Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05

Dinner tonight was no quiet affair, everyone had something to say and wasn't shy about sharing it tonight. " It is obvious the killer is still here" said Pierce, " it is obvious too that it is one of you."
" Excuse me" said Nick, " let's not start throwing accusations around when we have three different sharp knives in front of us. We must remain calm."
" Calm?" asked Juliette, " that slime of a lawyer has all but accused one of us of being the killer."
" And so have you, if I am not mistaken" said Leigh, staring straight at Nick.
" It remains to be seen" said Nick, " with the bridge out no one is going anywhere so I suggest we wait until the sheriff returns."
" Yes" said Daniel, " if it isn't too much trouble I would like to have my meal in peace."
" But what about the money?" asked Leigh, " what is going to happen."
" Simple" said Phillip, " we take the original will to probate. It will be like all this unpleasantness never actually happened."
" Money cures everything huh" said Charity.
" Not now Charity" said her father.
Nick put her hand on Charity and gave her a squeeze, Charity just smirked she loved pushing buttons. " Nick" said Juliette, very interested in changing the subject, " how is your head?"
" All right" said Nick, gently inspecting her head, " I only hope that I can meet whoever hit me and return the favor."
Nick scanned everyone looking for any sign of anything, guilt, fear, pride something that would give her a hint but unfortunately nobody moved. " Where did these secret passages come from?" asked Nick, " or is it common practice for old mansions to have them?"
" Firstly" said Daniel, " they are servant passages, not secret passages. We are living in the 20th century, not in some dreary gothic novel. The passages were for the servants to move about the house without being seen. But they stopped being used in the last century, why do you ask?"
" I just want to know how far reaching are they? Like could they reach all the way to your study?" she asked.
" You think the killer knew about them and used them to kill Grandma Edith?" asked Leigh.
Nick nodded, " So the killer couldn't be a common burglar from the outside" said Charity, " if I didn't know about them how an outsider could?"
" If you ever came home you probably have known about them" her mother replied.
" Yes, now I'm not going to ruin my meal with yelling about who did it but I want everyone to be vigilant if you see anything inform the police at once" said Nick.
Everyone at the table seemed to calm everyone down but they all were still eyeing each other up. Nick felt more than a few suspicious eyes falling on her. She knew it was absurd but admitted everyone at the table could say that. Before anyone else could speak, the sheriff walked in. " Sorry for being so late" he said, like a student tardy for class, " but the bridge is totally underwater now."
Daniel gave the sheriff the news of the recent activities. " Hm" he said, " I have more of my men on the way, and with your permission Mr Witherspoon we shall start to search the house for the killer."
" Thank you" said Daniel, " that will be more than adequate."
The sheriff bowed and left to await the arrival of his men, he definitely felt very small in that room. Finally the meal ended and Nick escaped back to her room. Her mind full of ideas she wanted to try out.

Charity followed Nick into her room and scooped Jinx up. " So Sherlock what is next?" asked Charity stroking Jinx's fur.
" I have an idea" said Nick.
Charity watched as Nick produced her flashlight and started to move towards the secret passage. " No way" said Charity, she precisely what Nick was thinking.
" We have to" said Nick, " this is the biggest clue I have found so far, we have to see where it plays out."
" And what happens when we run into the killer?" asked Charity.
" You can beat him up" said Nick.
Charity wanted to say no, but knew Nick was going and if she was going Charity would have to go with or she would never hear the end of it. Besides, she reasoned, a little adventure couldn't hurt, too much. " Okay, let's go explore" she said.

