Page 26
Story: Corpse at Captain's Seat
“Where does it lead to?”
“Have you already explored the whole thing?”
“Whoa, it’s dark in there!”
“Can we go inside?”
Ellery absently listened to his friends while unobtrusively studying the shiny floor for mud or damp shoe prints. Though fixing drinks in the kitchen had supplied enough time for wet prints to evaporate, the imprint of muddy shoes would still be visible. He was relieved to see the floors and rugs looked untouched.
Anyway, if someone was lurking in that tunnel, Watson would be losing his mind right now...
Ellery watched Watson stick his nose into the gloom, sniffing energetically, and then letting out a full-body sneeze. Watson sneezed again. He quickly backed out, still sneezing loudly.
Ellery stepped over Watson, and joined the others. “This tunnel leads down to the cellar. But it may have originally had another branch that’s blocked off now. There’s a small hidden closet off the dining room which has another passage that might have led to an old greenhouse, which no longer exists.”
“So it’s a dead end?”
“Yes. The exit is sealed shut.”
“Did you look for treasure?” Chelsea asked.
Ellery assumed Chelsea was kidding, and he laughed. “No. Not yet.”
“But that’s what your employee was saying, right?”
“My...”
“Nora,” Tosh put in.
Chelsea shook her head. “No. The little man with the bow tie. He said something about the legend of the Dourdos Aquamarine.”
Oh, right. Ellery remembered the reference but it hadn’t made sense to him at the time—and still didn’t, given that they’d been discussing the likelihood of Edwin Dolph popping up on Buck Island.
“That’s the first I’ve ever heard of the Dourdos Aquamarine.”
“Oooh,” Tosh exclaimed. “We’re going on a treasure hunt!”
Ellery laughed because, well, frankly, treasure hunting was in his DNA. But he had no idea what the Dourdos Aquamarine was, what the connection might be to the island—let alone to Captain’s Seat. He wasn’t even sure that’s what Nora and Kingston had been hinting at. They could be cryptic when communicating with other lifeforms.
“Maybe? But—” He froze—they all froze—at the sound of the doorbell.
Ding-dong, psycho calling?
But Watson tore out of the room barking hysterically.
Arf! Arf! Arf!
It was a specific bark for a specific person.
“That’s Jack.” Ellery could hear the relief in his voice, which probably didn’t do a lot to reassure his friends.
“Are yousureabout that?” Tosh probably intended to sound teasing, though it didn’t quite come off that way.
But Watson was never wrong about this, and he could be heard tags jingling as he raced down the hall, joyfully barking all the way. Ellery and the others followed.
When they reached the heavy wooden front door, Watson was jumping up and down on his hind legs as Jack rang the doorbell for a second time.
“Check first, Ellery!” Tosh urged.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91