“Do you know where you’re going?” Merlene asked, quietly.
“Does it look like I know?” I evenly replied.
“Well, you’re surely taking long enough to get there! Hurry up!”
I stopped in my tracks and spun around to her. “Look, Merlene Bostwick—I am going as quickly as I can. Let me warn you, sister, if you tell me to hurry up one more time, I’m going to lose all my religion on you just long enough to plant my foot up your...”
“Lucille! There you go again with your violent threats. Get a hold of yourself! Must we argue even in the process of committing a crime? Have you no class or common sense?”
“Class? What’s so classy about us being here in the first place? Class has nothing to do with it. You can accuse me of not having common sense, Merlene, but never accuse me of having no class. How dare you?”
“Okay, okay, Queen Elizabeth. Let’s just get a move on. Shall we?”
I took a deep breath in… exhaled, then proceeded down the hallway, trying to prevent myself from following through with my most recent threat. Merlene was getting on my nerves. I was nervous enough as it was just being there. I didn’t need her adding to my anxiety.
By the time we got to the bedroom, Sir Clement was nowhere in sight, but I had an inkling he hadn’t gone far.
“The bedroom, like the rest of the house we’d seen so far was neat and beautifully decorated. A tannish quilt covered the bed which was at least three feet off the floor, and a short step ladder was parked next to it. Luke was about five feet nine inches tall, so I suppose he needed the mini-ladder to get up there on that nice, comfortable-looking bed.
A dresser stood diagonally at the left side of the bed and a tall, six-drawer bureau sat at the right. A long, peach couch was in between. The gold, thick embroidered curtains hung all the way down to the carpet and single-handedly gave the room a magnificent appearance.
“This place is fit for royalty,” Merlene whispered.
“I guess, considering that rich heritage Luke has, it suits him perfectly,” I replied. “Sir Clement was like royalty in these parts. Do you remember that?”
“Surely do.”
“Let’s get to work. You check the closets and I’ll check the drawers,” I told her.
She went straight to work as I sat on the bed.
“What are you doing?” She looked at me with that crazy gaze of hers.
“What? Did you think I’d be going through drawers one by one as if depending on these eyes to guide me? I’m waiting here to envision what’s inside of them.”
“By the time you actually envision what’s inside, I would’ve already searched them myself. You always find a way to duck work, don’t you?” She rummaged through the closet angrily.
If I answered her, my name isn’t Lucille.
It was a few moments later when I saw the contents of the drawers in the nightstand. I realized there and then that I was able to do this on my own, as opposed to how it normally worked where the concealed areas just randomly appeared to me. Well, maybe I can’t thank myself. It most likely had to do with the genie Sir Clement, but in any event, I felt I had graduated from being completely feeble when it came to my inner sight to having at least a bit of control, however temporary it might have been.
It took a while longer than I’d hoped to go through the stack full of documents Luke had in the bottom drawer of his nightstand. They were mostly bills and invoices that he’d kept from at least two years earlier. Merlene had moved on to the tall bureau. By the time, she’d gotten to the dresser, I’d finished perusing the contents of the nightstand and had checked under the mattress where I was sitting. I knew people kept some very important things under their mattresses.
“Found anything?” I asked her.
“Nothing,” she replied with a tinge of disappointment. She stood with her hands at her waist; eyes darting around the room.
“This house is huge. Where are we going to look next and how will we get all of this searching done?” We just started and she already seemed frustrated. “This sort of thing requires a crew of people.”
“So, do you want us to go and find that crew, then come back?” I asked, dryly.
“Seriously, Lucille—this feels like such a task. Are you sure you checked that nightstand properly? Should I recheck?”
I shook my head. “You’d just be wasting time. I went through those documents with a fine tooth comb.”
“Yeah. I believe you.” She sighed.
As I stood up, Nilla ran into the room and over to the closet, sniffing.
