Chapter 20: 14 Days Left
They split up an hour ago. They'd switched it up yet again. Sam, Tracy, and Alex were looking through the old bedrooms downstairs hoping that the past kids had left something behind. If they'd left their research behind them that could bring them closer to finding the killer. They could figure this out so long as they worked together. They were a team now and that was never going to change.
Alex had been fairly quiet. Quieter than usual that is. Sam was a bit worried but he was trying to focus on the task at hand. Tracy was looking through one of the desks looking through old papers. They had hoped they'd find something useful but so far they'd only found a notebook of nonsensical ramblings about Vivian. None of it sounded good.
“Guys I found something,” Alex had moved the rug to reveal a hidden door carved into the wood of the floor.
“Me too,” Tracy piped up waving several papers and research-filled notebooks, “whoever Eliza was was very thorough with her investigation.”
Alex pulled the rope up and the small square section of hardwood floor came up revealing a dark, damp crawlspace. Alex carefully lowered himself into it pulling his phone out and turning on the flashlight. There were old maps and books stuffed down here. Fancy dresses and jewels littered the floor. One thing stood out most among all this.
A knife lay covered in scarlet blood, the silver handle was engraved with a rose and a single emerald was inlaid in the center of the rose. That had to be the murder weapon. It had never been found in the initial investigation Alex had read over the news report. That was one of the reasons that the case went cold. The police had never been able to find enough evidence to put anyone behind bars and even now most of the suspects were dead anyways.
Alex grabbed a red silk scarf and wrapped the dagger in it before handing it up to Tracy. “Careful it's the murder weapon,” Alex warned. He didn't want her getting hurt. He grabbed one of the nearby books before accepting Sam's help to get out of the crawlspace.
Pov Change
“I think they moved upstairs,” Luke pointed out. The others had started off downstairs on the opposite side of the house but they heard the sound of footsteps on the rickety, carpeted stairs earlier.
Courtney was used to being paired up with Luke; she just wasn't used to him being useful. He was looking through the old desk in the den downstairs. They could hear the others’ footsteps overhead which although unnerving was sort of comforting. At least they knew they were okay. Courtney took a deep breath combing through the bookshelf. She had her back turned as she focused on the task at hand.
After a while she began shifting the books around. She pulled a few out and opened them wondering if there were any secret spaces cut out in fake pages like she'd seen in the movies. Eventually she pulled a book down but it didn't come off the shelf. Instead the book resorted back to its original position with a soft click. Slowly the bookshelves slid to the side opening up to a really old office.
Inside sat an antique mahogany desk. The chair behind it had floral patterned cushions. There was a bunch of old papers littering the floor but not a speck of dust had gathered. Not on the desk. No on the chair. This was the very first room that he encountered where it was absolutely spotless.
“Luke over here. Hurry,” she made a come here gesture with her index and middle finger on her right hand. Luke obliged, following
Luke knew Courtney was focusing on the rather ominous threat Vivian had made. The others had tried to dismiss it and in all honesty so had he. He didn't want to think of the ‘something worse’ that Vivian had in mind for them. He shuddered as he thought back to her warning. It was just all so odd. He was hoping that they could solve this fast and get out before she decided they didn't deserve the full fourteen days to solve her murder.