The chair was removed from the wall and the passage was slowly swung open. Both girls had their flashlights securely in their hands as they slowly slipped into the darkness of the passage.
The passage felt more oppressive to Nick than it did yesterday. Now she knew danger could be lurking almost anywhere. Nick took short breaths, a cold sweat began to gather on the back of her neck. Charity's hand gripped like a vise on her shoulder. " We should go back" whispered Charity.
" We'll go just a little way in" said Nick, " I want to see where he hit me."
Nick took the first step down the passage, so far nothing leapt out and tried to eat her. She took another step, and another. By the third step Charity's arm was fully outstretched. Unwilling to let go and knowing full well that Nick wasn't going to stop so she followed.
Nick came to the corner where she was attacked. Her heart was pounding in her chest, at least she had Charity with her this time. Nick took a deep breath of the stale air in and rounded the corner.
There was no one there, just an empty passage that crept far into the darkness. " See there is nobody here" said Nick, more trying to convince herself than Charity, " see we're okay."
They started down the passage one step at a time, their flashlights sweeping over the passage way over and over looking for any sign of a clue. Unfortunately the only thing in the passageway was dust and footprints. There were a lot of footprints in the dust, so many it ruined any chance of figuring out one set from another. " Looks like somebody has been using these passages a lot" said Charity.
They rounded another corner and came to a blank wall. " Well, time to go back" said Charity.
" Wait" said Nick, " look at this."
On the floor in front of the wall was a clean half circle. " Come on, let's give it a push" said Nick.
Nick approached the wall, it looked so amazingly solid and would be heavy. Nick put her shoulder against the wall and shoved with all her strength. The wall spun tossing Nick through the passage way and from Charity's sight. Charity could hear the thumping and swearing of Nick and rushed to the wall. " NICK!" she called out pushing the wall, terrified of what had befallen her friend.
Charity pushed the wall and saw Nick at the bottom of a small flight of stairs rubbing her butt. Charity started to laugh, her fears of her best friend being injured erased and replaced with humor at the sight. " Shut up" grumbled Nick.
Nick slowly got to her feet, she felt silly for taking such a fall but was happy to be in one piece. " Nick" said Charity.
" Huh?" asked Nick.
Nick turned and saw a scrap of paper on the ground next to the bottom step. Nick bent over and picked the piece up. " What is it?" asked Charity.
Nick quietly read the paper, " What is it?" she repeated.
It was a list of the guests in the house and numbers, possibly corresponding to the doors in the passageway. Everybody was named except Nick, she was simply listed as unknown guest. She scowled at not being listed properly, very insulting. " What is it?" Charity asked, hurrying down the steps over to Nick.
" It is a list of the guests in the house" said Nick, " with numbers and stars next to a couple of names."
Nick pointed to two names in particular, Denise and John. " Why do they have stars?" asked Charity, " you think they'll be next? Or maybe they are in on it?"
Nick looked over at Charity, " I have no idea" she said, " it may have nothing to do with the killing, but to be found in here."
Nick made a growl, she made that growl when she was frustrated. " Let's hang on to this" said Charity, " we should go talk to Denise."
" No" said Nick, " I should go alone, you and her. You remember last Halloween."
Charity blushed, last Halloween they had gotten into quiet an argument at a party which ended only after being physically hauled to opposite ends of the house. Charity nodded, " But you'll tell me everything" said Charity.
" Everything" said Nick.

The pair had started back to their room when they heard another wall move. They quickly retreated through the wall but left it open just a crack. Across the room Leigh came down the steps grumbling about something. She came down the steps and sat on the bottom step. " Fucking house" she grumbled blowing the smoke into the air, " fucking Grandma Edith, god I knew this damned house was no good."
Leigh finished her cigarettes and walked back up the stairs out of sight. " Looks like we are the only ones that know about these passages" said Nick.
" Wait a minute" said Charity, " you honestly believe my baby sister killed my grandmother?"
" It is possible, she had as much to lose as anybody else here" said Nick.
" Her?" asked Charity, " I mean really?"
" You could ask her" said Nick, " see if you can ruffle her feathers a bit while I go talk to Denise and John."
" Okay, but what if she is?" asked Charity, " what should I do?"
Nick stopped, she had quiet figured that part out yet, " We'll have to tell the sheriff I guess" said Nick, " it is murder after all."
" Yah, it still feels so surreal to me" said Charity, " I mean this is my family, sure we don't get along but I never thought of murdering any of them."
" Its okay" said Nick, " it is kinda freaky to me too."

The pair left the secret passage and separated to talk to their separate suspects. It was a shorter walk for Charity to reach her sister's room and she left Nick to continue the rest of her walk alone.
Charity knocked on her sister's door and listened as Leigh made a great deal of shuffling about, obviously hiding something, Charity didn't need Nick's intuition to figure that out. The lock slid back with a click and the door opened just enough for a suspicious eye to peer out. " Oh its just you" said Leigh, " what do you want?"
" Can I come in?" asked Charity.
" Sure" she replied, not sure what was going on.
Leigh let Charity walked into her room before closing the door behind her. " When did you learn about the secret passages?" asked Charity as the door thumped close.
" What?" asked Leigh, she was not a good liar.
" We saw you" she said, " enjoying your dessert."
Leigh flushed, " Its not what it looks like" she said, desperate for an excuse, " its not like I'm the only person here who does it."
" Huh?" asked Charity, very confused, " I don't care how much you smoke, it is your life. I want to know how you learned about the secret passage?"
" I looked at where your friend's door way and looked for a similar place in my room" said Leigh, " I needed a private place, not like I can go outside to smoke in this weather."
" That's it?" asked Charity, very relieved to hear it.
" Yah" said Leigh, rather annoyed, " you aren't going to tell are you? I'll get kicked off the soccer team if anybody finds out."
" No, your secret is safe with me" said Charity, " you see anybody else in there?"
" No, that was the first time I went in there" she said, " I have to get out of here, this place is driving me nuts, more so than usual."
Charity had to agree and left her sister extremely relieved, she felt like a great weight was off her shoulders now that she was sure her sister wasn't involved.