“No luck, huh, Nilla?” I asked. “Don’t worry. We’re not giving up. We’ve only just begun.”
We went into every room on that floor and searched as quickly and as thoroughly as we could, without any luck.
“Well, this was a waste of time,” Merlene muttered as we walked back into the hallway. “Guess we should’ve started downstairs first.”
“No...” I replied, softly. “Whatever there is to find is up here somewhere; otherwise Sir Clement would not have been standing where I saw him. There’s a reason for everything he does. Somehow, we missed something in that master bedroom.”
“So, you’re saying we gotta go back in there?”
“Yes.”
“This is ridiculous!”
Nilla had already disappeared to another section of the house before we headed back to Luke’s room.
Suddenly, we heard a sound.
“What’s that?” Merlene whispered.
“Sounded like something fell,” I said. “It wasn’t loud, so maybe Nilla got into something she shouldn’t have downstairs.”
“I’ll go check,” she quietly hurried off.
As I re-entered the bedroom, I had no clue where to start. I felt we were going around in circles, but relating that to Merlene would’ve only made my time with her more challenging than it already was.
I stood next to the bed, then sauntered over to the back of the couch. It was a really pretty chair. It had those skinny, mahogany decorative arms and almost looked too good to sit in. In the back of my mind, I worried what Merlene might have come across downstairs, but I convinced myself it had to be unimportant since she hadn’t screamed by now and Nilla hadn’t barked. Sighing, I went against my better judgment and sat on that nice pretty, peach chair. I needed to sit and think a while and hopefully I’d find whatever it was I was looking for. My derriere was pleased by the cushiony softness that welcomed it. Luke surely had fine taste—just like his grand-uncle. I wondered how much he’d paid for that chair because I could’ve surely used one just like it at home. I was in no hurry to spend the half a million Donnie had left me through his insurance that Merlene almost caused me to lose, but I did believe in investing in myself when it made good sense. Resting my hand on the arm of the chair, I felt something against my fingers as they touched the underside. The texture wasn’t the same as the wood, and feeling it some more and now seeing what it was inwardly, my instinct was to press the three inch steel, rectangular button. Immediately, I heard a heavy rolling sound and had a flash of the wall separating and exposing another room, though tiny, adjacent to this one.
I stood up at once and headed in the direction of the opening.
“What the hell is that?” Merlene entered the room.
“I don’t know. What did you find downstairs?” I asked.
“Nothing. It was nothing.” Her eyes were glued straight ahead as she also made her way over to the hidden room.
Inside was the filing cabinet I’d seen when we first entered the house.
“My God!” Merlene quietly exclaimed. “It’s a secret room! And the only thing in it is a filing cabinet.”
“Yeah. I kind of saw that. I’ll take the first two drawers and you take the last three.”
I slid my hand along the top of the dusty cabinet, not because I expected anything psychically to happen since I’m not a psychic, but I wanted to make sure what I was seeing was, in fact, real. I’d never he
ard of anyone putting a filing cabinet in a secret room behind their wall before. Shucks! I’d never even heard of anyone in real life having a secret room such as this.
“How is that fair, Lucille?” Merlene asked.
“I knew you were going to complain. If it makes you feel better, I’ll take the first three and you take the last two.” I left the room and walked back into the master bedroom.
“Never mind,” Merlene started as I sat on the couch again. If I had a choice to work without having to stand up, I was taking that route.
“I knew you might come to your senses,” I told her. “After all, you’re younger than I am, so I shouldn’t have to work as hard.”
She sucked her teeth and we got busy.
4
_________________
It didn’t take me long to find it—a title deed dated June 10, 1983 made out in the name of Harry James Tucker. And there were others. Somehow, when I found that first document, I knew it was what I’d been searching for all along. I brushed against Merlene, reached toward the back of the top drawer and pulled out four files that had been placed at the very back.
“You found something?” Merlene asked, getting up from her crouched position.
“Yeah. Let’s take a look at these.”
