downstairs.”
“You need a drink of water or anything?” I asked my son.
“We’ll be out of here in no time,” Barry said. “And I don’t want us using any glasses from the Langleys’ cupboard, you know?”
We got around the blood and walked down into the rec room. The lights were already on. It looked like a million other basements. Wood paneling on the walls. A couch that had seen better days, had probably belonged upstairs at one point. A TV, about a thirty-six-inch screen, I figured, but not a flat screen that hangs on a wall.
To my eye, the room looked pretty undisturbed.
“What do you think?” Barry asked. “You and Adam must have hung out down here a lot.”
“Yeah, we did,” he said quietly.
“Anything look out of place?”
Derek shook his head slowly.
“You’re sure?”
A slow nod.
“What about over here?” Barry said, pointing to the far end of the room.
“What?” I said. I didn’t know what he was getting at.
Barry walked across the room and pointed to a panel, about three feet wide, that ran from the floor up to a chair rail molding that ran around the perimeter of the room. The panel was open about an inch or so.
“What do you make of this?” he asked Derek.
“What do you mean?”
“This panel, to the crawlspace. It’s open an inch or two. You see that?”
“Sure,” Derek said.
“You think that means anything? I mean, you look around this house, and there’s not a thing out of place, except for maybe in Adam’s room. Donna Langley, she kept this place like a home out of
House Beautiful
or something. A place for everything and everything in its place. I just thought this panel, partly open like this, looked a bit odd.”
“I don’t know,” Derek said.
“Maybe,” I offered, “since they were going away for a few days, maybe Albert got some stuff out of there, like a cooler or something. The kind of stuff you only take out when you’re going for a trip.”
“That might be,” Barry said. “I’m sure it’s nothing. It’s just, when I looked at it, I thought, what a perfect place for someone to hide.”
“When we were little,” Derek offered, “Adam and I used to play in there all the time. Like it was a cave. We’d pretend we were explorers or something, or Indiana Jones, you know? But now, I don’t think I could even fit in there.”
“Too big now?” Barry said. “You know what? Why don’t you try it on for size?”
“Huh?”
Barry slid the panel back. The space was filled with boxes, most with Magic-Markered labels like “Xmas bulbs” and “Yearbooks.” He said, “Someone must have been in here. The dust is pretty thick on the cement floor in here, except just inside the opening, where it’s kind of been rubbed away. Come on in, have a look.”
“I don’t really want to,” Derek said. “I just want to get out of here.”
“I’ll do it then,” Barry said, taking his hands out of his pockets, getting down on his hands and knees, and back-crawling into the space. “Now, I’m a big fat fucker compared to either one of you guys, but I can squeeze in here, so I guess just about anybody could.”
“But, Barry,” I said, “you already figured the killer, or killers, came in through the front door. So what’s this prove, that someone could fit in the crawlspace?”
He crawled back out, huffing and puffing when he got back on his feet. I hoped he wasn’t going to have a heart attack. “Damned if I really know,” he said. “You just want to keep your mind open to everything.”
“Are we done?” I asked Barry.
“I guess we are.” He let out a long sigh, still recovering from his crawlspace adventure. “So, Derek.”
“Yeah?”
“You said you left here around eight, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So what did you do then?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe I’d hook up with Penny.”
I spoke without thinking. “I thought you said she was grounded or something. She hit her dad’s car or something like
“You need a drink of water or anything?” I asked my son.
“We’ll be out of here in no time,” Barry said. “And I don’t want us using any glasses from the Langleys’ cupboard, you know?”
We got around the blood and walked down into the rec room. The lights were already on. It looked like a million other basements. Wood paneling on the walls. A couch that had seen better days, had probably belonged upstairs at one point. A TV, about a thirty-six-inch screen, I figured, but not a flat screen that hangs on a wall.
To my eye, the room looked pretty undisturbed.
“What do you think?” Barry asked. “You and Adam must have hung out down here a lot.”
“Yeah, we did,” he said quietly.
“Anything look out of place?”
Derek shook his head slowly.
“You’re sure?”
A slow nod.
“What about over here?” Barry said, pointing to the far end of the room.
“What?” I said. I didn’t know what he was getting at.
Barry walked across the room and pointed to a panel, about three feet wide, that ran from the floor up to a chair rail molding that ran around the perimeter of the room. The panel was open about an inch or so.
“What do you make of this?” he asked Derek.
“What do you mean?”
“This panel, to the crawlspace. It’s open an inch or two. You see that?”
“Sure,” Derek said.
“You think that means anything? I mean, you look around this house, and there’s not a thing out of place, except for maybe in Adam’s room. Donna Langley, she kept this place like a home out of
House Beautiful
or something. A place for everything and everything in its place. I just thought this panel, partly open like this, looked a bit odd.”
“I don’t know,” Derek said.
“Maybe,” I offered, “since they were going away for a few days, maybe Albert got some stuff out of there, like a cooler or something. The kind of stuff you only take out when you’re going for a trip.”
“That might be,” Barry said. “I’m sure it’s nothing. It’s just, when I looked at it, I thought, what a perfect place for someone to hide.”
“When we were little,” Derek offered, “Adam and I used to play in there all the time. Like it was a cave. We’d pretend we were explorers or something, or Indiana Jones, you know? But now, I don’t think I could even fit in there.”
“Too big now?” Barry said. “You know what? Why don’t you try it on for size?”
“Huh?”
Barry slid the panel back. The space was filled with boxes, most with Magic-Markered labels like “Xmas bulbs” and “Yearbooks.” He said, “Someone must have been in here. The dust is pretty thick on the cement floor in here, except just inside the opening, where it’s kind of been rubbed away. Come on in, have a look.”
“I don’t really want to,” Derek said. “I just want to get out of here.”
“I’ll do it then,” Barry said, taking his hands out of his pockets, getting down on his hands and knees, and back-crawling into the space. “Now, I’m a big fat fucker compared to either one of you guys, but I can squeeze in here, so I guess just about anybody could.”
“But, Barry,” I said, “you already figured the killer, or killers, came in through the front door. So what’s this prove, that someone could fit in the crawlspace?”
He crawled back out, huffing and puffing when he got back on his feet. I hoped he wasn’t going to have a heart attack. “Damned if I really know,” he said. “You just want to keep your mind open to everything.”
“Are we done?” I asked Barry.
“I guess we are.” He let out a long sigh, still recovering from his crawlspace adventure. “So, Derek.”
“Yeah?”
“You said you left here around eight, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So what did you do then?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe I’d hook up with Penny.”
I spoke without thinking. “I thought you said she was grounded or something. She hit her dad’s car or something like
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