Priory of Death: 9

The night's rest did me a world of good, and the sun was shining outside when I opened my curtains and looked out on the landscaped grounds. There was a small lake, some romantic ruins (the sort a girl could hide in with the Green Man if he's about), and all sorts of shrubbery - the sort Scruff and I used to play hide-and-seek in when we were very young.
I was down bright and early for breakfast, dressed in a white sweater, brown wool skirt and brown leather boots, and feeling quite smart too. Seeing Scruff in her usual outfit just made me feel smarter. I knew Emily was around somewhere, but the Outsider wasn't exactly going to wander around visible.
"Emily!" Victoria greeted me. She wore a simple plaid skirt and a green sweater. "You're smart!"

"I have to set Scruff a good example," I explained. "We've got a London friend who despairs of Scruff. She's really dressy, and she can't understand how Scruff manages like she does!"
"I think Scruff's sweet," Victoria defended her. I'm not sure how good a defence it would be against Lynette. "Did you sleep well?"
"Like a log. And Scruff."
"Sure," Scruff, in deference to convention, did not have her iPod switched on. I got Emily one for Christmas, and Emily loves it. Hers is black, of course. I've got a pink one with some highly unauthorised modifications by another old school friend who did something with her life.
And of course all my school friends are girls. I went to an exclusive girls' school! I am the daughter of a millionaire, after all!
I wonder how you go about fighting crime if you're not rich? Join the police, I suppose. It must be rather dull.
"SOMEONE raided the kitched fridge last night," Victoria told me. I sighed.
"Scruff!"
"Sis?" she hurried over.
"Someone raided the fridge last night. Was it you?"
"I... It was," she confessed. "I got hungry during the night... I saw the ghost!"
Great, I thought, Scruff's using the ghost to distract from a fridge-robbing incident. I'd hoped we could be more dramatic about it - but some hope.
"You did?" Scruff's tactic was working too, I thought.
"Oh, yes! But it was rather boring, just a black monk figure with no skin hanging off or anything. You couldn't even tell if it was a monk or a Jesuit. But it was kind of spooky!"
"Scruff!" Victoria hugged her, taking my little sister rather by surprise. "I'm SO glad you saw it! Did you hear that, Jane? Scruff saw the ghost! Oh, it's so thrilling!"
"Isn't it?" I decided to continue playing the sceptic. The Outsider's made me revise my ideas about the supernatural a little, but not enough for me to believe this story.
"Well, I believe her! And you ought to as well!"
"Okay, Scruff saw the ghost. I need breakfast."
So we went to the breakfast room, the place where we had lost the robed figure the previous night.
I knew we would see the 'Monk' again.