Midnight at the Mansion (The Virginia Mysteries Book 5) Read online

  “Well, he's history now,” Derek said with a laugh. “I hope he got away. Those other guys looked dangerous.”

  Sam walked over to where the man had disappeared. He pushed through the tall bamboo trees until he came to the fence. Behind the fence was a dirt trail, followed by a section of water which he thought was a canal. Behind the canal were railroad tracks which were in front of the river. As he stared through the fence, a train’s whistle blasted from around the corner and slowly chugged into view. Sam gulped at the sight of the train. He silently hoped that the man hadn't drowned in the river or been run over on the tracks.

  Suddenly he remembered the words the man had whispered as he ran off. He'd forgotten to tell the others. “Save the eagles!”

  Derek and Caitlin looked up in surprise at Sam’s shout. “You mean the Philadelphia Eagles?” said Derek. “It's not even football season, although they're not supposed to be very good this year.”

  Sam shook his head and explained again what the man had whispered.

  “I think he meant the bald eagles, Derek,” said Caitlin. “That's where we met him. It must be.”

  “But why would they need to be saved?” asked Sam. “We just saw them, they seemed fine.”

  Caitlin shrugged. “I don't know. Let's check on them on the way up to the mansion. We should tell somebody about this.”

  Sam stuck the man's phone in his pocket, and they walked around the back trail of the park to the animal exhibits. Everything seemed normal with the eagles; they were still there acting like eagles do. Since there was no immediate threat to the eagles, they marched up the hill across the wide lawn until they reached the mansion in the middle of the estate.

  Groups of people strolled the grounds, and two little kids rolled in the grass, playing with balloons. A sign marked one of several smaller buildings as stables for the horses used in carriage rides and another was like a museum with old carriages and sleighs from the days of the Dooleys. It was hard to imagine living back then on a such a huge estate. Some rich people probably still did live in places like this, but not anyone Sam knew, that was for sure.

  Sam looked up at the mansion. It was really too big and grand to be called a house. A brown-colored stone exterior led to a roof with a series of peaks, two of the corners cone-shaped like the kind on a castle. A large, covered porch wrapped around the first floor and extended into a roofed entranceway over the driveway like at a hotel.

  The mansion reminded him of a haunted house from a commercial he’d seen for a scary movie. It was a cool place, but he imagined it would be pretty creepy to see in the dark. If the phone's message meant something would happen at midnight, he hoped it was wrong. But he had no intention of being there to find out.

  “Do we just knock on the front door?” asked Derek.

  “No,” said Caitlin, “come around to the side, that's where they give tours.” She pointed to stone steps leading down to a basement level.

  “Have you been on a tour before?” asked Sam.

  Caitlin shook her head. “Not that I can remember, but my mom has, and she told me about it. She came during the holidays when things were all decorated for Christmas. It sounded fun.”

  The three of them walked down the steps to the basement door. A sign said they should knock to be waited on, so Caitlin rapped on the door.

  “May I help you?” an older woman answered, opening the door.

  “We need to talk to someone in charge,” said Derek.

  “Are you looking to go on a tour?” the woman asked, looking around behind them. “With your parents, perhaps?”

  Caitlin spoke up. “We just ran into a man who was being chased by the Japanese Gardens. We think he was in trouble.”

  “He ran into us, actually,” said Derek.

  Caitlin shushed him. Sam knew she preferred to be the one to do the talking to grownups. “He told us to save the eagles.”

  The woman nodded, seeming unimpressed. “Lots of people want to help save the eagles, dear, ever since they became endangered. They're right down the hill by the other animal habitats if you want to see them.”

  “But...” Sam tried to think of how to explain what had happened, but the words were all jumbled in his head. “There's a buyer coming to the Dooley Mansion at midnight.”

  “On August tenth!” said Derek.

  “A buyer?” The woman's face turned sour. “A buyer for what?”

  “We don't know,” Caitlin admitted.

