by Wendy Heuvel
The cat pushed against Cassie again.
“What...?”
Someone was at the door.
Cassie groaned and pulled herself out from under the cozy quilts. She straightened her flannel pyjama pants and top. It was her new favourite winter set, covered in cartoon cats holding coffee mugs.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Coming!” Cassie mumbled, redoing her messy bun. She yawned and opened the door.
“Good morning!” Daniel swept into the apartment, grabbed Cassie around the waist, and twirled her around.
She leaned her head on his chest to fight the dizziness. “Not. A. Morning. Person. Remember?”
Daniel squeezed her and kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t wait to see you.” His eyes lit up, and a grin stretched from ear to ear. His muscles filled out his tight sweater nicely, and his hair was neatly gelled and styled.
Cassie smiled, despite her weariness. Then she looked down at her attire and wrapped her arms around herself in a self-conscious hug. “Ugh. I look awful! Let me go change.”
“No way,” Daniel flicked her messy bun. “You look absolutely adorable.”
Cassie shrugged. Maybe love really was blind.
“You sit with Pumpkin on the sofa, and I’m going to make you a Daniel Sawyer breakfast special.” He directed her to the living room area.
Cassie snuck off to brush her teeth and returned to sit on the sofa and watch Daniel, humming as he pulled pans from the cupboard, eggs and bacon from the fridge. He clicked the stove on and had the food sizzling within minutes.
Daniel poked his head back into the fridge. “Do you have any mushrooms?”
“No. Sorry. Can I help?”
“Nope.” He held his palm up. “You stay there and take time to wake up. I’ll make a tea for you.”
“I could get used to this.” Cassie giggled. Pumpkin jumped up to the back of the couch, and Cassie rubbed the cat’s lower back.
Daniel, holding the fridge open with one hand, turned to face her. His eyes sparkled. “This is only the beginning.”
Chills ran up and down Cassie’s spine. She silently thanked God for Daniel and praised Him for his goodness and mercy. After the previous night’s kiss, Daniel and Cassie chatted until almost two in the morning. When she got home, she fell into the most deep, peaceful sleep she’d had in ages. Even with only a few hours of slumber, Cassie felt rested, and her heart felt full.
Twenty minutes later, Daniel brought two full plates and two small juices to the coffee table on a tray.
“This looks amazing!” Cassie admired the artistry in which Daniel had placed the eggs, bacon, and toast on her plate. He’d even cut her toast into the shape of a heart. “You’re so sweet!”
He kissed her forehead again. “Anything for you.”
Cassie pulled the plate onto her lap and dug her fork in the egg to break the yolk.
“Wait,” Daniel said. He grabbed her hand. “Let’s pray first. I want to keep God first in everything we do.”
Cassie’s heart melted at his words. He had been so worth the wait. A hundred times over. “Of course.”
Daniel took the lead and prayed thanks to God for His goodness, for sending His Son Jesus, and for the food. Daniel also thanked God for bringing him and Cassie together in perfect timing.
Butterflies flittered around Cassie’s stomach, taking away her appetite. But she ate anyway. And when they finished, she snuggled next to Daniel, pulling her legs up and leaning against his side. She delighted at how well they fit together.
Daniel traced his finger up and down her arm. “I’d like to find some kind of couple’s devotional we can read together every day. Would that be okay?”
“I love that idea.”
“Perfect. I have one or two in the bookshop, but I’m not sure they’re the best ones. Maybe you can come take a look later? See what you think?”
Cassie smiled at his enthusiasm. “Sure.”
“I have something else.” Daniel sat forward so quickly that Cassie fell over. Was this to be a regular occurrence? “Sorry. But stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Cassie sat up again and watched Daniel disappear into the building hallway. A few seconds later, he returned, holding a giant, thin rectangle wrapped in brown paper.
“What is that?” Cassie leaned over the back of the couch, carefully studying the package as Daniel brought it closer. It had to be some sort of painting.
