They gathered at the Lockwood library, drew the curtains, moved the furnitures and made the room as dim and spacious as possible.

Anthony Lockwood hated the idea but he just couldn't say no, she has a hold on him. Valerie sat on a mahogany chair, her fingers arranging her dark hair. "You absolutely sure?" He asked her again.

"Yes. Yes I am." She exhaled. "Don't worry about me." He'd asked her the very same question for about a dozen time in the last ten minutes.

If only she knew. "If Annabel takes any liberties, we're right here, okay?" He pressed the ring on her soft palm, "please, please be careful Val."

His steps were heavy as he moved towards George, who was eagerly ready with a notepad and a pen. The boy eyes were wide behind his glasses, like he was about to witness a miracle of some sort. But if this goes through, they were. That didn't ease the unrest in Anthony's mind.

Valerie gazed at the boys for some seconds George was observing her like a hawk, the tip of his pen pressed on the notepad. Anthony brows were furrowed, there was an unease in his eyes. She slowly closed her eyes gripping the ring, "it's okay Annabel." She whispered to the ghost of Annabel Ward, "it's safe."

For a moment there was nothing and then—she could hear a soft music playing in the background. She saw the lovely Annabel Ward alive and smiling wearing a yellow dress. "There's a song playing in the room. Annabel loves it." She let out a soft chuckle, "it's their song."

🎶 Well I know a place where love comes easy
And I know a woman who meets me there
She takes my hand, and gently leads me
And we go up to the ro-oo-om at the top of the stairs. 🎶
The room at the top of the stairs by Eddie Rabbit.

"Who's they?" George asked curiously but Anthony shushed him. Valerie was beaming, he has never seen her so happy before. It was like, she was reliving the moment herself.

"She's so happy." Valerie smiled as she saw Annabel dancing to the music, a man in navy sat on the couch his back to Valerie. "She loves him. She's dancing to the song. He's watching her." The girl slowly stood up and walked towards Anthony. "He wants her, but it's just...uh..." she gasped.

"What is it?" Anthony asked concerned.

"He's angry," Valerie's crimson eyes met his dark eyes, "jealous! She's afraid." Then she starts to laugh, "it's alright..." she pulls Anthony close, "he loves me." She was in a trance. "You love me, don't you?"

The boy was unable to speak was Annabel controlling Valerie? Now they were touching, they'd never been this close before yet so far. "You gave me the ring. He'd never hurt me. He'd never..." her angelic eyes began to tear up.

No this can't be happing, Valerie can't be crying over a dead woman. It took something in him to break eye contact. "We need to stop this, now."

She cupped his face. "Look at me. Look at me. Look."  His cheeks were cupped between her palms, the boy froze.

"Let's see what happens." George said from behind, unable to tear his eyes away from Valerie who had totally connected with a ghost from 40 years ago. They were making history here.

"No. Stop. Stop. Stop, please! Ow! You're hurting me! Don't." Valerie backed away from Anthony. If she hadn't, he'd still be frozen under her touch. He snapped out of it, this wasn't Valerie, the ghost of Annabel Ward had taken control of the girl. "Val! Val!" He moved forward and shook her.

She was chocking now, gasping for air. "I can't breathe. Let go of me!"

"Val! Stop it." Anthony panicked as the girl struggled, he could see it in her eyes. He wanted to punch himself at that moment for agreeing to this nonsense. Now, Valerie is in trouble because of him. In an instant something clicked in him, Annabel was in control so he commanded. "Annabel let her go!"

George bolted towards the curtains, the bright light of the sun filled up the room as the ghost of Annabel Ward left Valerie's body screeching. The petite girl collapsed on Anthony's arms.

She gained consciousness under a minute, they gathered at the kitchen. George was scribbling on his notepad, Anthony's eyes were fixed on Valerie who was munching on another cookie. The first night at the house, she'd eaten all the peanut butter cookies that George had baked. The boy was fuming because she hadn't left even a single piece for him or Anthony, but she'd mentioned that she'd loitered around the city two days without a proper meal so she was famished and these were the best cookies she'd ever had. He softened and decided to bake more for her, so at times the boy calls her peanut as a reminder of how their friendship bloomed.

