She was choking. The invisible grip on her throat had tightened. She gasped and coughed until grasping hands pulled her out of the hole and back into the light of the investigation.
“Leah, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”
The voice was Susan’s; the hands were her father’s. They’d come after her and pulled her from the space in the wall. Paul shook her. She felt her throat open again, and the psychic spell was over.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I saw the bruises on the girl’s throat, much like the others. I was experiencing what happened to her. They were strangled, all of them. But I’m fine now, no worries.”
Paul pulled her into a tight hug, and behind him, she could see something on Cory’s face. Was it concern, relief? What Leah failed to see was the spider that now danced furiously to stay afloat in a web that was slowly slipping away.
* * * *
Cory felt his concern over Leah Leeds rise to a level that surprised even him. He quickly caught himself and battered it down before anyone noticed. Then, he walked over to the gaping black hole and gestured toward the stones scattered on the floor like debris from an unfinished construction project. They were missing pieces of the puzzle, right in front of them.
“So, if these stones were removable,” he said. “Then, there must be others, right?”
They were staring at him, not following his meaning. He decided to approach the subject from a different standpoint. His next question was to Paul and Leah.
“Did you ever find the secret tunnels in this place, or are they just rumored to exist?”
“As far as we know,” Paul said. “None were ever discovered.”
“But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. So, if these stones could be removed to hide bodies, there might be others that are hiding—”
“Secret tunnels or passageways...” Brett finished Cory’s thought.
“Exactly,” Cory said. “If the murders took place down here, then Marlowe may’ve used the tunnels, especially if any of the victims were abducted.”
“That makes perfect sense,” Dylan said. “It would also explain why there were no reports of any strange activity here before the incident in 1970.”
“It might also explain another connection,” Susan said. “If one of these hypothetical tunnels led to anywhere near the woods, it would explain how Sheila Barton’s body got there.”
“But, not why it got there,” Sidney said. “That, unfortunately, is going to have to be revealed in another way. But, I must say, I’m impressed with your headway on this, Mr. Chase. You’re a perfect example of what one can do, if one sets his mind to it.”
Cory couldn’t stand the fat guy anymore. His humor, his sarcasm, his pompous attitude, all were enough to usher him a swift and ceremonious kick in his portly and pretentious ass, but Cory thought better of it. His interest was not with Sidney Pratt right now. Right now, there was a story about to unfold; he could feel it.
“Great,” he said. “So, let’s go look for secret tunnels.”
* * * *
Leah wondered if Cory could be right, and if so, maybe there were bodies hidden inside the secret tunnels that had never been discovered. The police hadn’t found any tunnels, but they weren’t looking for any; they’d narrowed their search to the part of the basement described in her memoir. That’s where they’d found the section of the limestone wall that seemed faulty, out of place, and once the stones were removed, the bodies were found. But that’s where their investigation had ended.
So, Leah and Paul led the way through the endless limestone maze that twisted and turned, where one room led to another, transporting them to different parts of the basement. The team entered room after room, touching and trying to remove certain stones. The stones they zeroed in on were the reverse of jigsaw puzzle pieces that appeared to fit, but didn’t; they would look out of place, but were solid, immoveable pieces, masoned to perfection within the structure.
The team examined corridors, doorways, even areas of the floor with no success. Leah had never been this far into the basement, neither had Paul, who walked at her side throughout.
“Let’s try to stick together as much as possible,” she said. “We can’t afford to get lost down here.”
They’d been actively continuing the search when something caught Leah’s third eye. Certain stones shimmered with a pinkish glow that was not present on others. The scattered auras around the stones made them appear as though they’d been tinted that shade. She walked over to the stones, closed her eyes, and opened them again. The pinkish auras remained.
“Cory, what color is this stone?” Her finger pointed at one in an upper corner, while his blank expression questioned her.
“It’s like a tan, beige-colored limestone like the rest of them, though different from the ones outside.” The tone of his voice, not to mention his observance to detail, seemed to accuse her of overreacting.
“Tahoe, what color is this stone?” Now, she would ask another seer, her finger still pointing to the corner stone. Tahoe stepped forward.
“It’s pinkish, unlike the rest.”
“I knew it!” she said. “Some of these stones are casting auras. I think this one will move, if you try it.”
Cory began to touch the stone in different places.
“She’s right,” he said.
Dylan and Brett rushed over to where Cory stood, and now six hands pushed the stone from different directions. Leah watched in surprise as they moved the stone a few inches, and the rough sound of scraping rock echoed out from the wall. The trio managed to wedge the stone halfway out in a diagonal direction. They stopped and caught their breaths before continuing.
“Ready?” Cory said, as they resumed. “One...two...three...”
A few more gasps and pushes accompanied the sound of the stones scraping together, until finally, the three of them removed the stone and lowered it to the floor. The others heaved in surprise as the three men panted and pulled another stone away.
Ten minutes had passed before they’d finished pulling more stones away from the wall, some of which were indicated by Leah, and quite a few fell away on their own. Soon, they’d created another opening much like the one where the bodies had been hidden. Brett, Dylan, and Sidney shined flashlights into the opening and looked inside.
