Case of the Abandoned Bones, page 17
My eyes widened as I realized Jillian was pulling out all the stops. Then, they widened even further as I saw her tap the hands-free option, so that the two of us could hear the conversation.
“Jillian! So sweet of you to call. What can I do for you, my dear?”
“Debra, are you familiar with the historic houses here in town?”
“I am. I’m the one who granted permission for you to purchase Highland House, remember? What can I do for you? Are you interested in another historic house?”
“In a fashion,” Jillian admitted. “I need to be able to see inside Windsor House, Center House, and Garden House. Is there any way you could give me permission to do so?”
“Windsor, Center, and Garden. Let me think.”
“We were interested in their construction, and just wanted a chance to look around.”
“I’m sorry, Jillian, dear, but those houses are treasures in the eyes of PV. I can’t authorize anyone to enter those houses who don’t own them.”
I made a quick slashing motion across my throat. Jillian immediately muted the call.
“What is it?” she worriedly asked.
“Why were you allowed to purchase Highland House?”
“Well, the city needed the money, I believe.”
“And does it now?”
“What, need money? What city doesn’t?”
I pointedly looked at the list of house names Jillian was holding and cocked my head. Then, to seal the deal, I gave her a goofy smile. Comprehension dawned. Jillian leaned forward to unmute the call.
“Debra, what if we were to buy those three houses?”
Dottie’s eyes opened wide with shock.
“What was that, my dear?”
“What if I do to those three houses what I did to Highland House?”
“Are you telling me you’d restore those three wonderful houses to their full glory just so you would be able to inspect them up close?”
Jillian nodded, “I would, yes.”
“Well, you certainly don’t mess around, do you?”
Jillian smiled. “I try not to, ma’am.”
“Can I put you on hold?”
“Of course.”
“I’m sorry,” I immediately apologized. “I should have asked you first. I know this is going to be expensive.”
“I can handle it, Zachary. I’ll be more than happy to do this for the city.”
“Just to look for a lost gold mine?”
“Well, there’s that, but to me, this feels like the right thing to do.”
“You know I’ll help.”
“Thank you, Zachary. That’s very sweet of you, but I can handle this.”
“You take Windsor and Center,” I continued, ignoring her protest, “and I’ll take the last one. Garden, I think I heard you say.”
“Really, I’ll be just fine handling all three by myself.”
I looked over at Dottie. “Wasn’t that nice of her? Allowing me to take one of the restorations while she handles the other two?”
“But… but she didn’t say it was okay!” Dottie sputtered.
I turned back to Jillian. “It’s settled. You’ll get two, and I’ll get one.”
Jillian awarded me her million-dollar-smile and simply shook her head. “And that’s why I…”
“Okay, I’m back.”
“…love you, Zachary,” Jillian finished.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Jillian’s face reddened. “I’m sorry, ma’am. My fiancé was just telling me how, should you approve my request, he’ll handle one of the restorations while I handle the other two.”
“That’s right, I had heard you were engaged. Congratulations, my dear! Who’s the lucky man? Did you say his name was Zachary?”
“That’s right, ma’am. Zachary Anderson. He’s the owner of Lentari Cellars.”
“And that’s why I know the name,” Mayor Campbell chuckled. “Very well, my dear. Provided neither you nor your fiancé have plans to… what do they call it? ‘Flip’ the house? As long as you don’t plan on reselling them for a large markup, consider them yours.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Debra. Umm, can I ask where we can go to pick up keys?”
“Stop by my office. I’ll have my assistant pull the keys for you.”
“Thank you, Debra.”
“No, thank you, Ms. Cooper. Tell your fiancé Pomme Valley thanks you for all your work. I look forward to meeting him at the wedding.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
“You have picked a date, have you not?”
“I, er…”
“I’m just teasing you, my dear. I look forward to meeting your lucky man.”