After she had her fill of cookies, she finally told them. "He chocked her to death."

Anthony exasperated. "Yeah, we're not doing that anymore."

"I..." she mumbled.

"The ring stays in the basement until we take it to the furnaces."

"What? Why would we stop when we're just getting somewhere?" Valerie raised a brow. She nearly choked to death but it was progressive. In fact, she was excited that she could do—what she did.

The boy put the ring inside a silver locket and closed it. "End of discussion." If they continue their talk, she'd manipulate him again, he needed to be careful around her.

Out of the blue George pulled out an envelope from the drawer and waved.

"Whats that?" Valerie looked up confused.

"It says we need to clear up £60,000 in two weeks for burning down Mrs Hope mansion." George said, "why didn't you say something? Lockwood."

Anthony Lockwood didn't mention anything about the debt they were in because he knew that Valerie would be troubled if she found out about it because she was the one who set the house on fire, helping him. He doesn't blame her for that, she saved his life—he'd have done the same for her. In fact, he'd have burned the whole city down for her. "Because it's my name on the the door. It's my responsibility, I'll find a way."

"How? We hardly break even when things are going well." George said in disbelief. Anthony Lockwood was kidding, wasn't he?

Valerie Klein jaws were on the floor £60,000 she had never seen that amount in her life. How the hell were they going to pay? So she suggested, the first thing that came to her mind. "What about a loan? This place must be worth a bucketload."

"This place is all that's left of my parents."

"Sorry. I didn't realise." She apologised, that was stupid of her but she didn't know that Anthony's parents had passed away. He was very secretive about his past. And knowing that she was the reason behind the fire, didn't help either. They were in debt because of her, they might end up on the streets because of her. She wanted to scream.

"He's already borrowed against it to set the business. Jeez! Lockwood, we're screwed!" George rested his palms on his head. Anthony might be trying to play cool to impress the girl but the boy was so damn screwed. They all were.

"No we're not. All it takes is a few big cases." Anthony said charmingly.

If only his charms could fetch them money, they'd be millionaires by now.

The phone began to ring. "Maybe that's one, right now." Anthony headed towards the telephone. But to his displeasure, Inspector Barnes was on the other line; who'd ordered him to fire Valerie Klein. The girl fled from her hometown after a scurry and she hadn't attained a grade four, which is required for agents in this industry.

Anthony didn't know the reason why Valerie had fled her hometown and lied to them about it, but he really didn't care because he knew she'd have a valid reason behind her actions and he trust her and he needed to protect her at any cost.

***

"We've been looking at it the wrong way around. It's not about us helping Annabel. It's about her helping us." Anthony said as the trio walked down the street.

"Really? How?" Valerie asked adjusting her red beret. She'd crochet it from the yarn she'd found at the attic. There was this corner where a sewing machine with a load of materials, yarns, knitting kits etc was stacked. Back in her hometown, she mostly makes her own clothes so she was thrilled at the findings. She decided to make it a work station of her own without even asking Anthony about it. Thinking about it now, she should've asked him but the boy doesn't seem to mind rather he looked pleased that she's making use of everything.

"It's all about media exposure. Annabel's disappearance was a big story. It's far bigger than us burning a house down. If we solve her murder, the headlines we'll get, will cancel out all our bad press overnight."

"It won't make us 60 grand," George said. The only thing, he could think of at the moment was how to make the money and clear their debts. He didn't want to go back to his parents. He likes living in 35 Portland Row, he likes being an agent and oddly he has a liking for Anthony and maybe, for Valerie as well even though he didn't know her quite well.

"It could make us more. I mean think of the millions of old people at home, nothing to do but reminisce and read the papers. They love murder mysteries, it's a Bond Gide front page splash. Barnes won't dare move against us."

