Page 17 of The Case of the Vanishing Valuables

I flicked my tail in agitation as we descended the narrow stairs. This place smelled like wet socks and bad decisions. I hated it already.

Ray, on the other hand, seemed undeterred. He walked carefully down the stairs, his flashlight catching glimpses of old pipes and dusty, forgotten storage boxes. Rick, the handyman, was crouched by the boiler at the far end of the room, his back to us. He was muttering to himself, occasionally grunting as he turned a large wrench over the rusted valves.

Rick was bent over, tending to something in the old heating system. Ray stepped closer, but before he could say a thing, Rick whirled around, eyes wide and wild, the wrench raised high above his head as if he were ready to swing.

Ray threw his hands up, backing up a step. “Whoa there! Take it easy, Rick. It’s me, Ray Leonard.”

Rick’s knuckles were still white around the handle of the wrench, but recognition slowly dawned on him. His eyes narrowed, though with less suspicion than before. “Ray? What are you doing down here?”

I watched carefully from my spot by Ray’s feet, keeping an eye on Rick. He still didn’t look thrilled to see us, but at least we were past the whole “possible-head-bashing” phase.

Ray dropped his hands and offered a small grin, trying to lighten the tension. “Just wanted to ask you a few things. No need for the heavy artillery.”

Rick grunted, setting the wrench down with a clang against the boiler. “Yeah, well, you startled me. What’s this about, anyway? More questions about the thefts?”

Ray nodded, pulling out his phone. “Yeah, but this time, I need to ask you about something specific. I found this in the attic yesterday.” He swiped through his phone and held up a picture of the map we’d discovered, the one with the marked-off rooms.

Rick squinted at the screen then raised an eyebrow. “A map? What about it?”

“Was this yours? Were you using it for something?” Ray asked, his voice casual but probing. “Rooms marked off—it made me think maybe it’s related to repairs or updates?”

Rick shook his head. “Never seen that before.”

Ray blinked, clearly surprised by the answer. “You sure? You’re the one in and out of the rooms, fixing things. I thought it might’ve been a system you were using to keep track.”

Rick crossed his arms and leaned back against the boiler. “Why do you keep asking? Oh, you think it has something to do with the thefts. You think I’m involved.”

Ray didn’t blink. “I didn’t say that.”

Rick bristled, tension rolling off him in waves. “Look, I’m a hardworking guy. I fix things. I don’t need to steal from a bunch of old folks just to make a living. You want to accuse someone? You go ahead and accuse one of these other weirdos around here.”

Ray cocked an eyebrow. “You know something I don’t?”

With a snort, Rick shook his head. “I know enough to keep my nose clean. But if you want to know who’s been acting suspicious, you ought to be looking at Benedict.”

Ray’s eyes narrowed slightly. “The magician?”

His expression dark, Rick crossed his arms tighter and leaned against the boiler. “I’ve seen him sneaking around, using the secret door.”

Ray blinked. “Secret door?”

Rick sighed, clearly irritated by having to offer an explanation. “Yeah, it’s an old servants’ door. Back from when this place was some fancy mansion. It goes from the pantry in the dining room to the hallway where all the rooms are. It’s easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there.”

Ray fell quiet for a moment, processing this new piece of information. A secret door? One that could let someone slip in and out of rooms without being noticed?

“You’re saying Benedict uses that door?”

Rick nodded. “I’ve seen him slip in and out during dinner, usually when everyone’s distracted by the food. Wouldn’t surprise me if he was sneaking into rooms while people were eating. Don’t magicians know how to pick locks?”

“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” Ray asked in a careful voice.

Rick shrugged, pushing himself off the boiler. “Not my business, is it? Besides, I figured someone else would notice. Ain’t my job to babysit these people, just to keep the place from falling apart.”

Ray nodded slowly, glancing down at me. I sat at attention, my sharp eyes gleaming with suspicion. A secret door, huh? And the magician had been sneaking around? This idea was sounding a lot more plausible than I’d have liked. The guy did know how to make things disappear. But did he make Sally’s bracelet disappear last night? I tried to remember if Benedict was in the dining room the whole time we were eating, and I couldn’t. I hadn’t noticed him leave, but magicians could be sneaky.

Ray turned back to Rick. “You sure Benedict’s the only one using that door?”

Rick shrugged again. “Far as I know. Could be someone else knows about it, but I’ve only seen him use it. The door’s been there for decades, so who knows?”

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