“It’s your Valentine’s Day present.”
“What? You’re a few days early!”
“I know, I know. But I couldn’t wait any longer. I’ve been dying to give this to you!” Daniel plopped down beside her and slid the package across the floor until it sat in front of her.
Cassie tried to keep the heat from filling her cheeks, but she was sure she failed. But, her embarrassment quickly turned to excitement the second she pulled at the brown wrapping. As she tore it away, she gasped at the wonder in front of her.
It was a DJ Sawyer black-and-white photograph of two eagles on the ice.
“This is beautiful!”
“I’m so glad you like it! It took me a few trips to the blind to get the perfect shot.”
Cassie examined the exquisite feathering on the eagle. “It looks like you took this from five feet away.”
“Well, I am a professional...”
Cassie giggled and leaned the framed photograph against the coffee table. She wrapped her arms around Daniel. “Thank you! I love it.”
“And I love you.”
Cassie’s cheeks instantly heated as she stared into his eyes.
Daniel grinned. “And you better get used to hearing it because I’m going to tell you all the time.”
His lips beckoned her. Should she kiss him? Her heart raced, and her palms turned sweaty. This was all so new with Daniel. And exciting.
Before she could decide, he answered her question. He touched his lips to hers in a soft, slow kiss.
Cassie’s nervousness fled in an instant. Having her lips against his seemed the most natural thing in the world.
Daniel pulled back first. “I wish I could do this all day. Stay here with you, and hold you in my arms. But I have to run. I’m hoping to get a couple more hours of tax paperwork done before opening.”
Cassie smiled. “That’s okay. We’ll see each other later.”
“You can bet on it.” He kissed her forehead and stood, grabbing the dishes from the coffee table and stacking them onto the tray.
“Please—leave those.” Cassie reached out and touched his arm. “Let me do it.”
He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her again. “Thank you.”
“Thank you. You’re the one who made me breakfast and brought me a beautiful gift.”
Daniel placed his hand on the back of her head and held Cassie as she nuzzled into his chest. “You’re welcome.”
They finally let go of each other, and Daniel moved toward the door. “Do you have anything special planned for today?”
“Well...” Cassie, hands behind her, leaned back against the kitchen table. “I plan on visiting the mansion before work to check out a hunch based on last night’s conversation.”
“Cassie—”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to text Lexy and have her and Brent meet me there.”
Daniel’s shoulders relaxed. “Promise?”
“Yes.”
He stepped up and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Be careful. And be sure to pop in the bookstore and tell me all about it when you get back.”
“I will.” She waved as he winked and walked out the door.
Hopefully, she would have something to tell.
Chapter 22
Standing on the sidewalk in front of the old mansion, Cassie shoved her mittened hands into her coat pocket and hunched her shoulders to keep her collar bunched around her neck. The wind chill dropped the already below freezing temperatures another few degrees, making the biting air almost unbearab
le.
Lexy and Brent should’ve been here by now. Cassie turned her gaze to Zach and Anna’s house across the street. Zach had already left for work—should she stop in and see Anna, to warm up a little? No. That probably wasn’t a good option. Anna had been feeling rather sluggish the past few days, and Cassie didn’t want to take the chance she’d wake her friend if she was still sleeping.
Another gust of wind sent a needling sensation through Cassie’s cheeks. She was going to freeze if she stood out here any longer. She eyed the covered porch and shuffled up the snowy walkway, opting to seek cover from the icy blasts.
Unfortunately, the shaky porch roof did little to deter the winds coming from all sides. What was taking Brent and Lexy so long? Another freezing swirl of wind and snow whizzed by her face, this time making her eyes water and freezing the tears onto her eyelashes.
Cassie sighed. She should’ve driven her SUV. At least then, she could’ve been sitting in a warm vehicle.
