The Dead Room

“I could have sworn there was someone in the house,” Leslie said.

“Then we’d better take a look around,” he said.

Nikki was still frowning. “What were you doing up?” she asked Leslie.

“I…I was looking for a ghost,” she admitted. “Or something. I keep hearing the sound of sobbing.”

“Make that a really good look around,” Adam said.

Before they could take action, they heard the sound of a car pulling to a sudden halt outside.

“It’s Joe,” Leslie said in surprise, staring out the window. She saw him exit his car, looking at the house anxiously, and realized that he could see her staring out at him.

She walked over to the door, keyed in the alarm and threw it open. She was shivering, but she was also grateful to see him. She tried not to betray her sense of panic in her voice. “Didn’t I tell you to go home to bed?” she said.

“What are you doing up?” he demanded worriedly, ignoring her question.

She waved a hand vaguely. “Um…noises.”

He entered, looking from her to Nikki, and then to Adam, who somehow managed to look dignified despite being clad in a terry robe and scuffed slippers—perhaps because he was carrying a gun, Leslie thought half hysterically—and then back to Leslie. Before Joe could say anything, Adam told him, “Don’t worry. I’m licensed, and I know what I’m doing.”

Joe looked back at him. “I didn’t doubt it for a minute. But…you thought that you had an intruder?” He was clearly worried by the possibility.

“I must have been mistaken,” Leslie said.

“I say it won’t hurt to make a thorough search of the place,” Adam said. He was amazingly cheerful for someone whose sleep had been so rudely interrupted.

“We’ll take the downstairs,” Joe said, taking Leslie’s hand.

“Upstairs for us, then,” Adam said, nodding at Nikki. “You’re armed?” he asked Joe.

“Always,” Joe said quietly. Leslie gave him a shocked look, and he shrugged. “I’m always looking for the bad guys, remember?” he told her.

Adam and Nikki started back up the stairs, leaving Joe and Leslie alone in the front hall.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Joe asked, staring intently into her eyes.

“Nothing. I’m sure I imagined it all,” she said. “I mean…it’s an old house. It creaks. And…Joe.”

“Yeah?” He was opening doors as he led her down the hall, turning lights on as he went, chasing the shadows out of the corners.

“Joe, I think there’s a shaft or a tunnel near here somewhere.”

He paused, looking at her. “Yeah?”

“You don’t think I’m crazy?”

He hesitated, and she felt as if he were holding something back. “I chased a man through this neighborhood the other night. He completely disappeared. So I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he found a bolt-hole like that somewhere around here. But what makes you think so?”

“I hear…noises. And I think they’re coming from beyond the basement wall.”

“We need to look into that, then,” he said seriously.

They went through the whole of the downstairs. In the servants’ pantry, Joe paused, looking questioningly at Leslie, who ducked her head, unwilling to meet his eyes. Then he lifted the hatch. Light streamed up from below; she had forgotten to turn off her lantern earlier.

Joe didn’t say anything, only started down the stairs. He waved a hand at her to stay where she was until he had made a circuit of the room.

“It’s all right,” he said.

She went down and found him studying the hearth and the wall beside it. He walked closer to the bricks and tapped them, pushed at them.

“What are you doing?” she asked at last.

“I don’t know.” He looked at her. “I thought maybe there might be a hidden latch, a secret door, a room behind the room. Sort of like your city beneath the city.” He smiled.

“Oh.” She walked over and stared at the wall with him. The grout was almost as dark as the brick. She tapped at one brick after another, but she couldn’t tell if there was a hollow space behind it or not.

“You’d asked me for maps,” he murmured.

“It’s all right. I got them myself. At the library,” she explained.

“And?”

“Well, the first subway ran north from City Hall to 145th Street,” she said.

He nodded. “Something to think about. Anyway…the house is empty. I guess I should go.”

Not really, she could have told him. But as for any flesh-and-blood danger…

“Adam is in the room you were in last night, and Nikki is with me. But please, don’t sleep in your car again—and don’t try to tell me that’s not exactly what you’re planning to do. The bed in the master chamber upstairs actually has a brand-new mattress on it. Stay here,” she said.

“All right. It’s going to be a busy morning.”

