Chapter 3: The Mansion By Brother E
The old, run-down mansion resembled the old mansion from the famous CLUE board game. But this mansion looked a bit more like a castle. It had a long sidewalk that led down the middle of the big yard to the front steps. Joey walked up the steps to the big double doors. He grabbed the big handle and gave a heave. The doors didn’t move. They were locked.
“Confound it!” muttered Joey. He looked around. “We’ll have to find another way, Rocks.”
They crept around the big yard. Tall trees covered the entire park. This is why it must be called “Wood’s Mansion”, thought Joey. On the side of big mansion, they saw big hunting dogs sleeping in their kennels.
“We’re going to have to be very careful getting around those dogs!” whispered Roc.
Creeping past the dogs, they came to the back of the building. Just then, Joey saw a security camera. He and the rocks crept down low behind some bushes to get by it. The detective saw some back doors. He walked up to them and pulled. They were locked like the front doors. But Joey was still determined to find a way in.
“Answers are in this house,” he told the rocks. “Whoever those men were might be in here. They are also interested in the same story as we are.”
They were still looking when Joey realized something.
“Where’s Ks?” he asked Roc.
Roc looked around, “Don’t know! He was just here behind me.”
“Over here,” a voice whispered from behind.
Joey and Roc walked over to it. Ks was next to a set of old stone stairs. They went below the ground about nine feet.
“Look at what I found!” he exclaimed, quietly.
“Good job, brother!” said Roc.
“Yes,” said Joey. “These stairs might lead somewhere!”
Joey carefully walked down the stairs. The sides were made of concrete all the way up to ground level. The chamber had a musty smell. Joey was thankful for the AC unit running, which muffled his steps. Beside the AC unit was a single door. Joey took hold of the knob, and…it opened!
“Ah, ha!” whispered Joey, “Somebody forgot to lock up!”
He looked up the stairs back at the two rocks, which were still at the top.
“OK, Rocks,” he exclaimed, but quietly. “Keep a look out!”
“We will!” the rocks said in unison.
Joey opened the door, which made a creaking noise. Lack of oil, thought Joey. He realized he couldn’t depend on moonlight alone, so he took out his flashlight. The bright beam was so much better. He knew where he was, in a long hallway. He crept down the hallway and came into a big living guest room. He pointed the light up to the roof. He saw an old grandfather clock and many pictures on the wall. They had relatives, family and friends. Joey looked closer; one had parents with a little girl and a big brother in the middle, another had the family with friends and other family. One big picture had them at a funeral. On the coffin it said “Great Grandfather Woods.”
“So this why the mansion is called Wood’s Mansion,” he said quietly.
More pictures were up on the wall, one of the family’s vacation, and others of normal daily activities. But then Joey realized something.
“Wait a minute,” he whispered. “This mansion must belong to somebody other than the guys here right now.”
He walked out of the fancy room and into the giant kitchen. There was a giant eating table and lots of chairs. Joey went into the kitchen center and looked around. While he looked he stepped on something that made a cracking noise. He looked down and saw, to his amazement, pieces of what looked like a Ruby Cat!
“Looks like another Ruby Cat!” exclaimed Joey, “But this one is in pieces. The crooks must have been trying to find the rubies, so they broke this one but to no avail.”
Joey put the statue back together like a puzzle. A few pieces were missing, so Joey looked inside for a trashcan. He found one and looked inside, and sure enough, the missing pieces were inside. He put the whole statue together and it was a Ruby Cat.
“Well, I wonder if there’s more here,” he whispered.
He went out of the kitchen into another room. This one had a billiard ball table in the middle of it with a few red chairs around it. Against the walls were a few small shelves. Joey looked along them and saw on one of the shelves another Ruby Cat!
“They must have plenty here,” exclaimed Joey, “I need to check the hall rooms.”
He walked back through the kitchen, and the living room, back to the long hallway. He looked in one of the room. It was a master bedroom. He looked on all the shelves, and on one he saw another Ruby Cat! He looked in all the rooms and 3 out 5 had Ruby Cats. They were all old and scratched up.
“Well,” he whispered, “I guess these men have a job they are going to start.”
Just then, he heard voices and footsteps.
“Oh, great,” said Joey. “They’re coming!
He quickly put the Ruby Cat back on the shelf and quickly went out the door. He looked down the hall, and saw two men coming down the hall. He turned around and headed back toward the door he came in. But as he turned, he bumped into someone and fell on the ground. Joey rubbed his head and looked up. It was a butler in a black suit and white tie. He loomed over Joey. The other men came down the hall when heard the noise. One had a blue suit with a brown tie. The other had a brown vest and a round hat. They walked up to Joey and the butler.
“Hey,” said the man in the brown vest. “What’s going on here?”
“Well, sir,” said the butler, “I found this young man snooping around in the house.”
“Do you have anything to say for yourself,” he asked Joey.
“Well, for your information sir,” replied Joey, “I was at the library researching when I saw someone spying on me. We took after him and saw that he went in a blue, 1970 Cadillac. They took off so fast that we couldn’t catch them. So I used my scanner to scan the tire marks, which led to here. So if you don’t mind sir, we’ll have a look at your car, if you don’t object.”
“Sure thing, young man,” the man in the vest said.
The four walked out the big front double doors to the big garage which held at least four cars. The butler walked to the handle and was about to pull the door up, but then he hesitated.
“Go on,” said Joey, “We’ll soon see.”
“If you say so, sir,” the butler replied.
“Yes, hurry up, George,” the man in the blue suit ordered. “We’ll soon see.”
The butler pulled open one of the big looking barn doors. Joey and the men walked in. The man in the vest turned on the light switch. But to Joey amazement, the car was just an old black Buick. Joey was shocked!
“Now do you see?” said the man in the blue suit.
Joey was still amazed. “I’m so sorry, gentlemen. I made a big mistake! But my scanner pointed this way.”
“Technology does make mistakes,” said the man in the hat. “We all get mixed up. It’s all right,” he said with a smirk.
“But I have another question,” asked Joey, “What’s with the same statue of cats? And why was there one broken in the kitchen?”
“We just like that kind of statue,” the man in the blue suit said. “There are plenty of them to match. And the one in the kitchen broke when a cat knocked it over.”
“Oh, I see,” said Joey. “Goodbye gentlemen. Sorry to disturb you.”
“It’s OK,” said the man in the hat, “Hope you find the man who spied on you.”
“Thanks,” said Joey as he turned to leave.
The rocks came from around the back of the house.
“So,” asked Ks, “Did you get the men?”
“No,” replied Joey, “We made a mistake. This isn’t the right house.”
“But what about the scanner?” exclaimed Roc.
“It must have made a mistake,” answered Joey, “This isn’t the right house. Come on, let’s go home.”
The men opened the gates for them, and they walked the long trip home.
The men went back inside the mansion. But on the side of the mansion, a gust of wind blew a tarp off an object. Underneath the tarp was the blue, 1970 Cadillac.
The end of part 3. Hope you enjoy!
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