  “Well, the park closes at eight this time of year, and we have no activities planned for the tenth. I'm afraid you must have gotten some bad information.” She leaned closer to them. “Maybe your friend was playing a joke on you.”

  Sam shook his head. “He wasn't our friend. And it's true. We have his message.” He pulled the phone from his pocket and held it up to the woman.

  “I don't see anything, dear,” said the woman.

  Sam looked at the screen. It was blank. The water must have shorted out the electronics. He smiled weakly at the woman. “It was on there before, honest. The phone got wet and now it's not working.”

  “This is the Dooley mansion, isn't it?” said Derek.

  The woman nodded. “That's right, built by Major James and Sallie May Dooley in 1893.”

  “But someone might be in danger,” said Sam.

  “That man…he might be hurt,” Caitlin pleaded.

  The woman glanced at her watch as another group of people walked up behind them. “Yes, well you'll have to excuse me now, our next group is arriving. If you'd like to come back for a scheduled tour, we'd love to have you.”

  “But what about the message?” asked Caitlin.

  “Yeah, and the eagles?” said Sam.

  “I think they'll be fine, children. Move along now.” She waved them away from the door, motioning for the group to come in. All three sulked back up the basement steps and out onto the paved path that circled the mansion.

  “This is really strange,” said Caitlin, a puzzled expression on her face. “That man didn't seem to be fooling around. Did he look that way to you?”

  Sam shook his head. “No way. You should have seen his face. He was scared.”

  “Well, there's not much more we can do about it now,” Caitlin sighed. She pointed to the blank phone in Sam's hand. “All of our proof is gone.”

  Sam turned to talk to Derek, but he wasn't standing with them. “Derek?” Sam looked around. “Where'd he go?”

  Caitlin pointed toward the basement entrance where they'd talked to the woman. Derek was standing in the back of a line of people filing into the building. He was grinning and motioning for them to join him.

  3

  “Oh, no,” muttered Sam. Derek was always getting bright ideas to do things that didn't seem very smart. Sneaking onto the tour would definitely get them in trouble.

  “What’s he up to this time?” said Caitlin, heading toward Derek.

  Sam sighed and reluctantly followed. When he reached his brother, Sam whispered, “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “We have to look for clues if we're going to figure out what's happening at the mansion.” Derek nodded at the line. “What better way than on a tour?”

  Sam shook his head and took Derek’s arm to pull him away. “You have to pay to go on the tour. Did you bring any money?”

  Derek shook his arm free. “No, but this is an emergency. You saw the message. We have to do something.”

  Sam looked to Caitlin for support, but she just shrugged. “He's kind of right. What if something terrible is going to happen? We can pay them back later. I'm sure they'd understand.”

  Sam thought about going to tell his mom. She was taking a pottery class over in the learning center on the other side of the estate. He didn't want to go on a tour. How long did they even last? He was still hungry and they were supposed to meet Mom at the entrance at lunchtime.

  The line ahead of them started moving.

  “Come on!” said Derek.

  Sam groane
d but followed, trying to look casual and blend in with the back of the line. He hid his face as they passed the visitors’ desk in the downstairs level of the mansion. He didn't want to see the woman they'd spoken to before. He didn't like sneaking into things they weren't supposed to do or places they weren’t supposed to go. Getting yelled at made him nervous. He looked up at Derek and wondered why he didn't seem to have the same problems.

  They stood with the other tour members in a wide hall that opened into several different rooms. A guide said they could look around on their own for ten minutes before heading upstairs. The area was clean and orderly, but it was pretty plain and most of the rooms were small.

  “Not much of a fancy mansion,” Sam muttered. He’d thought it would be a little nicer than this.

  Caitlin chuckled. “That's because this is the below stairs area. Didn't you read the sign?” She pointed to small placards with pictures and descriptions around the room. “This is where the servants worked to run the household. They were almost all African American and worked very hard to keep everything upstairs running smoothly for the Dooleys.”

  “How do you know all that?” asked Sam. The sign was too small to have told her that much. “I thought you haven't been on the tour before?”

