It was still a shock when Brent said, “My aunt passed away Friday. I wanted to tell you in person.”
“I’m sorry.” She and Wes spoke in a chorus.
Brent gave them a brief smile. “Thank you for asking Maria to call me. She can be protective and sometimes didn’t want to face the reality of my aunt’s health. But it meant we were able to spend her last days together.”
Everything Nadine thought of saying sounded like a platitude. She’d been an obituary editor, for crying out loud. Dealing with the aftermath of death was her wheelhouse.
But it was different if you knew the person.
As if hearing her mental plea for help, Wes rose to the occasion. “We’re incredibly sorry for your loss. We were only able to know Dot briefly, but she was an extraordinary woman.”
“Thank you.” Brent ran his hand along the velvety chair arm. “You know, she loved your visits. She said your youth made her remember all the mistakes she made and the ones she wished she had.”
Nadine remembered something Brent might enjoy hearing. “She told me she dressed in bright clothes to chase off the men who only wanted sparrows. Then she suggested I go shopping.”
Brent laughed loud enough to cause one of the cats—Erma, Nadine thought—to race out from under the chair where she’d been hiding. “When I first moved to Toronto, we had dinner plans. She took one look at my sleek little suit and said if I insisted on dressing like an undertaker, I needed to look like one with pizzazz. She brought me to Hermèsand bought me a dozen pocket squares. I still wear them.”
This time, they all joined the laughter, the sound eventually trailing out into the silence of the room. “Will there be a funeral?” asked Wes, who then flinched as if he’d said the wrong thing.
“Only for family.” Brent raised his eyebrows at Nadine. “As an aside, theHeraldhas declined to run another obituary for my aunt.”
Nadine frowned. “What?”
“They very kindly said I was welcome to take out a paid death notice.” He shot Wes a sly look. “However, her publisher said theSpearwas eager to run one.”
That couldn’t be right. She pulled out her phone and texted Raj as the conversation continued.Is it true you won’t run an obit for Dot Voline?
His reply came quick.Daniel said once was our usual limit for obits.
That asshole. She was angry on Dot’s behalf, although the thought of running another version of what had been in the files didn’t sit well with her. Dot was so much more than those dates and book titles. Then Brent cleared his throat, and she put away regrets of Dot’s obit. “There’s something I want to discuss with you. She didn’t tell you her story, did she?”
“No. I suppose it dies with her,” said Wes with what Nadine considered admirable restraint.
“Or not. She gave me a message for you. Come with me for a second?”
Nadine exchanged a confused glance with Wes, then followed Brent into the library, where he climbed up to the second level. After fumbling with the edge of one of the shelves, a loud click sounded, and an entire bookcase opened inward.
Wes’s gasp of utter delight made Nadine smile despite the blue news of Dot’s death. “A hidden room?” he said.
Brent groped around for what Nadine assumed was a light switch. “Not quite a hiddenroom,” he said. “Ah, there it is. This place is a maze of secrets. My aunt’s filing was incomprehensible to anyone but her.I once found her recipe box in a closet. Apparently she kept it there because it was a box and boxes belonged in closets. I have no idea.”
Dim lights flickered on to reveal an attic space straight out of every creepy movie imaginable. Dust sat thick on boxes randomly distributed in piles. Windows along the back wall might let in light on sunny days but now added to the gloom. Large metal filing cabinets that looked like they originated in a Bletchley Park code-breaking hut loomed near the far wall, and Nadine wouldn’t have been surprised to see a skeleton lurking in the corner.
“These are my aunt’s,” said Brent with an expansive wave. “She hated throwing things out, as you could probably tell.”
Wes checked a nearby box. “These are foreign language editions of her books.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. She only kept a single copy of each of her books in the library. I don’t know what’s up here, to be honest.”
“Why are you showing us?” asked Nadine. Her nose tickled, and she sneezed three times in a row. “Sorry. Dust.”
“My aunt wanted whatever she was hiding to be known, but she ran out of time.” Brent looked at the disarray. “She asked me to tell you she was sorry to have missed your meeting due to an unavoidable appointment with her maker and to show you how to get in here.”
“You want us to continue looking?” Wes asked slowly, as if trying to understand what Brent was getting at.
“No,” Brent corrected. “Dot does. She said to get your hands dirty and keep your eyes open so you can finish the job.”
“We weren’t having much success without her,” Nadine said. “I’m not sure that would change.”