But she had chosen to walk, and she couldn’t take the freezing Canadian temperatures any longer. Cassie jiggled the front door handle and sighed in relief when the door popped open. The mansion was still very cold inside, but at least it would provide shelter from the wind. She would just stay by the front door until Lexy and Brent arrived.
Cassie’s phone vibrated. Lexy texted that someone had come into the station to report a snowblower theft. Brent was finishing up the paperwork. Cassie sighed. Hopefully they wouldn’t be long.
Time ticked by as Cassie analyzed the room, looking for ways to test her theory. Since her last visit, the investigative unit had returned and thoroughly searched the house, looking for evidence pointing to the murderer. Something in this house was being sought after, but the team had neglected to find it. In their wake, they’d left piles of books, papers, and files, beside emptied bookshelves, cabinets, and the piano bench.
Where else could she look? Cassie pulled out her phone to check the time. Lexy and Brent still hadn’t arrived, and she’d have to open Olde Crow Primitives soon.
There was no time to waste.
Cassie turned on her flashlight, and moved about the room, ignoring the piles and debris. Instead, she focussed on the empty cabinets and shelving, examining each for thin seams or moving parts.
There hadn’t been any secret passages in the house, but it didn’t mean there weren’t secret compartments. And there had to be. Cassie counted on it.
After a thorough examination of all the furniture, baseboards and paintings in the living room, Cassie moved to the dining room and then the kitchen. She opened all the cabinets and ran her fingers along all the edges but found nothing but dust and fifty-year-old grime.
A search of the other rooms downstairs also proved to be futile. Cassie then found herself standing at the base of the grand staircase. She looked around. The ruthless wind sought crevices to force its way inside the old mansion. Was it safe to go upstairs before Brent and Lexy arrived? Cassie shrugged. She’d already made her way around the entire main floor. Surely if someone was here, they’d have shown themselves by now. And Brent and Lexy would unquestionably show up any minute.
Cassie’s mission dominated her thoughts. She carefully made her way up the stairs, examining each riser and tread for movement or false fronts.
Again, nothing.
Cassie groaned as she reached the second floor. She had to be right. She just had to be. There was no denying the earnestness of her hunch.
She entered a bedroom. The mattress was still on its side like the last time she’d been here. The old metal bed frame and springs left no possible place for a secret compartment.
She stepped up to the wardrobe. The clothes had been stacked in a pile on the floor beside the massive wood structure. She opened the large doors to find a few mothballs rolling around in the bottom. The sides were merely thin panels, with no space for anything to be hidden.
Cassie aimed her flashlight at the top. The curly, wood design had been glued on. Again, no space for anything extra.
She tried the bottom. A thin panel across the foot of the wardrobe shifted a little. Cassie’s heart sped up. She rocked the panel back and forth until it came loose. When she pulled it away, a hole appeared, with only the floorboards showing beyond it—nothing else.
Cassie sat on the floor and sighed. So close!
Suddenly remembering her shortage of time, she rose and moved on to the dresser in the corner. If she searched the whole house and found nothing, she could wallow about it later. But for now, she needed to make the most of every minute.
Like everywhere else, the dresser contents had been emptied and stacked in piles on the floor beside. There was no sense going through them, as they clearly had already been searched. Cassie pulled out the top drawer, completely removing it. She flipped it over to check the bottom. Finding nothing, she ran her hand across the inside of the dresser to check for space at the top.
Not wanting to spend a lot of time on one piece of furniture, Cassie quickly removed all the drawers. No doubt the investigative team had already checked the bottom of each, so it was wasting time for her to do it again. What she was looking for wouldn’t have been taped to the bottom of any drawer.
Cassie scanned the floorboards and the baseboards as she had downstairs, but everything seemed solid, so she moved on to the next bedroom.
This was the bedroom with the old bookshelf. Cassie gasped. The old books were scattered across the floor. She picked up an open, weathered copy of The Secret Garden with bent pages. Obviously, the books were damaged anyway due to the home’s neglect, but the investigation team’s careless treatment of them made her stomach turn.