My eyes widened and I nudged Jillian, grinning like a fool as I did so. She smiled, shook her head, and held a finger to her lips.
“I do, too. Again, thank you very much.”
Once the call was over, Jillian and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Well, that was certainly one way to get permission.
“I don’t believe you two!” Dottie exclaimed. “Did I hear that right? You guys have to renovate three old houses now? Do you know how much money that’s going to cost?”
Both of us nodded.
“Wow. I think I’m in the wrong line of work.”
I was about ready to crack a joke when my eyes fell upon Jillian’s napkin. Wordlessly, I picked it up and stared at the names.
“What is it?” Jillian asked, concerned.
“I don’t believe it. I think I figured it out.”
“You’ve figured what out?” Dottie asked.
I looked up and smiled at both of them. “Oh, this is making so much more sense now! I know where it is. I know where to find Red Dawg’s lost mine!”
ELEVEN
“What is starting to make so much more sense now?” Jillian asked, confused.
I looked back at my two dogs (in the mirror) and shook my head. “Guys? I have no idea how you do it. I owe you guys a trip to the pet store so you can get your favorite treats.”
“What’s going on?” Dottie asked.
“I’m honestly surprised I didn’t notice any of this earlier,” I offered, by way of explanation.
Jillian smiled. “Would you care to share, Professor?”
I handed my fiancé the napkin she had taken notes on and grinned. “What’s the common denominator with the pictures taken at the hardware store and the ones taken at your place? With that in mind, look at the names of the houses and tell me what you think.”
Jillian’s lovely face looked down at the napkin she was holding and, just like that, her face lit up. She turned to the two dogs, currently sitting in the back seat with Dottie, and ruffled their fur. “Aren’t you two the smartest doggies in the whole world?”
I think Sherlock drooled, while Watson wriggled with excitement. The reason I know this is that Jillian immediately went for the napkin supply, stored in the glovebox.
“Heap the praise, expect the drool,” I chuckled. “And, for the record, I think I should have been able to figure this out a long time ago, too. Well, by ‘long’, I mean four or five days ago.”
“What’d I miss?” Dottie asked, confused. “Zachary takes one look at your napkin and announces he knows where we need to look? How? Where are we going?”
“Show her my phone, and the pictures,” I said, as I turned onto Main Street. We had just picked up the keys to all three of our new “houses” and were now on our way to what I had hoped would be the house which had been hiding the mine for over a hundred years.
“That’d be too hard,” Jillian informed me. “Let me sum it up. Dottie, these two dogs have the ability to zero in on clues that aren’t apparent to everyone else. For example, several days ago, when Zachary and I were in the hardware store. Sherlock and Watson stopped at a display of plants.”
“Plants in a hardware store isn’t too surprising,” Dottie wryly stated.
“True,” Jillian said, nodding. “But, these plants were seedlings; young herb plants. I know, because I went back and zoomed in on the picture. Dill, rosemary, thyme, and so on.”
“What does that have to do with…?”
“Let me finish. After the seedlings, the corgis then pulled Zachary over to a display of seeds. This time, they were all vegetables.”
“I’m still not following,” Dottie helplessly stated.
“A day or so later, Sherlock and Watson then wanted to go outside, at my house, and check out my new greenhouse. What do I have in there? The same thing: plants intended for my garden.”
Dottie looked over at me and gave me a pleading look. “I’m feeling so dumb right now. Please tell me, what am I missing?”
“Garden,” I repeated. “The dogs have expressed interest in all things ‘garden’.”
“So?”
Jillian handed Dottie the napkin on which she had taken notes. “Of the ten historic houses in Pomme Valley, these are the ones we think could be hiding the mine. Look at the names. Do you see anything that jumps out at you?”
“Garden!” Dottie breathed, growing excited. “One of the houses is Garden House. Isn’t that the one Zachary will be renovating?”
Jillian nodded, “Exactly. We think the mine is hidden inside that house.”
