Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Charlie and Declan mounted the old wooden stairs. Along the side of the porch was a two-person swing. Charlie noticed a few comic books on it weighted down with a rock, presumably so they wouldn't blow away. Declan pressed the old brass doorbell button, but Charlie didn't hear anything. Declan looked at him, shrugged then reached up for the brass knocker, but before he could knock, the door opened. A woman who looked not quite as old as Charlie's Gran stood there, looking slightly put out.

"You must be the detective," she said. "Well—come in." She stepped aside and closed the door as soon as they had crossed the threshold.

"I'm Mrs Cameron, the housekeeper here at Hoodoo House."

"Thank you for allowing us to visit, Mrs Cameron," Declan replied. "I'm Declan Hunt and this is my assistant Charlie Watts."

Charlie reached out and said, "Pleased to meet you."

Mrs Cameron quickly gripped his hand in hers, then released it just as fast. Charlie could feel the callouses of hands that were used to hard work.

"We just wanted to ask some questions about Mr Tull and see if you can help shed some light on his missing computer," Declan continued.

"I'm not sure what I can offer you," she replied. "The police have already questioned me, but I'll help if I can."

Charlie turned his attention to his surroundings. With the door closed, it took a moment to grow accustomed to the dark interior. The floors, doors and walls were all in dark-stained wood, as was the staircase leading upstairs. The interior main hallway of Hoodoo House was not only isolated from the light of the prairie sky, but it was also shut off from the sounds of the outdoors—the whisper of the wind, the birds and the insects all seemed to cease to exist once they had crossed the threshold. It was a house overflowing with a powerful silence.

They walked down the long dim hallway. Charlie felt the house was somehow closing in around him, like it was trying to swallow him. It made him uneasy. He glanced back over his right shoulder.

"Feel like you're being watched?" Mrs Cameron asked him.

"Yes." Charlie said.

"This place has that effect on most visitors until they get used to it. Must be something in the architecture that does it, or the way the air moves through the house."

The mood was broken by the galumphing sound of someone coming rapidly down the stairs.

"Are you the detective?" a young boy asked.

Mrs Cameron replied, "Slow down, young man. This is Mr Hunt and his assistant Charlie Watts." She turned back towards the two men, "And this is Henry, my ward. He lives in the house with me and I take care of him."

Declan reached out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Henry. You can call me Declan if you want."

"There was an Irish saint named Declan, or probably more likely Deaglán. He founded a monastery in Ireland in the fifth century. It's a good name," Henry replied.

Charlie smiled. It was clear the boy was bright.

"I read a lot," he continued.

"Now Henry, don't be a bother," Mrs Cameron said. "These men have come to ask some questions about Mr Tull. Gentlemen, if you would follow me."

Henry interjected, "What do you think of Hoodoo House? They say there's a ghost here from a lady who died when it was a hotel. She was a prostitute."

"Henry, that's enough," Mrs Cameron scolded as they reached the brightly lit room at the end of the hallway—the kitchen.

Charlie noted it had a different energy, more like it was the heart of the house.

"You might as well sit," Mrs Cameron said. "I just made a pot of tea. Would you like some?"

Declan smiled. "That would be wonderful, Mrs Cameron. Thank you."

"I'd love one too," Charlie added. "Thanks."

She plunked a teapot, four mugs and a plate of cookies down on the large kitchen table, followed by a sugar bowl with a spoon in it and a small pitcher of milk.

"I don't have any teacups. Mugs'll have to do," she warned. "And Henry—don't eat all of the cookies. Leave some for our guests."

Charlie looked over. The boy already had one cookie in his mouth and another in his hand. With half a cookie still in his mouth, Henry tugged on Declan's sleeve and said, "Do you want me to take you on a tour of the house? There's some things I want to show you. Did you know that the premier of Alberta came here once—"

"Henry," Mrs Cameron interrupted, "leave the man alone."

Henry's face fell.

"Maybe Henry could show me around the house," Charlie offered. "Having a good look around might help with the case and it would give you two a chance to talk."

"Can I?" Henry asked Mrs Cameron, regaining some of his enthusiasm.

"All right," she said. "But try not to talk his ear off."

"Come on," Henry said, jumping up from his chair and exiting the kitchen.

Charlie glanced at Declan and Mrs Cameron, shrugged his shoulders then quickly followed Henry back down the main hallway.

"So, you're not a detective?" Henry asked.

"No. I'm his assistant."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm the man behind the detective—the guy who cracks the codes for him. The one who works silently in the background, hacking his way into people's computers to find out their secrets."

Henry stared at him, his mouth open. "That is so cool!"

As they walked towards the front of the house, Charlie looked more closely at the hall and noted that there were doors which opened to the left and the right.

"There's only a few small rooms on the main floor. The first two are Gramma Carol's bedroom and a bathroom on the other side. The back of the house, where we just came from, is of course the kitchen. And at the front of the house are the two really big rooms. That's what I'd like to show you first."

At the foot of the stairs, to the left of the main door, Henry led Charlie through a dark oak archway covered by faded red velvet curtains. Henry parted the curtains to reveal a large room. It was empty except for a large table set up near the far window. Henry took Charlie straight to it. On top of the table was a jigsaw puzzle. What was strange was that it was upside-down with the backing of the puzzle facing upwards.

"I see you like doing jigsaw puzzles," Charlie said. "Do you play them like that to make it more challenging?"

