Cluttered Attic Secrets (Tina Tales) Read online

  “Hey.” He searched her face. “You need to sit down. I’ll order.”

  When they turned around, Michele stood directly behind them.

  At Hank’s thunderous expression, she said, “What? Can’t a gal get a sandwich?” She looked at Tina. “What did you do to your girlfriend? She looks as if you ran her over with your Jaguar.”

  Hank sighed. “I don’t know what you expect to accomplish by this, Michele.” He took Tina’s arm. “You need to sit down.”

  “You’ll lose your place in line.” Michele smirked at them, but Hank ignored her, and Tina was too tired to think of a snappy comeback.

  Hank picked a table as far away from the counter as he could. “Just rest. I’ll come back after I order.”

  She nodded. Wished she could put her head on the table and take a nap. She didn’t even watch to see if Michele said anything more to Hank when he got back in line behind her.

  The next thing Tina remembered was Hank and Laura helping her upstairs to her bedroom. Hank left and Laura helped her undress. She fell back asleep as her mother covered her with a quilt.

  ***

  Tina came awake slowly the next morning, disoriented, and lay still for a while, thinking about what had happened the night before. She was upset because she didn’t get to talk to Hank at his house. He may have changed his mind about telling her what she wanted to know about his work in New York. Lethargically, she got ready for the day. She pulled on jeans, a pale blue sweatshirt, her Bean boots, and walked down the back stairs into the kitchen.

  Uncle Bob sat reading the newspaper, mug of coffee at hand, and Princess at his feet. He didn’t hear her come in, so Princess stood up and nudged his thigh.

  “Kumquat. You okay?”

  Tina nodded. “Will be when I get some java.” Coffee fixed the way she liked it, she settled into her usual chair.

  “What happened after you left us yesterday?”

  She told him, leaving out the part about Michele. When Laura came down as Tina was finishing, she had to start all over again.

  “I know who Mindy O’Brien is, of course,” Laura said. “Met her husband once or twice. By the way, Hank brought in your tuna sandwich with you last night. It’s in the refrigerator so you can have it for lunch.”

  “Thanks. Do you find it kind of amazing that it seems Margaret hid a rather big secret?”

  “We don’t know that she did. What I find interesting is their mention of the young girl hanging around. She must be there a lot for the O’Brien’s to mention it. You should probably talk to her.”

  Tina looked at her mother in amazement. “You’re suggesting I get involved? You never want me to get involved in anything like this.”

  “This is different. It concerns your closest friend and her family. It needs to be cleared up quickly before it affects Leslie’s mother. You know how fragile she is.”

  Tina did know, and she hated to think about it. She pushed the thought aside and stood up. “I’m going to call Hank, let him know I’m up, and see what he wants to do today.”

  “You haven’t had breakfast.”

  “Not hungry. I’ll eat that tuna sandwich later.” Suddenly energized, Tina bounded up the stairs and into her room. She lay down on the bed, her feet dangling off the edge so she wouldn’t get the quilt dirty and dialed Hank’s number.

  “How are you, red?”

  She could hear people talking in the background. “I’m okay. Where are you?”

  “At the station. Going to see Lisbeth in a few minutes. When I’m done, I’ll come get you. Did you have a good sleep?”

  “Yes. What do you want to do today?”

  “I’m hoping Mr. Hall, our friendly architect, will call soon. We’ll go from there.”

  “All right. Will you share what Lisbeth tells you?”

  “Probably. There she is. Gotta go.”

  “Okay.” They ended the call, and Tina leaned back on the pillows, letting her mind drift. She wondered how Brandon was doing. She called Leslie’s cell.

  Leslie answered on the second ring. “Hi, Tina. I’m still at Brandon’s place. He hasn’t woken up yet this morning, but I check him every two hours, using the timer on my phone. I’ve been able to nap between times. How’re you doing?”

  “Fine. I crashed last night though. You must be exhausted.”

  “Pretty much, but I’ll make up for it when I know Brandon’s okay.”