Despite the pressure from lack of time, Cassie took a moment to stack the books neatly and push them to the side.
The bookcase had been pulled away from the wall, but a quick glance told her nothing was behind it. She looked at it from the front again.
There were five shelves, but something was odd about the middle one. Cassie studied it a moment and smiled as she realized the difference.
The back wall of that particular shelf protruded out more than the others.
She quickly ran her fingers along the odd piece. It looked like a false backing. Cassie picked at the edges with her fingernails, trying to pull it loose. When that didn’t work, she pushed along the top edge and then the bottom.
When her fingers reached the side edge, her push caused the other side to pop forward, like a lever.
Cassie’s heart sped up again as she reached behind the open space and pulled the board loose. As it gave way, a dusty, leather-clad book fell out.
A diary.
She knew it! Cassie resisted the urge to squeal out loud as she grabbed the journal and carefully unwound the leather strap holding it closed.
The first page told her everything she wanted to know—Marilyn’s name, followed by a start date of January 1966 and a hyphen with no end date listed.
This is what the killer had been looking for.
This was the proof! Within its pages, Cassie would find all the answers to the looming questions. Who the affair was with, and more importantly, who killed Marilyn Howard.
Brent would be relieved when he saw the diary.
Speaking of Brent, why wasn’t he here yet? And where was Lexy?
Cassie flipped through the journal’s brittle pages, careful not to rip apart ones that were stuck together. The ink had faded, but with the help of her flashlight, Cassie could make out the gist of the writing.
Marilyn was lonely. Entry after entry mentioned how she missed Wayne and how marriage wasn’t what she’d thought it would be. Some entries talked about Marilyn’s garden, and a few about her friend Martha at Boersley’s, but nothing too interesting.
Cassie couldn’t wait. She quickly turned to the back of the journal, skipping past the blank pages until she came to the last few entries, looking for Edward’s name. She glanced over Marilyn’s details about a fight with Martha and how Martha had threaten
ed to tell Wayne about the affair. The story more or less divulged the same details Martha’s daughter, Jean, had shared.
Cassie flipped back a few pages.
An entry caught her eye.
Marilyn mentioned something about an underground tunnel. How she’d gone to meet him, but he insisted she didn’t use the tunnel as she was too precious to walk through something so gritty.
So, there was a secret passage. But where? How? Under the road? And where did it start?
Cassie flipped another page back.
Marilyn detailed how Wayne was gone for another business weekend, and she was glad. It would give her time to spend with her true love, the one who treasured every moment with her.
Another page back.
This entry was about a girl at work fighting with her parents. The previous entry about having to eat dinner with Wayne while pretending she still loved him.
But so far, no evidence leading to Marilyn’s killer.
Cassie flipped to the next page back.
Marilyn outlined a romantic, candlelit dinner with her one and only love. She detailed the roasted chicken she’d cooked and the salad she’d prepared with greens from her own garden. Cassie blushed at a few details outlining an after-dinner rendezvous, and then how—
What?
Marilyn wrote how Charles had spent the night with her here at the mansion.
Charles? From next door?
So, he had been the one Marilyn had the affair with?
But then who was the murderer? Who had searched the house and caused the ghostly impersonations? Charles wasn’t capable of it, so who else had a motive?
Not Edward. He was obviously cleared as a suspect now. So, who?
Cassie’s eyes widened.
Wayne. It had to be Wayne. Grams had been right. He was a good liar. He was the only one with a motive. Jealousy had won him over and caused him to do the unthinkable.
Cassie gripped the diary. She’d have to read through every page. Somewhere in this book was the proof showing Wayne was the culprit. There had to be, or else he wouldn’t have been so determined to find it.
A floorboard creaked out in the hall.
“Brent?” Cassie called. “Lexy? I’m in here! I found Marilyn’s diary! It’ll tell us all we need to know.”