CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

The attic was a gloomy room, the only light coming from a small skylight way up in the high ceiling. All around us bulky objects were covered with dustsheets, and the air was thick and musty. The three of us huddled together inside the doorway and moved cautiously into the room.

“What now, Poppy?” whispered Kip.

“My question exactly, Miss Pym,” came a voice from behind us. We whipped around to find Maxwell Dangerfield standing between us and the open door. With a terrible finality he pushed the door shut behind him. “What exactly is going on here?” he asked silkily, and I noticed that he was holding several large black canvas bags in his hand. He must have stashed his looting kit up here.

“You’ve found it!” I burst out, before I could stop myself. “You know where the gold is, don’t you!?”

Maxwell’s eyes narrowed and he didn’t look as friendly as usual. In fact, as he took a step towards us, he looked positively menacing. “Well, you three have been busy.” His voice was charming as always, but his eyes were icy cold. His right hand moved to his hip and from his belt he pulled a glimmering silver dagger, which he pointed at us. “Now, why don’t you tell me what you know?”

“N-nothing,” I stuttered. “We don’t know anything.”

“It’s true,” squeaked Kip, “we know nothing. Absolutely nothing. About anything. Just ask us. We don’t even know the capital of Sweden, do we, Ingrid?”

“Well, Stockholm is the capital of Sweden,” Ingrid said nervously. “But about all of this, it’s true that we know very little.”

Maxwell took a step towards us. “Leave the acting to the professionals, children.” He waved the dagger towards me. “You! Tell me!”

I swallowed. “We know you started the fire,” I whispered, and Maxwell’s face tightened. “And we know you found the key in the bone. That’s it.”

“Well that’s much more than I wanted anyone to know,” Maxwell growled. “The fire was an accident. I had a candle and was trying it underneath each of the fossils, and when I found that one of the bones was made of wax and it began to melt . . . well, in my excitement I dropped the candle. The room was so full of ancient knick-knacks and old papers and what-not that it all went up in flames before I knew what was happening.”

“But if it was an accident,” I gasped, “can’t you just tell the police that?”

“Oh, and share all the treasure I’m about to uncover, I suppose?!” Maxwell snapped. “Have you forgotten that there’s still a Scrimshaw heir living in Brimwell?”

“Penny!” I shuddered. “Then it was you in the gorilla mask. You were trying to get rid of her.”

“Oh very clever!” mocked Maxwell. “You think I’m going to share this fortune with that crazy cat lady after all the hard work I’ve put in to find it? No, thank you! I was fascinated by the treasure even as a young boy.”

“We know. We found your book,” Ingrid said shakily. “The Secret Life of Phineas Scrimshaw. You wrote your name in the front.” She gulped. “Your real name.”

Maxwell glared at her. “I wondered where that had disappeared to,” he said. “I assumed it got donated somewhere when they cleared out my parents’ house in Brimwell. I’d almost forgotten all about the treasure when I was off being a successful actor. And then I found myself cast out, back in Brimwell, broke and unappreciated. Then, when I was working on this crummy production in the town hall I saw the exhibition and it all clicked. It was my fate, my destiny. I was the one who would solve the mystery that had baffled generations of treasure hunters.” His face was shining now, lit from the skylight high above.

“But how does the cat-carrier come in?” I couldn’t resist asking.

“Oh, you found that, did you? You’re quite the little detectives, aren’t you?” He laughed humourlessly. “Yes, well that wasn’t exactly a part of the plan but then neither was the fire. I had to adapt quickly. The bone was bigger than I had calculated, and the wax was melting everywhere in the heat of the fire. I couldn’t very well walk out of a burning building carrying a half-melted bone now, could I? I was trying to be inconspicuous. Then I saw my chance to get the bone out and to rid myself of Penny in one go. I let the cat out, stuffed the bone in, and walked out of the building. If anyone asked I could say that I thought I was saving Penny’s stupid cat – that I didn’t realize the poor creature had got out.” He batted his eyes innocently. “I stashed the carrier round the corner where I could pick it up later. I knew Penny was stupid enough to go running into the fire after that mangy cat, and with the last Scrimshaw heir out of the way, the gold would be all mine. Then that firefighter caught her trying to get back in, and you had to step in and save the day.” He shot me a poisonous glare.

“You would have let Penny go back into that fire?” I asked, horrified.

“Don’t look so shocked,” Maxwell barked. “I would have let her choke to death from a peanut too. I did what I had to do, don’t you see?”

“And the portrait?” Kip asked desperately. “What has that got to do with anything?”

Maxwell laughed again. “The first clue led to the bone, and once I’d melted that I found the second clue inside with a key.”

“We found it,” I managed, and Maxwell paused with a surprised look on his face. “The second clue, I mean. It was screwed up next to the gorilla mask. We found the tree but the clue was already gone.”

“Another careless mistake,” snapped Maxwell, “but no matter. No harm done in the end. After all, here you are and now I am about to go and take my treasure.” His eyes glistened dangerously.

“Wait!” I said desperately. “What about the final clue? What was hidden beneath the tree?”

In response Maxwell threw his head back, and recited in his best acting voice (by which I mean he recited it very loudly):

“Riddle me three, the last of all,

Pride does come before a fall,

Behind the likeness of this lord

You shall unlock your just reward.”

“The gold’s behind the painting!” Kip yelled.

“Only it’s not,” I said quietly. “Because the painting was moved. The gold is in the great hall, behind the fireplace.”

“Excellent deduction, Miss Pym!” Maxwell sneered. “And of course I have the key that was hidden inside the bone to open the secret door . . . which I am going to do right now.” He moved backwards towards the door.

“Right now?” I squeaked desperately. “In the middle of the day?”

Maxwell smirked. “Of course! The hall is empty for the next hour thanks to your school’s thoroughly well organized timetable of events, and if anyone asks about my presence or my bags I can just tell them I’m sorting out the props for the play. No one will even question the presence of a big star like me. It’s called hiding in plain sight.” Maxwell’s smile was stretched right across his face now. “But I’m afraid this is one performance you three are going to have to miss. By the time anyone even thinks of looking for you, me and my gold will be long gone.”

“You won’t get away with this!” railed Kip, shaking his fist.

Maxwell sneered. “Actually, I rather think I will. One can do an awful lot with a big fortune, you know. Go anywhere, be whoever you like, even forge a new identity. They’ll never find me. For a great actor like myself, nothing could be easier. It will be the role of a lifetime!” He bowed theatrically in the doorway – and stumbled slightly as he straightened up.

With that he let himself out through the door and pushed it closed behind him. We rushed forward, but it was too late. With a chilling click he locked us in. And his echoing footsteps trailed down the staircase into silence.