The Secret Cellar by Michael D. Beil

Author:Michael D. Beil [Beil, Michael D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780375897900
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-10-08T13:00:00+00:00

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a challenge to me

Their voices are surprisingly clear through the wall, which is one of those good news / bad news situations. It’s good that we can hear every word, but bad because I don’t know how long I can stay perfectly still and quiet in a shopping cart–size elevator. Remember how I mentioned that I haven’t had the best of luck with elevators lately? It wasn’t that long ago that I spent a few hours stuck in the one at St. Veronica’s, you see. That one was cold and dark, and I was trapped with Livvy Klack, who was not one of my favorite people in the world at the time, but at least we could sit. Heck, we could even stretch out on the floor. That’s not the case in this dumbwaiter: Margaret and I are shoulder to shoulder, and my heart is banging against my ribs so hard that I’m sure Klinger and Lindsay can hear every telltale beat.

“Okay, the coast is clear. You go first,” says Klinger. “You asked for this meeting. You keep telling me that this is a once-in-a-lifetime story that you’re chasing, but you never give me any details. And why all the secrecy? Couldn’t this have waited until the club meeting?”

“Just listen to me, that’s all I ask,” says Lindsay. “There’s no need to involve the other members in this. They would only complicate matters, and I think we have enough to deal with already. These girls—the Red Blazer Girls, they call themselves—are a bigger problem than you realize. They seem to have a habit of solving mysteries—especially old ones. Curtis Dedmann’s story is right up their alley. I would not put it past these girls to figure out the combination. Are you willing to take that chance? Don’t forget, Dedmann left the contents of the house to Shelley, and if she discovers what’s behind these walls before we can force her out, well, I don’t think you even want to imagine that little scenario.”

“Shhh. Softly, please. We don’t want to give her any ideas. But come now. Surely you’re not seriously concerned. In two weeks, all this is going to belong to Beethoven’s Nine—and that includes everything behind these walls. And I don’t care how clever they think they are, they are never going to unlock Dedmann’s secrets. And once we’re in and Shelley is out, we’ll get behind these walls even if it takes a bulldozer. Which it probably will, if I know Dedmann. This place is a fortress. Let’s be serious. What makes you think these grammar school girls, these delinquents, are capable of outsmarting me? I’m a Harvard graduate, you know.”

When he says “girls” like that, I have to bite my lip not to shout through the wall at him. Margaret and I are so close in the dumbwaiter that I feel her body tense up, too.

“Don’t underestimate them, Marcus. My boss did, and look where he is. Lost his job, lost his wife, scratching out a living selling antiques.

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