A Legacy of Emeralds — Dorine Moore

To Melanie Lassiter, young, lovely, a talented artist, the castle she had inherited from her aunt was a dream come true. But the famous emeralds, which were a part of the legacy, and which alone would allow her to maintain the property, were missing. She was trapped in a race for time, to discover the emeralds before the mortgage on the castle came due. And someone was trying to stop her! Was it the dead aunt's secretary, the wan and passionless Irmgard? Or the strange and sinister hunchback Espana? Or could it be the specter of her dead aunt which threatened her with death or madness?

Whatever is was, the castle held its secrets secure, and offered its own unique menace to the intruder...