CHAPTER FOUR
The Skeleton in Silk Pajamas
It’s odd how people’s truths can be tainted, their lies can become facts, and their reality can be anything that fits into one’s rendering of whatever that is. My dad gave me that little nugget of good sense long ago. And after I read an article in The Cloak-and-Dagger Town Crier, I finally grasped the value of his wisdom. I read it again to Twist:
A distant relative of the fabled Captain MacBride discovered a secret room yesterday afternoon in a Whodunit Hill mansion. Mr. David Shaw says, “I broke down one of the walls in the home and found a skeleton in a wooden coffin.” Mr. Shaw later determined the bones to be the wife of the fabled Captain MacBride. I asked him if anything unusual happened. …show more content…
“Perhaps. Anyway, the house stood empty for years, possibly in part because MacBride’s descendants thought it was haunted.” “Hmm . . . I wonder if they knew about the stone.” At first, I was going to answer Seth and say, “No way. If they had known about the rock or the skeleton, they would have removed them before Emma MacBride sold the house,” but then I noticed the Post-it notes pinned to the hideout walls, my hound dog Buster sleeping ragged and long under a wobbly wooden chair, and the growing pile of newspapers in the periphery of my vision. And it occurred to me that an owner knows what’s inside their house. I glanced at Seth. “I don’t know.” Then I added, “So when they began demolishing the mansion, Morgan got angry because his beloved dead wife was lying inside—alone and totally helpless. That’s why he shrieked. It was simply a cry for help.” “You seem pretty convinced that it was Captain MacBride’s ghost who screamed,” Seth said. “I mean, what …show more content…
“Did your dad interview any of the men who were there at the house?” “Yeah, he spoke to Mr. Greene and his neighbor.” “What about the other two? Or three?” “He couldn’t find them.” “So,” Twist said, “why were those guys there anyway?” “They claimed they wanted to see the mansion by moonlight one last time before it was bulldozed,” Seth muttered. Twist nodded. “Hmm. Have they stopped the demolition?” “For now,” I said. “While Chizelmen and his men search Gray Meadow Manor for more secret rooms.” Seth got to his feet and started dribbling a basketball on the floor. “So what about the stone? If it’s magic like What’s-His-Name . . . Mr. Shaw says, then why didn’t the captain use its power to save Princess Mei, to bring her back? Or was Shaw talking about a different kind of magic? A magic that only goes so far?” “Maybe he was simply using the term as a figure of speech?” Twist added. “Who knows? There are still so many uncertainties. About the only thing that is clear is nothing’s as it seems.” “We might as well play the recording again. It’s about all we have so far in the way of clues.” I said and switched on my mini-recorder. We listened to the creepy scream once more and then the exchange between the
The Skeleton in Silk Pajamas
It’s odd how people’s truths can be tainted, their lies can become facts, and their reality can be anything that fits into one’s rendering of whatever that is. My dad gave me that little nugget of good sense long ago. And after I read an article in The Cloak-and-Dagger Town Crier, I finally grasped the value of his wisdom. I read it again to Twist:
A distant relative of the fabled Captain MacBride discovered a secret room yesterday afternoon in a Whodunit Hill mansion. Mr. David Shaw says, “I broke down one of the walls in the home and found a skeleton in a wooden coffin.” Mr. Shaw later determined the bones to be the wife of the fabled Captain MacBride. I asked him if anything unusual happened. …show more content…
“Perhaps. Anyway, the house stood empty for years, possibly in part because MacBride’s descendants thought it was haunted.” “Hmm . . . I wonder if they knew about the stone.” At first, I was going to answer Seth and say, “No way. If they had known about the rock or the skeleton, they would have removed them before Emma MacBride sold the house,” but then I noticed the Post-it notes pinned to the hideout walls, my hound dog Buster sleeping ragged and long under a wobbly wooden chair, and the growing pile of newspapers in the periphery of my vision. And it occurred to me that an owner knows what’s inside their house. I glanced at Seth. “I don’t know.” Then I added, “So when they began demolishing the mansion, Morgan got angry because his beloved dead wife was lying inside—alone and totally helpless. That’s why he shrieked. It was simply a cry for help.” “You seem pretty convinced that it was Captain MacBride’s ghost who screamed,” Seth said. “I mean, what …show more content…
“Did your dad interview any of the men who were there at the house?” “Yeah, he spoke to Mr. Greene and his neighbor.” “What about the other two? Or three?” “He couldn’t find them.” “So,” Twist said, “why were those guys there anyway?” “They claimed they wanted to see the mansion by moonlight one last time before it was bulldozed,” Seth muttered. Twist nodded. “Hmm. Have they stopped the demolition?” “For now,” I said. “While Chizelmen and his men search Gray Meadow Manor for more secret rooms.” Seth got to his feet and started dribbling a basketball on the floor. “So what about the stone? If it’s magic like What’s-His-Name . . . Mr. Shaw says, then why didn’t the captain use its power to save Princess Mei, to bring her back? Or was Shaw talking about a different kind of magic? A magic that only goes so far?” “Maybe he was simply using the term as a figure of speech?” Twist added. “Who knows? There are still so many uncertainties. About the only thing that is clear is nothing’s as it seems.” “We might as well play the recording again. It’s about all we have so far in the way of clues.” I said and switched on my mini-recorder. We listened to the creepy scream once more and then the exchange between the