The Mysterious Affair at Gremble Arms

      Luring every living body in the hotel, staff and guests alike (even a subdued Dalton, who hadn’t said much of anything at all since the inglorious conclusion of his mirror-smashing rampage) into the ballroom with the promise of a conclusion to the night’s mysteries, Tyra started by redistributing the guests’ trinkets. The unclaimed majority of the loot would go to The Gremble Arms lost-and-found box, according to Minerva, who also pledged to look into hiring a security guard of some description for said box while she worked to locate as many of the original owners as possible. Then, after herding them all into the lounge—an arrangement which now strained the definition of the word ‘cozy’—Tyra at last took her position in front of the fireplace to address them all.

      “I know everyone must have a lot of unanswered questions about the events of this evening,” the Aisha said. “Luckily, I’m here to answer them all.”

      The story she told was close enough to the truth as Kiyoshi knew it that he found himself a little surprised at how much his friend had managed to piece together without him. The history of the hotel itself, Cecilia and her fight with Burke, the fire, Cecilia’s rebirth as a ghost… and yet, conspicuously missing from her tale thus far was any mention of who or what had actually been responsible for the mysterious thefts.

      The crowd was clearly growing impatient.

      “Okay, so if what you’re sayin’ is true, this poor Cecilia gal really has just been trapped in the mirrors this whole time, which. Well, which is just a genuine tragedy, really,” said Baxter, and a few other heads nodded. “But we already know it couldn’t have been her who was the real culprit. At least not tonight, right? Our own Mr. Oritz proved that pretty conclusively when he smashed all the mirrors, and Blom still got his fancy backup watch snatched.”

      “Well… everything was returned, and I suppose that’s what matters,” said Mr. Blom tersely, with a glance towards the gloomy Island Shoyru lurking in the shadows.

      “A fact that’s also confoundin’ me some,” Baxter pressed. “How’d Kiyoshi—no offence, Kiyoshi—end up in the bathroom with all the loot, unless he actually had something to do with it after all?”

      Kiyoshi was happy to let Tyra speak for him—as the detective, he supposed it was her duty. “I think Cecilia got it all back for everyone,” she said, coming to stand in front of the Shoyru. “She just trusted Kiyoshi to make the delivery.”

      He thought that her explanation might be omitting a detail or two, but she seemed to be going somewhere with it. He nodded in confirmation.

      Tyra resumed her pacing. “All it took was a little kindness. If Mr. Burke had shown Cecilia even a hint of that kindness forty years ago, it’s likely none of this would ever have happened.”

      She let that sobering realisation settle over the packed lounge, and the next person to speak up was an unusually contemplative Mr. Blom. “I wonder… if the girl’s spirit lingered on in such a way, is it possible that after Burke’s own mortal life had come to a close, a more… malevolent spirit might have moved into the hotel as well?”

      Tyra slowed to a halt. “Now that’s an interesting question,” she mused, drawing murmurs from the crowd. “One that I’m afraid I’m nowhere near qualified to answer. Isn’t it fortunate, then, that we happen to have an expert on the paranormal right here for us to consult?”

      She turned back to Kiyoshi. “What do you think, Mr. Paco? Is it possible for the cruelty of the past to persist through the generations in such a way? Could that evil manifest as a tangible force in the present, an unseen spectre that might even be the direct cause of strife and misfortune the likes of which we witnessed tonight? Has Gremble Arms, in fact, been haunted by not one, but two ghosts this whole time?”

      Kiyoshi was well-aware of everyone’s eyes on him, but this time, he found it didn’t make him nervous at all. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind.

      “Yes,” he said.

      Tyra inclined her head towards the gathered crowd. “Well, there you have it.”

      “Wait!” blurted Mr. Blom. “What’s to be done about them, then? The ghosts?”

      “I’ll handle it,” said Kiyoshi immediately, but Minerva put her hand on his shoulder.

      “We’ll handle it together,” she said to all gathered. “The way we should have handled it in the beginning. Sabina, I believe you, and I will need to make a house call… first thing in the morning would be best.”

      Sabina, who had been standing nearby and unconsciously fiddling with the silver moonstone ring on her finger, looked exhausted but determined as she gave a nod in reply.

      Tyra stood pensively in front of the fireplace, illuminated in a halo of flickering light, looking to Kiyoshi very much like she had just walked off the cover of some dog-eared old novel. “Case closed,” she said with an air of finality.

      “Please tell me that means we can finally go up to our rooms,” begged Jeri, and a number of other guests were only too happy to add their own pitiable pleas to the mix. “I’m gonna sleep like the dead tonight.”

