La Photographie Moderne

by Neil Crenner

down the side of the hill and headed towards the other end. When they arrived the water was too high to cross.

  "I guess we will have to go to the house and make our way back thru the tunnel." They headed back up to the lighthouse again.

  "Let's drive up to the house and see if anyone's there," Reason said. They got in the Jaguar and began driving. When they had reached the main road they turned right and headed for the house. They reached the main gates and they were not locked.

  "I think someone's been here since we have and they don't seem to care if anyone comes in."

  "I would think they wouldn't want any transients coming up here and squatting."

  They drove through the gates and headed towards the winery. "It's so quiet, it's kind of creepy. No wind today."

  "No birds either." They went to the winery and it was unlocked as well. Inside it was darker and it looked like someone had been looking for something. The place was a mess. Reason looked at Catherine.

  "I wonder if they were looking for the Will?"

  "I am sure they were. They suspected that he might hide it out here with the wine?"

  "There is no wine. Just big stainless steel vats that all seem to have been thoroughly examined. It's over here, the one with the secret door. Somehow I remember where it is." They headed to the far side of the building.

  There it was, they had found the secret door and pried it open. Reason was shocked. He didn't believe that someone else knew about it.

  "Let's go take a look." They went down the steps into the tunnel once again. There was more light now. Sunlight was coming thru some holes that had been dug into the ceiling of the tunnel.

  "Let's go look by the fountain." They walked until they came to the fountain and in the small alcove they found a hole in the ground. "I see they were digging here as well. I wonder who it was?" Reason pondered.

  "Maybe the person who hid the Will here came to retrieve it?" Catherine interjected.

  "Then maybe you have a relative running around here?"

  "I doubt that," Catherine said.

  Reason looked around over by the fountain. He walked up to it and was looking through the grill. "I see something glimmering, come take a look," He hail Catherine. She came over and looked up through the grill and saw something under the fountain that glimmered as well. "What do you think it is?"

  "It looks like a piece of glass actually, a round one, let's go check it out. They headed back the way they had come from. They made their way out to the garden and found the fountain. "You see this fountain is all crumbling and has all this growth on it. Whoever was looking for the Will seemed to over look this?" Reason walked around the fountain and saw that there was a small door near the base of it. He reached down and pushed away the weeds that had grown thick there near the base. He pulled them away and could feel the small metal door pull away; it broke off its hinges. Catherine was standing a few feet back and could really see what Reason was doing.

  "I think I found something here at the base of the fountain. He reached his hand in and touched something smooth. I think its glass." He got closer and tugged on the door more to pull it completely away from the fountain base. Again he reached in and grasp a hold of the smooth surface and drew it towards him. He had to wiggle his wrist and gently pulled the glass from the fountain. It was covered in dirt and oval.

  "What is it?"

  "I think it's some kind of lens. Where's a faucet?"

  "Do you think the waters on?"

  "We shall find out." Reason searched all over and didn't see any water faucet. I saw some water in the winery. They went back to it and there was a sink. The water was crystal clear. He dipped the lens into it and it washed away all the dirt. He brought it out and could see now that it was a lens for the lighthouse.

  "What do you make of it? Why would a lens be hidden in the fountain?"

  "I think it's a clue to helping us find the Will. Let's go back down to the lighthouse." They made their way to the car and began driving back down to the lighthouse.

  "This is now getting mysterious. A hidden lens and what do you think it will show us?"

  "Can you see if there is anything scratched on the lens? Any words or numbers?"

  "I can't see anything," Catherine said as she stared thru the lens. They made it to the lighthouse and it was also unlocked. They went up the stairs and to the light mechanism. "You see there is no lens in the lighthouse.

  This must be the one that went into it. Now I wonder how this goes in there." Reason looked around and saw that the lens sat in front of the bulb. "This must be a very old lens, because I thought that they were replaced by Fresnel lens in the 19 century."

