Page 30 of Hoodoo House
Chapter Twelve
Declan took a sip of his tea. “The Harley you saw the day before Malcolm Tull died—did you recognize it?”
Mrs Cameron stared at the mug in her hand. “Mr Tull seemed to like men who rode motorcycles, but I couldn’t say for certain if it was a bike that had been here before.”
Before Declan could ask any more questions Henry burst into the kitchen, followed by Charlie.
“Declan,” the boy yelled out. “There’s something I need to show you and it can’t wait any longer. I think it might be important to your case.”
Mrs Cameron scowled. “Henry, you’re interrupting our conversation.”
“No. This is important. I’ve been patient, but I can’t wait anymore. I might have an idea where the missing computer is.”
Declan saw Charlie’s eyes widen with surprise. Obviously this was news to him.
Henry took off, scooting past Charlie and back down the hall. He stopped at a door on the left side of the hallway.
“Come on!” Henry shouted.
By the time Declan, Charlie and Mrs Cameron had reached the hallway, they found a partly opened door and heard footsteps running down a set of stairs.
“I have a hunch I know what he’s going to show you. It’s part of the history of the house.” Mrs Cameron said.
The three of them followed the sound down the old wooden stairs to a shelf-lined room. Henry was waiting in the far corner.
“This way,” he said before he disappeared into thin air.
“What the…?” Declan said, looking to Charlie who stood beside him.
Mrs Cameron shook her head. “It’s a trick. You’ll see in a moment.”
“Come on!” Henry called out from…somewhere.
Declan walked to the corner where Henry had last been seen and discovered the gap behind the shelves. While Henry could run the short length of the gap, Declan had to squeeze his muscled body through. When he made it to the end of the short passage, he let out a low whistle as he saw the opening of the tunnel.
Mrs Cameron crept in behind Declan, followed by Charlie.
“This must be the emergency exit Henry told me about,” Charlie said. “It was a way for the bootleggers to avoid the police, wasn’t it, Mrs Cameron?”
She nodded her head. “I don’t know what the boy is going on about. There’s nothing down here but dust and cobwebs.”
Henry shouted out from ahead, “It’s here! Quick, come here!”
They all felt their way along the tunnel wall, lit only by a dim glow of daylight somewhere in the distance. Halfway along the wall, they reached Henry. Once everyone was beside him, he reached up to one of the battens that fixed the wall panels in place. He pulled on the edge of it and it pivoted out, revealing—
“A keypad?” Declan said.
“Afairly newkeypad,” Charlie added.
“I think it’s a secret door,” Henry said. “You can see where there are faint lines on the wall.”
Mrs Cameron’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“What’s behind it? Any idea?” Declan asked Henry.
The boy just shook his head. “I’ve tried a whole mess of numbers, but none of them work.”
Declan turned to Mrs Cameron. “Did you have any idea this was here?”
