Page 55 of The Silence of Hell

“Not that I’ve seen,” I said, looking. The others all shook their head.

“The crates in room three have been moved,” Kelly stated.

“And the ghost strikes again,” Harriet chortled, amused.

“Do you have cameras down there?” I asked Callie.

“Yes, but not in the rooms,” she answered.

“Can you see if anyone has been messing around?”

“Easily done,” Jack interrupted and pulled his tablet near him. We talked as we reviewed the footage.

“I have something,” Jack announced ten minutes later.

Callie looked over. “Let’s see it.”

Jack got up and came over to us, and I glanced at the slightly grainy feed. Nothing happened, and then, out of nowhere, the door opened and shut several times before standing open.

“There’s sound,” Jack said, and he pressed play on an audio file.

We clearly heard the door unlock and open, and then, for around ten minutes, there was shuffling sounds and noises of the crates being moved.

“Holy hell,” I muttered.

“How long will lunch be?” Callie asked.

Phoe looked at the amount of us and wrinkled her nose. “I’d say twenty minutes.”

“We’ll go check out the cellar,” Callie said, and her team nodded.

“Too much going on,” I murmured, and Chatter squeezed my shoulder. I was hyper-aware of everything Chatter was doing. For some reason, I seem to have developed a Chatter radar.

“You can manage,” Chatter muttered as conversation rose around us.

“It’s overwhelming,” I complained softly.

“It will be, but one step at a time. How about after lunch, we get together and write down everything in your head and create a plan?” Chatter suggested.

“Not a bad idea. I should have thought of that,” I answered, annoyed at myself.

“Um, Lavender? The police are here,” Tatum announced, appearing with a man behind him.

“Lio?” Chatter said, straightening, as did Phoe.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” the guy called Lio asked.

“Think that is my question for you,” Chatter responded.

“I need to speak to Lavender Bloodsworth,” Lio said, looking around.

“That’s me,” I said, lifting a hand in a lame wave.

“Ma’am. Might it be possible for me to have a word with you in private?” Lio showed me his badge. “I am Detective Emilio Hawthorne with the Spearfish Police department.”

“Sure,” I replied and motioned for him to follow me out of the kitchen. I took him to the workroom we were using downstairs and was shocked when Phoe and Chatter slipped in behind him.

Lio didn’t look too surprised.

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