Chapter 19

“Doris,” I said to the air.

Doris stuck her head out of the wall. “Ready to see what I can see?”

“Let’s go up and find out before we have to set up for the séance. Gillian, can you put the food away? Doris and I are going to conduct a little experiment. If this works, it will save me a lot of grief.”

“No problem. When you’re through, I’ve finished all the linens in the house. With Doris’ approval, you now have enough stock to set up a store on any of the swap sites, make a little extra money, and find homes for some of these lovely embroidered pieces.”

“Works for me.” I went upstairs. “Okay, Doris, see what you can find.”

“All set.”

While she wandered through the woodwork as only a ghost can, I took the flashlight from my bedside drawer and examined the bookshelves more carefully. The back section abutted the roof, and I couldn’t see or feel anything directly above the top shelf. If something were behind the back wall, it would have to have been placed there before these cabinets were added. I wondered if they were original.

Doris popped out down by the ocean-side window seat. “I don’t see anything but dust and dead bugs on the side with the windows.”

“Are you looking above and behind the cabinetry?”

She nodded. “I’ll do the other side now.” She disappeared and reappeared almost immediately. “Is the roof pitch different on each side of the peak?”

“What?”

She steepled her two forearms together and then pushed one elbow out further. “Does the back half of the top roof go out further and shallower on the back side?”

I thought for a moment. “Yeah, I think it does. Why?”

“There’s more room behind the built-ins on this side of the roof. It’s low but someone could lie behind the shelves like a hidey-hole.”

“Now that’s very interesting. Sort of like a priest hole though this house isn’t old enough for that.”

“It’s been used by someone.”

“Recently?”

“Not as far as I can tell, but there’re some old, musty blankets lying back there as if someone or something was back there. The space looks to run the length of the room.” She shrugged her delicate shoulders. “Maybe it’s nothing. Left over from when it was built. I don’t remember being in there.” She frowned. “I don’t see how someone could get in there now. I used to play up here when I visited my mom. I told you. This was all here then.” Her eyes grew distant. “Wait. That’s not entirely true. I have a vague memory of them swinging outward. I don’t remember the space because, as a child, I didn’t understand it as a space behind the cabinets. Somehow these cabinets move.” She dove through the built-ins.

She was back out a moment later. “The middle cabinet. Open the doors.”

I did. “Three drawers. That’s different. All the others aren’t covered by doors, and they have two drawers, not three. I didn’t notice that before.” I opened the top one and closed it. I tried to open the other two, but they didn’t budge. I yanked. Nothing. I looked at Doris.

She nodded and smiled. “Open the top drawer and take a close look at the drawer facing on the inside.”

I did as I was told.

The drawer facing was hollowed out and contained two levers. I pressed the one on the right, and a section of cupboard and one of drawers swung out and away from where I was kneeling. I pressed the one on the left and the same thing happened on the other side, revealing the space and the blankets Doris had referred to.

“That’s clever. A hidey hole, indeed.” Wrinkling my nose, I poked around, moving the blankets. “Those are disgusting. There’s a finger hold here so that someone could crawl in and pull the structure into place. It would latch automatically, but it could be opened again from the inside. But I don’t see any treasure in here. Rats. If it existed, this would be a great place to hide it. I wonder if the rumrunners stashed hooch up here?”

The doorbell rang.

“Must be George.”

Doris stuck her head out the front of the house. “It’s George.”

“I should have saved the money for the peephole.”

Doris grinned.

I went down.

Jack had already let George in. He handed Jack an envelope.

“You’re street legal.”

Jack whooped and took the paperwork over to the couch. Gillian scanned through news shows as she sorted through one of the remaining knick-knack boxes.

“We’re good to go. Literally. As soon as she’s insured.”

“Doris will be thrilled.”

George furrowed his brow but turned to me. “Now we can get a look behind your built-ins without ripping them up.” He brandished a tool that looked like a short, electronic club or microphone.

“As to that, I have a surprise for you.”

“What might that be?” George raised an eyebrow and followed me upstairs. He whistled when he saw the open cabinets. “You’ve been a busy girl.”

“I hadn’t opened all the drawers and doors before. I haven’t been here long, and there were other, more pressing things that needed to be done. While you were gone, I opened a number of them, including this one.” I indicated the open door on the middle cabinet that wasn’t part of either moving section. “None of the others contains drawers behind doors or three instead of two drawers. The bottom two don’t open, but the top one does.” I pulled it out and pointed at the levers. “Have a look.”

“Now that’s clever.” He knelt inside and traced wires and cords from the levers up and over to pins that held the two sections in place along the wall. “I always wanted to live in a house with secret passageways and hidden rooms.”

“Seriously?” I’d never considered that George had much of an imagination.

“Absolutely! I spent a lot of time reading when I was a kid. I love mysteries and ghost stories.”

“There is no way you are going to convince me that you read anything supernatural. You’re way too superstitious.”

“It wasn’t about the ghosts. It was about the mystery. Why they were killed. Solving the puzzles. The stories often took place in houses with secret passages that were revealed by following the ghosts. Like mysteries, the stories I read often ended up with solved murders and justice for the victims.”

I shook my head. “I can’t tell you how surprised I am.”

George stood up after his examination of the mechanism. “You’re brilliant!”

A cough echoed around the room.

I smiled. “I wish that were true, but I had help.”

A pint-sized Doris walked through a built-in and stood in front of him.

“Now why didn’t I think of that? You could really be handy in police work.”

