“It’s not?” He scratched the tuft of hair behind his ears. “Not much appeal to being a witch then, is there?”
“Surprisingly not when it gets you accused of murder,” I grumbled.
Sliding off the trunk, he grabbed his cane and walked to the stack of boxes. Moving them aside, he dug around in his jacket pocket, grimacing when he came up empty.
“Where is the blasted thing?” He patted his pants pockets and grinned. Removing a key on a thin chain, he waved it in the air.
“What is that for?”
“It’s a skeleton key. I’m constantly losing all the keys for the many locks in the house, so Cynthia had one made that opens them all.” Reaching against the wall, he ripped down what appeared to be a woven tapestry. A door appeared, but not one with a handle. The access panel was flush against the wall, and there was a small keyhole in its surface.
“You’re kidding me!” I scrambled to my feet as Edward used the key in the panel and the door opened.
“Ah, the wonders of a secret passage. Now you know why I suggested this pantry. I was a bit worried someone else might remember there was a way out through here, but, clearly, everyone has forgotten. And they say my memory is bad.” He handed me the lamp. “I doubt anyone will check on us right away. Come on, Detective. Let’s go hunt a killer.”
Chapter 11
Well, this was new. Wandering around dark passages with Derrick’s grandfather was not how I expected to spend my night. Then again, I didn’t expect to find a dead housemaid in my room and be accused of her murder either.
“Who else knows about these hidden passages?” I asked, holding up the lamp to light our way. Shadows flickered against the narrow walls, and the scent of mold and dust tickled my nose.
Edward shifted his frame sideways to fit through a tight turn. “Any number of people, I suppose. They were in the original plans for the house and built as a means to escape the manor without being detected. The kingdom hasn’t always been as safe as it is now, but we’ve been at peace for so long, passages like these aren’t needed anymore. They also can be dangerous, and more than one accident occurred behind these walls. When we had the manor renovated, most of the entry points were closed off except for one on each floor. Those are kept locked, however, and haven’t been used in ages.”
“Do any of the older passages lead into the guest rooms?”
“The guest rooms? I believe they once did, but as I said, they’re boarded up. Why do you ask?”
“I think someone has been entering my room, and I can’t figure out how. If there’s a hidden access point, it wouldn’t have been too difficult to open it back up. Who else has the key to open these passages?”
“There are a couple of keys floating around. I know Cynthia has one, and there’s likely one kept in the servants’ area in case it’s needed for emergencies. But there could be more.”
The tunnel came to an abrupt end, and I stopped in front of a wooden panel.
“The lever should be against the wall. Try the corner.”
“You mean, the shadowy area covered in cobwebs? Great. What’s a little sleuthing without spiders?” I handed Edward the lamp and closed my eyes as I plunged my hand through the sticky web. My fingers grazed a small handle, and I gave it a forceful push until it clicked into place, unlocking the panel.
Pushing it open, we stepped out of the passage and into the darkened hallway of the servants’ wing. Behind me, the panel swished closed, sealing off the passage.
“Did Mae room with anyone else?” I asked, wandering down the hallway.
“Yes, another housemaid. Her name is Betsy. She was the one who saw you standing over the body. Unlucky timing if you ask me.” Edward scratched the tuft of hair on the side of his head and scowled. “Now, which room was theirs?”
“You don’t know?” There were two sets of doors on each side of the hall.
“Let’s divide up the rooms. You take the left; I’ll take the right. Mae was very close to her family. I’m sure we’ll find something addressed to her that will help identify which room is hers.”
I entered the first room, and after a quick search, I determined it wasn’t Mae’s. Edward didn’t have any luck with his room either.
At least a half hour passed, and I was getting nervous that someone might discover we’d gone missing. Thankfully, I found Mae’s room on the second try.
“In here,” I called to Edward, then I slipped back inside the room.
It was eerie to go through someone’s belongings after they’d died. The dim light flickered over a clean maid’s outfit folded on top of a chest and an open journal, ready for its next entry. An entry that would never come. It was that expectation of the future that always made my heart twist. So many objects waiting for life to return to them, yet it never would.
There was a bed on each wall and a nightstand by each headboard. A shared dresser and closet took up one corner. Overall, the rooms were sparse and held few personal items.
I set the candle down on the nightstand, next to the pile of letters Edward mentioned we might find. They were loosely tied with a ribbon, the paper crinkled and often read.
