A Relic to Die For by Richard Houston

Author:Richard Houston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: amateur sleuth, amateur PI, amateur detective, Confederate Murder Mystery, Dog mystery, Golden Retriever, Clean Murder Mystery
Publisher: Richard Houston
Published: 2017-07-28T00:00:00+00:00

I LET BONNIE SEARCH for the sword while I continued my inspection. There was no use in arguing with her. If Amanda had bought it from the antique dealer, I couldn’t imagine why she would hide it in the house and then give us carte blanche to search for it, so I decided to do a top-down inspection and start in the attic.

There was a steep and narrow staircase that went to the attic in one of the second-floor bedrooms. Fred waited for me to climb the stairs and pull the chain on a hanging light fixture before following me. The bare light bulb looked to be from the days of Edison and gave off a dim yellow glow making the attic seem like a scene from the Bates Motel. I let him sniff around some of the junk stored up there while I checked out the rafters and wiring. Unlike most modern homes, this attic’s floor joists were covered with one by four lumber, so I couldn’t tell if it was insulated or not. I assumed not because there didn’t seem to be a huge difference in temperature between the attic and the second-floor bedrooms.

Margot wouldn’t be happy with what I’d discovered so far. The wiring was knob and tube and would need to be replaced with modern Romex. I could also see daylight through the cedar shingle roof. It had been nailed to one-by-four, spaced sheeting that allowed light to shine through. I’d heard from some old roofers that it was no cause for concern because the shingles swelled when wet, blocking the rain. Still, the roof would have to be replaced to be safe.

Even more disturbing was the lack of plumbing vent pipes going through the roof. Whoever had installed the plumbing for the kitchen and bathrooms knew nothing about plumbing codes. Depending on when the job was done, the pipes would probably need to be replaced as well if they were either lead or galvanized steel.

I’d seen enough in the attic to keep me busy for a month and decided to check out the bathrooms and kitchen before working my way to the basement where the furnace and water heater should be. “Come on, Fred. Time to go.” He was over sniffing out rodents or something by the junk piled in the corner.

He came out from the pile long enough to bark at me before going back in.

“This better be good, mister,” I said and went over to see what he had cornered.

His rump was sticking up in the air with his tail wagging back and forth when I made it over to the dimly lit corner of the attic. Edison’s bulb barely shone any light on his find, so I pulled out my cell phone and put it in flashlight mode. There were fresh tracks on the dusty floor where someone had recently moved boxes around. I scooted Fred out of the way and removed the box he’d tried to get under.

The box had been covering a loose floorboard.

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