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When Dana arrived at the Maison House Apartments. She noticed the sign was worn. It was an iron sign with the name of the property in black ink on a white background. The massive mansion itself was impressive. A lone corner house on a hill. It was a Victorian era house converted into a small apartment complex.
The house was huge by size and had the famous red painted shutters at the windows. The reddish brown shingles on the roof looked as if it badly needed renovation. The house looked a little haunted on a cloudy day.
Today, wasn’t so bad, though it was overcast. Dana walked up the stone pathway leading to the house, with Truffles in the kitty stroller, careful not to let too many bumps shake the stroller. Truffles was a princess and she never liked bumpy rides. She’d hiss and make you know about it.
Dana hid by a tree near the pathway when the side door creaked opened. It was Mr. Terrence.
Her eyes narrowed as she eyed what he was doing. He had a bright-colored blue shirt in his hand. And if she wasn’t mistaken, there seemed to be a reddish stain on the shirt. Was that her imagination running overtime? It had to be.
She gasped. Her heart pounded hard and fierce in her chest. She felt her lungs constrict.
Okay, calm down, Dana. You don’t know what that stain is. It could be ketchup, right?
Like I seriously doubt it.
Dana peered closely, wishing she had a set of binoculars.
Mr. Terrence glanced around as if to see if anyone was watching. When he assumed the coast was clear, he lifted up a garbage can lid and shoved the blue shirt inside.
Truffles hissed.
“Shh, Truffs. Not now, sweetie.”
Dana’s pulse raced. What on earth was he doing? Why was he throwing away what looked like a perfectly nice shirt into the dustbin? Dana drew in a deep breath. She noticed that Mr. Terrence looked around again then walked up the stone steps back into the Maison House.
“Well, that was strange.” Dana ran her fingers through her hair.
Truffles purred as if in agreement.
“Truffles, it looks as if we’re going to have to go digging around in the garbage bin.”
Truffles didn’t seem to like the sound of that. But what else could she do?
Dana glanced at her watch. It was already ten o’clock. Troy would be meeting her there soon. She would go to Lichelle’s apartment with Troy and search for her clues then she would take Troy to the garbage can and pull out whatever evidence would be in the bin.