Sour Apple and Animosity

by Allyssa Mirry

  Lydia and Trina had called Detective Grey to tell him their latest idea but had then gone to the police station to see what developed. Finally feeling like she was on to something now that there was evidence to back it up, Lydia wanted to be close to the action in the hopes of seeing Suzanne.

  However, even though Douglas Manners had agreed to come in for questioning, they had not been invited to watch the interview. Lydia and Trina had been told to wait by Leo’s desk.

  “We probably should have stayed home,” Trina said, agitatedly. “We’re not being any help here, and we could have had some dinner.”

  All Lydia had in her purse were some pieces of sour apple taffy, but she shared them with her friend. She was also annoyed. She knew that the detectives were following procedure, but she couldn’t help thinking that since she had discovered the clue that led them down this track and due to the emotional aspect of this case, that she and Trina could have been invited to watch the interview. They could have stayed on the other side of a two-way mirror, and Douglas Manners need never have known they were there. Lydia had almost considered sneaking over there to watch anyway, except for the other officers who were doing the same thing.

  The one silver lining was seeing Leo’s face before he went to join Detective Grey to ask some questions. Leo was told that he would have to take a backseat during the interrogation, but he didn’t mind. He finally felt like he was doing something that could rescue Suzanne. Lydia was glad to see the hope and determination back in him.

  She just wished that she could have seen it all in action.

  She and Trina ate the taffy that she had and waited. Eventually, Leo headed back to his desk. He no longer looked the same way. Anger was coursing through him. Lydia guessed that he was told to walk it off.

  “What’s going on?” Lydia asked.

  “Suzanne’s not…” Trina trailed off as she tried to ask her question.

  “It sounds like Suzanne and Megan are still alive,” Leo assured them. “But that’s the only good piece of news. It’s clear that Douglas Manners is guilty. He doesn’t deny any of the evidence against him. And we just added more against him after finding a judge to sign a search warrant for his house. We found his gun, and it was recently fired. We’re sure it’s the murder weapon.”

  “Then, what’s the problem?” asked Trina.

  “There weren’t any signs of Suzanne or Megan at the house. We have no idea where he is keeping them,” Leo said. “And he knows that we want to save them. He’s saying that he will only take a deal where he gets no jail time for his crimes, and then he will reveal where the women are.”

  “But he killed a man,” Lydia said. “He can’t get away with murdering Teddy Thomas.”

  “I know that. Hence my frustration,” Leos said, clenching his fists. “We can’t agree to a deal like that, but I don’t know how else we can convince him to tell us where Suzanne and Megan are.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find a way,” Lydia said. “You and Detective Grey are very talented at what you do.”

  “Thanks,” Leo said. “I need to get a sip of water and cool off. Then, I’ll get back in there and see if I can get some answers out of him.”

  He walked away. Trina placed a hand on Lydia’s arm.

  “He is very good at what he does, but you’re pretty talented too. And I think we have a time crunch here,” Trina said. “Is there any chance that since we know who the perpetrator is, you can figure out where he is keeping the people he took?”

  “I’m sure the police looked at any other properties that Douglas Manners might own or rent,” Lydia said.

  “Fine. They have the resources to do that. If it pans out – wonderful. But what idea do you have that only Lydia Doherty could have? You saw octopi and knew who the killer was.”

  “I only knew that there was a connection.”

  “Come on,” Trina said. “You can do this.”

  Lydia was about to protest that she wasn’t some sort of super sleuth. She had only gotten involved in cases before because they affected someone she cared about, and though she could be clever, she was also lucky. But then an idea occurred to her, and she wondered if this out of the box thought was what Trina meant.

  “You know,” Lydia said. “There is something we could try.”

  16

  The Rescue

  “Would this be considered breaking and entering?” Trina asked.

  “I’m not planning on breaking anything,” Lydia said. “And I think Leo won’t let charges be pressed against us if we save Suzanne.”

  “I guess I wouldn’t mind some community service or even jail time if it saves her,” Trina agreed.

  They had just pulled up to Douglas Manners’s house and were approaching it. The police must have finished their sweep of it after securing the warrant because there was no one there now.

  It took a little while for Lydia and Trina to find a way inside that didn’t break anything, but after climbing through a window, they got themselves inside. They immediately headed to room with the fireplace and the octopus that Douglas had led them away from when they had been there earlier.

  Now that they were right in front of the octopus design, Lydia thought that it was obvious that they were created by the same builder. Each of the octopus’s eight tentacles was holding a bottle, and there was a letter on each. The bottles read out: Sun, Sands. Below the octopus, it continued with the word: Surf.

  “Does it say the same thing as at the other house?” Trina asked.

