Page 19 of Eldritch

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You sounded annoyed back there when you said you didn’t want the cops to investigate.”

Sybil finished the last bite of granola, chewing and swallowing before replying. “I just want us to finish this job in a timely manner. We need that money.” Sybil waved one hand. “The business has taken a hit. We’ve moved past that, and we’ll plow through any minor hiccups that might happen in this house. I’d like to finish quickly.”

“Didn’t Clarice say to take as long as it takes?”

“Yeah. But this house...”

Sybil’s gaze snagged on Letisha’s and noted the doubt in her friend’s eyes. Of course. She shut up.

“What about it?” Wariness crossed Letisha’s face.

“I don’t want to take weeks to clean this place. Clarice is paying us over our usual fee, and we promised a short timeline even though she said to take our time. I don’t like to break my promises.”

“Right. And?”

“People won’t wait for us forever. Other clients on our waiting list might become impatient and move on. And I couldn’t blame them.”

Letisha walked to the pantry and grabbed a granola bar. She smiled and lifted the bar. “Breakfast of champions.” She took her own travel mug and filled it with coffee. She settled down at the long table. “We’ll make this work. Look, I’m sorry. I understand what you’re saying. But these tracks mean someone has been in here that shouldn’t be. We can’t gamble with our safety.”

Sybil sat at the table as well and cupped her coffee mug for the warmth. Her sweater and jeans didn’t seem to fend off the cold. “You’re right, of course. But there’s something weird I didn’t mention to the others.”

Letisha stopped with the mug halfway to her mouth. She tilted her head to the side. “What?”

Sybil rubbed the back of her neck. “Don’t you think it’s strange that we can’t find an originating spot for where the mud tracking person entered the house? Or left it? I mean, the tracks start a door down from my room, run all the way down the staircase, through the main hall and then end in the library. Not to mention the weird track under that table.”

The library also served as an office. A window faced north at the front of the house and another window to the east.

Letisha stared at the table, her expression unreadable. “It’s strange, but not impossible. If someone is screwing with us, they might go to elaborate means to set it up. We just don’t know how they did it.”

Sybil considered it. “I suppose there could be a secret entrance in and out of the house.”

Letisha pointed at Sybil. “That’s it. There must be a secret passage.”

Unease struck Sybil, the world had gone off its poles, and she’d been the only one to notice it. “The mud bandit took his shoes off, so the tracks stayed in the middle of the library and then walked over to the secret passage and poof. Disappeared.”

“Something like that. Maybe that’s how they made the shoe mark halfway under the table.”

Sybil doubted that was the case, but she didn’t want to discuss it now.

Letisha shoved back her chair. “Now that we’ve solved it, time to get off our asses and do some work while we wait for a deputy to show up. We can’t stick around here with our thumbs up our asses.”

“Right,” Sybil said. “Let’s get to work.”

* * *

Deputy Annapolis made notes as she stood in the library. She’d arrived faster than Sybil expected. It took her only thirty minutes after Pauline’s call for the deputy to appear. She’d already cleared the house.

“You were the first one to notice the muddy tracks,” the deputy asked as she looked at Letisha.

Letisha nodded patiently. “That’s right. I came out of my room and when I got to the landing above the stairs, that’s when I saw them. I followed them all the way into the library.”

The deputy took another note and stuffed the small notebook into a pocket in her cargo-like pants. Hands on her hips, she turned around in a full circle, taking her time as she examined the room.

Sybil wondered what was going on behind the woman’s cool expression. She seemed a bit more doubtful during this visit, as if she thought they were lying to her. Or one of them, anyway.

She pinpointed her gaze on Letisha and Sybil. “So you don’t know if there’s any secret squirrel access holes in here, right?”

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