Charity had left Leigh's room and could hear the argument echoing through the hall. Denise was giving Nick a serious tongue lashing and much to Charity's delight she could hear Nick giving as good as she got. She made her way down the hall and found the door to Denise's room open and they were standing face to face shouting in the middle of the room. It was obvious Denise had taken offense to Nick's questioning and was going to show this new money upstart her place. But Nick was not going to let Denise talk down to her and was showing her teeth. John was standing off in the corner, his eyes greedily eating up Nick, he certainly was attracted to anybody that could stand up to Denise. " Easy, easy" said Charity, deciding they had enough fun.
" You stay out of this" said Denise, " this is all your fault, this nosy little bitch is sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."
" I am just curious why you are taking such offense to a simple question" said Nick, not ready to give up.
" I am not going to tell you my private business" said Denise.
" Would you rather tell the sheriff?" asked Nick.
" She is right" said Charity, " at least Nick will be discreet about what you tell us."
" Tell her" said John, his voice small.
" Stay out of this" snapped Denise, with more venom than she'd used with Nick.
" What do you have to hide?" asked Charity.
" It is none of your business" said Denise, " now leave before I make you leave."
Both girls decided enough was enough for one night, they were tired and it wasn't like Denise could leave the house. It could easily wait for morning. The two girls turned and left without a word. Denise stormed over to the door and securely locked it. " Why won't you tell them?" asked John, " it is going to come out eventually."
" You" snapped Denise, " you are not going to talk to me anymore. You are in it more than I am."
" Let's sleep on it" he replied.
" If you think you are sleeping with me, you're out of your mind" she said, " you will sleep in that chair."
John dropped his head and slowly nodded. He had nothing to change her mind.

" Enough smiling" giggled Charity as they went back into Nick's bedroom, " you aren't supposed to enjoy this."
" What can I say" said Nick, " it was rather fun."
" You get anything from her?"
" Zip, I showed her the piece of paper and she flipped out" said Nick, " I returned fire, what about Leigh?"
Charity told Nick what she had learned as they sat on the bed. " I didn't think she had anything to do with it anyways" she replied, " I don't know about you but I am beat."
" I agree" yawned Charity, " mind if I crash here?"
" No problem" said Nick, " I'd feel a little safer with you around anyways."

Pierce looked at the closed doors of Edith's bedroom. He felt so very strange standing here, true she knew she was going to die, she was nearly 90 but neither thought it would be now and it such a fashion. But she should have known, she was dropping the mother of all bombs on the family. Money always makes people crazy. He too was worried, if they were crazy enough to kill flesh and blood they would be crazy enough to kill a lawyer. He wanted to get out of this house as soon as possible but that dimwit sheriff and that nosy little Brit ensured he wasn't going anywhere. He had nothing to do with it, not like he was going to profit by having her die, his was exactly the opposite. But now he knew he would have to get ready for a long, drawn out legal battle, Edith's new will was still in Boston, it was never officiated. That meant the half dozen charities and the family were going to battle for her fortune, and it was a good sized fortune. He would be putting in many long hours when he returned to Boston, if he was ever going to be let out of this house.
Pierce unlocked the door and went into the bedroom. It was dry and smelled of age, most of the furniture was as old as she was. Pierce walked over to her desk and began to arrange the papers. Edith did an excellent job of keeping her things in order. Pierce sat down and got to work.

Lightning crackled across the sky filling the large room with a great flash of white light. Pierce sorrowfully looked outside, the storms were coming back that would only make things worst. He stopped worrying about the water and went back to work. He had barely sorted through another year worth of tax statements when the lightning crackled brightly again. This time something caught his eye. He turned and looked at Edith's bed. At first he didn't believe what he had seen, it must have been his mind playing tricks on him, houses like these could do that to you. But another flash of lightning and he saw it again.
Pierce stopped his work and stood up. He cross from the desk to the side of the bed and looked down. Sure enough there was something there between, just a corner peeking out from between the mattress and the box spring. He knelt down and lifted the mattress. He was very puzzled at what he saw, this shouldn't be here.
Pierce picked it up, what in the world was Edith doing with this? He thought as he turned it over in his hand. Then it struck him, Edith hadn't put this here, someone else did. Yes, he thought, no one would look in here, she was killed in the study. He wondered who then, it had to be one of them and then it hit him. What Edith had told him a few months back, the thing he had his man look into, it all made sense now.

Pierce felt a presence behind him, he spun around as a knife slipped between his ribs. Pierce groaned, he tried desperately to keep it in his hands but he was too weak. It was easily pulled from his limp grasp. He dropped to his knees and fell to his side, the shiny knife still sticking out of his chest.