  Lydia shook her head. “That one said: eat, drink, and be merry.”

  “Well, we committed a crime so that we could see this thing. Do you think it will help us find Suzanne?”

  “I’m hoping it will,” Lydia said. “What’s the one thing we know about Suds Wilway?”

  “He was a speakeasy owner.”

  “Exactly. And speakeasies had to be kept secret at the time. Maybe even in a secret room.”

  “You think that Suzanne might be here?” asked Trina.

  “I didn’t want to tell Leo in case I was way off base, but it’s possible that this building was where Suds Wilway had his saloon. And if there was a secret room then, it could still be there today.”

  “And Douglas Manners could have easily found out about it if he was doing a ton of research. Or if something was left in the house.”

  “Or it’s possible that he obtained Mr. Wilway’s diary,” said Lydia. “He told us that he collected them.”

  “I really like the idea of a speakeasy secret room,” Trina said, glancing around. “But how do we find it.”

  “Well, I know that at some speakeasies you had to speak a certain code word.”

  “Should we just shout things out?”

  “I’m wondering if we can use those letters from the octopus to spell out a code work,” Lydia said. “I wonder if those bottles move.”

  She reached for the first bottle with the letter “S” on it and found that it could turn.

  “You’re a genius!” Trina said. “And if there’s ever another prohibition I’m confident you could make sure that we still have access to Rosé.”

  “I think we should only turn certain bottles to spell out a word. But what word would it be?”

  “Try Suds,” Trina suggested. “If it had a place like this, I might name it after myself.”

  Lydia moved the proper letters to spell out her friend’s suggestion, and it instantly worked. A panel opened in the fireplace revealing a stairwell.

  “Why don’t you stay here with a cell phone and I’ll go down to investigate?” Lydia suggested.

  “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  “And I don’t want to get stuck down there in a cell phone dead zone. It will be helpful if you’re here.”

  Trina agreed, and Lydia headed down the stairs using her own phone as a flashlight. When she reached the flat surface of the hidden basement, she cast her light around. She immediately saw Suzanne and the woman she recognized as Megan Wil
way from Mitch’s picture. They were tied up but were definitely alive.

  Lydia called up to Trina to alert Leo that he shouldn’t make a deal with Douglas Manners and that ambulances should be sent here just in case. Then, she hurried to untie the two women.

  Suzanne pulled Lydia into a big hug as soon as she was free, and then they untied Megan. The women both felt a little shaky form their ordeal, but apart from some bruising where the ropes were and a small cut on Suzanne’s forehead, they looked unharmed.

  “I’m so glad you found us,” Suzanne said. “By the way, Megan, this is Lydia. My boyfriend’s sister.”

  “So nice to meet you,” Megan said with a laugh.

  “Leo and Detective Grey caught Douglas Manners,” Lydia explained. “I thought I might be crazy when I went looking for a secret room, so I didn’t tell them until I found something.”

  “I’m not sure he’ll like that,” Suzanne teased.

  “Since you’re okay, he won’t care at all,” Lydia responded. “Do you think that you’re able to head up the stairs?”

  “If we move slowly,” said Megan. “But I do want to get out of here.”

  Lydia placed an arm around her to support the woman. They started out of the secret basement.

  “It seems like a nightmare,” Suzanne said. “One minute we were having a meeting about what to do with the house and then a masked man barges in with a gun. Teddy tried to fight him off so we could get away, but the man shot him. But Teddy did unmask him, and that’s when I recognized Douglas Manners from when I redid a room here. We tried to hide, but he found us. I was able to call Leo for help, but then Douglas destroyed our phones.”

  “You actually called me by mistake,” Lydia said. “But I made sure that Leo got the message. And everyone has been working to save you both.”

  “Douglas made us come with him. He threatened us with that gun and then tied us up,” Megan said. “Because we knew who he was, I don’t think he would have let us go. But he wanted information out of us.”

  “I don’t think he intended to hurt us when he first went to the other house. Not that it makes a difference now,” Suzanne said. “He killed my friend and colleague.”

  “He thought there was some sort of treasure in the house I inherited,” Megan said. “He wanted to know where it was hidden and how to get to it. He thought since I owned the house and Suzanne and Teddy were professionals when it came to houses, they would know. That’s why he came to the meeting. Of course, I didn’t know anything about a treasure or secret rooms or anything.”

  “Me neither,” Suzanne said. “I don’t know how long he would have kept us around after he learned we didn’t know anything. I’m so glad you found us.”

  They continued making their way up the stairs. When they finally emerged, they were greeted by a full crowd. Some EMTs had just arrived on the scene at the same time as the police did.

