“Niles was denounced from the pulpit, but he had the local officials in his pocket, and nothing was done to curb his scandalousexploits. Given his reputation and the disgust with which he was viewed by the general public, you can imagine the dismay among the respectable elements of society when McTavish announced his betrothal to Alice Standish, the daughter of Ian Standish, Sexton’s mayor. That ‘Sweet Alice,’ as she was called, would consent to marry Niles and that her father would not stand in the way of the match lent credence to the belief that witchcraft was involved. Of course, Ian might just have liked the idea of his daughter marrying a really rich guy.”
“God, you’re cynical,” Robin said.
Loretta shrugged. “Law school trained me to look at both sides of an issue.”
Robin laughed. “Continue.”
“Okay. Well, two days of merrymaking preceded the wedding; read Spring Break Moors, with lots of drinking and lots of sex with devil worship thrown in for good measure.
“Niles had scheduled the wedding ceremony to take place at midnight. There’s a legend that the Devil arrived at the stroke of twelve in a black coach drawn by seven coal-black horses and presented the groom with a carved wooden box engraved with a bloodred pentagram that contained a knife with a silver handle that looked like a claw that was half-human, half-wolf. The knife and the box actually existed. There were several witness accounts about that. But I couldn’t find any cell phone shots of the Devil on Facebook or YouTube.”
Robin laughed again. “I don’t think you’re taking this seriously.”
Loretta smiled. “After midnight,” she said, “the newlyweds retired to Niles’s bedchamber. For days after, neither bride nor groom were seen. Meals were left outside the door, but, after thefirst day, they remained in the hall uneaten. A servant was always outside the door to receive orders. He reported hearing odd noises emanating from the room.
“When several days passed without Alice or Niles showing their faces, Alice’s father demanded that Niles let him in. When he received no reply, he had the servants break down the door, and things got really weird.”
“As if they weren’t already,” Robin interjected. Loretta’s grin was positively ghoulish.
“Inside was a chamber of horrors. Alice was naked and dead. Her throat had been ripped apart, and her body was drenched in blood. Niles was nowhere to be found.
“Alice’s father went insane when he saw his daughter’s mangled body. He tore the room apart and found a false wall that opened into a passage that led to the moors. A search party was formed. The members claimed that they had not been able to find Niles, but days later a hunter found his mangled body. He had been sliced to ribbons, and the knife with the werewolf handle was buried in his heart.
“Everyone suspected that Alice’s father had done the deed, but every member of the search party swore that they had not found Niles. Ian lived in seclusion until he passed away a few years later.”
“That’s some story. What happened to Black Oaks?” Robin asked.
“Niles was the last of Angus McTavish’s line, so there were no heirs. Given the bad vibes associated with Black Oaks, no one showed an interest in buying it or moving in, and the manor fell into disrepair. Over time, the village expanded and became a city, and the outer boundaries expanded until the city was less than amile from Black Oaks. The Sexton Historical Society got a grant to restore it, and it became a museum and tourist attraction, which is how Katherine Melville, Nelly Melville’s mother and Frank Melville’s wife, discovered it.
“Katherine Melville inherited a vast family fortune that was made when logging was Oregon’s main industry. She was obsessed with European history and became fascinated by the Black Oaks legend when she was studying at Oxford. When she got her inheritance, she decided to re-create Black Oaks in a remote area on Solitude Mountain. There are some modern additions, but most of the house on top of Solitude Mountain is a stone-by-stone re-creation of the original manor house in Sexton, England.”
“What did you find out about Frank Melville?” Robin asked.
“There’s a bit of a mystery here,” Loretta said. “Melville was a DA in Multnomah County who specialized in prosecuting capital cases. After he left the DA’s office, he joined Lawrence Trent’s law firm. I talked with a friend at the firm. She told me that Melville was very successful, but a few years after going in with Trent he retired abruptly without giving a reason.
“Shortly after he retired, Frank and Katherine were in a terrible car accident. Katherine died, and Frank was paralyzed from the waist down. Melville has been living at Black Oaks since the accident, and he spends his time looking into the cases of convicted murderers who claim they’re innocent. So far, his research has freed two men from prison.
“Frank and Katherine had one child, Nelly. She was inspired by her mother’s passion and got a degree in European history at Columbia before going to Oxford to pursue a graduate degree. After the crash, she gave up her studies and moved to Black Oaks to take care of her father.”
“I wonder why Melville quit practicing,” Robin said.
“You can ask him, if you’re still going to Black Oaks after hearing about the devil worship and supernatural animals.”
“I’m more determined than ever now.”
“Then I would advise you to bring a crucifix, holy water, and a necklace of garlic to the spooky castle.”
Robin shook her head. “And here I thought you were an ace researcher. The crucifix and that other stuff are for vampires. Werewolves can only be killed by silver bullets.”
“My bad. So, you’re going?”
“Only if there’s no full moon tomorrow.”
PART THREEFrank Melville’s Dilemma
CHAPTER SIX
During Oregon’s rainy season, Oregonians, who were used to the whims of the weather gods, would ask if the mountains were out that day. On the morning of her journey to Black Oaks, the answer was definitely no. When Robin looked out her living room window, she saw thick black clouds floating over the river, hiding the mountains from view, and a bone-chilling rain that was dampening everyone’s spirits, except Robin’s. She was looking forward to her journey up Solitude Mountain to the cursed manor house.