  “You have someone covering at the shop?”

  “I don’t open it on Monday when it’s not tourist season.”

  “Oh. I forgot that. That’s good.”

  “Yeah, except usually I use Monday to catch up on paperwork and rearrange things. What do you have planned?”

  “I’m not sure. Depends on what Hank wants to do. He’s talking to Lisbeth right now.” Tina told her about the architect and what the O’Briens had said about the young girl they’d seen hanging around the neighborhood. “You ever notice her?”

  “I don’t know yet who belongs in the neighborhood and who doesn’t. But I have seen a girl around. Come to think of it, she never seemed to be doing anything except walking back and forth on the street. And she was always alone.”

  “Something to check out.”

  “Yes. And the architect contact seems promising. I’m going to have to go to the parents to sleep after I’m sure Brandon is okay. If Mr. Hall wants to go through the house, will you let him in? Maybe have Hank with you?”

  “Sure.” Tina stood up to get her purse to check for the key Leslie gave her. She found it, on its separate ring, right where she remembered putting it and sighed with relief. Her phone beeped, and she saw Hank was calling. “Gotta go, Leslie. Hank’s trying to get me.”

  “Well, let him get you.” Leslie laughed and hung up.

  Tina stared at the phone a moment before answering Hank’s call with a distracted hello.

  “Ready to roll?” he asked. “Mr. Hall called and wants to see the house at two. Lisbeth has some news. I’m on my way to your house.”

  Tina glanced at her watch. Noon. “Did he find the blueprints?”

  “Unfortunately, no. So, he’s going to do some measuring and see if he can find some empty spaces.”

  “That should be interesting. I’ll be in the kitchen, getting out the tuna sub. Since it’s a foot long, we can share.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Thanks for taking care of me last night.”

  “My pleasure.” His warm voice made her melt into a puddle.

  She closed her eyes. “See you soon.”

  “Yeah.”

  After composing herself as best she could, Tina went downstairs. No one was in the kitchen. She pulled the sub out of the refrigerator and put it on the table. Then she stood thinking about what to serve with it.

  The back door opened, and Hank sauntered in. “Doll.” He opened his arms, and she walked into them, sighing. They stood hugging until they heard Uncle Bob clear his throat.

  Tina pulled away and smiled at her uncle. She faced him so he could read her still-tingling lips. “You caught us again.”

  “Usually you’re in the hall.” Uncle Bob grinned and sat down. “You making lunch?” He eyed the sub on the table.

  Tina studied the sandwich dubiously. “I guess with chips, pickles and olives, we could stretch it to serve three people.”

  Laura stepped into the kitchen from the back stairs.

  Hank stood up. “I’ll make a run to D’Angelo’s. What kind of sandwich do you two like?”

  Laura looked startled, then saw the tuna sub on the table. “I wish it were summer so I could have the lobster, but I’ll settle for the Vermonter. Thanks, Hank.”

  “Meatball and cheese.” Uncle Bob smiled at Hank. “You’re a good man.”

  “Try to be. Anything else we need?”

  The others shook their heads, and he left.

  “Did you sleep well?” Laura asked as she unwrapped the sandwich. Tina got out plates. Paper napkins were in a holder
on the table.

  “Yes. Very well.” She caught them up to date on what had happened since they’d been together. She was just finishing when Hank got back.

  “Here we are.” He set the D’Angelo’s bag on the table, took off his coat, and sat down. Tina got out a bowl of chips and drinks for everyone.

  When they were all settled, Tina asked Hank, “What did Lisbeth say?”

  “Autopsy’s tomorrow. They still can’t locate any record of another Joshua Young anywhere. Everything they find is for Leslie’s father. I filled her in on what we’d learned. She seemed dismayed by the possibilities. The question of who killed him and why would appear to be almost impossible to find out.”

  “Did you tell her about the idea of a secret room? Or the possible ghost?”

  Hank laughed. “Did not mention the alleged ghost.”

