Chapter Text
The crew had been searching through this study for hours, and yet it still felt as though they had gotten nowhere. There were books, journals, maps and other miscellaneous papers scattered across the room. They had discovered that the house was built in the early 1900’s and had been a Native American settlement prior, but beyond that they had nothing.
Nancy sat in the office chair, gazing around the mess they had made of the room.
“Got something.“
Nancy’s gaze shifted to Ace, who was sitting in the corner with his laptop.
“I found an online record of the previous owners of the house. About twenty or so people have owned the property since the 1940’s, and every owner who has lived here has died within five years of either mysterious circumstances or suicide. On January 28th, 2008, the current owner bought the estate, and it has been a rental property ever since.”
“Why would anyone buy a house with that many deaths on the property? And why didn’t they put that on our listing?” Inquired Bess, a horrified look on her face.
“Bad for business?” Stated George.
“Well actually in Maine you can only disclose previous deaths in the home with permission of the seller, so it’s likely that…” Nancy placed her hand on Ace’s shoulder so she could lean closer to the computer screen, ”Sondra Mattheson, and possibly even the previous owner didn’t know.”
“Now that is messed up,” Nick stated matter of factly.
Nancy shrugged.
“Did you find anything about the property before it was built?”
“Still looking,” Ace replied.
Nancy nodded, then began methodically pacing along the bookshelves, like a panther hunting it’s prey. It felt like they had turned this entire library upside down. She ran her fingers along the books, and that’s when she noticed… this one didn’t have dust on the binding. It was a little green book, clearly well worn, but especially so right along the top edge of the binding. She tilted her head slightly to read the title: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
“I wonder…”
Nancy pulled on the top edge of the book, and just as she suspected, a portion of the wall came sliding open to reveal a dimly lit staircase.
Everyone looked at the gaping hole in the wall, and in silent agreement, they descended the stairs into the hidden basement.