  Caitlin smiled. “My mom told me, but it also reminds me of a show my parents watch on TV about a big mansion like this, except that was in England.”

  Geez, that girl remembered everything.

  They walked to the first room that was labeled “Butler's Room.”

  “I wonder if the butler's name was Alfred,” said Derek.

  Caitlin scrunched her eyebrows. “Alfred?”

  “You know, like in Batman. Alfred was Bruce Wayne's butler.”

  “Except this really happened,” said Sam. “It’s not just a movie.”

  “Actually it was a comic book, then a TV show, then a movie.”

  Sam rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

  Caitlin pointed to another sign in the room. “It says one of the butlers’ names was William Dilworth. And look, after he worked here, he was the head waiter at The Jefferson!”

  “Cool,” said Sam. The Jefferson was an elegant, old hotel in downtown Richmond that they'd visited for a wedding on another of their adventures. It used to have real alligators living in the fountains in the lobby. Things had gotten pretty crazy while they were there, but that was a whole different story.

  Sam continued through the hall, peeking into each room they came to. Besides the Butler's Room there was a kitchen, laundry, pantry, a cold room—which seemed to be like the refrigerator—furnace room, servants’ room, and the wine cellar.

  Sam wondered what it would be like to have a house full of servants. Pretty nice for the owners, but not so nice for the servants, he decided. It looked like they had to do a lot of work down here.

  “Do you see any clues?” asked Derek.

  Sam shrugged. He'd nearly forgotten that they were supposed to be looking for clues. But what were they even looking for? Everything seemed normal, but what would “not normal” even look like? Sneaking into the mansion was a dumb idea. There wasn’t anything here to tell them about buyers coming for the eagles on August tenth. Derek just liked the thrill of doing something they weren't supposed to do. Sam was tempted to turn around and head out.

  When he had almost decided to leave, people from the tour started heading upstairs, so the three of them followed until the whole group was assembled in a grand, open foyer near what appeared to be the front door. Upstairs, everything suddenly looked very different from the basement level. Now it made sense why so many workers were needed to keep things in order. Everything was ornately decorated—expensive-looking furniture, gold-colored curtains draped around the windows, marble sculptures on pedestals against the walls. And not a dust ball or bit of clutter was in sight. He supposed it was easier to keep clean since no one actually lived there. His mom was always harping on him and Derek to pick up their things because the house was a mess. Maybe if he had a squad of servants to help it might be easier to keep her happy.

  “This place is huge,” said Derek. “I wonder how many people lived here?”

  The tour guide seemed to have overheard his question. She was an older lady with grayish hair up in a bun. She wore a thin white sweater and pants a color Sam’s mom would call salmon. The tag on her sweater said Doris.

  Could she tell they were stowaways on the tour? The thought made Sam’s stomach tighten, but Doris smiled like she was happy just to see kids paying attention.

  “That's a good question,” she answered. “Believe it or not, only James and Sallie Dooley lived here.”

  “What about their kids?” asked Caitlin.

  Doris smiled again. “They never had any children, I'm afraid.”

  Derek whistled. “Too bad. This would be a sweet place to grow up.”

  “However,” continued Doris, “the Dooleys were major contributors to the local children's hospital and St. Joseph's Orphanage. They cared about children a great deal.”

  The tour moved through the first floor rooms. Sam had never seen such a well-decorated house—sculptures, oriental rugs, huge mirrors, and fine china everywhere. He could only imagine how much damage he and Derek would cause if they lived here. It wouldn't be pretty.

  “The Dooleys moved into this thirty-three-room mansion in 1893,” explained Doris. “It was the grandest home in all of Richmond, complete with electric lighting, an elevator, three full bathrooms, and central heating. That might not seem like too much now-a-days, but over a hundred years ago, it was quite extravagant.”

  She led the group up a paneled wooden staircase to an upstairs hallway. Caitlin was just ahead of Sam. When they reached the bedrooms, she caught her breath. “Oh my goodness! Sam, you have to see this!”