Amazed, Dottie glanced over at Sherlock, who had to have the smuggest look I have ever seen on his face. He was panting contentedly, his mouth was open, and he had his long tongue flopped out. Watson was resting – Sphinx-like – on the seat beside him.
“What I don’t understand,” Jillian continued, as she twisted back around in her seat to face forward, “is how the other pictures fit in. For instance, why is that small yellow car significant? Or the pictures of the book displays in Clara’s store?”
I shrugged, “I don’t think we’re going to know until this case is over, once and for all. That is, unless you know someone who drives a super-small, yellow hatchback?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t,” Jillian confessed.
“I don’t, either,” Dottie confirmed.
“What about books?” I continued, as I looked at Dottie in my rearview mirror. “You’ve seen your mother’s store. I mean, it’s a book store, for crying out loud. Do you have any idea why the dogs would have stopped at those four displays?”
Dottie sadly shook her head. “I don’t. I don’t even know which four you’re talking about. Mom had displays everywhere you looked in that little store. Plus, she had all kinds of things on them. Listen, I have a question for you.”
“Fire away,” I told her, as I navigated around a slow-moving station wagon.
“Since you’re investigating my mother’s death, I gotta know something.” Dottie took a deep breath. “Have you found any leads about my grandfather? I guess what I’m asking is, do you have any idea why he was found on your winery? Are there any suspects?”
I sighed and shook my head. “Not yet. Give them some time. I’m sure they can figure it out.”
Dottie offered each of the dogs a pat before turning to the window to watch the passing scenery. Ten minutes later, we pulled into the driveway of Garden House. As we all exited the car, and the dogs were placed on the ground, we got a closer look at the third oldest house in Pomme Valley.
“It’s an eye-sore,” I grumbled, as I took in the cracked driveway, broken curbs, and explosive growth of weeds. “I thought it was a PoS then, and now that I see it up close? I think it’s a bigger PoS.”
The house had definitely seen better days.
The single-story structure sat back from the road by nearly 50 feet. It’s windows had long been boarded up, the mailbox was missing, and the post it had been sitting on remained splintered and missing its top third. Siding had been stripped away in places, revealing the framing within the walls. And the roof? Hoo, boy. I’m pretty sure that, whenever it would rain around here, the insides of the house would get thoroughly rinsed.
I was responsible for renovating this place? It’d be easier (and probably cheaper) to simply raze everything to the ground and start over. However, I have this sneaky suspicion that there was going to be no easy way out for me. The city wanted that house restored to its full glory. Well, so be it.
Jillian handed me the key ring as we stepped up to the front door. It was locked? Based on how the door was hanging on its frame, I’ll bet I could simply push the door open. Tempting, but no.
Once the door was open, we carefully stepped inside. I say carefully, because there were holes in the floor. Everywhere. Visible through the broken floorboards was dirt, dirt, and more dirt. It also looked as though several animals had been using the house, since I could see some type of animal dung scattered along the exposed ground.
“Let’s make sure the dogs don’t go anywhere near that,” I said, as I turned to look at Jillian. “Looks like we have some type of animal poo over there, by the fireplace.”
“As long as the animals aren’t still in here,” Dottie nervously said.
“Agreed,” Jillian added, as she wrapped the leash around her hand, thus reducing the slack. “Well, it’s not as bad as I had thought.”
“No?” I sputtered, as I turned to look at my fiancé. “I think it’s several times worse, in my opinion. Look up. You can see patches of the sky through the roof.”
“A new roof will take care of that,” Jillian decided.
“And the floor? There’s clearly no foundation.”
“Which can be remedied,” Jillian said, as she and Watson carefully stepped around a broken patch of wooden floorboards.
We were standing in the living room, which also served as the dining room. The house’s heating system sat in the far corner and consisted of one super-rusty, wood-burning stove. As we walked around the room, I could tell the walls had originally been papered, only thanks to whatever had been living in here for the past century or so, most of it had now been reduced to hanging strips. Right on cue, a breeze whipped up outside, which sent the aforementioned strips fluttering in the breeze inside.