      “Not so fast,” said a voice from the doorway, and all turned to see Jake standing there, holding a broom at arm’s length. “I hope you weren’t all thinking of leaving this for the staff to clean up.” He quirked an eyebrow. “Honestly, who raised you?”

      Painstakingly rehabilitating the ballroom from its drafty state of ruin took everyone present most of the remaining night. It was hard, unpleasant work, but no one said a word of complaint about it—each and every worn-out pet rolling up their sleeves, hiking up their skirts, and silently chipping in with the cleanup until the dance floor was spotless and the sky was beginning to lighten, a fact that was impossible to ignore thanks to the missing windows. And yet, the creeping light found no reflective surfaces in the ballroom, making the space seem infinitely smaller than it had at the start of the evening.

      “I know what you said to Mr. Oritz earlier, Mrs. Moss,” said Jake over his shoulder as he and Kiyoshi worked to seal the windows off with thick butcher’s paper as a temporary buffer against the elements, “but I’d like you to know that the Guild of Explorers will be reimbursing you for all damages as soon as I can get the treasurer to sign off on it. Including the cost of new stained glass windows. Or repairing what we were able to keep of the old ones, if you prefer.”

      “I suppose I would prefer that,” said Minerva, handing them a new square of paper. “Although I will admit, that sort of restorative work is quite costly.”

      “I’ll pay for it,” said Dalton, who had been sweeping nearby, before Jake could so much as open his mouth. The Island Shoyru held Jake’s gaze, perfectly level—almost challenging. “I’ll pay for all of it, Jake.” Without another word, he resumed his sweeping.

      It wasn’t much longer until Jake and Minerva deemed the condition of the ballroom respectable enough to call an end to the night’s cleaning efforts. As the guests dispersed to their rooms—a few who had not originally planned on staying at the hotel hastily making arrangements to do so now, too tired to care about the possibility of a ghost or two still lurking around the premises—Tyra and Kiyoshi said their goodbyes to Jeri and Aidne, then made their own way out onto the veranda. Enjoying the crisp, dawn air, the two pets took a seat on one of the benches together and gratefully stretched out their legs.

      “I was hoping more of the snow would have stayed on the ground,” Tyra sighed, looking out over the valley as it slowly became visible through the gloom. “I think it would have been nice, you know? Kind of symbolic. A fresh start.”

      “You probably wouldn’t appreciate the metaphor as much if we had to walk back to Neopia Central through it,” said Kiyoshi, and Tyra tipped her head in acknowledgement.

      “I guess I’m just thinking about how people can always surprise me,” she said. “Did you know a few minutes ago Dalton offered to cover the funding of my communicators in full?”

      Kiyoshi sat up straight. “Wait, what? After all that? I mean, we can’t rule out that he still has some kind of ulterior motive, but okay, no, this is good, we can deal with that later if—“

      “I turned him down,” said Tyra. “I said I didn’t want it.”

      Kiyoshi stared at her, gaping wordlessly like a fish until he could find his voice again. “Wh—but—the money! Tyra! This is what you came here for—what you’ve been working for all along! You heard what he said; you have to use all the resources you can get your hands on!”

      “Yeah, but he’s the one who said it,” said Tyra testily. “I don’t want his neopoints. I’ll figure out a different way.”

      As Kiyoshi reluctantly settled back on the bench, still deeply disquieted by this turn of events, Tyra let out an annoyed breath. “He really threw me off,” she grumbled, kicking at the deck. “I hate when people do that. Even when I’m sure I’ve got them figured out. Guess it’s the one mystery I can’t solve.”

      “You solved more than enough tonight already,” Kiyoshi said, forcing a small smile.

      “I made a pretty terrible lone detective,” Tyra said. “I would’ve been lost without Minerva filling me in on everything while you were getting thrown around outside. But I guess even that was you solving some of those mysteries in your own way, right? Maybe teamwork is the real moral of the story here.”

      “Does it need a moral?”

      “I don’t know. Maybe. I haven’t decided yet.”

      Kiyoshi recognised the looming onset of one of Tyra’s metaphysical moods. “I can’t help but feel like you’re playing a little fast and loose with the facts in your version of the story.”

      “History is written by the ones who get pens shoved into their hands,” Tyra said bluntly. “Dalton put me in charge of the narrative, so I think it’s my right to arrange the facts how I want. And I like to think that my version of events is truthful, if not 100% factual. I hope you find it an improvement on Cherry’s ghost story, anyway.”

      “I guess I’ll have to wait and see how it ends.”