“There’s a solid stone wall behind this one,” Brett said. “But, I don’t see any bodies.”
Leah felt relief, yet a nagging inner vibe told her that they’d discovered something. Why wall up this space to hide another wall? Just as the thought occurred to her, Brett called out.
“Wait,” he said. “There’s something over here.” He was pointing to where the first removed stone had been. “Inside the wall, it looks like a handle, a grip, or something.”
Leah saw it, a stone handle along the inside wall. Cory stood alongside her and being the taller one, reached upward with his hand. He fidgeted for a moment.
“Can you reach it?” She asked, as he panted in frustration.
“I got it,” he said.
She watched as he pulled, and the hidden, solid stone wall opened, echoing the sound of grating gravel. The wall had inched outward, revealing a hidden doorway behind it. Now, the eight of them stared in disbelief at their latest discovery.
“I can’t believe it,” Leah said.
“My, God...” Her father conveyed her astonishment. After all these years, Cedar Manor exhibited yet another mystery, like the ceaseless outpour of Pandora’s Box.
“It’s a passageway,” Brett said, after stepping closer to inspect the wall.
“I knew it,” Cory said. “I knew one would have to be down here, somewhere.”
“Yes,” Dylan said. “It looks like you’ve really done your homework.”
Leah could hear Dylan’s sarcastic reference to the extent of everything Cory knew. She’d been hoping that things would tone down a bit, especially after everything they’d witnessed tonight; that, and the fact that it was looking more and more like they we
re going to be stranded here because of the snowstorm.
“Come on, let’s get this thing open.” Cory paid Dylan no mind as he motioned to Brett, and the two of them grasped the edge of the heavy stone door, budging it slightly until Cory could wedge himself behind it and push from the other side. Within seconds, they’d pushed the heavy stone portal open, and the grating gravel sound gave way to a loud concrete shudder that groaned through the basement.
A cold wind blew out at them from the once hidden, open doorway.
Again, Leah could only see darkness looming beyond the hidden passageway, much like the opening where the bodies had been hidden. But, this was not just an opening in the wall; this was a passageway that unwound beneath the house to somewhere unknown. Unknown, except to Angus Marlowe, obviously. Now, her eyes glimpsed nothing except darkness and cobwebs that framed the time-forgotten, tomb-like entrance.
They shined their flashlights beyond the doorway, illuminating what looked like an earthen floor and pillars that lined the dark passageway. They stepped inside and were greeted by the smell of dampened earth and kissed by the cold wetness of the underground. Winter’s wicked wrath, outside, felt even closer down here. Leah’s eyes darted in different directions, seeing nothing, while her heart feared what might be down here.
They’d ventured about twenty feet into the passageway when Dylan stopped them.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “We only have four flashlights. This isn’t going to work. We all can’t see this thing through. Some of us have to stay behind and keep watch of the house; otherwise, we run the risk of everyone getting lost or trapped down here.”
Leah knew he was right. She looked over at Paul and noticed how his breathless panting was starting up again. It wasn’t good for him to be down in the basement, let alone, here in this dark, dank passageway. No level of discovery could entice her to leave her father behind.
“Okay,” she said. “Why don’t one of you take my flashlight and I’ll stay here.”
“No,” Dylan said. “We need at least two flashlights in the house. I say two of us follow this passageway, see where it leads, and come right back. The other six of us will wait and continue on in the basement.”
“Why don’t Cory and I go, since we found it,” Brett said. “The rest of you wait for us, and time how long it takes for us to return.”
They all agreed, and Leah and Dylan led the others back into the basement, leaving Brett and Cory behind in the passageway.
* * * *
Brett and Cory continued to walk the length of the passageway as the others moved on back through the hidden door they’d discovered. Brett’s high-powered flashlight illuminated the pillars that rose upward, supporting the great house above it, while Cory concentrated his beam upon the soft, earthen floor beneath them and the unknown route ahead. Brett could see how the stone walls of the passageway were dampened and slicked with a slime that resulted from ages of the underground’s assault.
Deep, dead silence entombed the underground passageway and was penetrated only by a sporadic drip that echoed from a distant leak somewhere beneath the house. Then, the sound of scurrying feet caused Brett to shine his flashlight to the ground below.
“Rats! Watch out!”
A family of brown rats scattered left and right beneath the bright whiteness that invaded their private gathering. Under the beaming white, they both watched as furry tails flapped beneath scurrying behinds that ran for cover.
“Wow,” Cory said. “We just missed walking into them.”
Brett didn’t answer as they continued to walk. He could feel the stress of the past few days starting to mount within him, not so much over Leah’s situation, but his own. He could feel the beginning stages of a phase unfolding within him. It would be time soon.
But at this moment, he had only two things on his mind. The first was to find out where this passageway beneath Cedar Manor led; the second was to confront Cory with the fact that he knew all about him hacking into their system and would prove it. Now that they were alone, he felt it was the right time to burst his arrogant bubble. But first, he would wait until they discovered exactly where they were going.
