Southern Charm by Stuart Jaffe

to the years of study required for such a thing. Of course, the alternative had yet to penetrate Max fully. He knew curses and witches were real, but to accept that somewhere in this mansion rested a two-hundred year old criminal, pushed Max's sense of the world further than it had ever gone before.
    "Only one way to be sure."
    Max slipped his shoes back on and walked into the kitchen. He made sure to use heavy steps, the kind that echoed throughout such a large house. One maid, a blonde girl no more than eighteen, stood on a stepstool and scrubbed at food caked across the inner face of a microwave. When she saw Max, she stepped down and wiped her hands.
    "Excuse me," Max said with a disarming smile.
    "Who are you?" the girl asked, lacking all the Southern friendliness he had come to know.
    "I'm sorry," he said, and put out his hand. "I'm Trevor Denton." He had no clue where that name came from but did not question himself either. "I'm Ms. Corkille's personal assistant."
    "What happened to Jenine?"
    "She still works for Ms. Corkille, too. I've just been brought in to help out with a few things. It's a busy time right now."
    Still cautious but softening a little, the maid said, "Oh. Okay, so what do you want?"
    "Ms. Corkille asked for some papers but this is my first time in her house, and well, it's big."
    The girl laughed. "Yeah. It took me a few times before I figured the whole thing out."
    "I imagine so. But I'm pressed for time. I've got to get the papers to the courthouse today or Ms. Corkille will be very angry."
    The girl blanched. Nobody wanted to see Ms. Corkille angry. "I can show you her office."
    Up until this point, his bluff had been quite easy. With what little he knew, the maid seemed willing to believe just about any basic idea. The problem was now. Where would Melinda be hiding Howard? "No," he said on instinct. "She said they were in a different room."
    "Which room? There are quite a few."
    Which one, indeed? Howard Corkille would not be hidden in any common room or any room that the maids were expected to clean. "She wasn't too clear," Max finally said. "It sounded like she was driving when she called me. She told me it was another room but it wasn't one with a name like kitchen or bathroom or anything like that. Is she always like this?"
    With a conspiratorial wink, she said, "Not always. Just most of the time."
    "Because the last person I was an assistant for drove me nuts with these half-explained requests. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Go through every room in this mansion?"
    "What kind of papers are these?"
    "I don't know. They're in an envelope. Just get them to the courthouse. That's all I know."
    "I wonder if she meant the Other Room."
    "What's that?"
    "Just a third guest room but she never wants it cleaned or even opened. We call it the Other Room because sometimes you hear things moving in there. If I believed in ghosts, I'd say that room was haunted. But, of course, that kind of thing is silly."
    "Of course," Max said with a knowing smile.
    "You better call her before you go in there, though. She's very strict about it."
    "Thank you. I'll do that. Where is this room?"
    "Upstairs at the end of the hall."
    "Thanks again."
    The maid offered her first flash of warmth — a slight curve of the lips.
    Max found a set of servants' stairs from the kitchen and climbed up. He walked along the wide hall and listened to the upstairs maids working. They were in a bedroom on the left, and Max did not stop when he passed by. They either didn't notice him or didn't care. He was happy enough whichever way it was.
    As he neared the end of the hall, his nerves reignited. The Other Room awaited just beyond a dark, wooden door. If he took too long, the maids might wonder about him — What's with the guy standing in front of the Other Room? That might lead to questions and then the whole thing would blow up. No, he had to do this now.
    He opened the door and stepped in.
    The Other Room was another guest room —