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Watson licked Ellery’s finger.

“Awww. You can’t blamehim,” Lenny protested. “It was our idea.”

“Oh, was that an actualidea?”

His friends laughed, not at all abashed, and apparently no longer alarmed at the idea of an axe-wielding murderer lurking in the night. Jack was not going to be happy to hear of the evening’s adventure though, and Ellery winced inwardly at the idea of telling him.

After their impromptu night hike in forty-degree temps, everyone was only too happy to agree to the suggestion they leave their wet and muddy shoes at the door and settle down with hot drinks in front of the fireplace.

Ellery made hot buttered rum, which was his new favorite cold weather nightcap, and led the way to the library.

“I remember those ‘before’ pictures of the house,” Tosh remarked as they crossed the great hall. “The way you feel about spiders, I didn’t think you’d last the week.”

Ellery laughed with everyone else, but the truth was, he hadn’t been sure he’d last the first week, either. But he also didn’t think he had a choice. He’d left his job, sold his brownstone, he’d—in the vernacular—put all his eggs in one very dusty basket. It would have taken more than a couple ofbroken windows and a whole lot of spiders, not to mention several species of lizards (all of which seemed to be using Captain’s Seat as their headquarters) to drive him back to the mainland.

“How much did all this cost, Ellery?” Chelsea gazed up at the gigantic bronze shell that hung over the stone fireplace. The shell had once decorated the stern of a French frigate. “Restoring everything, I mean.”

Flip muttered, “Jeez, Chels.”

Chelsea glared at him. “You don’t think Ellery wants to talk about what it took to renovate this place? It’s all he’s been doing for a year!”

Ellery intervened. “I didn’t do all the renovations at once, and Jack helped me with a lot of the smaller stuff. It costs more than you think it will, that’s for sure.”

Tosh and Lenny laughed nervously. Chelsea said thoughtfully, “A lot of these antiques must be really valuable.”

“Some of them, probably.” Considering how much potentially valuable stuff had been collected over the centuries, it was kind of amazing that the house hadn’t been vandalized or robbed like Skull House in the months following Great-aunt Eudora’s death. Granted, Jack hadn’t been watching over the island back then. And Skull House had been uninhabited a lot longer than Captain’s Seat. Ellery, desperate for escape, had begun planning his move to Buck Island soon after he’d learned of his unexpected inheritance.

“Do you have a drawing room?” Tosh asked.

“A drawing room, a gallery, a library, a game room, a pantry, and a wine cellar off the main cellar.”

“Was there a treasure trove of old wine in the wine cellar?”

“Nope. There wasn’t a single bottle of wine or anything else in the wine cellar.”

“Nowthat’sdisappointing,” Lenny said.

“It would have all turned to vinegar anyway,” Chelsea replied.

Flip said hopefully, “Game room as in video games?”

“Game room as in a room with a giant billiard table we’d need a crane to move.”

The game room had not been included in the renovation plans, and it remained as untouched by time and cleaning products as an undiscovered Egyptian tomb.

They reached the library, Ellery found the light switch, and his guests gasped at the vision of the chipped and peeling mermaid figurehead suspended from the high ceiling of the long room.

Ellery gasped, too. But in his case, it had nothing to do with the mermaid, and everything to do with the narrow doorway usually discreetly hidden between the towering bookcases, but currently standing wide open.

Chapter Seven

“What? What’s wrong?” Tosh demanded sharply, so maybe everyone was still a bit more on edge than he’d realized.

Ellery was quick to reassure. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I was just surprised to see that panel open. The workmen must have forgotten about it when they left this morning.” He nodded at the narrow doorway.

“Oh, my God. Is that asecret passage?”

Mugs were deposited on every available flat surface and the Scooby Gang—er, Ellery’s friends—crowded around the entrance.