"It's easier this way." Henry leaned in towards Charlie. "Sometimes, if it's picture side up, I spend so much time looking at the bit of the picture I've assembled that I never get around to finishing it. Gramma Carol said if I do it this way, I can focus better… I have issues."

"You're not the only one," Charlie said with a wink before sitting down across from him.

Henry began working on the puzzle, taking pieces and expertly fitting them into place.

Charlie said, "So, Mrs Cameron takes care of you?"

"Yeah. My mom's dead. Gramma Carol was a good friend of my Gramma Rachael who took care of me after my mom died. And then when Gramma Rachael got sick and was dying, Gramma Carol said she would take care of me. I think Gramma Carol and Gramma Rachael used to be more than friends, if you know what I mean. Gramma Carol's also my teacher. I don't think like other kids, so it's easier if I'm homeschooled."

In the corner of the room, Charlie spied a stack of comic books. "It looks like you're a fan of comics."

Henry's eyes lit up. "They're the best! Do you like them too?"

"I used to love them when I was your age," Charlie replied.

"Which did you like?"

"I'd have to say Spider-Man was my favourite. I used to fantasize about swinging from tall buildings, which was weird because I was terrified of heights."

Henry laughed.

"How about you?" Charlie asked.

Henry dove for the stack of comic books and shoved one at Charlie. "This is my favourite. Momrath and The Slithe. Do you know it?"

"No. Is it new?"

"It's been around forever. Five years, at least."

Henry flipped open the comic and thrust it into Charlie's face. It showed a picture of a slim character, dressed all in black. He stood, legs spread apart, arms straight out from his sides. In one hand was a black bo staff, the weapon of a martial arts specialist. He faced a huge, muscled goliath.

"That's Momrath," Henry said, pointing to the giant brute. "And that's The Slithe," he said of the slim man in black. "He was Marty Finn, a mail clerk working at a chemical production factory who came across Momrath during a break-in. Momrath threw him into an experimental chemical vat. Well, you know the way it always goes. Powerless kid gets super-human powers and tries to hunt down the man who turned him into a superhero."

"Comics are amazing, aren't they?" Charlie said.

"I hope to get a job working in a comic-book store when I get a bit older. But there isn't one in Rosebud, and Drumheller's a bit too far for me to get to. I love to draw my own comics, too. I'm hoping to get good enough to get them published."

Henry slid a few pages at Charlie, who glanced at them. Henry was creating his own Momrath and TheSlithe comic books.

"These are good," he told Henry.

Charlie knew he was no farther ahead in terms of finding out anything useful about Malcolm Tull and he needed to move the conversation in a different direction.

"Henry, I've come here with Declan to learn more about this old house and the writers who lived here. Are you going to take me on the rest of the tour now?"

"Is Declan your boyfriend?"

Charlie paused. "What? Uh…no."

"Just wondering. I was watching him just after you came in. He looks at you funny. I sense things. He thinks you're special. I just know it."

Charlie tried to keep his expression neutral, and redirected the conversation. "So…do you have someone special that you like?"

"Nah. The only person around here is Gramma Carol and I think she's a bit old for me." Henry laughed.

"It must get lonely out here in the country," Charlie said. "Aside from you and Gramma Carol, was Mr Tull the only other person who stayed here?"

Henry shook his head. "We had visitors, but they never stayed. It was supposed to be a quiet place for the writer."

"And did you know the writer who died?"

"There've been two who died here, but Mr Pritchard, he was the first one, he died before I came here. I knew Mr Tull…sort of."

"Did you like him?"

Henry went back to the puzzle, picking up a piece and trying to fit it in place. "He wasn't very nice. He was always telling me off whenever I'd do things. He wouldn't let me in the writing room unless I was bringing him something. Apparently I couldn't even do that right. And…"

Henry stopped. Charlie sensed Henry was uncomfortable with the subject of Mr Tull.

"He doesn't sound like a very nice man."

Henry looked at Charlie. "I don't think he liked people very much. He kept himself locked up in the writing room except when he joined us in the kitchen to eat. Even then, he'd usually take his food back to his room."

"Maybe he was just busy writing and didn't want to be disturbed?"

"All I know is that when he shut the door, no one was allowed to bother him. That was the rule. I broke the rule once and he threw a coffee mug at me. Just about took my head off."

"Why did you go in?"

"Gramma Carol asked me to take him some dessert. But I showed him. I took it up to my bedroom and ate it myself." Henry went back to the puzzle and started to search for another piece to add. He became quiet.

Charlie didn't know what to do next, so he said, "Well, thanks for the tour."

Henry replied, "Oh there's more things to show you, but I was going to wait for the detective."

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Well, perhaps you can show me first, and then if it seems important, we can get the detective to check it out."

Henry stared at Charlie for a moment, then said, "Maybe. But you have to promise to show Declan what we've found."

"I promise," Charlie said.

Henry looked across to the velvet curtain. "First I have to give you the rest of the tour." He got up and led Charlie out of the velvet-curtained room and across to the other side of the hall where they entered the second large space at the front of the house.

Henry said, pointing, "This is the writing room where Mr Tull died."

"Would you mind if I took a few quick pictures of the space?" Charlie asked.

"The police already took some pictures."

"It might help with our investigation," Charlie explained.

Henry nodded. "Okay, but make it quick. The other things I want to show you are way more interesting."