With the help of the day staff, they found Anna Melnyk in a bathroom in a tower on the Southwest corner of the castle. 

Sun shown through a stained glass window, illuminating a dazzlingly colorful reproduction of Venus and Nymphs Bathing. The setting suited the stunning beauty. Sitting on the tile floor in blue overalls, her dark curls held away from her face with a red bandanna, she brought to mind the pin up girls from World War II. Her full, painted lips twisted into an expression of frustration. She propped her arm on her knee, letting the heavy wrench in her hand dangle from manicured fingers. Black grease streaked the red polish on her nails. At some point she'd smudged a line of it across one cheek as well.

Eleanor could not imagine a young lady better suited for the handsome gardener. Of course, she was basing that on looks alone. A shaky foundation for lasting love, to say the least.

"I don't suppose eizer of you knows anyzing about fixing toilets plugged into pipes built by zee Roman invaders?" the girl asked.

Eleanor held out her hands. "I'm as helpless as a child."

She looked at Lydia.

Lydia gestured to the laptop. "I'm a computer nerd."

She sighed. "Zen I might be stuck in zis vater closet until I die, because nozing I am doing is working as it should."

"That makes me the bearer of good news, then," Eleanor told her. "I've been retained by Lord Novak to look into the matter of General Gruber's ghost, and I have a few questions for you." She cocked her head. "Old lady that I am, I'd be ever so much more comfortable if you'd be willing to speak with me somewhere where we can sit and relax a bit. So, see? I've come to rescue you."

Anna dropped the wrench into a large metal toolbox with a clatter. "Sank zee Good Lord above. I know just zee place." She stood and stretched with the languid grace of a jungle cat. "Come."

While they walked single-file up a long, gently sloping ramp, Eleanor asked the girl about her accent. "I've met a lot of people here, including a few from other parts of the world, but none of them have a charming accent that matches yours."

Anna spun to face them without breaking stride. She walked uphill backward as gracefully as she did forward. "I don't know if I call charming. It is zee accent of country girl. All zee others go to city schools--zee schools built long ago by zee British. I grow up in zee mountains where my fazer teach me what he believes I need to know. Zee result?" She motioned to herself. "A funny voice and a job fixing zee toilets in a castle."

"You don't like working here?" Eleanor asked.

"I like it very much. Working in zee mines? Being married to mountain farmer with no teeth?" She waved her hands in front of her. "No sank you. Zat is not a life for me. Zis is good job and I do good work." She shrugged. "Usually I do. Today? Not so much. Today I curse the ancient plumbing. Maybe Zeus blow it up with lightening and we get new pipes." 

The top of the ramp widened and flattened out until they found themselves in an enormous circular room full of musical instruments and groupings of luxuriant overstuffed chairs. A grand piano on a round stage-like platform dominated the center of the space. Every few feet a tall window topped by a pointed arch offered up a staggering view over the kingdom. An angel, saint, or gargoyle carved of stone guarded the apex of each window. The painting on the domed ceiling rivaled anything Michael Angelo ever created. Colors as vivid as a rainbow depicted men and women frolicking in rivers, fighting, making love, and feasting. Eleanor recognized scenes from the Bible, Greek mythology, and Egyptian lore. She also recognized the tell-tale glint of light reflecting off a tiny camera lens above one window and wondered where the other might be.

She pressed her hands to her breast and gazed about in wide-eyed wonder. "I've never seen this room. It's absolutely breathtaking!"

Anna slipped her hands into the pockets of her overalls. "It is my favorite room in zee whole castle. In zee whole world. I vud live in zis room all zee time if I could do it. I am amazed zat no one else is ever in here. I don't even sink most of zee staff knows it is here. If zee royals know, zey never come in."

Eleanor circled the space and brushed her fingers against the cool brass of the horns and the smooth finish of a dozen woodwind instruments. Stringed instruments familiar to her and several she had no names for stood propped on stands. One entire portion of the room had been dedicated to drums of every sort. "Someone knows. This is the collection of a person with a deep passion."

"It was zee king's nephew." She gazed out the nearest window. "He is not spoken of often. Zee king, he does not like to remember."