  “Why not?” asked Uncle Bob. “She’d think you were batty? You could have your own Halloween party, a ghost, bats. All you’d need is a witch or two.”

  Laura raised her eyebrows. “You need a new hobby. Besides playing with words.”

  “And you,” Uncle Bob said, “just used a cliché.”

  “I did? What? Oh, a play on words is a cliché? Who knew?”

  “I did.”

  Everyone laughed, and they finished their sandwiches in silence. Tina cleaned up, and she and Hank left to go to Leslie’s.

  Once they were in the car, Tina asked, “Didn’t Lisbeth want to assign officers to search the house or anything? Considering that the man who was murdered is probably a Young?”

  “She didn’t mention it.”

  “Maybe she thinks it’s better for you to do it, since Leslie is your friend.”

  “Possible.”

  “You think we’ll find anything?”

  “I don’t have high hopes.”

  “Oh?” Tina was disappointed.

  “You have high hopes, though.” Hank glanced at her before turning into Leslie’s driveway.

  “Yeah. Secret spaces are cool.”

  Hank grinned. “True, especially when we were kids. You know, it’s kind of strange that we never realized that other houses besides yours could have any. We would have gone crazy looking for them in all our own and our friends’ homes.”

  “You’re right, we would have. And we’ll probably do it now. Make up for lost time. . Aren’t you itching to see if you can find the blueprints for your parents’ house? I think it might be the oldest one we know of.”

  “Yes. And Leslie probably sat in her parents’ yesterday wondering the same thing.”

  They strolled up the front walk, and Tina used her key to unlock the door.

  “What are we going to do first?” Tina asked.

  “Let’s just go into the library and wait for Mr. Hall.”

  “All right.”

  When they entered the room, Tina gasped. Papers were strewn everywhere, books pulled out of the shelves, and the printer had been yanked off its stand and smashed to pieces.

  CHAPTER 27

  Tina sat down abruptly into the nearest chair. “Leslie’s going to be very upset.”

  Hank ran his fingers through his hair and pulled out his cell phone. “I have to tell Lisbeth.”

  “Should I call Leslie?” Tina’s breath caught. She so did not want to call her friend with this news.

  Hank hesitated, then said, “It would probably be better coming from you.”

  “Should we look through the rest of house first, to see if anything else has been torn up?”

  “Yes. We can do that while waiting for Lisbeth. I’m sure she’ll come herself.” He tapped his phone and walked around the room, taking everything in as he waited for Lisbeth to answer.

  When she did, he told her what they’d found. “Also, we have an appointment with an architect in a little while. He’s going to check around to see if he can find a hidden room or space.” When they ended the call, Hank took some photos with his phone.

  They walked to the living room.

  “It looks the same to me, Hank. You think so, too?”

  He nodded.

  They checked the other rooms on the first floor, entering the kitchen last. Tina stood in the doorway, looking around.

  “Again, all looks the same,” Tina said.

  “I agree. Let’s check out the upstairs.”

  They used the back stairs. At the top, Tina said, “Leslie’s suite first.” She realized she was holding her breath as they entered the bedroom. She expelled it with relief. It looked fine.

  They were just finishing looking in the upstairs when the doorbell rang. Lisbeth stood on the front porch with two officers carrying various equipment. Tina was happy to see John Smith wasn’t with her. She realized she’d never seen Lisbeth without John before and wondered where he was. He was one of the very few people Tina had taken an immediate dislike to. Getting to know him better hadn’t changed her opinion.

  Hank let everyone in and showed them the office. He told Lisbeth everything else looked okay.

  “Let me get this straight.” Lisbeth gestured to the living room, and she, Hank, and Tina sat down. “You believe there might be a secret room in this house, and that someone is using it for some vague reason, and further, that the victim, Joshua Young, also may have known about it?”

  Hank grinned. “That about sums it up.”

  Lisbeth looked at Tina. “You get yourself in the darnedest messes.”

  Tina didn’t know what to say to that, so she didn’t answer.