We sat on the couch together and she looked through the files as I continued perusing the others inwardly that I’d only glanced at already.
“There’s a deed here in the name of that Harry James Tucker you mentioned,” Merlene indicated. “Dated 1983, for five hundred and forty acres of land, including Harriet’s Cove and Burton Shores just adjacent to this neighborhood.”
“According to the deed dated much earlier than that one, Sir Clement was owner of the same property,” I added. “He’d purchased it from Thurgood Solomon and before that, it was government land.”
“Right. According to Harry Tucker’s deed, he acquired it through probate after the death of his brother. And yet this other deed I’m holding shows a transference of title from Harry to Tony Brawn dated April 5th, 1985—less than two years after Harry inherited it.”
“I smell something fishy,” I told her.
“I do too.”
“What was Harry to Luke? His uncle?” Merlene asked.
“His grand-uncle. Luke’s father was Stuart Tucker.”
“I can’t wrap my head around this right now. I’m just too anxious. We have to get out of here. Do you think this is what we needed to find?”
“I think so. You didn’t come across anything suspicious or should I say, interesting during your search?” I asked.
“Nothing at all. A lot of files containing Luke’s business dealings with some London corporations mainly. There aren’t a lot of files in there. If you want, I can go through the last few just to tie the loose ends,” Merlene said.
I agreed that she should. The drawers I checked also had very few files in them and I had a strong feeling that the deeds were Luke’s main motivation for hiding away that cabinet. I soon envisioned something, and immediately went over and pulled open the same top drawer where I’d retrieved the files. At the very back, taped on the roof of the inside cabinet, was one more file—a very thin one, the content of which weren’t clear to me at all and I wondered why.
Just then, we heard the sound of tires rolling over gravel and I could tell Merlene heard it too by the way she stopped and looked at me.
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“Yeah. He’s probably here. Let’s take these files and get the hell out of here! I’ve got to find Nilla!”
“Close this room how you met it and I’ll go get Nilla,” Merlene said.
“Hurry!” I whispered loudly as I went over to the couch and pressed the button again. It worked like a charm. Almost magically, the wall turned inside out and was sealed as if nothing was there, closing off access to the room.
I grabbed the files, shoved them under my blouse and headed out into the hallway to find Merlene and Nilla. I heard a door creak open and soon saw in my mind’s eye the light blue station wagon parked next to the concrete shed. The man walking toward the trunk of the car was not Luke Tucker, but someone I’d never seen before. He looked to be in his fifties; was slightly taller than Luke, and had white hair and a triangular-shaped beard.
What he got out of his trunk caused my heart to drop. It was Luke Tucker. He appeared unconscious or...dead. He dragged him into the shed.
As I was hurrying down the staircase, Merlene was at the foot of it saying: “I can’t find Nilla! I don’t know where she is!”
“We’ve got to find her now!” I cried.
“Nilla!” I quietly called. “Nilla, come to Mama.”
Just as we’d crossed the doorway of the side door from which we entered, inwardly, I saw the man approaching that very door.
“Quickly, we’ve got to hide! He’s coming inside. Nilla! Nilla!” I whispered again, but she was still nowhere in sight.
I spotted what appeared to be a laundry room a few feet away. We had to get there; common sense told me I’d be no use to Nilla if I were dead. If I knew my dog, she’d find us. Merlene and I tiptoed inside and shut the door behind us. Then moments later, I heard Nilla barking. She must’ve seen him! But where was she when we were trying to find her? I gasped, hoping she wouldn’t be in harm’s way.
“She must’ve spotted a roach or something that kept her attention,” I whispered to Merlene.
“Be quiet, Lucille. Now’s not the time! What if he hurts Nilla?” she replied, fearfully.
“He won’t hurt her; he doesn’t have a reason to. Either way, he’ll have to get through me first.”
“Well, what do we have here?” I heard the man ask. “Are you supposed to be Luke’s big, guard dog?”