“Right. You have your meeting with Eileen.” She paused. “And you’re going to speak to Brad, too, right?”

He took a deep breath. Exhaled. “Leslie, he’s been a customer of the girls on the street for a long time now. Years.”

She felt the blood drain from her face, but she refused to believe it. Brad? A kidnapper, even a murderer? No. No way.

“Lots of men hire prostitutes,” she said.

He shrugged. “Hey, I’m not with the vice squad.”

“Joe, if you get into a fight with him—”

“I have no intention of fighting with him. I’m just going to tell him what I’ve discovered and see how he reacts. But if I ever find out he was behind what happened to Matt, or what’s been happening to you…” He didn’t need to go on; the threat was obvious.

“I promise you, Brad would never hurt me. For one thing, I’m the one who makes him famous all the time.”

“Let’s call it a night, shall we?”

She nodded and started up the steps ahead of him. They met Nikki and Adam back in the main entry hall. “Clear?” Joe asked.

“Clear,” Adam agreed.

“I’m sorry. I guess I heard the house creaking,” Leslie said.

“There’s nothing like a good tour of a historic house in the middle of the night, I say,” Nikki said with a casual smile.

“All right, then…back to bed?” Adam suggested.

They all started back up the stairs. Leslie was surprised when Joe, who was bringing up the rear, paused on the top step, looking down.

“What is it?” Leslie asked.

“The house,” he murmured. “Just the house.”

On the upper landing, they split up.

“I promised Melissa that I’d buy the doughnuts tomorrow morning,” Leslie murmured. “This morning, now.”

“We’ll still make it up early,” Nikki promised.

“Your bed is in there—just step over the cords that hold the tourists back,” Leslie told Joe, pointing.

“Cool,” he said. “I get to cross the line.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead and said good night to Adam and Nikki. Adam gave Leslie a thumbs-up and headed for his room.

Nikki looked at Leslie and said, “This time, let’s lock the bedroom door, too, huh?”

Leslie nodded. “I’m sorry I scared everyone, but I know I heard something. I swear there’s someone sobbing down there,” she said as they headed toward their room. “And it’s so strange. Sometimes it sounds as if it’s real, happening right now, but other times, it’s like an echo of something that happened a long time ago.”

“So is it real or ghostly?” Nikki asked, closing the bedroom door behind them and locking it herself.

“That’s just it. I don’t know.” Leslie crawled into bed, then rolled over to face Nikki. “I could swear that there’s a shaft…a room, a tunnel, something, near here. I have the subway maps, but…Anyway, we’ll start searching tomorrow.”

Nikki hiked herself up on an elbow. “At least Joe believes in you,” she said.

“I’ve never actually told him I see ghosts.”

“But he knows you have a special sense. And he believes in it. And if you don’t plan on keeping him in this house with you, then neither Adam or I will leave.”

Leslie laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m starting to frighten myself. Joe is more than welcome to stay in this house.”

Nikki grinned and plumped her pillow. “Good. Now, let’s get some sleep. Doughnut time is near.”

She rolled over, and Leslie sensed that she fell asleep almost instantly.

But she herself lay awake. She could sense that someone was in the room, and she was certain that…

That it was Matt.

She felt his warmth. She fell asleep at last, content in the sensation of being held in his arms.

The morning went surprisingly smoothly. By the time Leslie and Nikki headed downstairs, Adam and Joe had gone out to buy doughnuts and left coffee brewing. Melissa arrived and was delighted with the company. Then Tandy and Jeff came in, and Adam and Nikki admired their costumes before Nikki exchanged stories with them, New Orleans myth and legend vs New York.

But, inevitably, it came time to head to the dig. They circled the fence, said hello to the guards and were ushered through the gate. They were greeted by a number of the grad students, who seemed to know Joe as well as they knew her, Leslie thought.

She was dismayed to find, when they reached the crypt, that Professor Laymon and Brad were already there. She could feel the tension grip her when Joe greeted Brad, but apparently, whatever suspicion Joe was feeling, he hid it well. Brad clearly sensed nothing, and, true to his word, Joe kept from making a scene.

“Brad, I’d really like some time to talk later,” Joe told him.

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