Doris put her hands on her hips. “Figure out a way for me to leave this property, and I’m happy to help the local constabulary.”

George laughed. “So you do have limitations.”

“I told you she couldn’t follow you home.”

He nodded. “Yes, you did. Good to know it’s true. Did you find any treasure?”

“You arrived right after we found this, so Doris hasn’t checked behind every unit yet. Do you see anything back there?”

He slipped off his jacket, picked up his flashlight and the tool he’d brought with him, and crawled behind the built-ins.

His voice was muffled, but I thought I heard him complain about how small and filthy the space was. I smiled. He backed out and sneezed hard enough to startle me. “I’d suggest getting a garbage bag and throwing those blankets out.”

I held up a trash bag, pulled the old rags out, trying not to shake loose any dust but checking for anything important, balled them up, and put them in the bag. “I’ll have to open the windows and vacuum before we do the séance tonight.”

“Can you vacuum now? We might as well clean these cubbies out while we’ve got this open.”

I scrambled downstairs and carried my wand vacuum back up. “We’ll have to dump the canister fairly often. It doesn’t have the capacity a bag vac has, but it’s small and runs for 15 minutes on a charge.” I held up the recharging cord I’d brought up.

George spent the next fifteen minutes clearing out the spaces and then running his machine over the walls.

Doris whispered in my ear, “He’s a keeper.”

I nodded. I love a man who cleans.

“Find anything?” I asked when he emerged.

He set a plastic bag on the end of the bed. “Not what we were looking for but interesting nonetheless.”

I poked the bag. “Keys, glasses, an inlaid cigarette holder—that’s pretty.”

“Do you smoke?”

“No, but it’s pretty enough to display in a case. Let’s see. Some coins. Wonder if they’re worth anything? Oh, these are pretty.” I held up a pair of what looked like delicate gold and moonstone chandelier earrings.

George examined them. “Those are beautiful, but they’re not the treasure we’re looking for. Looks like they’re yours to keep.”

“Works for me!” I tucked them into a teak jewelry box on my bedside table and went back to examining the bag. “A pencil stub, some scraps of paper, a couple of rocks. These nails are interesting.”

“I think they’re handmade.”

“They’re four-sided, not round. I’d like to keep those if they’re not important to you.”

He laughed. “Why? They’re just nails.”

“I know, but I’ve never seen a handmade nail before. I think they’re neat.”

George stood. “Looks like we won’t have to rip out the woodwork, but it still begs the question about where the treasure might be if there is one. I’ll get this back to the office and do the paperwork. Is the séance still on for tonight?”

“It is. Are you coming?”

His brow furrowed. “I won’t know for a few hours yet. I will if I can.”

I heard voices in the kitchen.

George glanced toward the stairs. “You are not supposed to be letting strangers in until we figure out who left the pen.”

I smiled. “That’s no stranger. I recognize Dave’s voice.”

We went downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Sorry, but you guys are a little late for breakfast.”

“Dang.” Dave snapped his fingers. “I knew we should have gotten here earlier.” Then he grinned. “We thought we’d come over to check on you before the lawyer arrives and we sign legal papers.” He stiffened as George entered the kitchen behind me.

For a moment he had seemed almost like his old, relaxed self. I wondered if the legal papers were about his defense or the trust.

George’s face was inscrutable as he laid the bag on the table. “She seems to be dead set on having a séance tonight.”

“Does that mean you’ll be here for the séance?” Niles asked George.

“Will you two be coming?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“You mentioned signing legal papers. Did the accountant arrive?” I asked.

Niles shook his head. “Not yet.”

Dave looked at me, ignoring George. “He’s not returning our calls. They go straight to voicemail. I’m a bit worried about him. He’s overdue.”

“I assume he’s usually punctual?” George sounded skeptical. “I’d think it’d be a personality trait for an accountant.”

“He’s usually right on the money. Pardon the pun,” Niles said.

“Let me know when he turns up. We have a few questions for him.”

“Sure thing.” But Niles didn’t sound enthusiastic about calling him.

“You’re all welcome to stay for lunch. It’s nothing fancy. Just leftovers, fruit, and sandwich stuff.” I pulled things out of the fridge and set them on the table.

Gillian put a stack of napkins and some plates down and got knives for the mustard and mayo. She took the bag off the table and set it on the counter near the back door where the pen had been.

Niles helped himself to sandwich fixings.

George touched my arm. “I’ll finish up my search in the loft.”

I made a cheese and sweet onion sandwich. Since I wasn’t about to get kissed anytime soon, I might as well enjoy my favorite vegetable.

“It’s not breakfast, but thanks for feeding us,” Dave said and smiled at me.

“You’re welcome, Dave. Anytime.” Gillian passed him a plate of shortbread.

As we ate, I explained a bit more about what we were trying to achieve with the séance. Again, I was struck by the differences between Niles and Dave as we discussed Darius’ and Samantha’s need to experience their departed loved ones again. Dave accepted their beliefs and seemed eager to see Amelia. Niles, on the other hand, scoffed.

“You know, Niles, you don’t have to come tonight if you have better things to do.”

“Oh, no, I’m looking forward to the experience. Wouldn’t miss it. Never been to a séance.” He stood up. “Thanks for lunch. We’d better be getting back. Dave?”

“Cass, thanks. I’ll see you tonight.” Dave grabbed a couple of shortbread cookies and followed Niles out.

Gillian said, “Go on, Cass. I’ll clean up.”

I went back upstairs to George. “You don’t think Niles will be a problem, do you?”