“What’s on your agenda for tonight?” his mom asks later, while she’s cooking dinner. She sounds suspicious. She lifts the lid off the pot on the stove, and steam rushes up. Three pork chops sizzle in a skillet.
Tyrell shifts and looks at the food on the stove. “I might head down to, um, do some more research on my civics paper around six.” He waves in the general direction of the mansion. His mom would absolutely lose it if she knew Miss Schneider had decided to press charges against him. “I’m going to interview Miss Schneider.”
“The old woman in the mansion?” his dad asks as he sits down at the table. “One of the nurses said she walks around that place in her wedding gown.”
“I think it’s a nightgown,” Tyrell says.
“Interview?” his mom says and stabs the chop with a fork.
“Yeah. I’m hoping she’ll tell me the history of the factory.”
“Really?” Mom’s voice is uncertain. “I thought we were all done with that.”
“Nope. There’s one more thing I need to look into.” Tyrell puts on his jacket. The keys are still somewhere on the second floor. Someone tried to hide them because they opened all of the factory locks, even the chest. One more piece of information and the whole story will come together.
He puts the letter and the ten-dollar bill into his backpack. Then he walks down the lane to the mansion and presses the doorbell. Somewhere deep inside a gong sounds.
The door clicks and opens.
“You?” Miss Schneider says irritably.
“I know what happened.” Tyrell lifts the ten-dollar bill and the yellowed letter.
Miss Schneider closes her eyes and makes a face as if someone has fed her bitter poison. “If you intend to drag my father and the Schneider name through the mud, young man, I suggest you cease and desist.”
“No, that’s not my plan. But there is a mystery here, and I think you want to know what really happened to your friend Helga as much as I do.”
Her mouth forms an O and her hands go to her face.
He steps forward. “So, can we sit?”