Valerie didn't know what was on Anthony's mind but she didn't want to be a part of the media at all. "Leave me out of it. I don't like my name in papers. Had enough of that crap back home."

The boy said over his shoulder. "You have to know how to deal with them. Leave that to me."

She stopped on her tracks, "I mean it. Keep me out of the spotlight."

"You should be on a cover of a magazine."

"That should be you, Lockwood." A sly grin passed her sublime face as she moved forward.

They went through the old papers at the old London library. "This is it, she was in Hamlet playing Ophelia." George finally broke the silence as he found an article on Annabel Ward.

"Annabel Ward's moving Ophelia captures the depths of tragic romance." Valerie read aloud. "What does that tell us?"

"Ugh! Why must I be surrounded by philistines?" He said pointing at a portrait from a book. "These...kind of depths, that's why you were lying in the bath fully dressed. Ophelia drowned with daises."

Anthony was staring at them mouth agape, "what were you doing in her bath?"

"It's not what you think," George said.

Valeria explained, "that night before Annabel's ghost appeared, I was lying on the bath holding a bunch of daises. Casper was the one who found me and woke me up. I was curious to know how and why I ended up in the bath at the first place so I tried to examine the ring but I fell asleep and you know the rest of the story."

George leaned forward. "So...Ophelia went mad, killed herself cause of how Hamlet treated her."

"But Annabel didn't kill herself." Valerie reminded them.

"No. But the part she played and what happened in her life started mirroring each other." George pointed out, "Hamlet and Ophelia, Annabel and her abusive lover."

"So you think whoever played Hamlet in this production did it?" The girl furrowed her brows. Interesting.

"Hugo Blake. That's his name. Look." Anthony pointed at an article. "The case of Annabel Ward took another twist last night when actors Hugo Blake was arrested in connection with her disappearance. Ward was rumoured to be in a relationship with her dashing Hamlet costar."

"Nice one Lockwood. Not bad for a philistine." George said and then pointed at the article, "look she's wearing the ring."

Valerie could clearly see the ring on Annabel's finger. "So Blake was arrested. But he still got away with it?"

"Well, there was no hard evidence. No eyewitness, no body." Anthony leaned back. "Blake was released Monday night without charge. Police said their investigation had no run."

"Unlike ours." The girl said proudly.

"Well done, Tony." They heard a familiar voice. "Doing your research before the job this time."

A buff teenager in uniform appeared before them with three more teenagers, behind him.

"Hmm. Is it Tony? Or is he Andrew now?" A girl in uniform spoke from behind.

"Keep it down, Koppa. This is a library, not a braying gallery for bellends." George narrowed his eyes.

The buff teenager was none other than Quill Kipps. The top supervisor of the Fittes Agency. Valerie wanted to disappear.

Kipps eyes landed on her, "hmm...I've seen you somewhere."

No. No. No. This can't be happening. They've met briefly during the rapier competition where Anthony bested Andrew but if she just pretend they haven't, the boy wouldn't remember. "No you haven't," she crossed her arms. "But I've heard about you Quill Kipps. You got the highest mortality rate of any team leader."

"I'm the top supervisor at the country's top agency." The boy said proudly. "I get the most dangerous jobs precisely because of, well, how good I am. But I handle it." He gestured at Anthony. "Unlike Tony."

Anthony Lockwood scoffed. He knew exactly what was going on and even if he didn't have the right to. He felt territorial.

Kipps quickly turned his attention back to Valerie, "you won't stick around too long, darling. Not when you find out what he's really like. Everyone leaves him in the end."

In a breath Anthony was on his feet, his rapier pointing at Kipps. Kipps drew out his rapier as well. "Her name's Valerie, and you need a ladder."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do." And in a blink with his rapier Anthony tossed Quill Kipps rapier up on the ceiling.

Valerie smiled to herself, that's a sight she would remember forever.

27. 02. 2023