The Smell of High Society

52.

"Nothing Gilbert there is nothing on the Thornbys, no facebook, no social media presence." Clarissa was being more and more alarmed as they drove to Portland. She had been trying for an hour to find anything on the client and had come up with zero information, which seemed weird for a family supposedly rich and famous.

"They are the elite of the elite probably, you have to accept that not everyone does facebook." Gilbert had dealt with people like this in the past, he found it was best not to bite the hand that feeds.

"I just don't think we should..." Clarissa was interrupted by Gilbert's phone ringing.

"Dunkley."

"Brother Gilbert I do hope this call finds you safe and sane." Gilbert frowned at the sound of Clarence's voice. He still hadn't forgotten the chicken soup.

"Clarence I'm driving so make this quick."

"Driving? Brother you must return to your home, you asked me to look into who wanted you dead, and while I'm still sorting it out, there are some disturbing things I've heard, your life is in danger."

"My life is always in danger Clarence."

"Be that as it may, Gilbert you'd be best advised..."

"On the Job Clarence I'll call you back." Gilbert hung up and then set his phone to silent.

"What did Clarence want?"

"Nothing just to bug me, so you were saying about the Thornbys?"

"Nothing, just keep driving." Clarissa closed the laptop and looked out the window at the scenery, she felt a coldness from Gilbert she hadn't before and didn't necessarily like it.

****

When Gilbert arrived at the mansion he saw an Orkin truck and he suppressed a snort. Generally they didn't involve themselves in his business and he in theirs, but there had been dust ups in the past and he kept the grudge. He made note to himself to question Melissa Thornby why she had in theory two exterminators on the job. The door inside the mansion was slightly open, something was off and Gilbert and Clarissa felt it immediately. Clarissa especially because she could smell something foul on the air again, this time more ripe than ever.

"You can't tell me you don't smell that?" Inside the mansion was all dark and things looked run down in a way that said people hadn't been there in a while.

"I think you need to get your nose fixed if you keep smelling things that aren't there." Gilbert stepped on to the carpet in the opening and fell through, he tried to grab Clarissa to steady himself and only ended up taking her with him into the darkness. They tumbled a couple stories onto a mattress in what looked like a stone basement. They were trapped without a way back up.

"I would have thought the great Gilbe..." Gilbert fired his revolver up into Melissa Thornby's head, her body landed next to Clarissa and Gilbert. Gilbert could smell the rotten corpse smell now. He felt stupider than he had in a while.

"What is she?"

"A ghoul, kind of a zombie vampire, its why I couldn't smell her, but for some reason you could, I must be getting old if a god damned ghoul gets the jump on me." Gilbert reloaded the one bullet he fired and holstered his pistol. He couldn't make out what was in the tunnel, but he figured if the ghoul was going to gloat it must be bad.

"Can we just climb out?"

"No, we're going to have to go through." Gilbert patted the bag he brought with him from the van, "Don't worry I prepared to kill what was probably in the tunnels anyway, maybe we'll get lucky and its just more ghouls." Clarissa looked up at the hole and back at the body of Melissa Thornby.

"Right lucky."