Suddenly, the passageway turned to a sharp right.
“We’re turning right,” he said. “We have to turn left on the way back. Remember that.”
“I won’t have any problem with that,” Cory said, mysteriously.
They’d been walking almost twenty minutes now, exchanging only brief observations of their surroundings. Then, both of their flashlights showcased what looked like a narrow and rounded shaft or hole within the wall ahead of them. They stopped and examined it under the powerful beams.
“Now, that looks more like a tunnel,” Cory said.
“Yeah, but where does it go? We could get trapped in there.”
The sound of the fierce winter wind could be heard now. A rush of cold air washed over them as they came closer. A thought dawned on Brett.
“I think this leads to somewhere outside,” he said.
“Let’s climb through it and see.” Cory’s voice was urging.
Brett crawled through first, horizontally on his stomach, and Cory followed behind. On their hands and knees they scurried up the shaft, much like the rats they’d chased away earlier. Brett could feel the fresh, cold air coming closer. It wouldn’t be much farther.
As Brett reached the end of the shaft, he realized that something was barricading the opposite end. He pushed and punched at whatever covered the circular opening.
“There’s something blocking the other end,” he said.
“Well, keep trying. Maybe whatever it is will give way.”
He kept punching, pushing at whatever it was on the other side. It was moving. He laid his hands flat on whatever it was and pushed as hard as he could. Then, the opposite end of the shaft was free as the obstruction made a popping sound and dropped with a thud to the ground.
A gust of cold air swept through the shaft, somewhat of a relief as it broke the puddle of sweat that had formed on his forehead. He pushed himself through and crawled out to the wooded ground below. Cory followed behind him, and now they stood somewhere in the woods, facing an old, corroded cylinder pipe. It was broad in width, but its length was limited to the point where it connected with the underground shaft that led into the basement of Cedar Manor. The pipe had been sealed, that is, until Brett had unsealed it.
“What the hell is that thing?” Cory said.
“I don’t know. It looks like a huge drainpipe, but it can’t be.” Brett had seen something like it before on a fishing trip, but had never understood what it was. “It may have been some early part of the house’s construction. It may have been used in some type of mining operation, but this isn’t the old mining section of town.”
Brett was certain of that, looking around at the abundance of towering spruces and maples that surrounded them. The woods captured the wintry scene with magnificent splendor as trees collected armfuls of mounting snow within their branches. Showers of soft white with the faintest tinge of midnight-blue blessed the forested area with their falling. The wind had died down to a brief, soft silence. Brett took a moment to behold the breathtaking view.
“Where are we?” Cory said.
“We’re in the woods off of route one-nineteen, about a mile from Cedar Drive.”
“So, this pipe is how one of the bodies ended up here?”
Cory’s voice expressed an unconvinced skepticism.
“We can’t be sure,” Brett said. “This may or may not be the location, and secondly, how would one anyone drag a body through that shaft? If it is how, I doubt we’ll ever know why.”
“Interesting,” Cory said, ogling the pipe, his eyes squinting. By the look on Cory’s face, Brett could almost see the thoughts dancing around his head. He felt that now was the time.
“Listen,” he said. “Now that we’re alone, there’s something I need you to know.”
“And that is?” Cory said, turning a
way from the pipe.
“I know you hacked into our system at the university. I even discovered the gateway you used, you know, the Geological forum website?” Brett watched Cory’s face at the slight bluff. Brett hadn’t time to fully investigate the site yet, but the drop of Cory’s jaw line confirmed what he’d already suspected. He also told him about the trail that he’d uncovered, rambling on about his immense expertise in computer technology. Then, he dropped the bomb about the laptop.
Cory’s silence told him that he’d got the point.
“So, let me make myself clear, Mr. Chase,” Brett said. “You will not print, or mention one word about Roman Hadley, or his real identity. The same goes for Tracy Kimball. Computer hacking is both a state and federal crime, one that comes with a heavy price.
“If you choose to write a story about the murders that took place in Cedar Manor, that’s between you and Leah. But, if I ever trace any mentions of those two people back to you, I’ll nail you to the wall, understood?”
Cory kept staring at Brett in what looked like defeat. He sighed.
“Understood,” he said, in a quiet voice.
“Great,” Brett said, checking the GPS on his smart phone. “Now that I’ve logged our location, it’s time to get back to the basement.” Brett motioned to the pipe. “You go first.”
Cory crawled through first this time, and Brett followed.
Chapter Eighteen
“There’s something I haven’t had the chance to tell you.” Sidney alerted Leah once the six of them had returned through the passageway and back into the basement. “I had an episode in the drawing room, while you were down here with the guys. The women that were killed here, they zeroed in on me and spoke. I heard their voices.”
She’d wondered why he and the others had rushed to the basement so abruptly.
“What happened?” she said.
“I was showing your father the book and these words in Latin.”
Sidney opened the black book and pointed to the words.
“Porta ut Abyssus,” he said. “According to your father, it means ‘gateway to hell.’”
The Third Eye of Leah Leeds Page 21
