Page 12 of Starfish Cottage
Maddie stared at the tiny dent in the wall. “It didn’t even break through.”
“You have to really swing it. Think about something you are really mad about. Maybe me,” Dex teased.
“You are a little irritating.”
“So I’ve been told.” Dex stood behind her and positioned the sledgehammer in her hands. “You hold it like this. Then pull back and really swing.”
“Okay.” Maddie closed her eyes, pulled back as he showed, and put all her might into swinging.
Crack!
That didn’t sound right. Maddie opened her eyes. She’d made a hole in the wall, which was good. What wasn’t good was that amber liquid was leaking out, and there was a pile of glass on the floor.
* * *
“What in the world?”Dex stared at the hole Maddie had made in the wall. Inside the hole was a broken bottle. He got closer and sniffed. Whisky?
Looking into the space, he saw that it wasn’t just one bottle, either. “I think there’s a stash of booze in here!”
“What?” Maddie peered in over his shoulder, her blond hair brushing against his arm, the lemony scent of her shampoo catching his breath.
His phone pinged. Probably Lorelei. Normally he answered right away, but what was happening right now with the whisky discovery and Maddie was more interesting.
They pulled away the rest of the wall to reveal a stash of twenty dust-covered bottles.
Dex held one up to the light. “Is it still good?”
“It looks really old. Check out the weird label.” Maddie pointed to the paper label affixed to the bottle. It was the same on all of them. Yellowed and partially peeling off, it had what looked like a crown atop two letters, MR. “Is that some kind of whisky manufacturer?”
“I don’t think so.” Dex’s phone pinged again, and he pulled it out. Another text from Lorelei, demanding to know why he hadn’t answered the first one. It had only been a few minutes. When had she become this controlling? Maybe he shouldn’t answer right away and give her the impression he was at her beck and call.
“Pearl mentioned something about a mystery connected with this cottage, and didn’t you say that there was some rumor about a gangster living here?” Maddie asked.
“Do you think a bootlegger lived here?”
“The time frame people seem to be referencing fits with Prohibition.” Maddie looked at the photo she’d gotten from Deena. “And this photo looks to be from the late 1920s or early 1930s.”
“That was before the wall. Whoever MR is might have built the wall to hide his stash.”
“Maybe. Doesn’t exactly make it easily accessible, but maybe he had a good reason.”
“This might be the thing I’ve been looking for.” Maddie was bubbling over with excitement, and Dex could feel it too.
“You mean for the event to bring tourists to town?” Dex ignored the third insistent ping from his phone.
“Yes. Exactly.”
“But we really don’t know anything specific. Could you create an event around a bunch of whisky bottles hidden inside a wall?”
“No, you’re right. I need to find out more.” Maddie held up the photo. “And luckily I know exactly who to ask. If Deena’s relative was involved, someone in the family might know something about this. Besides, I feel a craving for chocolate-covered Oreos coming on.”
She turned and grabbed her purse, yelling over her shoulder, “You want anything from Saltwater Sweets?”
“No, thanks.”
As Maddie drove off, Dex looked at the texts on his phone, each one ending with more exclamation points. He sighed and called Lorelei. It sounded like she was not happy with him. He was going to have to muster every ounce of charm he had to smooth things over.
Chapter Seven
