Page 14 of The Fallen Man

“Not to worry, Mrs. Deveraux,” said Theo coming into Eleanor’s office to collect the tray of tea things. “I’m fully versed in three forms of household purification. I’ll take care of it this weekend.”

Eleanor blinked at her usually stoic butler. Jackson did too. The gray-haired sixty-something usually appeared to be the paragon of propriety, except in December when he became a walking advent calendar in a string of hideous Christmas sweaters that brought everyone in the Deveraux family great joy. Christmas without the sweaters would be unthinkable.

“Theo, it disturbs me to no end when you say things like that. I was unaware that you knew about anything remotely related to...” Eleanor hesitated as if looking for the appropriate word. “Spiritualism.”

“Well, ma’am, as a butler, I’m in charge of the household, and I have to be familiar with anything that may assist the well-being of those within my house.”

“Yes, but you have worked for me since a date that I prefer not to mention. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you practicing such things. I fail to see how you could have the time to master such skills. Does one send off for instructions?”

“You are quite generous with your vacation benefits, and I like to take continuing education courses.”

Theo and Eleanor stared at each other, having come to an impasse. Jackson could never decide in these moments if this was some form of flirting or if Theo and Eleanor were quite serious about the conversation. Neither of them was known forjoking, and yet… They couldn’t really be serious, could they?

“Well,” said Eleanor, making a soft click of her tongue, “I will leave the practice of such things to your discretion. I’m sure it is a relief to know that I have an expert on hand should I need one.”

“Of course, Mrs. Deveraux,” said Theo leaving the room as if he had scored a victory. It was possible that he had, but Jackson couldn’t tell what the game was, let alone the rules.

“I really feel that you have been a terrible influence on him,” said Eleanor.

“Me?” Jackson laughed in disbelief.

“He was never this creative before you came to live here.”

Jackson chuckled. “I have no regrets.”

“No, you never do. It’s terribly rude. However, that is as may be. But aside from that, do you have any idea where the hell Grangers’ ridiculous paper files are?”

Jackson shook his head, and Eleanor let out a heavy breath of annoyance.

“I suppose the real question to ask is, why haven’t the Absolex hearing transcripts been released to the public yet? The Republicans are hinting at impropriety, and I’m tired of it. The entire thing would go away if the transcripts were released, but they haven’t. And I want to know why not?”

“I don’t know,” said Jackson. He disliked giving this answer. He generally kept away from Eleanor’s work, but Aboslex was a special case, and the lines were starting to get blurry for both of them.

“It’s like Absolex and Granger just won’t go away. If his… representative or whatever Granger called this mystery person was going to be publicizing everything, shouldn’t they have done it by now?”

“Yes,” said Jackson. “Granger’s ashes were interred a month ago, and his death was officially declared an accidental overdose. Apparently, he was dead before he hit the ground.”

Eleanor frowned at him. “Didn’t he leave a suicide note?”

“There was a note. Apparently, it was more anI hate the Deverauxesmanifesto, and the investigators decided hatred of us was not enough to cause suicidal ideation. Although, I think, more to the point, if it wasn’t suicide, it’s easier for the creditors to go after his estate.”

“Did we influence that? That seems excessive. He’s dead. Anything after that is just vindictive.”

“We didn’t lift a finger in that direction,” said Jackson. “Although, it does feel like someone did. Probably just the IRS being the IRS.”

Eleanor shrugged. “That seems likely. Honestly, I’m not worried about Granger’s files.”

“Really? I am.”

“Well, since they have not magically appeared by now, it seems unlikely they’re real. And even if the files are real, it seems unlikely that they have the power to do whatever it is Granger thought they would do.”

Jackson gave a reluctant nod to the second point.

“And I doubt that whatever DC insider he referred to was real either,” continued Eleanor.

“That I actually am convinced of.”

“What do you mean?”