  Had Caitlin found a clue after all? Sam shouldered past her and entered what looked like a woman's bedroom. On the far side of the room, in a corner surrounded by windows, was a huge, white bird. It wasn't real, though. It was an enormous piece of furniture elaborately carved in the shape of a white swan, with a long curved neck and a wide feathered tail at the other end.

  “What is it?” asked Sam. He wanted to ask what the giant bird statue had to do with the eagles, but Doris was close by.

  “It's a bed,” replied Caitlin, still staring wide-eyed. “See, the blue cushion in the middle is the mattress.”

  “That's right,” said Doris. “Sallie Dooley adored swans, particularly because they choose a single mate for their lifetimes. Her husband had this bed made specially for her in New York. It's beautiful, isn't it?”

  Caitlin nodded. “Sure is. I'd love to sleep in a bed like that. It's so…luxurious. I bet I'd dream of flying. Wouldn't you, Sam?”

  “Uh, maybe...” Sam mumbled, forcing himself not to roll his eyes. Now, if the bed was shaped like a Lamborghini, that would be sweet.

  “The other interesting thing about that bed,” said Doris, “is that it wasn't originally here at Maymont.”

  Caitlin turned her head. “It wasn't? But I thought you said that it was Sallie Dooley’s?”

  “That's right, but originally it resided in the Dooleys’ summer house, a magnificent palace called Swannanoa.”

  Sam chuckled. He suspected this was a trick Doris liked to play on visitors. A swan bed was one thing, but a whole palace? That had to be a joke. “Come on. Swannanoa? No one would name a palace that.”

  Again the guide nodded. “You might if you liked swans as much as Sallie Dooley did.”

  “Where is Swannanoa?” asked Caitlin, apparently believing the story. “Is it here in Richmond, too?”

  Doris shook her head. “Swannanoa was the Dooleys’ summer house. It's up on Afton Mountain, on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, west of Charlottesville.” She looked at her watch. “But I'm afraid we need to keep the tour moving. Let's walk into the next room, which was Major Dooley's study.”

  As they shuffled down the hall, Caitlin nudged Sam. “A
re you thinking what I'm thinking?” she whispered.

  “That it's dumb to name a palace after a swan?” called Derek from behind them. For once, his brother seemed to agree with him.

  Caitlin frowned. “No. Think about the message. It said there were going to be buyers at the Dooley mansion. What if it didn't mean this mansion here at Maymont...”

  Sam's face brightened. He saw what she meant. “Oh...you mean it could be their other mansion out on Afton Mountain?”

  “Swannanoa,” said Derek.

  “Right,” said Caitlin.

  Sam thought about it for a moment. “It's possible, I guess.”

  Derek glanced back at the room with the swan bed. “I still think it's a stupid name.”

  Caitlin ran her hand along the decorative wood in the hallway. She had a wistful look in her eyes. “Swannanoa...it sounds like something in a dream, like it’s up in the clouds.”

  Sam looked at her funny. Seeing that swan bed must have messed with her head.

  “Do you think...that it's really a palace?” said Caitlin.

  “Do they even have palaces anymore?” asked Derek.

  Caitlin bit her bottom lip and turned her head like she was thinking hard. “Let's go home and think about it. I'll try to do some research on my computer.”

  As they turned the corner, Sam bumped into someone walking the other way. “Oh, sorry,” he mumbled. He looked up into the face of the woman from the basement door.

  She glanced down at him in surprise. “Just one minute, young man. Let me see your tour receipt.”

  “Run!” shouted Sam.

  4

  “Come back here, children!” the woman called after them. “This is not a gymnasium! Stop!”

  Caitlin and Derek followed Sam down the staircase, through the front foyer, and out the front door. They didn't slow down until they were across the grassy lawn in front of the stables.

  Sam bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

  Caitlin started laughing. “Sam, you didn’t have to run away. I was going to explain to her.”