      They enjoyed a peaceful silence for a few minutes, while Kiyoshi’s mind mulled over the events of the night. Eventually, he said, ”I still can’t believe Cecilia was able to take Blom’s watch. The second one. I really thought Dalton smashed everything in the room that could hold a reflection.”

      “He did,” said Tyra vaguely. She held up a smooth pebble, and Kiyoshi blinked at it for a moment before recognising it as one of his slingshot stones. “But that doesn’t offer much protection from a good old-fashioned flesh-and-blood pickpocket.” She smirked, returning the stone to his jacket pocket with a pat.

      Taken aback by his friend’s audacity, Kiyoshi couldn’t help but laugh. “So that’s why you were so pushy about helping me get all the jewellery back into the right hands.”

      “Hey, it’s a lot harder to put something back than it is to take it in the first place,” Tyra said with mock indignation. “Reverse-pickpocketing is an advanced form!”

      “You make a pretty good thief.”

      Tyra sighed, growing melancholy as she leaned back to watch the fading stars. “I do, don’t I?”

      Kiyoshi didn’t know what to say to that, but just then he happened to spot movement in the valley below—three small shapes coming up the road from the village. “That must be them.”

      “Minerva and Sabina are back?”

      “Yeah. I’d better go find Cecilia. I’ll see you later.”

      “Sure,” said Tyra, leaning back and picking at her nail. “I’ll be here.”

      “The guests have all gone to their rooms,” Minerva said in a soft voice, allowing the old spotted Mynci to lean on her arm as they took the shabby stairs up to the kitchen entrance one at a time, closely followed by Sabina. “And the other staff have turned in for the night too. We’ve all had a chance to say our own farewells.” Her smile was kind but tense with emotion as she faced the Mynci inside. “It’s just you left now, Mabel dear.”

      “I can’t believe it,” Mabel said, her voice trembling as she looked around the kitchen. “I still can’t believe it. That… that after all these years, that she could really be….” She faltered as her eyes settled on Kiyoshi, who gave a small, awkward wave from the door to the hallway.

      “That’s Mr. Paco,” Minerva said gently. “The one I was telling you about.”

      “I know who he is,” said Mabel with a note of exasperation. “It wasn’t half an hour ago you told me about him, Minnie—my mind isn’t that far gone yet. As for you, young man: stay right there.”

      Kiyoshi waited in the doorway obediently, if a little nervously, as she trundled up to him. With her slightly stooped posture, she was shorter than he was, but there was real strength in the bony arms she wrapped around him, squeezing hard enough he worried one of them would break something.

      “What a nosy little troublemaker you are, eh? No wonder Ceci likes you.”

      “She’s in the hallway,” Kiyoshi said, relieved to see the Mynci smiling. “Are you ready to see her?”

      Mabel's smile faded as she drew back from Kiyoshi, her eyes flicking towards the hallway. “No,” she whispered. “I’m very frightened.”

      Kiyoshi was a little perplexed. “Of what?”

      “Of what she must think of me,” Mabel replied, wringing her knobbly hands. “It’s been so many years…”

      “Oh Mabel, I’m so sorry,” Minerva said, plaintively. “All these years I’ve spent living in this old place, knowing the whole time that she… that she was still here, in a way….” The Draik looked miserable. “I kept her a secret from you, because I was afraid of upsetting you. But if I had known, if it had ever occurred to me what she might have been searching for—“

      “It’s alright,” Sabina said. “She heard enough of the stories from me. And we couldn’t figure it out either, not until tonight. We’re lucky to have a chance to make it up to Cecilia now.” She laid an encouraging hand on the Mynci’s arm. “C’mon, Grammy.”

      “Yes,” Mabel said, allowing the Poogle to guide her forward. “Yes, you’re right…”

      They parted ways with Minerva so that she could take her own well-deserved rest, the remainder of the group moving tentatively into the hallway. Countless faces in the old photos gazed back at them as they walked past, and it wasn’t long before a distant, wistful look settled over Mabel’s features, the Mynci quickly losing herself in the memories on display around her. But when they reached the ornate mirror that hung outside the lavatories, Mabel stopped in her tracks.

      “Oh,” she gasped, wrinkled hands flying to her mouth.

      Cecilia, her own appearance perfectly preserved through the ages, was looking out at them from the mirror with an unreadable expression, lightly fidgeting with her apron strap.

      “Oh, it’s really you…” Mabel croaked, moving closer. “You’ve been here the whole time…” And she burst into tears. Sabina rushed to her side, murmuring reassurances to the old Mynci.

      “Mabel,” Cecilia said, holding the name carefully on her tongue, as if it might break. She hesitated. “You made it out of the fire.”