  Leo ran up to Suzanne as soon as he saw her and pulled her into an embrace. They didn’t speak. They just held one another.

  Lydia headed to Trina’s side as the EMTs went to check on Megan.

  “I can’t believe it,” Trina said.

  “What part of this crazy case? The speakeasy secret rooms? The killer on the lookout for treasure?” asked Lydia.

  “That we get a happy ending. I’m not complaining. I mean, I wanted this to happen. But I didn’t believe it would for a while. I’m so glad it did.”

  Lydia smiled. Seeing Suzanne and Megan safe and sound, she had to agree that this was the best outcome that she could have hoped for. It was a happy ending.

  Epilogue

  “What do you think is inside?” Trina asked.

  “Well, it’s supposed to be some sort of treasure, isn’t it?” asked Leo.

  “Whatever it is, it’s not worth the trouble,” Megan said.

  “You say that now,” Trina teased. “But what if the secret safe is full of rubies.”

  “If we don’t figure out the code, we’ll never know,” Lydia reminded them. “Let’s try and think.”

  A group had assembled inside the Wilway house that had been a crime scene a few days ago. After being told that she was in good health, Megan had invited Lydia, Trina, Suzanne, and Leo to see if they could find whatever it was that Douglas Manners had been searching for. Daniel was also there as Lydia’s guest.

  The group stared at the octopus telling them to “Eat Drink” and wondered what the secret code could be, what secret compartment would open, and what would be inside.

  “Maybe it’s just the word drink if he was a speakeasy owner,” Daniel suggested.

  They tried it, and it didn’t work. They all continued staring at it, but Lydia felt her mind wandering. She was thinking about how close they had come to losing someone they cared about. Suzanne had indeed lost someone and was spending all her time that wasn’t with Leo, with Mrs. Thomas.

  Trina had spent a while telling Suzanne how happy she was that she and Leo were a couple and she was sorry if she ever gave the impression that she was against them. She might feel down on love at the moment, but she was pro Suzanne and Leo. Then she spent some time trying to come up with a silly couple’s name for them like “Suzeo” or “Lezanne.”

  Leo had been very grateful to Lydia in a way she had never seen before. However, a day or two after all the excitement, he reminded her that her involvement with police matters was a one-time thing. It was only because of the stakes of the case that every resource possible was being used. However, now, things needed to go back to normal.

  Lydia wasn’t quite sure what normal was anymore. This summer had been filled with starting a business, chasing suspects, and falling in love. All of it felt strange in different ways.

  “Ink,” Trina said, suggesting random words she saw. “Rink.”

  “Is there anything you know about your grandfather that could help us solve this is?” Lydia asked Megan.

  Megan shrugged. “I didn’t know him well. My family distanced themselves from him because of his business. I only inherited this house after no one else wanted it. My mom was upset that I took it. And now she really thinks it was a bad idea.”

  “Your mom,” Lydia said. “What’s her name?”

  “It’s Erin. Why?”

  “Well, that name would fit,” Lydia said. “We might as well try it.”

  They moved the bottles that the octopus was holding and a small panel was revealed near the bookcase. They collectively held their breath as they waited to see what the treasure was.

  Trina was the first to realize what it was and started laughing.

  “It’s all booze,” she said. “The treasures he mentioned in his diary or whatever was just alcohol that he put in his safe.”

  Daniel lifted out a bottle. “I’m not sure how well it aged.”

  “This is what Douglas was willing to kill for,” said Suzanne. “How sad.”

  “Well,” Megan said. “My mom might like to know that she was the combination to my grandfather’s safe. I might not tell her what was inside.”

  “They might be worth some money,” Leo said. “Probably not based on taste but because of the Wilway story about it. They are pieces of history.”

  “If they are worth any money, I think we should donate it to the Thomas family,” Lydia suggested.

  “That’s a wonderful idea,” Suzanne said. “He wasn’t just a friend. He was a hero. He lost his life trying to save Megan and me.”

  “I agree,” said Megan. “And I’m not planning on staying in this house any longer. I’m going to sell it, and I’ll donate some of the proceeds to Mrs. Thomas as well. Who knows what could have happened that day if Teddy didn’t act? If we figured out the code that day, Douglas might have shot all three of us to cover up the theft.”

  “He probably wouldn’t have been happy when he saw what was inside,” Trina agreed.

  “I wouldn’t mind spending some more time with you all, but I don’t want to stay in this house any longer,” Megan said. “How about
we get something to eat?”

  They all agreed and started to leave the house. Trina pulled Lydia aside and said, “You know you have been looking for a new house. This one is for sale. And I bet it will be a good price.”