A heavy mantle settled upon Eleanor's slim shoulders. "Nor do any of us. Gruber may be dead and perhaps his ghost is a hoax, but evil like that leaves a mark on the world that echoes through the generations." She stiffened her spine. "That is why we cannot allow whatever is happening to continue. We must solve this case, and quickly." 

A flash of unspoken fear blasted through her heart. She had more than one reason for wanting to wrap this up and return to the sanctuary of her own home. One could only imagine what would happen if the press were to get wind that Eleanor Albright was back at it and investigating anything that had to do with General Gruber of all people. She shuddered at the thought of having microphones shoved in her face again. The last time may have been three years ago, but it may as well have been yesterday. She could happily live out the rest of her days without ever experiencing that again.

The three of them sat in the enormous chairs. Lydia pulled her feet up under herself like a schoolgirl. Anna crossed her long legs at the knee, making her heavy workboots appear as glamorous as a pair of open-toe stilettos. Eleanor sank in and kept her feet on the floor, certain she'd never manage to get herself out of the soft, low seat without help. She asked the girl's opinion regarding the mystery.

"Vell, I have not seen zis ghost myself, but Sasha tell me he is horrible. Like blue fire and smelling of death. Sasha is brave man, but his hands--zey shook like an old man after he see zee monster." She held out her hands and demonstrated.

"Did he really say it smelled like death?" Eleanor asked.

Anna wrinkled her adorable little nose. "He said it smell like rot. Sasha voud know. He has to turn zee nasty reindeer dropping into compost for his gardens. Is awful. And twice he is digging with his tractor and hit zee sewage lines. No one keep track of where zey run under zee ground. Zey break open and... rot." She stuck her tongue out at the thought.

"Hmm," said Eleanor. "Do you believe it was a ghost?"

Anna tapped her fingertips against her chin. "I believe is possible. Zis world, it is full of strange things, yes? In zee mountain villages we see things zee city people do not have eyes to see."

"Still, I sense you are skeptical," Eleanor said.

The girl folded her hands in her lap. "Possible does not mean likely."

"So what is likely?"

"Is likely some mean person has reason for wanting to scare zee people in zis castle."

"Any idea what that reason might be?"

"I guess he is trying to scare someone into telling where zee treasure is hidden."

Eleanor nodded. "It does seem that way, but I wonder. I mean, if such a thing as the legendary castle treasure of Novak Manor even exists, why would the castle staff know the location?"

The girl gave a knowing smile. "Whoever it eez, he is smart. No one knows more about a castle like zis zan zee people who spend their days keeping it running. You crawl behind a dusty bookshelf to fix a wire and find zee secret wall, yes? You take a wrong turn in zee basement and stumble into a crypt. Zee servants always know more zan zee masters about what is happening inside zeese valls."

An indisputable point, Eleanor thought. Servants and children--two groups of people no one really listens to. The girl really was as smart as her handsome beau had boasted. "Tell me this, Miss Melnyk. If you were the one asking the questions, what would you ask?"

She didn't hesitate. "I vud not ask if people are believing zee ghost is real. I vud ask who vud benefit from finding zee so-called treasure. Is not really treasure, eh? Is horrible. Vud likely mean zis place--zee castle, even zee mountains around zee castle, could crumble to dust, yes? Who vud vant such a zing?"

Eleanor thanked the girl for her time and insight and they all headed back down the ramp. At the bathroom where she'd been working, they said goodbye, but then Eleanor turned to face her once more. "One more question, dear, if you don't mind. I'm just curious. The night of the first sighting, Mrs. Stojanovski said she was coming to your apartment for medicine."

Anna agreed that was the case.

"Is that something that happens often?" Eleanor asked.

"Sometimes. Mrs. Stojanovski has zee bad stomach. She is using lots of medicine to keep it calm, you know? She runs out sometimes. Ve all keep some around, just in case."

"That's very kind of everyone," Eleanor said.

The girl laughed. "Truth? Is not kindness. Is self-preservation. She make zee wind, you know?"

"Ah. I see," Eleanor said.