      Mabel looked up at her, then started crying even harder. “Ceci… oh, Ceci…”

      Cecilia tilted her head as she watched the Poogle comfort Mabel on this side of the mirror. “…You two know each other.”

      Mabel managed to swallow her tears for a moment, long enough to choke out, “She’s my granddaughter. Sabina.”

      Cecilia paused for a moment, thinking. Then she smiled. “She’s beautiful. And she must be kind. I’m glad.”

      “Ceci…” Mabel moaned. “I’m so, so sorry. I couldn’t come back after the fire. But even from my tailor shop I… I heard the rumours about the new hotel, from strangers and acquaintances and then eventually even from Sabina. I never believed the stories they were telling about you, the stories that ghastly Mr. Burke spent the rest of his wretched life peddling—but I suppose I was just afraid that any part of them might be true.” Mabel shook her head with a sob. “They worked you to the bone in life… and for you to be denied even a small scrap of rest or dignity in death just seemed too cruel, far too cruel….”

      “But….then, you…” Cecilia turned back to Sabina. “You decided to work here, even though you knew.”

      “I wanted to meet you,” Sabina mumbled, looking away. “I wanted to get to know this incredible person who had been so important to my grandmother. And I did get to know you. But I was worried you had changed.”

      “I did change,” Cecilia said. She hesitated. “I hurt a lot of people.”

      “No,” Mabel whispered, “no, we hurt you.”

      Kiyoshi and Sabina exchanged a glance, wordlessly reaching the consensus that their continued presence in this conversation might no longer be considered necessary or polite. But before they could leave, Cecilia called out.

      “Sabina. Wait. Please… I want you to be here for her. For when I…” The Pteri cleared her throat in an unconvincing display of composure. “For whatever happens after this.”

      Sabina nodded, but looked a little rattled as she turned back to Kiyoshi. “Listen,” she said in a breathless voice, low enough that only he could hear. “I’m feeling way out of my depth here. You’re some kind of ghost expert, right? Can you hang around too, in case something goes wrong? For… well, for me? I know you don’t know me.”

      Kiyoshi gave her a crooked half-smile. “I know enough.”

      She returned the smile weakly and headed back to Mabel’s side while Kiyoshi retreated to what he hoped was a respectful distance.

      Cecilia nodded in approval. “You must be very proud of her,” she said to Mabel.

      The Mynci was doing her best to dry her eyes, but the tears continued to come at a stubborn trickle. “She made a wonderful tailor’s assistant, back when she was still small, and I was still working.”

      “Did she enjoy modelling all your dresses?”

      “She didn’t,” Sabina said tersely, and both Mabel and Cecilia laughed.

      “Good,” Cecilia said, a smile lingering on her face. “That’s perfect for you. For both of you.”

      “Oh!” Mabel straightened with a last sniffle. “I almost forgot! I’m told you’ve been looking for something. I think I know what it was.”

      Cecilia stopped moving in the frame. After a moment, she said cautiously, “…You do?”

      “Yes,” the Mynci said, reaching into the pocket of her dress. She held up a silver ring, set with a single gleaming moonstone—Sabina’s ring, the very ring that Cecilia had stolen and returned earlier that evening. “This is a very old ring, Ceci. They found it in the ashes while they were collecting glass for the new Gremble Arms. No one claimed to recognise it, but there was a name engraved inside.”

      Still frozen in place, Cecilia asked in a whisper, “There is?”

      “Yes,” said Mabel gently. “My name.” She smiled, holding the ring between herself and the mirror and turning it to show the Pteri. “Along with a very sweet inscription. I think you might have intended to give it to me. You know what giving someone a ring like this means, don’t you?”

      “No,” said Cecilia quickly, blushing through her feathers. Then her haughty expression broke down. “Unless, uh. Do you. Know what it means?”

      “Of course I do,” said Mabel. “But you never would have needed a ring for me to know it.”

      “…Oh.” Cecilia’s expression was blank, like she was still trying to decide how she should feel about this.

      “Ceci, I…”

      “I love you,” said Cecilia abruptly.

      Mabel paused, then smiled, the smile going so far as to crinkle her eyes nearly all the way shut. “I know. Oh, Ceci. I’ve always known. How could I not have? Even when you weren’t… even when I thought you weren’t here, your memory warmed the many long years I spent in Neovia without you. Your love has been the great constant in my life. And you should know: I have always loved you back, just as hard.”

      “I know,” Cecilia said softly. “Yes, I know.” Kiyoshi realised with a start that she wasn’t just speaking quietly—her voice was growing fainter, as if the distance between her and the other pets was growing. In the mirror, the Pteri’s form had begun to wear thin along the edges, turning a ghostly blue-green. She put her wings against the mirror from her side. “Mabel.”