  "So we have this old lens and we don't know what it's for and it's not giving us any more clues to the whereabouts of the Will."

  "My guess is that we need to come here at night and bring a light source and shine it around the property and maybe that will show us the clue."

  "That seems like a bad idea. What if we get caught? We can say we were experimenting. The second set of numbers on the back of the photo is the main house. I say we shine it on the house and see what happens."

  "Can we even see the house from here?" Catherine asked dismissively.

  "Yes over there, see thru the trees."

  "I don't know if shining a light on the house will help out any? I mean I can barely see it through the trees."

  "Come stand here and look straight ahead. There is a path that leads directly to the house. There are no trees to block the view."

  "Yes I do see it and it almost looks as though it was done on purpose. This lighthouse must have been obsolete because it's too high on the bluffs in the fog. Unless they had a large siren to warn them during the fog."

  "Maybe that's why it was abandon."

  "Well I suggest we go buy a light source and come back here tonight."

  "Sounds like a plan. The part of the house that I see from here is the back where the four dormer windows are. They are all covered up, remember. What if we need to see what's in them?"

  "Yes I see what you're talking about. It's really the only part of the house I can see as well. Maybe we should go see if we can clean the windows?

  "We should just open them up. Do you think the house will be unlocked as well?"

  "I think it will be let's go back up there and check it out." They climbed down the long winding stairs and were back in the car.

  "We are going to wear ourselves out running up and down those stairs."

  "I am not worried about the stairs, it's good for us." Reason laughed a little as he said it. They drove back to the house and parked behind it. They got out and went to the back door, it was unlocked as well. It might have been jimmied from the way it was loose on the door.

  They headed up the spiral staircase and were on the third floor. They went down the hall and came to the room. When they opened it up they were shocked to find that it was in complete disarray. The furniture was all thrown about.

  "Someone was here and I am sure looking for the Will." Catherine walked over

  to the armoire and found that the drawers had been opened as well. "I hope they didn't find it," she said as she walked over to the windows and tried to pry them open. "Help me out here, they are stuck," Catherine said trying to unlocked them. Reason went to help her and realized that they were nailed down.

  "I brought a small pocket knife; I think I can get these nails out of the windows." He struggled for awhile and then pushed the windows open. The light came streaming in. "Finally some light." He went to the other two and worked on getting the nails out. He pushed them open as well. He turned and saw that the light was shining in the room.

  "So what do you think?" Reason asked.

  "I don't see anything. It's so bright in here now and it's just a big room full of furniture. It's a mess."

  "Shall we look around?" They began to look at all the furniture lying here and there. It was apparent that someone had looked before them and they weren't
concerned about being careful to preserve it. Reason looked up and around the room.

  "Maybe they just used the lens and a candle to signal that they were at the lighthouse and to meet them?"

  "I was thinking that as well."

  "They hid the lens there at the fountain for what?"

  "I still don't quite understand that either. It just doesn't make sense." They stood there in silence.

  "Look over there behind that stack of boxes, there's a tapestry on the wall and it's facing the windows." Catherine looked and saw it as well. They walked over there and started moving the boxes to get to the tapestry.

  "I think this was the tapestry that was in the stairwell window that had been removed," Reason said. He ran his hand over it.

  "They moved everything up here at some point, including this," Catherine interjected.

  "Someone hung this here on purpose. He pulled the edge from the wall and looked behind it. "It doesn't look like there is any safe back there, nothing but wall." Reason said.

  "So what if it's just a coincidence that it was put there?" Catherine said as she looked at it.

  "I don't see anything unusual about it?"

  "Maybe there's a message on the back of it?" Reason piped up.

  "You mean a clue to the whereabouts of the Will?"

  Reason pulled the tapestry away from the wall further and looked at the back of it. "I don't see anything."

  "There must be a reason that this tapestry is up here. I am going to take it down." Reason looked around and saw a wooden chair turned over. He went and turned it upright and dragged it over to the tapestry and climbed up on it. "I