease sometimes," Oh I don't Holly, perhaps about who you were seen with when were going to the pictures." With a laugh she then turned to go down the hall. Justine caught up with her.

"How do you know I was not at the pictures?" "Oh, I know alright, my Mum is in the choir, and she saw you and some bloke walking down High St." Holly put down her duster and looked all flushed. "Shhh! Don't say it so loud! I don't want Janet to hear us." Justine went back to dusting the knick-knacks, which were by a large vase of flowers on the hall side table.

"Well. who is this bloke then?" said Justine as she continued to do her dusting. "Timothy McCray." Said Holly with a smile. "Aw get out! You serious?" "Yes, I am, and you better keep it quiet Justine. I don't want the whole hotel know'n. He is nice to me and he's quite intelligent too." "Really? Is he going to Uni then? "Yes, at Sit John Veanes College, he is studying law." "Sounds a bit boring to me." Said Justine, who wanted to study theatre when she had enough money saved up. The conversation then ended, and Holly went to go the vacuum to do the passageways and Justine went to join Michelle who had started on freshening up the rooms, changing the sheets and towels. The hotel was not as grand as some, but it did have two floors of rooms, the second floor with a small annex which were staff living quarters.

Then downstairs there was reception, dining room and bar, lounge, and snooker room. At the back there were the staff rooms such as laundry, Michaels and Georges offices, the kitchen, pantry, and utility rooms. Nigel Corbin was at the bar, drying the glasses which had just been washed.

Nigel was an older gentleman in his mid 40's who had black hair with silver running through it. He has a mustache, which he was quite proud of, and was allowed to have if he kept it trimmed and neat. He was a bit of a portly man, stocky, about 5'`9. James had observed that Nigel was not his usual calm, joking self. He was fidgeting and nearly dropped a glass he was drying. James wondered what it was which was making him so anxious. The private detective was just going as some routine questions. None of them has done anything wrong so what was the problem James wondered.

He decided that he would go ask Nigel when he saw no guests were around. For the meantime, he needed to attend to the roses outside. When he got outside, he went to the shed, which he kept his garden tools. James noticed something was different about the shed as he approached the door.

The lock had been forced. He knew Henry would not have forgotten his key and out of desperation forced the lock. James then opened the shed, to inspect it and see if anything was missing as he already had a feeling something was. It was not obvious right away, all the tools he needed to use on a regular basis were there, but he did notice that instead of 3 boxes of weed killer which he had just put on the shelf the other day, there were only 2. "What would someone need that for?"

James said to himself and checking the shed over carefully some more. "Looks like I will have something of my own to have this private detective ask people about." James then went and found Henry and told him what he discovered. Henry was surprised and assured him he didn't take the weed killer, which James believed of course. Henry was a trustworthy man, older, in his 60's a salt of the earth kind of man. He was a widower; he had lost his wife a few yrs. back to cancer. Being a gardener was not his first occupation; he has been a salesman in his younger yrs. When his wife Pearl died, he had come to Michael for a job and was hired. James decided his first duty was to tell Michael about what happened. He walked to the side entrance of the hotel, wiped his feet on the mat to not track in any dirt and then headed to Michael's office.

Chapter 4

James walked at a semi- quick pace to Michael's office. He noticed the door was shut but he could hear talking on the other side. "Must be that private detective whose going interview us." James's thought. He decided to wait till Michael was free or even better to mention it to Maxwell Jensen to give him some evidence of mischief which was going on in the hotel.

James could not help but wonder who was behind it. He decided to go weed some of the flower beds on the north lawn. Meanwhile, James's assumption was right. Maxwell was talking to Michael. Michael had shown him the accounts, which did indeed raise Max's eyebrows. Unaccounted money is never good for any business. They were just wrapping up their conversation. "Well Michael would this afternoon be a good time to begin interviewing the staff? "Yes, that would be fine. Can I ask that my wife be present when you interview our chef, Jacque? He's French and she speaks the language well. She can translate so that he can understand what is being asked. "Yes, that will be fine Michael." Maxwell did not understand any French, he never liked learning it in school and any he did, he had forgotten.

Michael then gave Maxwell a tour of the hotel, so he would understand where people worked, and the layout of it. Meanwhile, down the street in Toddington Lane at the Treasure Trove George was just getting a inventory in from abroad of antique glassware.

"Thank you, boys, just sit it carefully there." said George. The delivery men put down a large crate on the floor. George had been expecting these for some time. After the men left, George carefully took off the protective packing from outside the crate.

He then proceeded to open it. George smiled; these were exactly as he had seen in the auction catalog. Back at the hotel, it was getting close to lunchtime and Jacque, Julia and the rest of the kitchen staff were preparing the lunch menu. Mrs. Templeton who was a regular guest at the hotel had requested something light for lunch. A wonderful chef salad with fresh dressing was prepared for her as well as grilled monkfish. Mr. Larsen was diabetic and so sugar free dishes were prepared for him. One was a French chicken dish with country vegetables. Most of the guests needs were not specific and could have anything Jacque and Julia made, but Jacque was always aware of guest's dietary needs.

In his spare time, he often experimented with dishes for various needs such as those on the Keto diet, vegetarian or vegan, gluten free and other such dietary needs. He never wanted a guest to not have food which for their special needs or heaven forbid, go off looking for it in the town. He did not only make French food loved to try out different cultural dishes as well. If you asked him, he would always say that French food was superior, however.

Michael had finished showing Maxwell around the hotel. Max was now familiar with everyone's place of work, who of the staff lived at the hotel and who did not, Maxwell had wanted to use the dining room for the interviews but since it was lunchtime, he asked if one of the smaller offices would do and Michael agreed.

Maxwell decided to start with the house maids. Justine. Holly. Michelle and then Jane Wilson. He asked them if they were aware of anything which was usual going on in the hotel. The girls hadn't noticed anything recently, far too much to do with cleaning the guest's rooms, stairwells, and common areas such as reception and dining area. Max thanked them and told them to let him know should see or hear anything strange or unusual occur. Then he interviewed Nigel and his assistant Lucas Marchant. Nigel seemed uneasy. Was he just an anxious person Maxwell wondered or was something bothering him? Maxwell decided to ask Lucas when he interviewed him. "No, I dunno what's gotten into him lately. He's normally very easy going and cracks jokes all the time." Said Lucas when he was asked. Lucas was in his mid 20's and had just finished college at Leeds University. Working at the hotel was a way for him to save up money so he could travel the world and maybe find himself a girlfriend.

He didn't fancy any of the girls who worked for the hotel. He was friendly and got on with them well, but none were what he was looking for. He wasn't sure what he was looking for exactly, settling down wasn't in his plans just yet. Next to be interviewed was James. James told him about the shed. Maxwell was intrigued. He had James show him it. "There is no way gov' I would force this open or Henry. Look at this also," James pointed at the missing weed killer container." There should be 3 in our supply and me and Henry 'avent used up one yet to make it so we only had two." "Are you and Henry the only ones who need to use it?" "Aye sir, no one else needs to, their jobs don't require it." Said James. Max looked at the other two in the shed, they were full, and were 3 gallons each. "Have you told the management yet?"" No sir, I haven't had the chance yet with you being at the hotel interviewing us and the like." Said James.