  Lisbeth turned back to Hank. “You want to speculate on a reason why anyone would be doing what you suggest and why he or she might have murdered Joshua Young?”

  “No. I can’t think of a motive for any of that. Locating the secret room would be, I believe, a good first step in the investigation. There might be clues in there.”

  “If there even is a secret room.” Lisbeth stood up. “I’m going to see how the unit is doing.”

  “How about we show you the cellar first,” Hank suggested.

  Lisbeth looked startled, but then nodded. “Lead the way.”

  Tina realized they hadn’t even thought of looking at the basement before now. No telling what they’d find down there.

  At first glance, the cellar looked the same. When they got closer to the doorway to the outside, though, Tina saw that the bolt was drawn back. She remembered Hank making sure it had been closed when they were there earlier. “Hank.” She pointed to it.

  “Someone leave in a hurry?” he mused. He explained to Lisbeth what they’d found before.

  “You know the bolt was closed when you left. Positive?”

  “Yes. I double checked, and we even talked about being sure it was done.”

  “But you say someone can get in and out of the window, too.”

  “Someone slender enough. Not much bigger around the hips than I am.”

  Tina and Lisbeth stood studying his hips for a few moments, both laughing softly. “Hmm,” Lisbeth said.

  Tina looked Hank in the face to see if he felt uncomfortable. She couldn’t tell. Hank the inscrutable.

  “Here’s a possibility.” Hank walked over to the window. “A smaller person comes in through the window and unbolts the door so a larger person can get in. For some reason, they both have to leave in a hurry, so instead of the big person going out, the small one bolting the door behind him or her, then climbing out the window, they both use the door.”

  “How did you think of all that?” Lisbeth asked.

  “I read a lot. Ever read Oliver Twist? Fagin makes Oliver climb through a window to open the door so a house can be burglarized. That idea intrigued me, so I researched it and found out it wasn’t uncommon. Children were sent down coal chutes, through milk doors, and of course windows to let bigger people in.”

  “The young girl,” Tina murmured.

  Lisbeth gave her a questioning look, and Tina explained.

  “This is a nice theory,” Lisbeth said, “but we need to go outside and see how
private the yard is and if someone wouldn’t notice what would seem to be rather frequent entries into the basement.”

  “Good idea.” Hank climbed the stairs and opened the doors.

  They stepped out into the yard. The doorway was positioned in a corner, so hidden from both neighboring houses. The boundary line at the back was filled with tall bushes, and hedges lined both sides, making it hard for anyone to see into the yard. A cracked cement walkway led from the back door to the detached garage farther down the property line.

  “Couldn’t be much more private, could it?” Lisbeth asked. “All right. I’m going to have the team check for clues around the door, and a photographer take pictures of the outside of the house. I have to admit, this is the strangest case I’ve ever handled.”

  Hank grinned. “Stick with Tina and me. You’ll never be bored.”

  Lisbeth shot him a sour look, then laughed ruefully. “I guess not.”

  “While we wait, I have more to tell you, and a possible reason why the cellar was left unlocked.

  They all climbed down the stairs again. Hank bolted the doors, and they went back to the living room.

  After they were settled, Hank told Lisbeth about the attack on Brandon.

  When he finished, Lisbeth scowled furiously at him. “You didn’t call us? We need to get the techs up there ASAP. Damn it, Hank.”

  “Brandon didn’t want us to,” Tina said. “He didn’t appear to be badly hurt, but he preferred not to be interrogated right away.”

  “And so,” Lisbeth spat the words out, “we lost an opportunity to find whoever did it. It appears they may have escaped through the cellar. Right?”

  Tina and Hank exchanged glances, then reluctantly nodded.

  “Perhaps never to return,” Lisbeth murmured.

  Tina took a big breath. “No,” she said. “The library was trashed after we went to Brandon’s. So, whoever it was left in a hurry for some other reason.”

  “Maybe when we showed up today,” Hank said.

  “Why wouldn’t they continue to hide wherever they usually do?” Lisbeth asked.