As soon as I stepped into the Lalauria Mansion, I felt like I’d walked into the set of every ghost movie ever made. Chandeliers that looked ready to drop at any moment, creaky floorboards that made sure you knew you weren’t alone, and enough cobwebs to host an arachnid family reunion. My assignment for The Cool Ghoul Gazette was simple: cover the Haunted History Gala and avoid getting into trouble. But trouble seems to have my name on speed dial.
Ava Dupree, my self-appointed tour guide and partner in crime-solving—whether I liked it or not—nudged me as we made our way through the crowd of costumed guests. “This place has more history than Bourbon Street has bars. And most of it’s ugly.”
“Perfect for a gala,” I said, adjusting my press badge. “Nothing says ‘party’ like cursed artifacts and ghost stories.”
That’s when the scream came, slicing through the ballroom chatter. People froze, then scattered like marbles on a tile floor. Ava and I followed the sound to the grand ballroom, where Victor Delacroix, a big-name “ghost hunter,” lay sprawled on the floor next to a smashed jewel case. The stand for the Cursed Veil of Les Ténèbres remained in the jewel case, but the Les Ténèbres pendant was missing. Shattered glass lay all around.
One jagged piece had found its way deep into Delacroix’s heart.
“Looks staged,” Ava muttered. “You think this is part of the tour?”
“Tours don’t usually include real bodies,” I said. “Blood is still spurting from his chest.”
Phantom Guests or Real Killers?
The mansion’s owner, Julian Thorne, appeared moments later, looking pale enough to pass as one of his ghostly residents. “This is…”—his voice as shaky as the chandelier’s chain—”unexpected. Victor was here to verify the artifacts—not become one.”
That set the tone for the night. Everyone in the room had a motive, and none looked innocent. Ava and I started with a shortlist of suspects:
Julian Thorne had recently inherited the mansion, but whispers of financial ruin floated among guests with more life than the so-called ghosts. Guests testified that Thorne had been giving a tour of the home’s Crypt during the time of the murder. However, moments before the scream, Thorne’s phone rang, and he stepped out to take a call. Thorne’s demeanor had been polished but strained. His insistence on showcasing the mansion’s artifacts and “off-limit” rooms—despite the blatant risk of theft—raised suspicions and was certainly reckless. Historian Lebeau hinted that Thorne might have been involved with questionable bookkeeping activities to keep the mansion afloat—that there was unaccounted cash that could not be explained. Thorne’s excessive concern for the pendant’s destruction suggested a sinister motive. Though Thorne remained tight-lipped about the insured value of the pendant, I learned from Lebeau that Thorne had a brother in a rehab facility in Nevada and that Thorne was footing the bill.
Celia Lebeau, the restoration consultant overseeing the mansion’s renovations, was no stranger to controversy. Her public feud with Delacroix over the authenticity of hauntings—and her position as Vieux Carré’s Historic Preservation Specialist—gave her a motive. If Delacroix’s claims proved right—that the mansion was haunted—her reputation would be tainted. Moments before the scream, she had been attempting to prove there were no such things as “ghost gatherings” in the Attic, but when mist, groaning sounds, and strange lights filled the belfry, she vanished, only to reappear minutes later in the hallway outside the ballroom. Lebeau was known for her obsession with preserving the mansion’s dark history, which some said bordered on fanatical. She swore the so-called aberrations seen and heard in the Attic were smoke and mirrors, a poor attempt by Delacroix to authenticate his claim of hauntings. Marcus St. James had whispered that Lebeau had been seen meeting with individuals tied to the gentrification of the French Quarter—many of whom would have needed her services. Maybe this murder was simply fueled by a need to enhance her portfolio of restorative work.
Marcus St. James’ rivalry with Delacroix had been the stuff of paranormal tabloid fodder. Though James had claimed he was giving a podcast interview on Phantom for Cast in the mansion’s Study, no evidence of the podcast existed. He swore the podcast—recorded during the murder—would soon be published, but emails to the podcast host had bounced back as undeliverable. James’ reputation for bending truths to gain more interviews and publicity gave him a dubious reputation. Madame Renée Moreau told me of backdoor deals James had cut for exclusive rights to haunted locations. James’ presence at the gala, despite his professed disdain for Delacroix, raised questions about his true reasons for attending. Thorne had reported seeing James in a heated exchange with Delacroix earlier that evening—before the scheduled podcast interview. Rumors suggested James had been under pressure to pay off debts owed to investors of his fledgling ghost-hunting series on BooTube TV. Antiques dealer Eli Baxter told me that James’ desperation might have driven him to confront Delacroix and demand access to the mansion for a blockbuster episode for his show.