I saw an open doorway on my right, which after peering through it, revealed a tiny bedroom. No furniture was present, unless you counted the smashed bits of wood heaped in the far corner. Also, several sections of the floor had been torn away, but I’m assuming humans were to blame, seeing how I could make out the remnants of a hearth. I figured this ramshackle house must have been home to a group of homeless people, and that they were probably just trying to stay warm.
I should also mention I didn’t see a bathroom anywhere, let alone see any pipes, which would suggest running water. This renovation was going to be an absolute bear to take on. Thankfully, that’s what contractors are for.
“Not very homey, is it?” Jillian said, as she steered Watson around yet another broken section of floor.
“Any idea where we’re supposed to go in here?” Dottie asked. She stepped around Jillian to stop at the nearest patch of bare earth. “I guess that means the ‘pit mine theory’ is out.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I admitted. “I guess I thought the house was built up and over the mine. This place isn’t that big. If this house was sitting over a mine, then I’m pretty sure we’d be able to see it. Besides, there are holes everywhere. Damn. This place couldn’t be the right one.”
Right then, I felt the leash go taut. Looking down at Sherlock, I saw that the inquisitive corgi was looking at the fireplace. Shrugging, I started heading to the northwestern corner of the house, intent on inspecting the fireplace up close, when Sherlock veered to the right and, instead, led me to the far corner. The floorboards were intact here, which was a nice change. No jump-stepping across any holes, thank you very much. But, no sooner had I turned to check on Jillian when I heard Sherlock let out a low woof.
“What is it?” I asked, as I dropped my voice down low and squatted, so I could drape an arm around the tri-colored corgi.. “Do you hear something?”
In response, Sherlock dropped his nose to the ground and sniffed along the base of the wall. He only made it a few feet or so, when he gave a loud snort, and turned around. He sniffed in the opposite direction for about the same distance when he stopped again, made a 90° turn to the left, and started over. In this manner, I watched the little corgi outline a 4’x4’ square. Looking up at me, Sherlock paused, head-tilted me, and then sat.
“What’s he doing?” Dottie asked.
“He’s found something,” Jillian excitedly exclaimed. “Zachary, is there something on the ground?”
“Well, there’s no animal poo,” I reported, as I squatted again. “That’s always a plus. Hmm, I don’t see anything that stands out. It’s nothing but floorboards. Let me try something. Dottie? Would you take Sherlock?”
“Of course.”
Squatting low, I ran my hands along the lines Sherlock had sniffed out. It might not have looked any different, but it felt it. Somehow, these boards in the square Sherlock had outlined for me felt rougher; coarser. It was almost as if the surface of the boards were more scuffed up than the rest of the flooring.
I pulled my handy-dandy multi-tool from my belt and unfolded the pliers.
“Do you see something?” Jillian hopefully asked.
“Possibly. Hold on to that thought. Let’s see… well, well. Would you look at that? This piece is lifting up. Actually, so is this one. And this one. Damned if this doesn’t look like a big wooden jigsaw puzzle. Let me clear it out of the way.”
Less than two minutes later, with the pieces of the flooring stacked in a neat pile nearby, Sherlock’s discovery became apparent to the rest of us: a concealed trapdoor.
“Good job, boy!”
Sherlock’s mouth opened, and he started panting. Watson approached and nuzzled his side, as if to offer congratulations.
Opening the trapdoor revealed a pitch-black hole, with the upper rungs of a wooden ladder visible.
Jillian handed Watson’s leash to Dottie. “I’ll be right back. I just so happen to have a flashlight in my car.”
“Do you guys do this type of thing all the time?” Dottie asked, as she offered me a grin.
“More than you’d think,” I acknowledged, returning the smile. “Whenever these two are concerned, the sky’s the limit.”