Nilla growled at him and I bit on my lip as Merlene squeezed my hand.
We heard his footsteps, but now I couldn’t see his movements.
“Damned vision!” I muttered.
“Shut up!” Merlene barked.
Suddenly, we heard scratching on the other side of our locked door.
It was Nilla! She knew we were in there!
I cracked the door open just widely enough to let her in, then locked it again. I scooped her up and we sat in a corner of the room just below the window.
We now heard the man’s footsteps above us. He was obviously on the second floor. Then there were some other noises, such as drawers being slid in and out and objects tossed around.
“What do you think he’s doing?” Merlene whispered.
“Wait! Didn’t you just tell me to shut up? Why are you talking?”
“Okay, I’m sorry, but I didn’t want you getting us caught,” she said.
“Caught or killed, you mean?”
She looked at me suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”
I leaned in closer so that I wouldn’t have to whisper as loudly. “I saw him take Luke Tucker into the shed.”
She grimaced. “What do you mean?”
“Just as I said! He took Luke into the shed outside. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead.”
Merlene was stunned silent. In a way it was a good thing, but I knew the silence wouldn’t last.
“So, there’s a possibility that the man who’s in this house with us is a killer?” she soon asked.
“Quite possibly. I can’t think of a good reason he’d put a man in the shed who was clearly unconscious—hopefully, not permanently unconscious.”
“See—I knew we shouldn’t have come here!” Merlene’s voice quavered. “It was a bad idea. We don’t just stand the chance of getting caught; we could be killed!”
“Calm down, Merlene. You shouldn’t be getting excited.”
“Excited? Excited?” She had a crazed look in her eyes. “Why did I listen to you? Every time I listen to your so-called wise ideas, I find myself in hot water!”
“Not true!” I protested. “You know it’s the other way around.”
“How can you say that?”
“Don’t make me remind you of how you caused me to get kidnapped and almost killed because you were a blabbermouth. Worse than that, you caused Nilla to be tossed across my living room by a hardened criminal!”
She was suddenly quiet. I knew that brutal reminder would’ve shut her up. But the silence didn’t last.
“I don’t hear his footsteps anymore,” she said. “Where is he?”
“Wish I knew.”
“You mean...you can’t see him?”
“No, I can’t! I can’t see everything! I’m not psychic, remember?”
“I think we should make a run for it.”
“Not knowing where he is? Too risky,” I told her.
“We can’t stay cooped up in here. Suppose this is his next stop?”
She might have had a point and it was definitely a disturbing prospect. We listened for a few moments to see if we would hear his movements.
I gripped her hand. “Are you ready to do this?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“We have to be very quiet.”
“I know. I just wanna get out of here.”
“You and me both,” I said.
With Nilla in my protective embrace, we snuck toward the door. Merlene unlocked it and peeped outside, then she stepped out.
I could see her gesturing for me to come out. I wonder how she knew I’d see it. Her instincts must be pretty good. I hated the fact that I couldn’t see where he was. I could clearly view things in close proximity like the living room and even what looked like a TV or game room behind the adjacent wall.
“Can you see where you’re going?” she asked.
“Yes, I can.”
“Instead of going out where we came in since his car is parked out there, let’s try the front door. We’d be closer to where the gate is,” she whispered.
“Good idea!” I agreed.
We moved surreptitiously through the large living room and I could see that shiny red door in sight several feet away. I felt like I was escaping incarceration after decades behind bars. The sunlight peering inside through the curtains gave me further hope that Nilla and I—and possibly Merlene—would return to life as we’d known it and this harrowing ordeal would be over. I was so proud of Nilla; she had remained quiet the entire time since she’d entered the laundry room with us. She must’ve known she’d be getting a treat when he got home for being such a good girl and for standing up to that guy after he came inside the house.
Lucille Pfiffer Mystery Series Box Set Page 22