Madame Renée Moreau was an enigmatic figure who blended seamlessly into the mansion’s gothic atmosphere. Her role as a voodoo priestess had brought authenticity to the gala, but her actions before and after the scream remained a mystery. Witnesses had seen her eyeing the display case moments before the scream. A maid had placed Moreau in the Kitchen around the time the body was found. Thorne had hinted that Moreau’s interest in the pendant wasn’t entirely professional—that there was a video of Moreau’s involvement in rituals tied to the mansion’s darker history. Moreau’s cryptic Cajun comments about protecting the artifacts’ power—of how “riches done stole right out dey soul”—gave her motive to take what she believed belonged to her people. During the investigation, I learned that Moreau’s family had gathered and guarded relics connected to the poor of New Orleans for generations. Believing such heirlooms held “black magic,” Moreau contended such items should remain in the hands of ancestors—not wealth collectors. The proximity of the Kitchen to the ballroom had given her easy access to the pendant.
Eli Baxter, the reclusive antiques dealer, hadn’t even been supposed to attend the gala, but Moreau swore she had seen Baxter and Delacroix earlier that evening playing billiards in the Game Room. Baxter’s connection to the pendant ran deep—he had been the one who had originally supplied it to the mansion’s collection. Known for his eccentric behavior and a tendency to spend hours—sometimes all night—at the mansion playing billiards, darts, and cards with Delacroix, Baxter’s actions suggested the two may have been best friends, or perhaps something more. Moreau had hinted that these “games” had been for high stakes, with Baxter reportedly losing large sums of money. She had speculated that Baxter’s mounting debts to Delacroix might have driven him to seek a way out—one that didn’t involve repaying what he owed.
With the pendant stolen and Delacroix dead, there was but one suspect—but who was it?
Clues Among the Cobwebs
Ava pointed to the necklace in Delacroix’s hand. “The pendant that dangled from that silver necklace was not just a trinket. My grandmother used to say pendants like this were keys to cursed rooms. It’s Creole folklore.”
“Folklore or not, it’s a clue,” I said, studying the shards of glass scattered across the floor. “A snatch and grab and stab gone wrong?” I asked.
“Or right, like it was supposed to go,” Ava replied.
The chandelier chain had been deliberately weakened, that much we could see. A guest reported seeing a shadowy figure dart into the servants’ corridor just before the scream. Everything pointed to one thing: someone wanted the Cursed Veil of Les Ténèbres and Delacroix out of the picture.
Secrets, Lies, and Curses
The deeper we dug, the messier the case became. Every alibi had cracks, and every suspect had something to hide.
Julian Thorne claimed he was giving a tour of the Crypt, but none of the guests remember him rejoining them after his phone call.
Celia Lebeau insisted she was in the Attic debunking Delacroix’s ghostly theatrics, but how was she able to disappear in the mist and lights?
Marcus St. James said he was recording a podcast in the Study, but a guest found a Lavalier mic and earbuds in the Ballroom’s corner, nowhere near the Study.
Madame Renée Moreau claimed she was in the Kitchen when the body was discovered. One of the wait staff confirmed Moreau entered the kitchen, but upon returning the employee found the kitchen empty.
Eli Baxter said he was playing billiards with Delacroix during the incident, but in the Game Room, we found the balls racked for breaking and cue sticks on the table.
Then there was Ava. Her reluctance to talk about her family’s ties to voodoo made things tense, but her knowledge kept breaking the case open. When we suggested that the stolen pendant might be fake, her face went pale. “I pray not,” Ava whispered. “I’m sure it once belonged to my great-grandmother.”
Setting the Stage for a Ghostly Catch
We needed proof. An hour before I was set to go home, I invited all the suspects back to the ballroom and made an announcement.
“The pendant taken from the jewel case was a decoy. We’ve learned that Delacroix was terrified someone might try to steal the real Les Ténèbres pendant during the gala. The real pendant—the one said to hold the power to remove curses and unlock the mansion’s secrets—is still hidden somewhere in the house. Ava will keep me updated on if and when the real pendant is found. I have a train to catch.”
Then I left, circled back, and snuck into the crypt by way of a mausoleum. Through a secret passage that ended at the back of a bookcase, I waited to see who might escape from the study. I did not have to wait long.
_____ took the bait. My presence behind the bookcase blocked _____’s escape with the fake pendant.
“You,” I said. “I might have guessed.”
“If you were as good as you think, yes. But you aren’t. And now there’s not a ghost of a chance you’ll live to solve another case.”