      “Yes?” Mabel said, lurching towards the mirror. She placed her own hands over those of the Pteri. “Yes, Ceci?”

      Cecilia smiled. “My dear Mabel… what a life you’ve lived.” She brushed a translucent, feathery finger against the place where the Mynci’s forehead was pressed against the glass, and when Mabel closed her eyes in contentment the boundary between the two sides of the mirror was so thin it might as well have been non-existent.

      “I’m so, so happy for you.”

      And with that she was gone.

      The three neopets on this side of the mirror were still for a handful of seconds. Then Mabel turned away from the mirror with a sigh, leaning heavily against the wall next to it. The motion seemed to break Sabina out of her own trance, sending her scurrying back to the Mynci’s side. “Grammy! Are you alright? I’m so sorry, that was… that must have been….”

      “Oh, my dear, sweet girl,” Mabel laughed softly, welcoming the Poogle in for a hug. “There is nothing to apologize for. I am the luckiest lady who has ever lived.”

      Guessing that the two were more than capable of taking care of each other from this point on, Kiyoshi decided to slip away while he had the chance. He was feeling light-headed from the lack of sleep and, well… everything else the night had thrown at him. It would still be a few hours before he and Tyra made camp but he allowed himself a yawn as he crossed the empty kitchen, silently thanking the house once again for the secret passageway that would take him directly out to the veranda without any risk of having to talk to another person. All in all, not the worst home someone could have.

      “Sooo… have ya finished thinking about it yet?” Cherry asked, hopping up to perch on the balustrade across from Tyra.

      Tyra put her fingernail between her teeth. “I’ve thought about it.”

      “And?”

      Tyra hummed. “It’s a fair offer. But like you said earlier, it’s not without risk, either.”

      “Doncha worry about that. I’m a pro pilot, remember? And I’m not bad with a blaster either.” The Cybunny made a two-handed finger-gun, flicking it in Tyra’s direction. “Kablow.”

      “Those aren’t the risks I’m worried about.” Tyra’s brow furrowed. “I have to consider how this would affect other people. It’s a little deceptive.”

      “You worried Ghost Boy’s gonna get spooked about where your funding’s coming from?” Cherry shrugged. “Just tell him the Guild of Explorers is sponsoring you. That’s not too far off from the truth.”

      “It’s far enough.”

      “But on the other paw,” Cherry said, “it doesn’t really matter what he thinks, does it? This is your choice to make. Your life, your work. You should do whatever you want forever.”

      Tyra leaned back against the wall of the hotel, still shaded from the rising sun. “I guess you’re right.”

      “Hey, I know I’m right,” said the Cybunny, swinging her feet so that the layers of her skirts flapped playfully beneath her in the breeze. “Sometimes you just gotta buckle in and not look back until you’ve gathered some real speed. Everybody else can catch up to you while you’re sipping cold drinks at the finish line.”

      When Tyra didn’t say anything for a while, Cherry prompted, “Sooo… let’s go back to talking about your other friend, then.”

      “Yeah.”

      “You gonna call him?”

      “I can’t.” Tyra shook her head. “I don’t have my comm.”

      “Not here,” Cherry said patiently. “But when you get back to Neopia Central. It doesn’t have to be today, but do it soon. That’s what we agreed, right?”

      The Aisha hesitated. “Right….”

      Cherry slid down from the rail. “Hey. I don’t want you to feel like I’m strong-arming you into anything here, Tyra. Don’t get me wrong, I’m interested to see where this partnership of ours might go, but at the end of the day I can take it or leave it. No hard feelings either way. This decision is all yours, got it?”

      Tyra mulled it over for another few moments. Then, slowly, she nodded.

      “You still with me, Tyra?” Cherry held out a hand. “We got a deal or what?”

      Tyra looked up at the Cybunny. “Yeah,” she said, grasping Cherry’s paw and giving it a firm shake. “Deal.”

     The End.

     Author’s note: I’d like to express my gratitude to the following users for me to borrow some very special guests for the Guild of Explorers’ Annual Gala: silver_mirage (Arabate the faerie Kougra and Ganglas the Royal Lupe); june_scarlet (Wanmei the striped Meerca), silykakes (Baxter_Buddy_Rohac the spotted Gelert), and betazoid_telepath (Aidne_Lilith the red Zafara). Please also join me in one last round of applause for betazoid_telepath, my dauntless beta-reader and co-conspirator. Thank you all; this night couldn’t have come together without you.