Chapter 4

I sat next to Zachary. I was his translator. He was deaf, so he only spoke in sign language. When I worked for his father, he taught me sign language. So in return, I thought him to read. His father didn't know how to teach him and his mother died when he was young.

He came to us with a problem. So the others would understand him, I thought of a plan. He would sign to me, I wrote it down, because he can't really write well, then whoever was sitting next to me would read it out loud. Holly sat next to me.

"Now, what's your problem?" Lockwood asked. I signed to Zachary what Lockwood had asked.

Zachary signed back. I wrote it down and gave it to Holly.

"He says there is a ghost haunting the Brill Mansion. He is young enough to see the ghost." She read. This was true. He is 19 years old.

Lockwood stroke his chin in thought. "Can you give us more details?" He asked. I signed it to Zachary.

He signed back. I wrote what he said and handed it back to Holly.

"He doesn't know what the Visitor looks like, he never got too close." She handed George the notebook.

"By the looks of the description, it could be a Spector." He said, reading my notebook.

"Well there is more then just guessing." Lucy replied. She looked at Zachary. "Can we inspect this ghost at the Mansion?"

I signed to Zachary what she asked. He nodded.

"Then we'll head over later tonight." Lockwood said, standing. "Holly, go get everything in the belts. George, go research everything about the place. Lucy, your with me on packs. Dottie," he stopped. "Technically your suppose to have the day off."

I wave him off. I grabbed my notebook, writing my answer down. Then I handed it to Lockwood. He smiled.

"That's a good point."

"What is?" Lucy asked. Holly and George had already left.

"Dottie is coming with us because she knows the way around the place. Turns out she had worked there." He told Lucy as they walked out.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn.

"Dots.." he started to sign but I stop him.

"Your not the reason I quit." I signed.

He sighed. "I know." He signed. His dark hair fell in front of his hazel eyes. I brush it out of his eyes.

"Why did you stop talking to me?" He signed.

I sighed. "I thought after you inherited you father's stuff, I felt like I would be in the way." I signed, looking down. He put his hand on my cheek, lifting my face up.

"You were never in the way." He signed poorly with his other hand. I chuckled. Suddenly I felt eyes peering in on me. I turn my head. There, at the doorway, was Lockwood and Lucy. They both were grinning. My face burned. I moved away from Zachary. I glanced at him. He was blushing too. Lockwood chuckled. I blushed even harder. Zachary stood up.

"Well, I better get going." He signed. He turned toward me. "See you later, Dots."

I signed goodbye to him.

"What was that about?" Lockwood grinned. I glared at him. He just chuckled.

"Leave her alone. We need to get ready anyway. It's almost six." Lucy said, elbowing Lockwood in his gut. She walked out into the hallway. Lockwood just chuckled. He then looked at me.

"You should get some rest. It's going to be a long night."

George came back around six actually. He had a sour look on his face. I took that as a bad sign. He walked in and sat at the table.

"What did you find?" Lucy asked.

George sighed. "There were no deaths other than Mr. and Mrs. Brill, Zachary's parents."

My head raised up. I hurried and grabbed my notebook, turning to the page we used for Zachary.

"Well that's concerning." Holly commented to George. I just rolled my eyes. Lockwood was staring at me.

I stared in horror at the description of the ghost. The ghost Zachary described was a man.

"What is it Dottie?" Lockwood asked. I look at him, then back at the writing. I turn it towards him. Lockwood stroke his chin.

"Well that's interesting." Lockwood said. "Looks like we got our ghost."

I looked at him. I hated Mr. Brill. There was more then just him showing off his rich stuff to his buddy's. He was an angry man. He beat his servants. Sometimes those servants disappeared. I was sometimes lucky, thanks to Zachary, but I was never of the hook. I winced, rembering the stick he whipped his maids and servants with. He hated me the most. I never knew why.

George cleaned his specs. "Well so far, by the research I discover on mr. Brill, was that he was an angry and cruel person."

"Could have told you that." I thought, smugly.

George eyed me when he was done with his specs. "Dottie should know about that."

Everybody turned to look at me.

I nodded my head, slowly. I was glad Zachary wasn't here.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Holly stood.

"I'll go get the door." She said, walking out.

Lucy started to set out mugs of tea, eyeing me most of the time. Lockwood just sat there, taking one of the mugs. George went back to sorting the information he got. I heard the door open.

"Kipps, come on in."

A red headed man walked in through the doorway. Some type of goggles were perched on his head.

"Who's this?" He asked, pointing at me.

"This is Dottie. We hired her three days ago. Dottie, this is Kipps." Lockwood introduced us. He looked only a few years older than Lockwood. Kipps held out his hand. I shook it.

"Pleasure to meet you." He said. I nodded back. He just stared at me, confused. "Now, why did you need me?" He asked, turning towards Lockwood.

"We're going to the Brill Mansion for a Spector. The guy who owns it is a friend of Dottie." Lockwood grinned, eyeing me.

I flushed.

"Great," Kipps said. "When do we start?"